Page 15 - Death Toll

Iran prepares to bury late President Raisi, foreign minister and others

Iran on Thursday prepared to inter its late president at the holiest site for Shiite Muslims in the Islamic Republic, a final sign of respect for a protege of Iran's supreme leader killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week. President Ebrahim Raisi's burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad caps days of processionals through much of Iran, seeking to bolster the country's theocracy after the crash killing him, the country's foreign minister and six others. However, the services have not drawn the same crowd as those who gathered for services for Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, slain by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. It's a potential sign of the public's feelings about Raisi's presidency that saw the government harshly crack down on all dissent during protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, detained for allegedly not wearing her mandatory headscarf to authorities' liking. That crackdown, as well as Iran's struggling economy, have gone unmentioned in the

5 dead and at least 35 hurt as tornadoes ripped through Iowa, say officials

Five people died and at least 35 were hurt as powerful tornadoes ripped through Iowa, with one carving a path of destruction through the small city of Greenfield, officials said Wednesday. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Tuesday's tornadoes killed four people in the Greenfield area, and the Adams County Sheriff's Office said a fifth person a woman whose car was blown off the road was killed by a twister about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away. Monica Zamarron, 46, died in the crash Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Officials did not release the names of the Greenfield area victims because they were still notifying relatives. The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday it's believed that the number of people injured is likely higher. The Greenfield tornado left a wide swath of obliterated homes, splintered trees and crumpled cars in the town of 2,000 about 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) southwest of Des Moines. The twister also ripped apart and crumpled massive ...

Brazil's flooded south sees 2 deaths, experts warn of surge in fatalities

The first two deaths from waterborne bacterial disease were reported in southern Brazil, where floodwaters were slowly receding, and health authorities warned additional fatalities were likely. Rio Grande do Sul state's health secretariat confirmed the death of a 33-year-old man due to leptospirosis on Wednesday. On Monday, authorities registered that a 67-year-old man had died from the same infectious disease. Since the beginning of May, 29 cases of the waterborne disease have been confirmed in the state. The flooding over about a two-week period killed at least 161 people, with 82 still missing, state authorities said Wednesday. More than 600,000 people were forced from their homes, including tens of thousands who remain in shelters, they said. Health experts had previously forecast a surge in infectious diseases including leptospirosis and hepatitis B within a couple weeks of the floods, as sewage mixed into the floodwaters. There are those who die during the flood and there is

Death toll in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident rises to 17: Officials

The death toll in the hoarding collapse incident that occurred in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area on May 13 has gone up to 17 with the death of a man at a civic-run hospital here, officials said on Wednesday. Raju Sonawane (52), who had suffered injuries after the hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar locality during gusty winds and unseasonal rains, died during treatment at the KEM Hospital on May 19, a civic official said. Earlier, the authorities had declared 16 persons, including a retired Air Traffic Control (ATC) general manager and his wife, as dead. The collapse of the giant 120x120 feet hoarding had also left 75 persons injured. A day after the incident, the injured who needed to undergo neurosurgery were shifted to the KEM hospital, the official said. Bhavesh Bhinde, the director of the advertising firm that had installed the hoarding was later arrested from Udaipur in Rajasthan. A court here has remanded him police custody till May 26.

Iran's supremo approves Mokhber as interim Prez, declares 5 days mourning

Iran now has a maximum period of 50 days before a presidential election must be held to choose Raisi's successor

Iranian President's Raisi death leaves Khamenei's succession in focus

His death, along with that of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, was announced by state media early on Monday after rescuers spent hours trying to locate and reach the accident site

'No sign of life' at crash site of helicopter carrying Iran's Raisi, others

Iranian state television said Monday there is no sign of life seen at the crash site of a helicopter that was carrying President Ebrahim Raisi and others. The site was across a steep valley and rescuers had yet to reach it, state media reported. As the sun rose Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles), the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media. He did not elaborate and the officials had been missing at that point by over 12 hours. The helicopter crashed Sunday and was carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollhian and others.

President Raisi dead in chopper crash. Why it's a blow to Iran's hardliners

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollhian and others crashed on Sunday

Rise in UK knife attacks leads to crackdown and stokes public anxiety

A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well. A man with a sword had killed a 14-year-old boy who was walking to school. Two years ago, her 16-year-old son, Ronan, was killed by two sword-wielding schoolmates while walking to a neighbour's to borrow a PlayStation controller. It took me back, Kanda, who lives near Birmingham, said about Daniel Anjorin's April 30 killing in an attack in London's Hainault district that also wounded four people. It's painful to see that this has happened all over again. In parts of the world that ban or strictly regulate gun ownership, including Britain and much of the rest of Europe, knives and other types of blades are often the weapons of choice used in crimes. Many end up in the hands of children, as they can be cheap and easy to get. Although the number of fatal stabbings has mostly held steady in

Hope fading for 44 workers missing days after S Africa building collapse

Hope was fading Friday for 44 construction workers buried for days in the rubble of a building that collapsed in South Africa, with authorities saying rescuers are now faced with the challenge of moving thousands of tons of concrete with heavy machinery to see if there are any more survivors. The death toll rose to nine after a worker who was in critical condition died in the hospital, authorities said. Of the 28 workers rescued from the site, 21 were in critical condition or had life-threatening injuries following Monday's collapse of the five-story apartment complex that was under construction. With fears that the final death toll could exceed 50, authorities in the city of George on South Africa's south coast said large earth-moving equipment had arrived and rescue teams were removing huge slabs of concrete and rubble to reach deeper into the wreckage. City authorities said it was still a rescue rather than a recovery operation, but no survivors have been located or brought out

Six die as heavy rain, thunderstorms lash southern districts of West Bengal

Six people died in thunderstorms in south Bengal on Monday, as heavy rain drenched Kolkata and other districts in the region, parched under the scorching sun for several days, officials said. A Disaster Management Department official said six people, including a married couple, died in different districts of south Bengal, including in Nadia, Purulia and Purba Bardhaman district. Suburban train services on the Sealdah-Canning line of Eastern Railway's Sealdah division were affected for over an hour, as plantain leaves fell on an overhead electric traction wire during a thunderstorm, an official said. Train services were affected from 8 pm to 9.15 pm, he said. A few Kolkata-bound flights from other destinations had to be diverted due to bad weather, Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources said Inclement weather forced three incoming flights to Kolkata two from Delhi and one from Bagdogra to be diverted to other airports, they said. A Kolkata to Ranchi flight had to return to th

S Korea's parliament approves independent probe of 2022 Halloween crush

South Korea's parliament on Thursday approved legislation mandating a new, independent investigation into the 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 159 people. The single-chamber National Assembly passed the bill by a 256-0 vote. It will become law after it is signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol and promulgated by his government agency steps that are considered formalities because the president and his ruling party already agreed on the legislation. The bill is meant to delve into the root cause of the crush, details about how authorities handled the disaster and who should be blamed for it. It also envisages the creation of a fact-finding committee with nine members that would independently examine the disaster for up to 15 months. Once the committee determines who is responsible and who should face charges, it would report them to the government's investigation agencies. The agencies would then conclude investigations of the suspects within three months, according to the ...

14 killed in Israel's operation in West Bank: Palestinian health ministry

According to residents, Israeli forces have left the immediate area. However, they continue to remain present in the nearby city of Tulkarm

Death toll from 4 days of rains rises to 63 in Pak, more rain likely

Lightning and heavy rains led to 14 deaths in Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday, bringing the death toll from four days of extreme weather to at least 63. Most of the deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistan's northwest. Collapsing buildings have killed 32 people, including 15 children and five women, said Khursheed Anwar, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Authority. Dozens more were also injured in the northwest, where 1,370 houses were damaged, Anwar said. The eastern province of Punjab has reported 21 lighting- and collapse-related deaths, while Baluchistan, in the country's southwest, reported 10 dead as authorities declared a state of emergency following flash floods. On Wednesday, Baluchistan was bracing for more rains amid ongoing rescue and relief operations. Heavy rains also came down on the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Pakistan is seeing heavier rain in April due to climate change, said Zaheer Ahmed Babar, a senior official at th

Hundreds of houses, plots flooded in Russia's Kurgan: Emergency ministry

In the city of Kurgan, the region's administrative centre, power was cut off, affecting about 1,500 residents, local officials said late on Monday

6 security personnel, 12 militants killed in separate incidents in Pakistan

Six security personnel, including a senior police officer, died while 12 militants were killed in separate terror incidents and security operations in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces in the past two days, officials said on Sunday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan armed forces, said in the Balochistan province, four militants were killed in two separate incidents. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), eight militants were killed in the Kot Sultan area of Kulachi tehsil in Dera Ismail Khan district when security forces carried out an operation against them, the ISPR said. The security forces recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives from the slain militants, it added. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Lakki Marwat, a DSP and two cops were killed and a constable was injured by armed miscreants in two separate incidents on Friday night, officials said. The officials said DSP Gul Muhammad, along with other policemen, had set up a

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv, 4 dead, 12 wounded

Russian troops launched waves of Shahed drones against the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight, killing four people and wounding 12, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Thursday. Russia attacked Ukraine's second-biggest city with at least 15 drones, some of which were shot down by air defense. Three rescuers were killed when Russia struck a multistory building damaged in an earlier strike. Six people were wounded at that location. Another 14-story building was hit by a drone, killing a 69-year-old woman. Kharkiv has become a frequent target for Russian troops in recent weeks. The eastern city is close to the border with Russia and has been hit with both ballistic missiles and drones. A recent massive missile attack that aimed to significantly damage Ukraine's energy infrastructure plunged most of Kharkiv into darkness, and the situation there is still being stabilized. Each manifestation of Russian terror once again proves that the country-terrorist deserves only one thing a tribu

8 gunmen and 5 security force members die in clashes in Iran's southeast

Eight gunmen and five members of Iranian security forces were killed in clashes at two separate points in southeastern Iran, state media said Thursday. The official IRNA news agency said 10 other security force members were injured. It said the fighting erupted overnight in Sistan and Baluchistan province when gunmen opened fire on a Revolutionary Guard post in Rask town and a coast guard station in Chahbahar city, some 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. IRNA said six assailants were under siege and holding hostages at the two sites. It did not elaborate on the hostages, but it blamed the attacks on the militant group Jaish al-Adl, which allegedly seeks greater rights for the ethnic Baluch minority. The restive area, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving the militant group, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces. In December, militants killed nearly a dozen police officers in an attack on a

More than 1,000 injured in Taiwan earthquake, missing hotel workers found

Buildings also shook violently in capital Taipei, but damage and disruption there was minimal

Israeli airstrikes near northern city of Aleppo inflicts casualties: Syria

The Syrian army says Israeli airstrikes early Friday near the northern city of Aleppo have killed and wounded several people and caused material damage. Syrian state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the Israeli strikes coincided with drone attacks by Syrian insurgent groups on civilians targets in Aleppo and its suburbs. It did not give an exact numbers for the casualties. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli strikes hit missile depots for Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group in Aleppo's southern suburb of Jibreen near the Aleppo International Airport. It added that dozens of soldiers were killed or wounded in the strikes. The Observatory said explosions were still heard two hours after the strikes. There was no immediate statement from Israeli officials on the strikes. Israel frequently launches strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria but rarely acknowledges them. On Thursday, Syrian state media reported .