Latest news with #firebrigade
The Independent
11 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Ten guilty over Athens wildfire that killed 104 people as ‘lenient' sentences spark outrage
A Greek appeals court has found 10 individuals guilty of misdemeanour charges related to a devastating 2018 wildfire that claimed 104 lives. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, has sparked outrage among relatives of the victims of the blaze, which stands as the country's worst wildfire disaster in recent memory. The court affirmed a previous verdict from a lower court last year, while also ordering the conviction of four additional people on misdemeanour charges, including involuntary manslaughter, according to legal sources. Those convicted include former fire brigade officials and an individual accused of arson. However, eleven people, including regional governors, were acquitted. The sentences for those convicted are expected to be announced on Wednesday. The penalty for a misdemeanour may include a suspended prison sentence or a jail term with the option of paying a fine.. The blaze that ripped through the seaside town of Mati, about 27 km (17 miles) east of the capital Athens, in July 2018 killed 104 people and injured dozens. Most of those killed were caught in a maze of thickly-forested streets as they tried to flee in their cars." Such a horrible disaster so badly handled and it's being treated as a misdemeanour. That's far too lenient. It's sad," said Alexandros Papasteriopoulos, a lawyer representing relatives of the dead. Survivors and relatives released black balloons and held white roses during the trial to honour those killed. They shouted "shame" when the verdict was announced. The disaster cast a pall over the then-leftist Syriza government, with survivors accusing authorities of botching rescue attempts. Authorities dismissed the accusations, saying that erratic winds fuelling the flames meant there was no time for coordinated action. Devastating wildfires have become more frequent in Mediterranean countries. Scientists attribute their frequency and intensity to the increasingly hot and dry weather conditions linked to climate change.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Three dead after fire in elderly ward at Hamburg hospital
Three people have died after a fire broke out overnight at a hospital ward caring for elderly people in north German city's fire brigade said they were unable to reach the three victims during the rescue effort. They died at the fire at the Marienkrankenhaus was reported shortly after 220 emergency workers were dispatched to tackle the blaze and treat patients. More than 35 people were injured. Two people were taken to another hospital in the city for treatment. One person has life-threatening injuries, said the fire added 18 others had suffered serious injuries and another 15 people had minor of the injured were treated in the Marienkrankenhaus's emergency room by hospital the first firefighters arrived, a ground floor room at the hospital was already ablaze and the fire was threatening to spread to the room in other rooms came to their windows to tell firefighters they were unable to leave due to the smoke. The building has four fire brigade said they used turntable and portable ladders to rescue patients, several of whom were elderly and had mobility patients were helped out through corridors with the aid of fire escape hoods, a breathing apparatus used by fire brigades in smoke-filled were able to stop the flames spreading to other rooms in the hospital. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Five dead in Kuwait apartment block fire: official
KUWAIT: A fire in a residential building southwest of Kuwait City killed five people, the Gulf state's fire brigade said on blaze broke out in two apartments in the Rigga area, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the capital, said spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed bodies were found at the scene and two more people died from their injuries in hospital, he told others were injured, and Gharib warned the death toll could rise due to the severity of some of the investigation has been launched into the cause.
The Independent
24-05-2025
- The Independent
Police confirm mother and three children killed in north London house fire
Police have confirmed that a woman who died alongside three children in a house fire in Brent, north-west London, on Saturday (24 May) was the children's mother. The Metropolitan Police were called to assist the London Fire Brigade after the blaze broke out in Tillett Close, Stonebridge, in the early hours of the morning. A 43-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl, and two boys aged eight and four died at the scene. ' I can confirm a woman and three of her children died at the scene,' Superintendent Steve Allen said. 'The wider family has been informed and officers will continue to support them,' he added. Police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Telegraph
Woman arrested after 12 injured in German knife attack
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were injured in a knife attack in Hamburg on Friday. According to the German city's fire brigade, three people sustained life-threatening injuries and three others were seriously hurt. Six suffered minor injuries. Video footage posted on social media appeared to show a white woman, wearing a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, being arrested and led away from the scene by police officers. German police said they were not seeking other suspects. The attack happened during the evening rush hour on platform 13 at Hamburg Central train station. The motivation is currently unclear. German media reported that bloodstains could be seen on the ground, and that some victims were being treated on trains. Photographs from the scene showed one man being treated on the platform, while another showed a man being taken away on a stretcher. Traffic at the station was suspended on Friday evening, with a cordon set up around the scene of the attack. It comes after four people were injured in a stabbing at a bar in the city of Bielefeld on Sunday. The investigation into that attack was handed to federal prosecutors after the suspect told police officers who arrested him that he had jihadist beliefs. Germany suffered a number of knife and car-ramming terror attacks in the run-up to the federal elections in February.
