Foreign News
Multiple people killed and others missing after chemical explosion at US paper mill
Multiple people have been killed and injured and some are still missing after a major chemical explosion at a paper mill in Washington, authorities said.
The explosion occurred at 07:15 PDT (15:15 GMT) at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, 130 miles (210km) south of Seattle.
Investigators said in a news conference on Tuesday that 10 people have been injured and transported to hospital. Officials have not yet said how many people have died or are unaccounted for.
The explosion occurred due a “rupture of a tank containing white liquor”, the company said in a statement. White liquor is a highly corrosive chemical used in the paper-making process.
Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said there are an “unknown number of fatalities at this moment,” adding that officials have “confirmed that there are fatalities, but the exact number is undetermined”.
Nine of the people injured are employees at the factory, and one is a firefighter, Goldstein said. Their injuries range from “critical severe to minor”, and include burn and inhalation injuries. The company statement said there were “multiple critical injuries”.
The tank that ruptured holds about 80,000 gallons (300,000 litres), he said, and it was roughly 60% full when the explosion occurred.
The scene is stable, the chief said, but the public should stay away from the area as firefighting efforts continue. He said the fire does not pose any threat to the larger community.
“The scene remains in the recovery phase as emergency responders continue operations,” the Longview Fire Department said in a statement.
“No identifying information regarding injured or deceased individuals will be released at this time pending notification of family members.”
White liquor is an alkaline chemical containing sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said state ecology workers have been sent to the site to assist local officials.
“I’m deeply saddened to hear that there have been fatalities,” Ferguson said in a statement.
“My thoughts are with the workers and their families, and with the first responders.”
According to local media, the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility was also the scene of a major fire in July 2023, when piles of wood at the site burned for days.
The plant makes tissues, printer paper, cups, plates, cartons, and other goods, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner. It employees 1,000 people, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
[BBC]
A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Fenech, 44, was acquitted on Wednesday at the end of a jury trial. He had been tried on charges of complicity to murder and for the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.
If found guilty, Fenech could have faced life in prison.
Caruana Galizia’s family were seen weeping in the packed courtroom in Valletta after the businessman was cleared of both counts by an 8-1 margin following eight hours of deliberation by the jury.
“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the slain reporter’s family said in a statement.
“Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne’s life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.”
Fenech’s family members were seen celebrating the jury’s decision.
The killing of Caruana Galizia in October 2017 shocked Europe’s journalist community and set off a political firestorm in Malta, focusing international attention on its police and judiciary.
Dubbed a “one-woman WikiLeaks”, Caruana Galizia had exposed corruption at the highest level in the Mediterranean island country, shining a spotlight on links between Malta’s business and political elites. She was 53 when she was killed.
Prosecutors argued that Fenech had wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she was about to reveal information about him.
Fenech has denied the accusations. His defence instead pointed fingers at his one-time friend Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs.
Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination.
Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect. He has denied any role in the murder.
An independent inquiry in 2021 found that officials in Malta had failed to protect Caruana Galizia from threats to her life before her death.
[Aljazeera]
A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border
Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away
Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say
In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –
[BBC]
A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.
The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
[Aljazeera]
Sun directly overhead Galle, Angulugaha, Imaduwa, Telijjawila, Yatiyana and Tangalle about 12.08 noon today (07)
Showers above 50 mm are likely at some places in the Uva and Eastern provinces.
Harshitha’s composed knock seals Sri Lanka’s semi-final berth
‘Choka Malli’ slips out of country before travel ban
Dengue death toll rises to 73
Ranil accuses govt. of undermining democracy
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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