Page 17 - Death Toll

Indonesia evacuates about 6,500 on island of Flores after volcano spews ash

Indonesia has evacuated about 6,500 people on the island of Flores after Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano spewed thick clouds of brownish ash for the past days, authorities said on Monday. No casualties or major damage have been reported so far. The eruptions in East Nusa Tenggara province are part of hot gas spills that have become more frequent in recent days. The 1,584-meter (5,197 foot) mountain is one of the twin volcanoes the Lewotobi Laki-laki and Lewotobi Perempuan in the Flores Timur district. The volcano has erupted 40 times since Sunday, with columns of hot clouds rising 500-1,500 meters (1,600-4,900 feet) into the air. Residents in nearby villages were taken in by relatives or brought to evacuation centers as authorities raised the volcano's alert status to the highest level last Tuesday. Officials urge the local community, as well as visitors and tourists, to stay away from a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius around the eruption zone and be aware of the potential for co

India logs 375 new Covid-19 infections, active cases decline to 3,075

India recorded 375 new cases of coronavirus, while the number of active infections has declined to 3,075, the health ministry said on Sunday. Two deaths have been reported from Karnataka in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but cases began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. After December 5, a maximum of a single-day rise of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said. Of the total active cases, a large majority of these (around 92 per cent) are recovering under home isolation. "The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a surge in the hospitalisation and mortality," the official source stated. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incid

Japan PM Kishida visits earthquake-hit region Noto for first time

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Sunday the country's north-central region of Noto for the first time since the deadly Jan. 1 earthquakes to alleviate growing concern about slow relief work and the spread of diseases in evacuation centers. The magnitude 7.6 earthquake left 220 dead and 26 others still missing while injuring hundreds. More than 20,000 people, many of whom had their homes damaged or destroyed, are taking refuge at about 400 school gymnasiums, community centers and other makeshift facilities, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency report. Road damage has hampered rescue efforts, and though relief supplies have reached most regions affected by the quake, hundreds of people in isolated areas are getting little support. Additionally, in the hard-hit towns of Noto, Wajima and Suzu, elderly residents account for half their population, and many are facing growing risks of deteriorating health, officials and experts say. Kishida, in his ...

Riots in Papua New Guinea's 2 biggest cities reportedly leave 15 dead

The Papua New Guinea government worked to restore order Thursday after at least 15 people were reportedly killed during rioting and looting that left the country's two biggest cities in flames. The unrest began in the capital, Port Moresby, on Wednesday after hundreds of police officers, soldiers, prison staff and public servants walked off their jobs in protest over a pay dispute. The Papua New Guinea government attributed the pay cut to an administrative glitch. Similar riots also caused damage in Lae, the second-biggest city in the southwestern Pacific country. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that at least 15 people died in Port Moresby and Lae. An additional 180 defence personnel flew into Port Moresby on Thursday. Tensions in the country have risen amid high unemployment and increased living costs. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said Port Moresby was under stress and duress but that violence had eased. Police were not at work yesterday in the

Japan's New Year's quake death toll rises to 213; 8 die in shelter homes

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the western coastline of Japan on New Year's has killed 213 people as of Thursday. Eight of the deaths were at evacuation centers, where rescued people died from injuries and sickness. Such deaths weren't directly caused by the quakes, fires and mudslides. They happened in alleged safety. The pressures and stress of living in a place you aren't used to lead to such deaths, said Shigeru Nishimori, a disaster official in Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region. Some 26,000 people whose homes were destroyed or deemed unsafe are staying at schools and other makeshift facilities. Even minor rain and snow can set off landslides where the ground is loose from the more than 1,000 aftershocks that rattled the region for more than a week. Half-collapsed homes might flatten. Shinichi Kuriyama, director at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science, who has studied the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit northeastern Japan i

Pak officer wounded in attack on polio workers dies, death toll rises to 7

An officer, who was critically wounded in a roadside bombing that targeted police assigned to protect polio vaccination workers in northwestern Pakistan, died in a hospital on Tuesday, raising the death toll from the attack, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, to seven. Police said in a statement that at least three officers remained in critical condition after Monday's bombing in the district of Mamund, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, a competing claim late on Monday by the Islamic State group accused the Pakistani Taliban of falsely taking responsibility for the bombing. In the past too, the two militant groups which are both active in the region have issued competing claims. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Monday's bombing in Mamund happened after the government began another ro

Explosion at historic Texas hotel injures 21, scatters debris in Fort Worth

An explosion at a historic Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday blew out windows, littered downtown streets with large piles of debris from the building and injured 11 people, including one person who is in critical condition, authorities said. Investigators believe the blast was caused by natural gas, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Sara Abel, who was briefed by local police. Two people were in serious condition and the rest had minor injuries, authorities said at a news conference. Medics also treated four more people on the scene but did not take them to a hospital, said Desiree Partain of MedStar, which provides ambulance and emergency medical services in Fort Worth. The Sandman Signature hotel is in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center. Footage from news helicopters showed firefighters picking their way through the piles of drywall, shattered glass and mangled metal that coated the street outside the

Quake of magnitude 6.7 jolts Indonesia's Talaud Islands, no damage so far

An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck the Talaud Islands, Indonesia, on Tuesday, the National Centre for Seismology reported.The tremors were felt on January 9, at 02:18:47 IST at a depth of 80 km.According to the NCS, the epicentre of the quake was found to be at Latitude: 4.75 and Longitude: 126.38, respectively."Earthquake of Magnitude:6.7, Occurred on 09-01-2024, 02:18:47 IST, Lat: 4.75 & Long: 126.38, Depth: 80 Km ,Location: Talaud Islands,Indonesia," the NCS posted on X.Last week, an earthquake of magnitude struck 98 km WSW of Balai Pungut, Indonesia, on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.The depth of the earthquake, which occurred at 00:41:18 (UTC+05:30), was registered at 221.7 km.According to the USGS, the epicentre of the quake was noted at 0.709°N and 100.476°E, respectively.No reports of material damage have surfaced yet.

Thousands forced from homes by Japan quake face stress, at least 161 died

Thousands of people made homeless overnight are living in weariness and uncertainty on the western coast of Japan a week after a powerful earthquake caused at least 161 deaths and left dozens missing. The rescue effort since magnitude 7.6 New Year's Day quake has drawn thousands of troops, firefighters and police who picked through collapsed buildings Monday hoping to find survivors. Authorities warned of the danger of landslides throughout the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, where the quakes were centered. The risks were worsened by snowfall, which grew heavier over the weekend and continued into the new week. Fluffy white blanketed a landscape telling the story of the quake dark crumbled houses, ashen blocks of a city, highways with gaping holes and cracks. Of the deaths, 70 were in Wajima, 70 in Suzu 11 in Anamizu and the rest in smaller numbers spread among four towns. At least 103 people were still unaccounted for, 565 people were listed as injured, and 1,390 homes wer

India reports 605 new Covid-19 infections, active cases rise to 4,002

The number of people who have recovered from the disease has gone up to 44,481,341, an increase of 648 since Sunday morning

Survivors struggle to rebuild lives 3 months after Afghanistan earthquake

A 6.3 magnitude quake on October 7 killed and injured thousands of people in Afghanistan's west. Three months on, survivors are struggling to rebuild their lives. Some families are living in canvas-coloured tents in Zinda Jan district, the quake's epicentre in the province of Herat, where every home was flattened. People endure the winter conditions with the help of donations and their Islamic faith, but they're anxious about what lies ahead. Habib Rahman, 43, was watching TV at his father-in-law's home when the quake struck. The horror still rings in his ears. He can't get it out of his head. However many details he gave about that day would never be enough, he told The Associated Press. Every squat mud building in Zinda Jan collapsed within minutes. Fear, shouting, panic and shock swept through villages. People used their hands to pull the living and the dead from under the rubble. If we look at this soil and dust, we will go beyond crazy, Habib said. The children are ...

Death toll in Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts in Iran rises to 91

The death toll from a suicide bombing in Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has risen to at least 91, state TV reported Saturday. The TV quoted Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for the country's emergency services, as saying an 8-year boy and a 67-year-old man, who were wounded in the attack, have now died. Yektaparast added that there are 102 people still being treated in hospitals, of whom 11 are in critical condition. In Wednesday's attack, one suicide bomber detonated his explosives, then another attacked 20 minutes later as emergency workers and other people tried to help the wounded. The attack took place in Kerman, about 820 kilometres (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. It targeted a commemoration for Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 by a US drone strike as he led its expeditionary Quds Force. The intelligence ministry said Friday that one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik national. At least 11 people linked to the attack have been arrested.

Death toll rises to 62 following massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Japan

Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas two days after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area. The first 72 hours are considered crucial to save lives after disasters

Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities killing 5 and injuring at least 130

Ukraine's two largest cities came under attack early on Tuesday from Russian missiles that killed five people and injured as many as 130, officials said, as the war approached its two-year mark and the Kremlin stepped up its winter bombardment of urban areas. Air defences shot down all 10 of the Russian Kinzhal missiles, which can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, out of about 100 of various types that were launched, claimed General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's commander-in-chief. But other missiles got through in Kyiv and in Kharkiv, the provincial capital of the northeastern region. In Kyiv and its surrounding region, four people were killed and about 70 were wounded, while in the Kharkiv region, one person was killed and about 60 were hurt, the Interior Ministry said. The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is an air-launched ballistic missile that is rarely used by Russian forces due to its cost and limited stocks. The barrage fired on Tuesday was the highest number used in one attack since the .

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20 dead, scores injured in Japan after major earthquake topples buildings

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the quake caused widespread damage and he had set up a task force to help in rescue and repair operations

Violence-linked fatalities in Pakistan hit six-year high in 2023: Report

Punjab saw a 96 per cent rise in violence, though the number of fatalities was very low, followed by Sindh where the fatalities increased by 26 per cent

Fresh drone strikes on Ukraine after Russia promises retaliation for attack

Russia launched a fresh drone assault on Ukraine on Saturday night, after promising that strikes on the Russian border city of Belgorod earlier in the day would not go unpunished. The Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday that it had shot down 21 of 49 drones launched by Russian forces overnight. Twenty-eight people were wounded in an attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday. A central hotel, apartment buildings, kindergarten, shops and administrative buildings sustained damage, according to the regional prosecutor's office. In the Kyiv region that surrounds the capital, a Russian drone attack caused a fire to break out at a critical infrastructure facility, local officials said. They did not identify the facility further. The Russian attacks came after shelling in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 24 people, including three children. A further 108 people were wounded in the strike, regional governor Vyacheslav Glad

India reports 841 new Covid-19 infections, active caseload at 4,309

India has logged 841 new cases of COVID-19, the highest in 227 days, while the number of active cases of the infection have been recorded at 4,309, the health ministry said on Sunday. Three new fatalities due to Covid-- one each from Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar -- have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. India had recorded 865 new days on May 19. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but cases have again gone up after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website. According to the website, 220.67 crore do

21 killed in Russia's Belgorod following aerial attacks across Ukraine

Shelling in the centre of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 21 people, including three children, local officials reported. A further 110 people were wounded in the strike, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Russian soil since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine 22 months ago. Russian authorities accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial bombardment across Ukraine killed at least 41 civilians. Images of Belgorod on social media showed burning cars and plumes of black smoke rising among damaged buildings as air raid sirens sounded. One strike hit close to a public ice rink in the very heart of the city, which lies 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Ukrainian border and 415 miles (670 kilometers) south of Moscow. While previous attacks have hit the city, they have rarely taken place in daylight and have claimed fewer lives. Russia's Defence Ministry said it ...