India bridge collapse: 81 people dead after incident in Gujarat state

Published

2 years ago

October 31, 2022

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At least 81 people have died after a suspension bridge collapsed in India.

Government officials confirmed the death toll after scores of people plunged into the river below following the collapse.

The footbridge over the Machhu river in the town of Morbi in India’s western Gujarat state collapsed on Sunday, just days after being reopened following renovations.

Authorities said more than 150 people were on the suspension bridge at the time.

Footage broadcast by local TV channel Zee News showed people clinging onto the cables of the collapsed bridge as emergency teams sought to rescue them.

Mobile video footage shot by passers-by and shared on social media showed scores of people, including children, scrambling to climb out of the water and back up the twisted structure of the broken bridge to safety.

Officials said the victims are mostly local people who were visiting the bridge for recreational purposes.

Amit Jhala, a senior administrator at the state-run hospital where victims had been taken, said that while many people had been rescued, some were still missing.

The 230-metre historic bridge was built during British rule in the 19th century. It had been closed for renovation for six months and was reopened to the public last week.

The bridge gave way as it could not handle the number of people on it, officials told the Press Trust India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Gujarat for a three-day visit, said he has directed the state chief minister to mobilise teams urgently for the rescue operation.

An official tweet from his office announced that compensation from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) would be offered to those caught up in the incident, with 200,000 Indian rupees offered to the families of the dead (around £2,090) and 50,000 Indian rupees (around £520) offered to the injured.

Morbi is one of the largest ceramic manufacturing clusters in the world and accounts for more than 80% of India’s ceramic output.

The incident comes ahead of elections in Gujarat, which are expected to be held by the year-end, with the current term of Modi’s ruling party’s ending in February 2023.

World

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

3 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

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At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

3 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.

The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.

All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.

Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.

It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.

World

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

9 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.