Colombia coal mine gas blast kills at least 11
Bogota, ColombiaReuters An explosion caused by accumulated gas in six adjoining coal mines in central Colombia has killed at least 11 workers and trapped 10 below ground, authorities said on Wednesday. The explosion took place late on Tuesday in a rural area of Sutatausa, about 75 kilometres north of Bogota. People wait during the search […]
StrangeSights: Fake tanks; Polish politicians spar over worms; and, pups bring joy in Turkey
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Children rescued from ruins days after earthquake, but death toll tops 23,700
Antakya, Turkey/Jandaris, Syria, Reuters Rescue crews saved a 10-day-old baby and his mother trapped in the ruins of a building in Turkey on Friday and dug several people out from other sites as President Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to this week’s huge earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the deadliest quake […]
Updated: Rescuers dig through rubble as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 7,800
Updated: 10:45am, 8th February (AEST)Antakya, Turkey Reuters The death toll of a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey and Syria jumped to more than 7,800 people on Tuesday as rescuers worked against time in harsh winter conditions to dig survivors out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. As the scale of the disaster became ever more […]
Search resumes for four people missing in Nepal after deadly air crash
Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters Rescuers resumed searching on Monday in Nepal for four people still missing after the Himalayan nation’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years, officials said. Rescuers had recovered 68 bodies out of the 72 people onboard the ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines that crashed in the tourist city of Pokhara minutes […]
Newborn baby airlifted from charity ship in Mediterranean
Rome, ItalyReuters A baby was born on a charity rescue boat in the central Mediterranean and flown to Sicily while more than 500 other migrants remain at sea waiting to reach Europe, NGO groups said on Thursday. The growing number of migrants stranded at sea risks leading to a new confrontation with Italy’s right-wing government, […]
Updated: China clears roads to earthquake epicentre, death toll rises to 74
Updated: 3pm (AEST)Beijing, ChinaReuters China has reopened roads leading to the epicentre of Monday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan and traffic has resumed, state media reported on Wednesday, while the death toll has risen to 74. In addition, a total of 259 people were injured in the disaster and 26 remained […]
Bangladesh military scrambles to reach millions marooned after deadly flooding
Dhaka, Bangladesh/Guwahati, India Reuters Soldiers on small boats delivered relief material on Monday across flooded towns and villages in Bangladesh, after more than nine million people were marooned in the low-lying country and neighbouring India following heavy rains, officials said. At least 32 people have been killed in Bangladesh since late last week following monsoon […]
Families desperately await news of Burkina miners trapped for 26 days
Perkoa, Burkina Faso Reuters The families of eight missing miners in Burkina Faso desperately awaited news from rescue teams continuing on Thursday to locate the men who have been stuck underground for 26 days. There has been no communication with the miners since they were trapped more than 500 metres below ground during a flood […]
Nigeria building collapse toll rises to at least 16; rescuers search on
Lagos, NigeriaReuters Rescuers combed through the rubble of a high-rise building in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos in search of survivors on Tuesday, a day after it collapsed while under construction, as the death toll rose to 16 with scores reported missing. The Lagos state government said it had put its chief architect on indefinite suspension […]