Headline
10 Die As Church Roof Collapses In Mexico
Published
8 months agoon
By
EditorRescue workers search for survivors amid debris after the roof of a church collapsed during a Sunday Mass in Ciudad Madero, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. The Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tampico said the roof caved in while parishioners were receiving communion. (Jose Luis Tapia/El Sol de Tampico via AP)
No fewer than 10 people, including three children, were killed when the roof of a church fell in northern Mexico.
The collapse occurred on Sunday afternoon local time as around 100 people were attending a baptism at Santa Cruz church in Ciudad Madero, in Tamaulipas state, Mexico.
Sixty people were injured, at least two of them seriously, and dozens were trapped underneath the rubble, BBC said.
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Local residents rushed to the building with shovels and pickaxes to try to free those trapped.
Search and rescue teams have since arrived at the scene and two cranes are on site to remove the debris.
The governor of Tamaulipas has said that all of those missing have been accounted for.
Rescue workers used thermal imaging cameras to ensure no one remained under the rubble.
It is not yet clear what may have caused the collapse but the mayor of Ciudad Madero said it was probably due to “structural failures”.
READ ALSO: Gunmen Kill Seven At Water Park In Central Mexico
Ángel Vargas, the priest who was celebrating the baptisms when the collapse occurred said that a day of celebration had turned into a tragedy.
“They came to search for heaven for the little ones and found eternity. I want the families to find peace. All of this is unfathomable.”
Local journalist Franc Contreras told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme that the collapse happened at a key moment in the service.
“People were lined up to take the communion – of course that’s sort of the climax of the Catholic Mass – and that’s when the roof came down on top of them; bricks, concrete, and of course steel support structures coming down on top of the people,” he said.
He added that according to Red Cross officials the roof came down on pews in the church, allowing the possibility that anyone trapped there could survive in air pockets.
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Headline
Iran President Had ‘Lot Of Blood On His Hands’ – White House
Published
10 hours agoon
May 20, 2024By
EditorIran President Ebrahim Raisi had a “lot of blood on his hands”, the White House said on Monday despite Washington offering condolences after his death in a helicopter crash.
“This was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, saying Raisi was responsible for “atrocious” rights abuses in Iran and had supported regional proxies including Hamas.
Kirby said, however, that “as in any other case, we certainly regret in general the loss of life and offered official condolences as appropriate.”
READ ALSO: Iran Declares 5 Days Of Mourning Over President Raisi’s Death
Earlier, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced on Monday five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.
Headline
Iran Gets Interim President After Raisi’s Death
Published
19 hours agoon
May 20, 2024By
EditorIran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber to assume interim duties after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash a day earlier.
“In accordance with Article 131 of the constitution, Mokhber is in charge of leading the executive branch,” said Khamenei in a statement, adding that Mokhber will be required to work with the heads of legislative and judicial branches to prepare for presidential elections “within a maximum period of 50 days”.
Recall that President Raisi was confirmed dead on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.
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Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.
Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.
Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.
“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.
State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.
READ ALSO: Iran Declares 5 Days Of Mourning Over President Raisi’s Death
Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.
Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced a five days of mourning for President Raisi.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.
Headline
UK Threatens To Deport Physically-challenged Nigerian After 38 Years
Published
19 hours agoon
May 20, 2024By
EditorThe United Kingdom has threatened to deport a physically-challenged Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, over an alleged forged entry stamp in his passport.
George who has lived in the UK for 38 years, after he left Nigeria at the age of 24 in 1986, according to the Guardian UK.
The 61-year-old Nigerian has no criminal convictions and made several applications for leave to remain in the UK, which the Home Office has rejected, most recently on 7 May.
George’s case became the second African facing a huge disappointment with the UK Home Office after spending several years in Britain.
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Vanguard reported last week that a 74-year-old Ghanaian Nelson Shardey, who has resided in the UK since 1977, was refused indefinite leave to remain despite being in the country for most of his adult life.
As the case of the Nigerian, he has never left the UK and has no criminal convictions, with the reports of having two strokes, which left him with problems with speech and mobility in 2019.
When George arrived, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Rishi Sunak is the ninth to hold office since George has lived in the UK.
He has endured many periods of homelessness and disclosed he has lost count of the number of friends who have given him shelter over the years, adding that he no longer has any close family in Nigeria.
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The Guardian UK said in 2005, his previous solicitors submitted a forged entry stamp in his passport and have subsequently been reported to the police and the legal regulatory bodies.
George told the Guardian he knew nothing about the passport stamp until many years later. His current lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, cited his poor previous legal representation as the reason for George’s problems.
In his most recent refusal, Home Office officials said: “Unfortunately this is not something that is considered an exceptional circumstance.”
READ ALSO: List Of Persons On Board Iranian President’s Missing Helicopter
Kandiah has lodged an appeal against the latest refusal.
A previous Home Office rejection of his case states: “It’s open to your family and friends to visit you in Nigeria.”
George said, “I don’t know how many different sofas I’ve slept on – too many to count. I don’t have my life, living the way I’m living now. My health problems since I had my stroke are my biggest worry. All I’m asking for is some kindness from the Home Office.”
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Iran President Had ‘Lot Of Blood On His Hands’ – White House
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