Tag Archives: disaster

NBC News reports: The Navy’s top admiral ordered the entire fleet Monday to take a one-day “operational pause” to make sure they are running their ships safely a day after the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker off Singapore. Admiral John Richardson gave the order as a search was underway for 10 American sailors assigned to the …

ABC News reports: A military transport plane crashed in Mississippi on Monday, killing at least 16 service members, the Marine Forces Reserve has confirmed. The Marine Corps KC-130 aircraft crashed in Leflore County, Mississippi — located about 85 miles north of Jackson — at around 4 p.m. local time, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The flight took off …

The BBC reports: The Grenfell Tower fire in London started in a fridge-freezer, and outside cladding and insulation failed safety tests, police say. The Metropolitan Police say manslaughter, health and safety, and fire safety charges will be considered. A total of 79 people are feared dead after the blaze destroyed 151 homes in the Kensington tower block and nearby. Meanwhile, …

The Associated Press reports: A deadly overnight fire raced through a 24-story apartment tower in London on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring 74 others, police said. Witnesses reported seeing residents throw babies and small children from high windows to people on the sidewalk in a desperate effort to save them from the flames. The inferno lit up …

The BBC reports: A fire has broken out in a tower block in London with reports that people are trapped in their homes. The fire in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road in White City broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The fire brigade said on Twitter they were responding to a fire on the Lancaster …

The Daily Mail reports: Several people have been killed after two explosions inside Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande gig tonight. Video footage showed people fleeing in tears from the venue after bangs rang out immediately after the concert finished. Bloodied concertgoers were pictured being helped by emergency services outside the gig and armed police were seen …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The death toll from a fire that tore through a converted Oakland warehouse during an electronic music show soared to 33 people on Sunday, and as emergency crews picked through the rubble they said they were sure the number would rise. Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said workers using excavators and …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: At least nine people were killed and a total of 25 people were unaccounted for after a fire tore through a music party at an artists collective in Oakland, authorities said. The fire ignited around 11:30 p.m. Friday night in a hulking warehouse at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard, in the Fruitvale neighborhood, while a …

CBS News reports: A chartered plane with a Brazilian first division soccer team crashed near Medellin while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, killing 76 people, Colombian officials said Tuesday. Only four people are believed to have survived. The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by a charter airline named LaMia, declared an emergency at 10 …

CNN reports: EgyptAir Flight 804 vanished from radar on its way from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard, the airline said Thursday. The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it lost contact overnight above the Mediterranean Sea, the airline tweeted. Although investigators are still trying to figure out what happened, French President Francois Hollande said he had been …

TIME Magazine reports: An environmental expert says evacuation of the area around Wednesday’s mammoth warehouse blast in the Chinese port city of Tianjin is the “main priority,” and warned of the explosion’s long term consequences. His words came as the death toll continued to rise, with at least 50 people dead and over 500 hospitalized, of which 71 are in …

The BBC reports: A massive explosion has hit China’s northern port city of Tianjin, reportedly injuring many people. According to Chinese state media, the explosion occurred when a shipment of explosives blew up at about 23:30 (16:30 GMT). Pictures and video shared on social media showed flames lighting up the sky and damage to nearby buildings. Latest reports in state …

Via NBC News: One of the conductors aboard the Amtrak train that derailed last week in Philadelphia has sued the rail carrier. Emilio Fonseca, of Kearny, New Jersey, filed the lawsuit Monday in Newark. It seeks unspecified damages. The complaint accuses Amtrak of “negligence and carelessness” in the May 12 derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200. …

Via the New York Times: Amtrak trains began rolling on the busy Northeast Corridor early Monday, the first time in almost a week following a deadly crash in Philadelphia, and officials vowed to have safer trains and tracks while investigators worked to determine the cause of the derailment. Amtrak resumed service along the corridor with a 5:30 a.m. southbound train …

Via the Hill: An Amtrak train that crashed outside of Philadelphia this week may have been the target of an attack. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday that the FBI had been called in to investigate the possibility that the train was hit by a bullet or some other object. According to the NTSB, an assistant conductor …

Via the New York Times: A check of Delta Air Lines fares at La Guardia Airport at 10 a.m. on Thursday found that a ticket on the 12:30 p.m. shuttle to Washington could be found — for $2,309. But a ticket on the noon shuttle cost $554. Even under ordinary circumstances, airfares can seem something of a mystery, but veteran …

Teabagistan is ablaze tonight after the engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia was identified as Brandon Bostian, an openly gay man who campaigned against Prop 8 while living in San Francisco and for gay marriage after moving to New York. Via Heavy: Brandon Bostian, 32, has been an engineer for Amtrak since December 2010, according to his …

Via the Wall Street Journal: An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least six people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. The speed limit in that section of track drops …

It’s ten hours later and transit officials have not yet announced a cause for last night’s Amtrak disaster in Philadelphia, which has claimed six lives at this writing. The crash occurred where the track curves through the Port Richmond neighborhood and it’s the site of a 1943 train crash that killed 79 passengers. That crash remains one of the deadliest …

British and German tabloids are claiming that the Germanwings pilot was “tormented” about being gay. From Britain’s Daily Star, which has more than twice the circulation of the Guardian: Lubitz’ relationship with his girlfriend is said to have broken down and it has been claimed that he was secretly homosexual. He was even taunted by pilot pals for previously being …