Swiss mountain avalanche buries several people, police say
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Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
At least 25 rescued after boat capsizes in Nigeria, dozens presumed dead
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Aug 19 (Reuters) - At least 25 people have been rescued and 25 others are still missing two days after a boat carrying about 50 passengers capsized in Nigeria's northwestern Sokoto State, emergency services said on Tuesday. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 25 people were still unaccounted for and presumed dead. No bodies had been recovered as of Tuesday morning, the agency said in a statement. The vessel, which was transporting women, children, and motorcycles to Goronyo market, a hub for food produce in the region, overturned on Sunday, officials said. Boat accidents are common in Nigeria during the rainy season, due to poor safety regulations and overloaded vessels. Authorities blamed Sunday's accident on overloading and poor road infrastructure, which forces many residents to rely on water transport. Rescue efforts have been hampered by strong water currents from a nearby dam, said Zubairu Yari, chairman of Goronyo local government.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Harrowing moment Portuguese pensioner is dragged away as she watches her house burn in ferocious wildfires - as deadly blazes rage on in Iberian peninsular
This is the harrowing moment a Portuguese pensioner is dragged away by a fire marshal as she watches her house burn in ferocious wildfires, as deadly blazes continue to rage on in the Iberian Peninsular. Some 216,000 hectares of land has burned in Portugal and two firefighters have died as the country battles a number of 'uncontrollable' blazes. Meanwhile in Spain, where one in eight weather stations nationwide hit peaks of at least 42C, deadly wildfires have ravaged 348,000 hectares, bringing the death toll up to four. In the horrifying video, a screaming woman can be seen being dragged away by a fire safety marshal as she refuses to leave her home. As the pensioner urgently hoses down her garden, she is forced to evacuate the area, despite pleading with the warden to leave her alone and let he stay put. 'I can't leave my house! No! No!' she shouts, before begging: 'Let me go close my doors.' The marshal drags her away to safety, saying: 'There is no time!' In Portugal, the minister for internal affairs extended a state of alert until Sunday as 4,000 firefighters struggle to contain the wildfires raging on multiple fronts. In the horrifying video, a screaming woman can be seen being dragged away by a fire safety marshal as she refuses to leave her home The government in Lisbon activated the EU's civil protection mechanism on Friday with a special request for four Canadair water-bombing planes. The former mayor of a Portuguese town, Carlos Damaso, died around 7pm on Sunday as he fought a fire in Vila Franca do Deão. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Portugal's president, offered his 'heartfelt condolences'. The fire started in Pêra do Moço, in the municipality of Guarda, went out of control because of a lack of resources with villages eclipsed by flames and firefighters battling strong winds. There have been seven major blazes across the country, including in Tabuaço, Trancos, Sirarelhos, Sátão, Arganil, Vilarinho do Monte and Ermidas do Sado. In neighbouring Spain, raging wildfires tore through an additional 30,000 hectares of land in the west in less than 24 hours, satellite data showed Tuesday, but cooler temperatures have raised hopes of containment. Some 373,000 hectares have been scorched in Spain this year as of 7am Tuesday, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. The new national record is the equivalent of nearly half a million football pitches. The flames burn trees during a forest fire that started five days ago near the Aldeia de Piodao, in Arganil, and spreads to Silvares, Portugal, 18 August 2025 A fourth person was killed when a firefighting truck overturned on a steep forest road on Sunday. It marks the country's worst fire season since records began in 2006, surpassing 2022, when 306,000 hectares were consumed by flames. The government is deploying a further 500 soldiers to battle the wildfires that have torn through parched woodland during a prolonged spell of scorching weather - bringing the total to nearly 2,000 troops. The bulk of the devastation has come from massive fires that have been burning for more than a week in the northwestern provinces of Zamora and Leon, Galicia's Ourense province, and Caceres in the western region of Extremadura. Authorities have evacuated thousands of residents from dozens of villages. Since August 12, 31,130 have been displaced from their homes. On August 18, more than 40 outbreaks were recorded, with 26 active blazes in Castile and León, and 12 forest fires in Galicia's Ourense province. Residents said they were frustrated with what they regarded as poor preparation and limited resources for the fires, which are now in their second week. 'No one's shown up here, nobody,' Patricia Vila, 42, told AFPTV in the village of Vilamartin de Valdeorras in Ourense province of Galicia. 'Not a single damn helicopter, not one plane, has come to drop water and cool things down a bit.' Signs of the fires were everywhere in the province, from ashen forests and blackened soil to destroyed homes, with thick smoke forcing people to wear masks. Firefighters battled the flames as locals in just shorts and T-shirts used water from hoses and buckets to try to stop the spread. 'Homes are still under threat so we have lockdowns in place and are carrying out evacuations,' the head of the Galician regional government Alfonso Rueda said. Several major roads are closed, and rail services between Madrid and Galicia have been suspended. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was expected to visit fire-hit areas in Zamora and Caceres on Tuesday. He warned the country was at 'extreme risk' of new wildfires, particularly in the north and west. Spain was expecting the arrival of two Dutch water-dumping planes that were to join aircraft from France and Italy already helping Spanish authorities under a European cooperation agreement. A handout photo made available by the Spanish Minister of Defense shows a firefighter working to extinguish a forest fire in Oimbra, Ourense, Galicia, Spain, 19 August 2025 Firefighters from other countries are also expected to arrive in the region in coming days, Spain's Civil Protection Agency chief Virginia Barcones told public broadcaster RTVE. Meanwhile, Portugal is receiving air support from Sweden and Morocco. But the size and severity of the fires and the intensity of the smoke - visible from space - were making 'airborne action difficult,' Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles told TVE. 'It's a very difficult, very complicated situation,' she added. 'We had to run away because the fire was coming in from everywhere-everywhere, above us, below us, all around,' said Isidoro, 83, in Vilamartin de Valdeorras. National rail operator Renfe said it suspended Madrid-Galicia high-speed train services scheduled for Sunday due to the fires. Galician authorities advised people to wear face masks and limit their time spent outdoors to avoid inhaling smoke and ash. While officials warned that the blazes remain far from extinguished, the end of a 16-day heatwave has improved conditions for firefighters. Maximum temperatures have dropped by 10 to 12 degrees Celsius and humidity levels have risen, the central government's representative in Castile and Leon, Nicanor Sen, said. 'These changes are facilitating and improving the conditions to gain control of the fires,' he told public broadcaster TVE. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the country had endured 24 days of weather conditions of 'unprecedented severity' with high temperature and strong winds. 'We are at war, and we must triumph in this fight,' he added. Officials in both countries expressed hope that the weather would turn to help tackle the fires. Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Scientists say that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness in parts of Europe, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. On Sunday, more than 4,000 firefighters and more than 1,300 vehicles were deployed, as well as 17 aircraft, the country's Civil Protection Agency said. The silhoutte of a Portuguese local is seen as he briefly turns his back to the fire that burns trees and vegetation behind him The scorched area of forest in Portugal so far this year is 17 times higher than in 2024, at around 139,000 hectares, according to preliminary calculations by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, a government body. Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania have also requested help from the EU's firefighting force in recent days to deal with forest fires. The force has already been activated as many times this year as in all of last year's summer fire season. In Turkey, where recent wildfires have killed 19 people, parts of the historic region that includes memorials to World War I's Gallipoli campaign were evacuated Sunday as blazes threatened homes in the country's northwest. Six villages were evacuated as a precautionary measure, the governor of Canakkale province, Omer Toraman, said.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
A decade after EUâs migrant crisis, hundreds still dying in Mediterranean
August 15, 2024, 2:27 a.m. A small rubber boat carrying 57 people who are trying to reach Europe from Libya is running out of fuel in the Mediterranean Sea. The passengers use a satellite phone to call an emergency hotline for migrants, but the connection drops before they can provide their location coordinates. 2:39 a.m. The passengers call back and provide a location about midway between Libya and the closest European territory, the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to Alarm Phone, the charity that runs the hotline. It has been nearly 23 hours since the passengers began their journey. They say they are tired and have not eaten since the previous morning, a timeline provided by Alarm Phone shows. 3:09 a.m. The passengers call the hotline again. Their boat has stopped, and they have no more fuel, they say. They are now adrift in the Mediterranean, a vast expanse of water where tens of thousands of migrants have disappeared over the past decade. An Alarm Phone volunteer urges the passengers to remain calm and try starting the engine again. It still won't start.
