Headline

New Year Stampede At Indian Shrine Kills Scores

Published

2 years ago

January 1, 2022

Twelve people were crushed to death in a stampede at an Indian religious shrine in the early hours of Saturday as tens of thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers, officials said.

The disaster unfolded in darkness at around 3:00 am (2130 GMT) on the packed route to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir, visited by millions every year as one of Hinduism’s most revered sites.

“People fell over each other… It was difficult to figure out whose leg or arms were tangled with whose,” survivor Ravinder told AFP by phone.

“I helped pick up eight bodies by the time ambulances arrived after about half an hour. I feel lucky to be alive but am still shaking with memory of what I saw,” he said.

Video footage showed terrified pilgrims clinging onto metal rafters to escape the rush and the blue lights of small minivan ambulances flashing in the darkness as they tried to rush to hospitals through huge crowds.

Officials sought to blame an alleged altercation between two groups of youths and a rush of people for New Year’s Day.

“Police and officials… were quick to respond (after the altercation), and the order within the crowd was immediately restored,” local police chief Dilbag Singh told the Press Trust of India news agency.

“But by that time, the damage had been done,” he said.

But witnesses said that the authorities were badly organised, something denied by the shrine’s management.

Around a dozen people were also injured.

– Holy sites –
Millions of shrines dot Hindu-majority India’s cities, towns and villages as well as remote sites in the Himalayas and jungles in the south.

Some are hugely important pilgrimage sites, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has invested heavily in improving infrastructure to ease access.

Before the pandemic, every day about 100,000 devotees would trek up a steep winding track to the narrow cave containing the shrine to Vaishno Devi.

“There were at least 100,000 people there. No one was checking registration slips of the devotees,” said Ravinder, who only gave one name.

“I have been there many times but (I have) never seen such a rush of people,” he said.

“It was only when some of us managed to lift a dead body up with our hands that people could see (what was happening) and made space for moving the bodies out.”

Another witness who came from Ghaziabad outside New Delhi with a group of around 10 people said there was clearly “mismanagement”.

“If (they had known) that so much crowding was happening, they should have stopped the people,” the man said without giving his name.

– Horse or helicopter –
In 2008, two stampedes in as many months in India left more than 370 Hindus dead. Others in Kerala in 2011 and in Madhya Pradesh two years later each killed more than 100.

The shrine to Vaishno Devi, a manifestation of Hindu goddess Vaishnavi, is in the hills some 60 kilometres from the city of Jammu. It saw 8.5 million visitors in 2018.

People travel to the nearby busy town of Katra and then trek upwards for around 15 kilometres on foot or by pony — there is also a helicopter service — along a winding track lined with stalls as well as monkeys.

Once they have reached the cave entrance they often have to wait for hours.

Modi, wearing a saffron scarf, rode a pony up to the shrine shortly before being elected in 2014.

He said on Twitter that he was “extremely saddened” by the tragedy.

AFP

Headline

Obesity’: Father Forced 6-year-old To Run On Treadmill, Son Dies [VIDEO]

Published

1 hour ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

A disturbing video has emerged showing an accused “killer” father forcing his 6-year-old son to run on a treadmill because the child was “too fat”.

Christopher Gregor, 31, appeared in court Tuesday, April 30 to stand trial for allegedly murdering his son Corey Micciolo in 2021. He faces life in prison if convicted.

During the trial, the Superior Court in New Jersey was shown surveillance video of Gregor forcing Corey to run on a treadmill after the boy fell off multiple times due to the exercise machine’s excessive speed.

Gregor and his son were seen on March 20, 2021, entering the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness center, where the boy was promptly placed on the treadmill and began running, according to a video, obtained by CourtTV.com.

Footage captured Gregor walking up to the treadmill to increase the speed and raise the incline of the track.

The sudden changes in speed and elevation were too much for the little boy’s legs, causing him to fall down and slide off the moving track.

Despite the son falling off, Gregor lifted and tossed him back onto the treadmill, which forced the child’s legs to fold backwards as the father seemingly clamped his teeth into Corey’s head.

The boy gets back on, but again falls off and continues to struggle to remain on the machine, eventually leading the father to decrease both the the speed and incline.

The boy’s mother, Bre Micciolo, was the first witness to take the stand and was in tears as she watched the horrific video.

Days before her son’s death, Bre Micciolo reported the boy’s injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to the US Sun.

On April 1, she requested that Gregor take their son to see a doctor.

While at the appointment, Corey reportedly revealed his father made him run on the treadmill “because he was too fat,” the outlet reported.

The next day, Gregor rushed the young boy to the hospital because the boy woke up from a nap stumbling, slurring his words, and experiencing nausea and shortness of breath, according to Court TV.

During a CT scan, Corey suffered a seizure, forcing medical staff to take life-saving measures, but he died.

An initial autopsy found Corey died as a result of blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.

Gregor was arrested in July 2021 on child neglect charges stemming from investigators reviewing the surveillance footage from the fitness center.

“Specifically by having (Corey) run on a treadmill and increasing the speed, causing (Corey) to fall, placing (him) back on the moving treadmill while appearing to bite his head, causing the said child to fall several more times,” an arrest warrant obtained by the outlet read.

In September 2021, a forensic pathologist determined Corey’s death to be a homicide as he suffered from chronic abuse including blunt impact injuries on his chest and abdomen with a laceration on his heart, left pulmonary contusion, and laceration and contusion of his liver.

Dr Thomas Andrew believes Corey suffered an acute traumatic injury to the heart four to 12 hours before his death, according to Court TV.

Gregor was arrested on March 9, 2022, for his son’s death but turned down a 30-year plea deal.

He is being held in the New Jersey Jail without bond.

NEW: Mother breaks down in court as she watches her son’s father abuse her child by making him run on the treadmill because he was “too fat.”
New Jersey father Christopher Gregor is accused of killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.
New footage shows the boy repeatedly face… pic.twitter.com/aVKknkOGd5
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 1, 2024

Headline

14-year-old British-Nigerian’s Death Raises Renewed Concerns Over Knife Violence In London

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The recent sword attack in Hainault, a suburban area in northeast London, has sparked renewed discussions about the ongoing issue of knife crime in the UK, particularly in the capital.

The young victim of the attack has been identified as Daniel Anjorin, a 14-year-old boy.

The Times reports that Anjorin, the son of a science teacher, went to school with Grace O’Malley-Kumar, the Nottingham knife-attack victim.

According to recent data from the Office for National Statistics, reported by Sky News, there has been a 7% rise in knife crime from December 2022 to December 2023. Over the past decade, there has been a significant 81% increase in this type of crime.

Knife-related crime rates in London and the West Midlands are among the highest in England and Wales.

The number of knife-related crimes reported by the Met Police increased by 20% between 2022 and 2023, while in the West Midlands, there was an 8% rise.

In 2023, London saw a concerning 30% of knife-related crimes, amounting to 165 incidents per 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands recorded a slightly lower rate of 118 incidents per 100,000.

For both male and female victims, sharp objects such as kitchen knives, swords, and machetes accounted for two-fifths of all killings in the United Kingdom in the year ending in March 2023.

While the recent attack involved the use of a sword, statistics from the Home Office indicate that such incidents are relatively rare in cases of fatal stabbings.

Although the attacker employed a sword in yesterday’s incident, it contributed to only three fatalities involving sharp objects in 2023.

Faron Paul, leader of Faz Amnesty, an organisation facilitating the surrender of weapons by children to the police, expressed at the scene of the blockade that authorities are not sufficiently addressing the prevention of knife crime.

Speaking with the BBC, he said, “It’s not rising. It’s gone through the roof. We’ve got a big problem here. Children are dying on the street every single day. You’ve got a problem. And I don’t feel like the right things are being put in place to prevent, deter or stop knife crime.”

He added that it wasn’t just the area but “the whole of London has a problem.”

“We need to have better consequences and laws in place. We need to stop buying and selling illegal weapons online. And then we need to think about preventative measures.”

Headline

[UPDATED] London Sword Attack: Suspect Under Police Custody After Hospital Recovery

Published

4 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

The 36-year-old suspect in the deadly London sword attack is currently under police custody after recuperating in a hospital, BBC reports.

The suspect, wielding a sword, was arrested after a dramatic pursuit by law enforcement officers.

The Metropolitan Police clarified that the incident was not terror-related, allaying fears of broader security concerns.

Authorities also confirmed that no other suspects are being pursued in connection with the attack.

According to police reports, the suspect was subdued by officers using a taser after attempting to evade capture.

According to a previous report by The Associated Press, the suspect was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment after the van he was driving collided with a building.

Due to the injuries he sustained, officers were unable to conduct an interview with him on Tuesday.

BBC has confirmed that the suspect, 36, is out of hospital and is now in police custody

A 14-year-old British-Nigerian boy, Daniel Anjorin, was confirmed as one of the victims of the attack.

Daniel, along with two police officers and two other individuals, were the victims of the violent incident that occurred on the streets of east London.

According to an official statement, the Metropolitan Police said the van crashed into a property on Laing Close, causing injuries to a 33-year-old man.

Afterwards, the suspect violently attacked the individual, resulting in an injury to the neck.

Additionally, the suspect injured a 35-year-old man who sustained lacerations to his arm.

The suspect then proceeded to attack Anjorin.

Ade Caxton-Cole, a family friend, while speaking with the BBC, described the Anjorin family as a tightly-knit unit, emphasising the strong support they are receiving from the community.

When asked about the well-being of Daniel’s siblings, she revealed that they are struggling to come to terms with the shocking reality of what has transpired.

“Having a brother one moment and then gone the next moment. It is a shock to them. They will need time. Right now it is too soon, it’s too close,” she said.