Foreign News
Massive US crane to haul wreckage after deadly collapse of Baltimore bridge
The largest crane on the eastern US seaboard has arrived in Baltimore as part of a massive clean-up effort after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
Shipments in and out of one of the country’s busiest ports are suspended while the wreckage hangs over the cargo ship that crashed into it.
The search for the bodies of four workers remains on hold because of the dangers of diving amongst the wreckage.
Some $60m (£48m) in federal emergency funds will go towards recovery efforts.
President Joe Biden said he is headed to Baltimore next week to view the crash’s fallout and speak to federal efforts.
The port is a main economic generator for the state of Maryland and a vital artery for imports and exports of US and global trade.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said each stage of the recovery and salvage operation would be difficult. “We’re talking 3,000 to 4,000 tons of steel that’s sitting on that ship,” Mr Moore told reporters on Thursday.
The Dali container vessel – which is nearly as long as the Eiffel tower – remains on the water. Its 22-person crew, all Indian nationals, are reportedly still aboard.
The recovery has been further complicated by the amount of debris in the dark waters of the Patapsco River. Divers have been unable to see more than a foot or two in front of them.
The effort will be paid for by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is sending several officials to oversee the efforts. US Navy contractors will also join the efforts, and they will be joined by more than 1,100 engineering specialists.
The largest crane on the eastern US seaboard, which can lift 1,000 tons, is being erected at the site on Friday. The crane, called the Chesapeake 1000, was built in 1972 and is 191 feet (58 metres) long. It will be followed by a smaller crane on Saturday.
Those involved in the operation must figure out how to cut debris from the bridge into pieces so they can be lifted by the crane, officials said.
It must be done carefully to ensure none of the hazardous material held in shipping containers atop the Dali spills into the river.
Some of those containers stored sheen, which is used in paint. A few have already broken open, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said.
Authorities have deployed floating booms in an effort to corral any leaks.
Experts estimate it could take a month for the Port of Baltimore to reopen and years to rebuild the bridge. The incident investigation may take two years.
People in Baltimore are still reeling from the disaster.
(BBC)
At least 31 people have died after a powerful cyclone struck Madagascar, says the disaster authority in the Indian Ocean island.
Cyclone Gezani made landfall on Tuesday, hitting the island’s main port, Toamasina. Madagascar’s disaster management office said there was “total chaos” – reporting that houses collapsed in the impact zone, where the bodies were found.
Neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness as power lines snapped, while trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off.
“What happened is a disaster, nearly 75% of the city of Toamasina was destroyed,” the country’s military leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, told the AFP news agency.
“The current situation exceeds Madagascar’s capabilities alone,” he added.
The cyclone’s landfall is likely to have been one of the most intense recorded around the city in the satellite era, according to the CMRS cyclone forecaster on France’s Reunion island, AFP reports.
The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said many were killed when houses collapsed. Cyclone Gezani hit Toamasina – the country’s second-largest city – with winds reaching 250 km/hour (155 mph).
“It’s total chaos, 90% of house roofs have been blown off, entirely or in part,” the head of disaster management at the Action Against Hunger aid agency, Rija Randrianarisoa, told AFP.
Madagascar’s disaster management office has evacuated dozens of injured people and hundreds of residents from a district around Toamasina, home to 400,000 people.
Residents in and around Toamasina described scenes of chaos as the cyclone made landfall. “I have never experienced winds this violent… The doors and windows are made of metal, but they are being violently shaken,” Harimanga Ranaivo told the Reuters news agency.
Gezani is the second cyclone to hit Madagascar this year. It comes 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia killed 14 and displaced over 31,000 people, according to the UN’s humanitarian office.
Ahead of the cyclone’s arrival, officials shuttered schools and rushed to prepare emergency shelters.
Madagascar’s meteorological service said on Wednesday morning that Gezani had weakened to a moderate tropical storm and had moved westward inland, about 100km (60 miles) north of the capital, Antananarivo.
“Gezani will cross the central highlands from east to west today, before moving out to sea into the Mozambique Channel this evening or tonight,” the service said.
Cyclone season in the Indian Ocean around Madagascar normally lasts from November to April and sees around a dozen storms each year, AFP reports.
[BBC]
Nearly 127 million eligible voters are heading to the polls in Bangladesh, in a key test of the country’s return to democracy after a student-led uprising toppled longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
The vote is a direct contest between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a Jamaat-e-Islami led coalition of 11 parties, which includes the National Citizens Party (NCP), formed by youth activists instrumental in ousting Hasina.
Corruption, inflation, employment and economic development are the main issues deciding the election in the world’s eighth most populous nation.
Besides the parliamentary election, the country is holding a referendum on the National Charter 2025 – a document drafted by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, setting the foundation for future governance.
[Aljazeera]
An airline in Somalia has praised one of its pilots after he crash-landed his passenger plane, which had suffered a technical fault, on the shoreline next to the capital’s international airport with all 55 on board surviving.
Starsky Aviation said the pilot’s quick thinking was crucial in saving the 50 passengers and five crew.
The crew of the aircraft, a Fokker 50, reported a problem shortly after take off from Mogadishu on Tuesday morning and requested that the plane return, Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
It then touched down but failed to stop on the runway, overshooting the tarmac before coming to rest in shallow water, the CAA’s director Ahmed Macalin Hassan said.
It is not clear yet exactly what the issue was.
Footage posted on X appeared to show passengers leaving the aircraft and walking away from the wreckage on the shore of the Indian Ocean. No serious injuries have been reported.
The African Union’s mission in Somalia said UN and AU troops were “swiftly deployed” to help with rescue efforts. Somalia’s transport minister was also at the scene, its post on X added.
“We are relieved to confirm that all passengers and crew are safe. Investigations are under way to establish what caused the technical issue that led to the emergency landing,” Starsky spokesman Hassan Mohamed Aden said.
“The pilot’s swift and calm decision-making played a decisive role in ensuring the safety of everyone on board, and we commend him for how he handled the situation,” he added.
[BBC]
Powerful cyclone kills at least 31 as it tears through Madagascar port
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