Latest news with #rescueService
Reuters
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russian strikes kill 16 people in Kyiv, including two children
KYIV, July 31 (Reuters) - Russia launched waves of missiles and drones on Kyiv before dawn on Thursday, killing 16 people including two children, and wounding well over 100 others, officials in the Ukrainian capital said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking earlier in his nightly video address, put the death toll at 14 and said rescue operations were continuing into the evening. The Interior Ministry said more than 1,200 police and rescuers were tackling the aftermath. Ukraine's national rescue service said the toll rose to 16 after another body had been retrieved from underneath rubble. Zelenskiy said dozens remained in hospital. The rescue service said 16 of the injured were children, the largest number of children hurt in a single attack on the city since Russia started its full-scale invasion almost 3-1/2 years ago. In an earlier post on Telegram, the president said Russia had launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles. "Today the world has once again seen Russia's response to our desire for peace ... Therefore, peace without strength is impossible." City authorities announced a day of mourning to be held on Friday. Russia's Defence Ministry said it targeted and hit Ukrainian military airfields and ammunition depots as well as businesses linked to what it called Kyiv's military-industrial complex. Explosions rocked Kyiv from about midnight onward and blazes lit up the night sky. Yurii Kravchuk, 62, stood wrapped in a blanket next to a damaged building with a bandage around his head. He had heard the missile alert but did not get to a shelter in time, he told Reuters. "I started waking up my wife and then there was an explosion. My daughter ended up in the hospital," he said. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up air strikes in recent months on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war. Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow invaded in 2022. Kyiv and Moscow have held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year that yielded exchanges of prisoners and bodies, but no breakthrough to defuse the conflict. At one location in Kyiv, rescuers spent more than three hours reaching a man trapped in rubble by cutting through the wall of a neighbouring apartment, the Interior Ministry said. The man talked to the emergency services during the operation and was pulled out alive, it added. A five-month-old baby was among the wounded, with five children hospitalized, the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on national television. Schools and hospitals were among the buildings damaged across 27 locations in the capital, officials said. "The attack was extremely insidious and deliberately calculated to overload the air defence system," Zelenskiy wrote on X. He posted a video of burning ruins, saying people were still trapped under the rubble of one partially-ruined residential building as of the morning. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, sharply criticized Russia's "disgusting" behavior against Ukraine and said he planned to impose sanctions on Moscow if no agreement could be reached. Trump said he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia. He has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure. Trump said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Russia after his current trip to Israel. A senior U.S. diplomat, John Kelly, told the United Nations Security Council that Trump had made clear that he wants a deal to end the war by August 8. On Tuesday, Trump said Washington will start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia if Moscow shows no progress toward ending the conflict. "This is Putin's response to Trump's deadlines," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. "The world must respond with a tribunal and maximum pressure." The air force reported five direct missile hits and 21 drone hits in 12 locations. Ukrainian air defence units downed 288 drones and three cruise missiles, the air force added.
France 24
07-07-2025
- Climate
- France 24
Hiker in Alpine crevasse rescued... by a Chihuahua
The "extraordinary" rescue took place last Friday on the Fee Glacier above Saas-Fee in the southern Swiss Alps, the Air Zermatt rescue service said in a statement over the weekend. A man had been hiking on the glacier with his Chihuahua early Friday afternoon, when he suddenly plunged into an eight-metre (26-foot) deep crevasse, leaving the tiny dog alone on the edge. The man was carrying an amateur walkie-talkie and managed to call for help, but rescue workers long struggled to locate the site of the accident. "On site, the search for the collapse site proved difficult. The glacier surface was wide and the hole was barely visible," Air Zermatt, a regional rescue service in Wallis canton, said. But then one of the rescuers spotted a small movement on a rock: the Chihuahua had not budged from the edge of the crevasse. "Thanks to the dog's behaviour, the crew was able to locate the exact site of the accident," Air Zermatt said, adding that "rescuers abseiled down to the casualty and were able to save him". "It is fair to say that his behaviour contributed significantly to the successful rescue."
BBC News
03-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Multiple Hampshire fire crews called to flat fire in Petersfield
Firefighters have been called to a blaze in a building in fire and rescue service said it was called to Lavant Street, at 18:20 BST to reports of a flat from across the county have been using breathing apparatus, main jets and hose reel jets to get it under control, and there are eight fire engines at the cause of the fire is unknown, but the fire service said nobody has been injured and neighbouring properties have been evacuated. Local residents have been advised to keep doors and windows closed due to smoke in the vicinity, and avoid the area where possible. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Firefighters tackling recycling lorry fire in Exeter
Firefighters are tackling a recycling lorry which is on fire in Devon. Crews were called to Magdalen Street, Exeter at 06:32 and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the blaze involves rubbish inside a refuse lorry. A spokesperson said the hydraulic system of the vehicle had failed and crews were unable to access the rubbish compartment or tip the contents out.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Channel Island search and rescue issues summer warning
Channel Islands Air Search (CIAS) is urging people to take extra care on the coast as people experience the hot voluntary airborne search and rescue service, which operates in Channel Island waters, has taken to social media to warn to of the dangers the sea can hold for unsuspecting sunseekers. CIAS said it wanted to make sure everyone followed a few basic, but important tips - whether they were swimming, paddleboarding, boating or simply enjoying the views."It's essential to stay safe while soaking up the sun because we don't want your summer adventures to end in distress," said a spokesperson. The advice to swimmers included staying visible in the water by wearing bright swim caps or floats to be visible to potential were advised to check that their vessel was seaworthy and fully equipped before setting off across the waves, while telling someone your route beforehand would limit the potential search area should anyone get lost. Staying hydrated and avoiding overexposure to the sun, especially during physical activity, was another good way of ensuring a day out does not end in disaster. CIAS said it received callouts all year round at any time of day and responded to a record number last to incidents across 4,000 sq miles (6,437 sq km) of water, the team also revealed in its recent annual report that it had become twice as busy generally in one callout every 11.4 days, its missions ranged from locating missing people inland to overdue vessels at sea.
