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The survivors of a fatal mid-air collision involving two helicopters have heaped praise on their “hero” pilot for landing their stricken aircraft safely, as dramatic new images show them being rescued from the crash.

Pictures show Marie and Edward Swart and Elmarie and Riaan Steenberg, two couples from New Zealand, being evacuated from the grounded aircraft following the crash on Australia’s Gold Coast on January 2.

Four people, including a British couple and a pilot, were killed in the crash when the two helicopters collided while in the air.

The four people who died were together in one of the helicopters, containing seven people, which crashed on to a beach.

Pictures of the survivors from inside the cockpit of a helicopter which was involved in a fatal crash with another helicopter on Australia's Gold Coast. Pic: Edward Swart, Marle Swart, Riaan Steenberg and Elmarie Steenberg
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Pic: Edward Swart, Marle Swart, Riaan Steenberg and Elmarie Steenberg

The second helicopter, containing six people including the Swarts and the Steenbergs, was landed upright by pilot Michael James despite it suffering significant damage in the collision.

Five of those in the second helicopter suffered minor injuries, while the sixth was unharmed.

In a joint statement, the Swarts and Steenbergs paid tribute to their pilot.

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They said: “Our pilot, Michael James. You are our hero. You landed the helicopter safely and kept the bystanders and us safe.

“We are eternally grateful to you.”

The four survivors also thanked emergency service personnel, bystanders who ran to help and staff at a local hotel who also came to their aid following the crash.

The aftermath of a helicopter collision is seen on the Gold Coast
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The aftermath of a helicopter collision is seen on the Gold Coast

They also paid tribute to those who had died in the collision, saying: “We want to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the injured, deceased and their families.

“Our hearts are deeply saddened by the loss.

“This has been traumatic for us as survivors, and we cannot imagine the terrible sadness their families and loved ones must be feeling.”

Read more:
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A British couple were named among the four killed in the crash, which took place near to Sea World in the state of Queensland.

Holidaymakers Diane and Ron Hughes, 57 and 65, were from Liverpool and married in 2021.

Diane and Ron Hughes
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Diane and Ron Hughes

Mr and Mrs Hughes were on the helicopter with seven people on board.

The 40-year-old pilot, Ashley Jenkinson, who lived in the Gold Coast area but was originally from Birmingham, and a 36-year-old woman, also died.

A 10-year-old boy is in a critical condition, while a 33-year-old woman and a nine-year-old boy are seriously injured.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the incident was a “tragic start to the new year”.

Pilot Ashley Jenkinson Pic: Ritchie Gregg
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Pilot Ashley Jenkinson Pic: Ritchie Gregg

He explained that the main rotors of the helicopter taking off collided with the landing helicopter around 200m in the air, causing considerable damage to the front section.

During the process, the rotor blade and gearbox detached from the main body of the aircraft.

Mr Mitchell told reporters: “We are very fortunate that we’re not standing here with far more deaths.”

Sea World Helicopters, a separate company from the theme park, expressed its condolences, saying it was “devastated” and was cooperating in the investigation.

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‘Where are they?’: Flood-hit Spanish towns desperate for leadership

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'Where are they?': Flood-hit Spanish towns desperate for leadership

For days, the people of Paiporta have been dealing with the devastation of their town. But what hurts them now is the sense that they have been forgotten by their country.

As we walk through this town, what we see is relentless hard work – clearing mud, pumping out water, recovering cars.

But none of it is being done by people in uniform. Paiporta is being saved by its own residents, by friends, and by volunteers.

“The town feels like chaos,” says Cristina Hernandez, who moved here a year ago from Madrid

“Nobody has organised anything so we are doing our best. We feel we are abandoned by the government and there are also a lot of thieves in the night, so we are scared.

“It is a nightmare not only because of the floods but also because of the anarchy that we are living through now. After the catastrophe, the worst thing is that we are still scared.

Spain floods latest: King Charles ‘utterly heartbroken’

“We don’t have food or clothes. Some of our friends are still missing and some have lost their houses with all their things in them.

“So it is pretty sad that we see trucks going past but nobody is helping with the mud and clearing the houses, so we are alone.”

As if on cue, we can see a helicopter flying above us, but it passes by. She shakes her head.

Volunteers and residents cleanup the mud four days after flash floods swept away everything in their path in Paiporta, outskirts of Valencia, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Angel Garcia)
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Volunteers and residents clean up the mud four days after flash floods swept away everything in their path in Paiporta. Pic: AP/Angel Garcia

“We see them, but we don’t know what they are doing,” she says. It is, at the moment, a cruel sight – a tantalising vision of help that comes and goes.

Around us is a tapestry of devastation – dozens and dozens of wrecked cars, many of them lying in a lake of stagnant water. Cloying mud covers piles of debris. On the road, there is a child’s booster seat, a shoe and a small purse. Tangled wires lie like a web.

Mud covers the area in the aftermath of last Tuesday and early Wednesday storm that left hundreds dead or missing in the region, in Paiporta, outskirts of Valencia, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Angel Garcia)
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AP/Angel Garcia

Along the road, every house is affected, splattered with mud. You can see the dark waterline where the water reached its highest point.

Ruth is sweeping water along the street, time after time, pushing it towards an open manhole cover. She rests for a second, then starts again.

She takes a break and tells me that she has not seen a policeman, a soldier, a doctor or any other official. “It’s only us who clean up,” she says. “Where are they?”

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Aerial footage captures aftermath of floods

I start to ask her if she is angry with the government, and she interrupts. Her fury is palpable. “Angry? I am so, so angry with the government.

“I don’t care which political party you support, because my flag is Spain. And this is so bad.”

She wanders off, then returns and gently grabs my arm. “Come this way,” she says. “The world should see this.”

We round a corner and come to a street that is entirely packed with a wall of cars, mixed with huge piles of debris.

A fridge freezer, a microwave. Ruth clambers on top of a shattered bonnet and pulls me alongside her. “Nobody can reach these houses; nobody has looked in these cars,” she says. “They have forgotten.”

A man talks to a Guardia Civil officer on November 1, 2024, in Paiporta, Valencia, Valencia (Spain). The sixth death toll from the passage of the DANA through the province of Valencia leaves 202 fatalities. Since late on Tuesday, the Multiple Victims Procedure has been activated, which is carrying out the balances provided through the information received from the different security and emergency bodies and forces. In addition, the material damage is uncountable, with roads cut off and areas isolated by water, mud and landslides. Approximately 23,000 people are still without electricity supply in the province of Valencia because of the storm of the DANA, after having recovered more than 132,000 affected since Wednesday, 85 percent of those initially damaged. This DANA is the most tragic atmospheric catastrophe that has been registered in Spain in more than half a century. 01 NOVEMBER 2024 Rober Solsona / Europa Press 11/01/2024 (Europa Press via AP)
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A man talks to a Guardia Civil officer in Paiporta. Pic: AP/Angel Garcia

It’s not true to say that no officials have come to Paiporta. We see local police, civil guard, ambulances and firefighters. As we’re leaving, we even see a military truck pull up.

But nobody seems to be coordinating any of this. At one point, I saw a policeman try to take control of a vehicle recovery, but nobody listened to him. He had a short row with his colleague, and then they both drove off.

As for the military, I had a chat with one of the officers as they stood by the road, waiting for a lorry to move so they could drive in.

The soldier was evidently frustrated. “We want to help, we know we can help, but so far we don’t have the orders about what we have to do,” he said.

“So you need a chief – someone to take control?” I asked. A question answered with a deep, long nod.

Paiporta has suffered grievously in these floods. At least 60 people are dead, a figure that shocked Cristina when I told her. They have no access to the internet, of course, and cannot leave their town. “There will be more,” was her response.

But what makes that pain so much worse is the time it is taking to be helped. Last year, I went with my colleagues to an appalling earthquake in Morocco, and within two days there were well-equipped Spanish response teams helping out, saving lives and leading the response.

And yet now, in their own country, the response is sluggish and indecisive.

A French offer to send in help was turned down. We are told that huge numbers of troops are being mobilised but we have seen hardly any and the ones we’ve met don’t know what they’re supposed to do.

These towns are desperate for leadership, reassurance, help and certainty. Instead, right now, they are fending for themselves.

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Dmitry Medvedev warns US it should take Russia nuclear warnings seriously to avoid World War Three

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Dmitry Medvedev warns US it should take Russia nuclear warnings seriously to avoid World War Three

Moscow has warned the US it should take Russia’s nuclear warnings seriously to avoid World War Three.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and who served as the country’s president from 2008 to 2012, warned the US on Saturday it was “wrong” to believe “that the Russians will never cross a certain line”.

He told Russian-state broadcaster RT that Moscow believed the current US and European political establishments lacked the “foresight and subtlety of mind” displayed by the late Henry Kissinger.

“If we are talking about the existence of our state, as the president of our country has repeatedly said, your humble
servant has said, others have said, of course, we simply will not have any choice,” Mr Medvedev said.

Russia has been signalling for weeks to the West that Moscow will respond if the US and its allies help Ukraine fire longer-range missiles deep into Russia.

US diplomats have previously said Washington is not seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine.

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It’s not the first time Mr Medvedev has warned of a serious escalation of the Ukraine conflict.

Back in September, he threatened that Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian territory of Kursk had given Russia formal grounds to use nuclear weapons.

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It comes as Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv became the subject of an overnight aerial attack which lasted until midday today and saw one person injured, city officials said. All drones had been shot down.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has recently seen North Korean troops join the fight alongside Russia’s army, said strikes were also reported in the central Poltava and northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

“This year, we have faced the threat of ‘Shahed’ drones almost every night – sometimes in the morning, and even during
the day,” he wrote on social media, referring to the Iranian-made attack drones used by Russia.

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North Korean troops are near the Ukrainian border

Kyiv’s military said on Friday that Moscow’s forces had launched more than 2,000 drones at civilian and military targets
across Ukraine in October alone.

Russia has denied aiming at civilians and said power facilities are legitimate targets when they are part of Ukrainian military infrastructure.

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Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza – as 41 killed in attack on northern Lebanon

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Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza - as 41 killed in attack on northern Lebanon

An 18-month-old boy and his 10-year-old sister are among 25 people who were killed in a series of Israeli strikes on central parts of Gaza, hospital officials have said.

Sixteen people were initially reported to have been killed in two strikes on the central Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday, but officials from the Al Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in.

The hospital said they had received 21 bodies from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been taken the day before.

Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al Balah on Friday killed four more, hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25.

Five children and seven women are among those who have been confirmed dead.

The mother of the 18-month-old boy is missing and his father was killed in an Israeli strike four months ago, the family has said.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA earlier reported that 57 people had died in the Israeli strikes.

The Israeli military did not comment on the specific strikes but said its troops had identified and eliminated “several armed terrorists” in central Gaza.

Palestinians watch as smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians watch as smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters

It also said its forces had eliminated “dozens of terrorists” in raids in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area – home to one of the territory’s refugee camps.

It comes as the Israeli military said on Friday it killed senior Hamas official Izz al Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.

A displaced Palestinian boy in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
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A displaced Palestinian boy in Gaza City on 28 October. Pic: Reuters


The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have over the past few weeks resumed intense operations in the north of Gaza, claiming they are seeking to stop Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, from regrouping.

Meanwhile, top UN officials said in a statement on Friday that the situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic” and the entire Palestinian population in the area is at “imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.

The overall number of people killed in Gaza in the 13-month war is more than 43,000, officials from the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, reported this week.

Read more:
‘This is our land, we deserve it’

Charity demands UK evacuate critically ill children from Gaza

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Civil defence members work at a site damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Yassin
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Civil defence members work at a site damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Pic: Reuters

It comes as at least 41 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek region on Friday, the regional governor said.

The deaths were confirmed hours after Lebanon’s health ministry said 30 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on the country in the past 24 hours.

It is not clear if any of those killed in the Baalbek region were included in that figure.

In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the northeast city of Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as different parts of southern Lebanon, prompting roughly 60,000 people to flee their homes, according to Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese official representing the region.

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Israel has issued evacuation orders for people living in parts of Lebanon

Israel’s military said in a statement that attacks “in the area of Beirut” had targeted Hezbollah weapons manufacturing sites, command centres and other infrastructure.

Israeli planes also pounded Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighbourhoods, according to the Lebanese state news agency.

More than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after Hamas’s 7 October attack last year, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, in northern Israel, seven people, including three Israelis and four Thai nationals, were killed by projectiles fired from Lebanon on Thursday, Israeli medics said.

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