Ten people have been killed in several avalanches across the Austrian and Swiss Alps over the weekend. Tourists from New Zealand, China and Germany were among the dead at a number of different ski resorts. Austrian authorities put in place a level four avalanche alert – the second highest, following intense snowfall and wind in the area. Despite the warnings, ski resorts in western Austria have been filling up due to school holidays in Vienna. Austrian police announced five deaths on Sunday, including that of a 59-year-old man who was using a snow plough in the western region of Tyrol. … Continue reading Weekend avalanches kill 10 in Austria and Switzerland

More than 50 people have been killed in two separate travel-related accidents in Pakistan on Sunday. At least 41 people died when a bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in the south-west, while in the north-west at least 10 children drowned in a boating accident. All the dead recovered so far at the lake were aged between seven and 14. At the bus crash site, a local official said the bodies were “beyond recognition”. The crash occurred near the southern city of Bela, in Balochistan Province, when it was travelling to the port city of Karachi. Local official … Continue reading More than 50 die in two Pakistan accidents

The co-pilot of the ill-fated flight that crashed in Nepal on Sunday lost her husband in a plane crash 16 years earlier, it has emerged. Anju Khatiwada was co-piloting Yeti Airlines flight 691 when it smashed into a gorge near the tourist town of Pokhara, killing all on board in the country’s worst air disaster in 30 years. Her husband Dipak Pokhrel had also been co-piloting a Yeti Airlines flight when he died – and it was his death that spurred Anju to pursue a career in aviation. Distraught at her loss, alone with their young child, Anju’s grief became … Continue reading Update: Nepal co-pilot’s husband also died in plane crash 16 years previously

Hopes of finding survivors from Nepal’s worst air disaster in decades are fading, police say. “It’s unlikely there will be any survivors,” spokesperson Tek Prasad Rai told the BBC. Teams were finding body parts at the scene, he added. At least 68 people died when a flight from Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara crashed and caught fire on Sunday morning. It is still unclear what caused the crash. Mobile phone footage showed the Yeti Airlines flight rolling sharply as it approached the airport. There were 72 passengers and crew on board the domestic flight. A search and rescue … Continue reading Over 60 passengers confirmed dead in Nepal plane crash

A 42-year-old man shot seven members of his family before killing himself in the US state of Utah after his wife filed for divorce, police said. The family of eight were found dead inside a rural home in Enoch City on Wednesday night during a welfare check at the property. Police say the victims included the man’s wife, his five children and his mother-in-law. City manager Rob Dotson said the town of about 8,000 people was in shock. At a news conference on Thursday, city officials said 42-year-old insurance salesman Michael Haight had opened fire on his wife, 40-year-old Tausha, … Continue reading How a man killed his entire family after wife filed for divorce

At least 19 people have been killed and dozens injured in a fire inside a road tunnel in Afghanistan, local officials say. An oil tanker overturned and caught fire in the Salang Tunnel – which links the capital Kabul to the northern provinces – on Saturday evening. The blaze spread to other vehicles before it was put out the next morning. Pictures posted on social media showed several vehicles totally charred after the incident. “The fuel tanker exploded… I fell down. My clothes caught fire,” one witness, who was wounded in the tunnel, told Tolo news. Some of the bodies … Continue reading 19 people dead with several dozens others injured in tunnel fire in Afghanistan

Rescuers in Indonesia are working through a second night to try to find survivors trapped following an earthquake in West Java. Officials put the death toll at 268, many of them children, with 151 still missing and more than 1,000 injured. Damaged roads and the vast size of the affected area are making it difficult to locate and help victims. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that 22,000 houses had been damaged, and that more than 58,000 people had taken shelter in several locations in the region. The 5.6 magnitude quake struck a mountainous region on Monday, causing landslides that … Continue reading Update: Indonesia earthquake death toll rises above 200

An earthquake on the main Indonesian island of Java has killed scores of people and injured hundreds, say officials. The 5.6 magnitude quake struck Cianjur town in West Java, at a shallow depth of 10km (6 miles), according to US Geological Survey data. Scores of people were taken to hospital, with many treated outside. Rescuers have worked through the night to try to save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings. The area where the quake struck is densely populated and prone to landslides, with poorly built houses reduced to rubble in many areas. The exact number of … Continue reading Over 50 people killed and many more injured in Indonesia earthquake

South Korea’s police chief has said their emergency response to the Itaewon crush was “inadequate” – the first acknowledgement from officials that they did not do enough to prevent it. Amid growing calls for accountability, Yoon Hee-keun said he felt “limitless responsibility about public safety” over what happened. He vowed a full investigation. Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also apologised for the incident that killed 156 people and injured 152 others. It happened on Saturday night as crowds gathered in an alley in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, to celebrate Halloween without restrictions for the first time since Covid-19. … Continue reading Shambolic: South Korea police admit response was inadequate over Itaewon deaths

Police in the Indian state of Gujarat have arrested nine people in connection with the collapse of a pedestrian bridge that killed at least 141 people. Four of those detained are employees of a firm contracted to maintain the bridge in the town of Morbi. Hundreds were on the structure when it gave way, sending people screaming for help into the river below in the dark. Hopes of finding more survivors are fading. Many children, women and elderly people are among the dead. The 140-year-old suspension bridge – a major local tourist attraction – had been reopened only last week … Continue reading Update: India police arrest nine over bridge collapse that killed 141people

Eight people were found dead Thursday in a burning Tulsa-area house in what was being investigated as multiple homicides, police said. The fire was reported about 4 p.m local time on Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 13 miles (20 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa. Broken Arrow police said that although the fire and the deaths were being investigated as homicides, they did not believe an immediate threat to the public existed. Police spokesman Ethan Hutchins said the scene was complex “with a lot of moving parts,” so no other information was being released immediately. Witnesses told … Continue reading 8 found dead in Oklahoma after house fire amid homicide fears

Turkey’s president has been criticised for linking the deaths of 41 miners in an explosion to “destiny”, saying such accidents “will always be”. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments triggered protests in Istanbul, with some describing the accident in northern Turkey as “a massacre”. Relatives of the dead claim they reported being able to smell gas for more than a week. Friday’s blast at the facility on the Black Sea also left 28 injured. Mr Erdogan made the remarks during a visit to the site in Bartin province on Saturday. “We are people who believe in the plan of destiny,” he told reporters, as … Continue reading President Erdogan’s ‘destiny’ comments criticised over miners deaths