Many die as Vietnam boat capsizes
Most of the tourists were from the capital, Hanoi, local newspaper VnExpress reported. There was no official announcement on the nationality of the tourists as emergency crews kept looking for survivors. Rescue teams found 11 survivors and recovered 27 bodies, eight of them children, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said, citing local authorities.
Storm Wipha, the third typhoon to hit the South China Sea this year, is projected to make landfall along Vietnam's northern coast early next week. The weather linked to the storm also disrupted air travel. Noi Bai Airport said nine arriving flights were diverted to other airports, and three departing flights were temporarily grounded on Saturday. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Italy creates AI assistant to help assess landslide
ROME: More than a million people in Italy live in areas at high or very high risk of landslides and climate change is likely to lead to more of them, a public research body said on Wednesday, announcing a new AI assistant to help them assess the risk. Climate change is increasing the frequency of stronger storms, amplifying risks of landslides and floods and spreading them to areas that were historically less exposed, environmental research and protection institute ISPRA said. The share of land exposed to serious landslide risks rose to 9.5 per cent last year from 8.7 per cent in 2021, it said, with about 2.2 per cent of the population, or about 1.3 million people, living in these areas. 'Italy remains among the European countries most exposed to the risk of landslides,' the institute said, mentioning recent deadly natural disasters such as the 2022 landslide on the island of Ischia off Naples and the floods in Emilia-Romagna in 2023. The new AI assistant would help users navigate the existing IdroGEO public platform of maps and updated data on instability, providing information and answering questions, the institute said. — Reuters
Observer
4 days ago
- Observer
Portugal battles three large wildfires
CANELAS: More than 1,300 firefighters backed up by a dozen waterbombing planes battled three big wildfires in central and northern Portugal on Tuesday, with authorities putting most of the country on red alert for fires after weeks of hot weather. In the Arouca area, some 300 km north of Lisbon — where the largest of the fires has been raging since Monday -the civil protection service evacuated several dozen villagers from their homes and closed the scenic trails of Passadicos do Paiva, a popular tourist attraction. "It's desperate to see this ... we need help, we need air support," said Rafael Soares, a resident of the village of Canelas, recalling a devastating wildfire last September which burned 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of forest near Arouca. He blamed the fires on droughts linked to climate change that have left the area's forests bone-dry. Further north, a wildfire has been raging since Saturday in the Peneda-Geres national park near the Spanish border, enveloping nearby villages in thick smoke that led to orders for residents to stay at home on several occasions. Spain sent several waterbombing aircraft to help control the flames in the area. Three wildfires were raging in Spain's region of Castile and Leon early on Tuesday, the most severe one near Avila, about 100 km west of Madrid. People in the town of Mombeltran were ordered to remain inside due to the smoke. Hot and dry summers are common across the Mediterranean region, but more intense heatwaves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures around the globe. Turkiye has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and 10 firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province. At the weekend, several villages in Greece were evacuated and five people were injured in separate wildfires. — Reuters
Observer
22-07-2025
- Observer
Philippines flooding displaces thousands
Manila - Floodwaters driven by torrential rains ground life in the Philippine capital to a halt on Tuesday with tens of thousands evacuated from their homes and at least two people believed missing. Schools and government offices in Manila and the surrounding provinces were closed after a night of rain that saw the region's Marikina River burst its banks. More than 23,000 people living along the river were evacuated overnight, sheltering in schools, village halls, and covered courtyards. About 44,000 more were evacuated in the metropolitan area's Quezon, Pasig, and Caloocan cities. "Usually these people are from low-lying areas like beside creeks (feeding into the river)," according to Wilmer Tan of the Marikina rescue office, who said the river had reached 18 metres (59 feet) in height. An elderly woman and her driver were swept down a swollen creek as they attempted to cross a bridge in Caloocan, said John Paul Nietes, an emergency operations centre assistant supervisor. "Their car was recovered last night. The rescue operation is continuing, but as of today, they haven't found either of them," he said. "The car window was broken, so the hope is that they were able to escape." Floodwaters were receding on Tuesday afternoon, though thousands of people remained unable to return to their homes. Ongoing monsoon rains have killed at least six people and left another six missing in the central and southern Philippines since Tropical Storm Wipha skirted the country on Friday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The Philippines' national weather service is predicting rain to continue through the end of the week. At least 20 storms or typhoons strike or come near the Philippines each year, with the country's poorest regions typically the hardest hit. Deadly and destructive storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change. "This is hard, because if the rain continues... the river will swell," Manila street sweeper Avelina Lumangtad, 61, told AFP as she stood next to a flooded thoroughfare. "The floods are dangerous."
