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☆ Nigeria: 21 people die as school building collapses as students sit exam
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Benjamin Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Twenty-one people died after a school building collapsed in central Nigeria while students were sitting an exam in what local authorities called an “avoidable tragedy.”The two-story building collapsed in the city of Jos and saw a further 30 people hospitalized, according to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). NEMA said that students were amongst those who died in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, without providing an exact number. Around 120 people were trapped when the building collapsed, according to Plateau State government. The governor of Plateau State, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, said the building collapsed as students were sitting an exam. Building collapses are common in Nigeria due to lax construction standards and poor quality materials.

Persons: ”, NEMA, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, Mutfwang Organizations: CNN, Emergency Management Agency, Plateau, St . Academy School Locations: Nigeria, Jos, Plateau State, ”

Residents in the southwestern state of Oyo’s densely populated Ibadan city heard a loud blast at about 7:45 p.m., causing panic as many fled their homes. By Wednesday morning, security forces cordoned off the area while medical personnel and ambulances were on standby as rescue efforts intensified. Preliminary investigations showed the blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations, Oyo Gov. Seyi Makinde told reporters after visiting the site in the Bodija area of Ibadan. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesIt was not immediately clear who stored the explosives, and no arrest has been announced.

Persons: Seyi Makinde, ” Makinde, Saheed Akiode, Makinde, Anthony Adejuwon, ” Adejuwon Organizations: Emergency Management Agency, Associated Press, ”, Urban Alert Locations: ABUJA, Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo, Bodija, “, trooped

☆ New Zealand begins criminal trial over White Island volcanic eruption that killed 22
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An aerial view of the Whakaari, also known as White Island volcano, in New Zealand, December 12, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File PhotoWELLINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - Tour booking agents and the managers of an island in New Zealand where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people, mostly tourists, in 2019 failed to properly prepare and warn visitors of the risks, prosecutors said at the start of a criminal trial on Tuesday. There were 47 people on the island when the volcano erupted, many of whom were badly burnt by searing gas and ash. Defence lawyers said their clients were not responsible for the health and safety of those on the island as that was the responsibility of others. The judge-only trial is scheduled to take 16 weeks with a number of victims from the eruption due to provide evidence.

Persons: Jorge Silva, Kristy McDonald, ” McDonald, “, Lucy Craymer, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, National Emergency Management Agency, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Australia, U.S, Malaysia, White, Whakaari, Whakatane, North

Hong Kong CNN —A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific on Friday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, triggering a tsunami warning for nearby nations including Vanuatu, Fiji and Kiribati. The US National Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for coasts located within 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the epicenter which lay between Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Tsunami waves reaching up to 1 meter are possible along some coasts of Vanuatu, according to the US National Tsunami Warning Center, downgrading an earlier assessment that said waves could be 3 meters high. Smaller waves below 0.3 meters could be expected in Fiji, Kiribati and New Zealand’s remote Kermadec Islands, the warning center added. New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency tweeted that it is assessing whether the quake “poses any tsunami threat to New Zealand.”The quake was earlier reported to be at 7.7-magnitude but has since been revised up.

☆ Nightmare in Sudan: African expats struggle to find way out
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Thousands piled into buses and trucks for the 800 km (500 miles) journey by road from Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea to board ships. He had to wait four more days for transport to Port Sudan, an overnight trip. After a week, word reached them that there would be transport leaving from their embassy for Port Sudan. RSF fighters stopped the family along the way but let them pass when he said he was looking for food for his son. From Port Sudan, they travelled via cargo ship to Saudi Arabia.

☆ How do you lose a radioactive capsule? Australian investigators are wondering too
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —The discovery of a tiny lost radioactive capsule beside a remote highway in Western Australia raises many questions – not least how it escaped layers of radiation-proof packaging loaded onto a moving truck. Under the Radiation Safety Act 1975, only specially trained and licensed operators can package radioactive substances, but different rules apply to contractors hired to transport it, Steen said. “Any transport company can transport radioactive material provided they have got the license to do so,” she said. Staff from the National Emergency Management Agency, the Australian Nuclear and Science Technology Organization and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency also took part. This time, it traveled in a convoy of enclosed white vehicles – with big stickers warning of the presence of a radioactive substance.

☆ Dozens are killed in Colombia after mudslide buries bus
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A mudslide unleashed by torrential rain buried a bus and two other vehicles in central Colombia, killing at least 27 people and leaving others trapped as rescuers tried to reach them in the wreckage on Monday. The mudslide late Sunday divided a highway in two in the town of Pueblo Rico in the district of Risaralda. “Solidarity with the victims’ families, they’ll have the complete support of the national government,” Petro added as he confirmed the death toll. The public bus was carrying more than 20 people and was left buried in the wreckage of the highway. The town had been under a mudslide threat due to heavy rains caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon, according to Colombia’s national emergency management agency.

☆ Hurricane Nicole barrels into Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nicole was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane as it thrashed the Bahamas on Wednesday. It was packing sustained winds of up to 75 mph (120 kph) as it made landfall along the east coast of Florida north of Miami, according to the National Hurricane Center. read moreThe hurricane center also issued storm-surge advisories for much of Florida's Atlantic coast, warning that wind-driven waves would wash over beaches and rush inland to flood low-lying areas well beyond the shore. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. 'LAST OPPORTUNITY'[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022.

☆ Hurricane Nicole bears down on Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloMIAMI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Hurricane Nicole closed in on Florida's Atlantic shoreline early on Thursday with a brew of heavy downpours, fierce winds and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that threatened coastal areas still reeling from the last major storm six weeks ago. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. Authorities warned, however, that Nicole still posed a formidable threat, especially to structures and coastal foundations weakened by Ian. "We have had a lot of flooding within the last couple of storms," Leanne Hansard, 53, a Daytona Beach resident, said as she was boarding up windows to her family's insurance office.

Nicole, newly classified as a hurricane, was packing sustained winds of up 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) as it made landfall on Grand Bahama Island, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. Grand Bahama, Bimini and the Berry Islands in the northwest corner of the island nation remained under a hurricane warning. As the storm closed in earlier in the day, some Bahamas residents fled their homes amid fierce winds and flooding. Storm surge caused widespread devastation to Florida's Gulf Coast when the last major storm, Hurricane Ian, crashed ashore there on Sept. 28, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage and claiming more than 140 lives. Several counties along the Florida coast issued mandatory orders and voluntary evacuation advisories for homes near the shore and on barrier islands.

CNN —The death toll from the worst flooding Nigeria has seen in a decade has passed 600 people, the country’s humanitarian affairs ministry tweeted on Sunday. NEMA said the release of excess water from a dam in neighboring Cameroon had contributed to the flooding. While many parts of Nigeria are prone to yearly floods, flooding in certain areas has been more severe than the last major floods in 2012, a Red Cross official in Kogi told CNN last week. Video Ad Feedback NASA images show decimating reach of worst flood this region has seen in a decade 02:19 - Source: CNNNigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Umar Farouq warned Sunday that more flooding was likely and urged regional governments to prepare accordingly. The country will soon implement its National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, aimed at improving coordination of the flood response efforts.

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —More than 1.4 million people have been displaced and about 500 people have died in some of the worst flooding Nigeria has seen in a decade, the country’s humanitarian ministry said Wednesday. In parts of Kogi and Anambra, floods had risen as high as rooftops. According to the humanitarian ministry, flooding this year was similar to Nigeria’s last major flooding in 2012, which killed 363 people and displaced 600,000. Images captured by Nasa’s Landsat 9 reveal floodwaters having “inundated numerous communities” along the banks of both rivers and heavy destruction in Kogi state capital, Lokoja. The image further illustrates water having reached southern Kogi and northern Anambra state.

☆ Nigeria floods: 76 die in Anambra fleeing rising water levels
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

People stranded due to floods following several days of downpours In Kogi Nigeria, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Lokoja the capital city of Kogi state is experiencing the worse flood ever, and body is saying anything. In neighboring Nasarawa state, which is also grappling with flood water cascading down the River Benue, farmers are counting their losses from ravaged farmlands. Pictures from Kogi state flood. pic.twitter.com/frjiyBOYkr — Adenike Titilope Oladosu (@the_ecofeminist) October 5, 2022Climate activists are intensifying the call for climate finance to address Nigeria’s climate crisis.

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