Latest news with #rescueeffort
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Death toll from quarry collapse in Indonesia rises to 14
At least 14 people were killed after a quarry collapsed the previous day in Indonesia's West Java province, officials said on Saturday. More than two dozen people were trapped in the rubble when the Gunung Kuda quarry in Cirebon district collapsed on Friday. Rescuers pulled a dozen injured people and 10 bodies from the debris during a gruelling search effort. Advertisement They retrieved three more bodies late on Friday, and another worker died in hospital, bringing the death toll to 14, said the National Search and Rescue Agency in a statement. Five people have been taken to hospital with serious injuries. Local television reports showed emergency personnel, along with police, soldiers and volunteers digging desperately in the quarry in a steep limestone cliff, supported by five excavators, early on Saturday. Authorities said six to eight people are still believed to be trapped. Rescuers search for victims at the site of a collapsed natural stones quarry in Cirebon district, West Java province, Indonesia (Basarnas via AP) The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, and police have been questioning six people including the owner of the quarry, said local police chief Sumarni. Advertisement West Java governor Dedi Mulyadi said in a video statement on Instagram that he visited the quarry before he was elected in February and considered it dangerous. 'It did not meet the safety standard elements for its workers,' Mr Mulyadi said, adding that at that time: 'I didn't have any capacity to stop it.' On Friday, Mr Mulyadi said that he had ordered the quarry shut, as well as four other similar sites in West Java. Illegal or informal resource extraction operations are common in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to those who labour in conditions with a high risk of injury or death. Advertisement Landslides, flooding and tunnel collapses are just some of the hazards associated with them. Much of the processing of sand, rocks or gold ore also involves the use of highly toxic mercury and cyanide by workers using little or no protection. Last year, a landslide triggered by torrential rains struck an unauthorised gold mining operation on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 15 people.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
'How did you get here?' A large elephant seal is found lumbering along a South African street
A large elephant seal took a wrong turn and was seen lumbering along a street in a coastal town in South Africa early Tuesday, surprising residents and inspiring a rescue effort to get him back to sea. The two-ton seal, which an animal welfare group said was a young male, was making his way through a suburb of Gordon's Bay near Cape Town. Locals came out of houses and recorded videos. 'This is unreal. Hi, bro, how did you get here?' one woman asked. Police and a local security company attempted to contain the seal by parking patrol cars around him. He rested his huge head on the hood of one car and half-climbed over another before slipping free, crossing a road and carrying on up a sidewalk. The seal eventually stopped next to a shopping mall. Animal welfare officials worried he was too far from the ocean to find his way back and might become exhausted and dehydrated. They estimated he weighed around two tons (4,400 pounds). Elephant seals can grow to twice that size. A team of marine wildlife specialists and a city veterinarian sedated the seal and guided him into an animal transport trailer to be returned to his natural habitat at a nearby bay. The local Cape of Good Hope SPCA later posted a video on social media of the seal making his way down a beach and toward the ocean. 'Sea you later," the video said. ___
Associated Press
6 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
'How did you get here?' A large elephant seal is found lumbering along a South African street
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A large elephant seal took a wrong turn and was seen lumbering along a street in a coastal town in South Africa early Tuesday, surprising residents and inspiring a rescue effort to get him back to sea. The two-ton seal, which an animal welfare group said was a young male, was making his way through a suburb of Gordon's Bay near Cape Town. Locals came out of houses and recorded videos. 'This is unreal. Hi, bro, how did you get here?' one woman asked. Police and a local security company attempted to contain the seal by parking patrol cars around him. He rested his huge head on the hood of one car and half-climbed over another before slipping free, crossing a road and carrying on up a sidewalk. The seal eventually stopped next to a shopping mall. Animal welfare officials worried he was too far from the ocean to find his way back and might become exhausted and dehydrated. They estimated he weighed around two tons (4,400 pounds). Elephant seals can grow to twice that size. A team of marine wildlife specialists and a city veterinarian sedated the seal and guided him into an animal transport trailer to be returned to his natural habitat at a nearby bay. The local Cape of Good Hope SPCA later posted a video on social media of the seal making his way down a beach and toward the ocean. 'Sea you later,' the video said. ___ AP Africa news:
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Volunteers rush to aid of fellow mountain rescuer after fall
Fellow colleagues came to the aid of a mountain rescue volunteer after he fell and suffered a significant lower-leg injury while out training search dogs. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT) said it received a call for help from a man who volunteers for a neighbouring mountain rescue team, after he slipped on a slippery slab of rock in Brandlehow Woods, above Derwentwater, on injured man had slipped on a greasy rock, which KMRT said was "caused by the first rain in what seems like an age".A member of the rescue team described the call-out as "the day most Mountain Rescuers dread – being rescued themselves". KMRT were alerted to the incident by a member of the team who was on the training exercise with the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search dogs were subsequently taken back to vehicle, with fellow volunteers joining others in the rescue there was no shortage of help on four team members ultimately ended up at the scene - many of whom were already there, including dog-handlers and 'dog bodies' - volunteers who hide in the woods for the search animals to find. "On arrival, Keswick team provided medical assistance and stretchered the man back to the road for onward transfer to hospital," a KMRT spokesperson said."We wish the casualty a quick recovery and hope to see both man and dog back on the hill soon." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
