Tag Archives: disaster

Reuters reports: World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but they warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the Lebanese capital will be made available until the country’s authorities commit themselves to the political and economic reforms demanded by the people. Over 30 participants …

The Washington Post reports: Security forces in Beirut fired tear gas at protest crowds as mourning turned to anger over the huge blast that leveled parts of Beirut earlier this week and left a shattered city casting blame on the country’s leaders. Activists have called for protests in the central Martyrs’ Square later Saturday in further evidence of the rage …

The Associated Press reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun knew about the huge stockpile of explosive material stored at Beirut’s port nearly three weeks before it blew up, he said Friday, adding he had ordered action be taken about it at the time, although the top leader also said he had no authority over the facility. “Do you know how many …

The Moscow Times reports: Nearly 3,000 tons of a highly explosive fertilizer that caused Tuesday’s devastating blast in Beirut came from a ship owned by a Russian businessman, the Mediazona news website reported Wednesday, citing Lebanese television and members of the ship’s crew. Lebanese authorities in 2014 confiscated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Moldovan ship called the Rhosus, …

Al Jazeera reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared following a massive explosion in Beirut that killed at least 100 people and injured 4,000 others. The explosion on Tuesday sent shockwaves across the city, causing widespread damage as far as the outskirts of the …

The Associated Press reports: The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others that crashed into a rugged hillside outside Los Angeles was flying in foggy conditions considered dangerous enough that local police agencies grounded their choppers. The helicopter plunged into a steep hillside at about 9:45 a.m. Sunday with an impact that scattered debris over an area the size of …

The New York Post reports: A fire tore through an apartment building on the Upper East Side early Tuesday, injuring 26 people, including a 1-week-old baby and four firefighters, officials and reports said.  The fire erupted in a kitchen on the 24th floor of the 41-story building at 515 E. 72nd St. just before 2 a.m., officials said. The residents …

CNN reports: Ukraine is investigating multiple possible causes of Wednesday’s deadly jetliner crash that killed 176 passengers and crew shortly after takeoff in Tehran. Ukraine’s National Security and Defence council chief, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on Facebook that a meeting is taking place Thursday with Iranian authorities, where various causes behind the crash are “being studied.” These include the theory that …

Agence France-Presse reports: Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday, just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital’s main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board. The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: One person is dead and three are still missing after part of the Hard Rock hotel under construction in downtown New Orleans collapsed Saturday morning with what witnesses described as a rumble and giant cloud of dust. Multiple injuries have been reported, authorities said. One worker said about 45 people were working inside the building. …

San Diego’s Fox News affiliate reports: 34 people are dead following a boat fire off the Ventura County coast early Monday morning, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. Initial reports said the U.S. Coast Guard had launched multiple rescue assets in conjunction with local agencies to assist more than 30 people in distress on a boat near Santa Cruz …

Business Insider reports: The US’s top air-safety regulator has said the plane model involved in Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash, the second such disaster in five months, is safe to fly. The Federal Administration said in a Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC) on Monday evening that Ethiopian’s crash, which killed all 157 passengers on board, cannot yet be …

The BBC reports: An Ethiopian Airlines jet has crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all on board. The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya. It said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers. The crash happened at …

The Associated Press reports: At least 63 people are now dead from a Northern California wildfire, and officials say they have a missing persons list with 631 names on it in an ever-evolving accounting of the victims of the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century. The high number of missing people probably includes some who fled the blaze and don’t …

The New York Times reports: It is a measure of how frequent and deadly wildfires have become in California that identifying badly burned remains has become an area of expertise. Once again cadaver dogs have been summoned, forensic dental experts will follow and coroners and anthropologists are using their experience from previous wildfires to locate the victims. At least 48 …

The Sacramento Bee reports: An uncontrolled wildfire raced across the Butte County community of Paradise Thursday afternoon, destroying a large swath of downtown and sending residents fleeing on foot past burning homes, businesses and a local church. “The whole town’s on fire,” said Scott Lotter, a town councilman who evacuated with his family. “It’s pretty grim.” By Thursday evening, the …

The Albany Times-Union reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the limousine involved in Saturday’s deadly crash in Schoharie failed an inspection last month. Cuomo, talking to reporters Monday at New York’s Columbus Day Parade, also said the driver did not have the proper license to operate the vehicle. The limousine failed a state inspection last month and was not supposed to …

Reuters reports: A motorway bridge collapsed on Tuesday over the northern Italian port city of Genoa, killing dozens of people according to the local ambulance service, in what the transport minister said was likely to be “an immense tragedy”. A section of the bridge crashed down from a height of about 50 meters over a river and some railroad tracks …

ABC News reports: A tourist duck boat capsized in a lake near Branson, Missouri amidst powerful storms, killing at least 13 people, including children, Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said. The Thursday night accident also injured seven people and has left six others missing, officials said. A total of 29 passengers and two crew members were on board the amphibious …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Navy dismissed the commander of the Asia-based 7th Fleet on Wednesday after a series of warship accidents raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. A two-sentence statement said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to …