UK Scout leader reveals Jamboree chaos amid South Korea heatwave – with ‘ambulances everywhere’
A UK Scout leader at the World Jamboree in South Korea has described conditions as “atrocious and unusable”.
More than 4,000 British attendees – many of them children – are being moved from a camp into hotels due to extreme temperatures hitting the country.
The 29-year-old contingent unit leader claimed there were “ambulances everywhere” – and the event’s infrastructure was ill-equipped to keep people safe in searing heat.
Leaky water bottle given to Scouts by UK contingent
Speaking to Sky News journalist Kirsty Hickey, he said his group – which includes 30 children – had been given bad-quality, small water bottles.
“A third have broken and leak even though they tell us to drink a litre every hour,” he said. “Getting water is a 10-minute walk away in the heat.”
The Scout leader, who did not wish to be named, also alleged toilet facilities were unclean, and there have been complaints the meals offered were not nutritionally balanced.
Toilet block at Jamboree was described as ‘unusable’
He revealed that they had to wait for over an hour in the heat for coaches to take them to Seoul – and claimed the emergency services needed to be called after some children passed out. However, the kids in his group are fine.
“The money hasn’t been worth it as we’re leaving and not getting the experience we paid for,” the Scout leader told us.
“The kids are upset that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has gone to waste because of lack of organisation and preparation.”
Emergency services deployed to event
The contingent unit leader added that in comparison to the 2015 World Jamboree in Japan – which also suffered from stifling temperatures – appropriate infrastructure made the event bearable.
It comes after organisers and the South Korean government said water trucks, air-conditioned spaced and medics were being sent to the event.
Temperatures in some parts of the country have topped 38C (100.4F) this week, with at least 600 people at the event having been treated for heat-related ailments, according to officials.
The event in southwestern Buan has attracted around 40,000 participants from 155 countries, most of them aged between 14 and 18.
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Bear Grylls urges Scouts to stay hydrated
‘A complete mess’
Peter Naldrett, who has two children at the World Scout Jamboree, posted on X (formerly Twitter) to say that parents have been asked not to talk to the press.
He revealed that he had raised a total of £9,000 so his kids could attend the event.
Pic: AP
“The South Koreans have made a complete mess of organising this. The government took over running the site and it’s still a mess,” Mr Naldrett wrote.
He praised UK contingent leaders for how they have handled the situation and tried to keep morale high.
“If moving all the scouts off site over 48 hours is honestly the best move for the event, then fair enough. But the kids are looking forward to trips out and the famous culture day,” Mr Naldrett added.
Pic: AP
The father believes that children should be able to return to the site for key events – and called on corporate sponsors to make donations so their trip isn’t wasted.
Urging the government to help, he concluded by saying: “There needs to be a massive effort to save this experience and it should be a no expense spared job… I do want the 4,000 UK kids to experience the international mixing and activities they have been flown over there for.”
World
Israel kills 22 people including nine children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City today, Palestinian officials have said.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.
Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from rubble.
“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.
“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”
Men carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in a strike on a building where people were sheltering in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians in the area.
A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza today, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.
Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.
“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.
“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.
“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”
The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine.
Palestinians inspect the site of deadly overnight Israeli strikes on a building where displaced people were taking shelter. Pic: Reuters
More than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks as Israel has ordered the population to move south, but UN agencies and aid groups say an estimated 700,000 remain.
More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The current wave of violence began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants carried out an attack inside Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Israel claims its operation in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes around 20 of the captives are still alive.
Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace negotiations and wants to continue the war with a view to displacing Gaza’s population and expand Israeli settlements.
He has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “In Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year.
“They are the result of decisions that defy basic humanity,” he continued, citing “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza,” he added.
The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), declared in August that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
Several other leading rights organisations, including two Israeli groups, have also said Israel is committing genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and claims they are justified as a means of self-defence.
A Spanish military jet with a defence minister on board suffered a GPS “disturbance” while on the way to Lithuania, according to Spanish officials.
The military aircraft was flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave on Wednesday morning when the incident is reported to have happened.
Margarita Robles was the minister on the flight, according to Spanish officials.
A commander onboard the Spanish plane said such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad, both for civil and military aircraft – and military satellites could also be used to navigate.
A Spanish defence ministry spokesperson said: “There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected.
“It must be common on this route and also with commercial flights. It is not because it is our aircraft.”
Read more: Who is messing with GPS signals – and why?
Ms Robles was due to have a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Siauliai airbase on Wednesday, according to the Spanish government’s agenda.
The plane was also carrying relatives of Spanish airmen forming part of the new NATO air defence mission on Europe’s eastern flank.
It was launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace.
The Spanish contingent last week intercepted eight Russian aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea, Spain’s defence ministry added in a statement.
Ms Robles, 68, has been Spain’s defence minister since 2018.
In June, she said Spain was “absolutely committed” to NATO and the European Union.
Read more from Sky News:
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Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Lithuania on 1 September. Pic: AP
Then in August, the minister said Spain would work to “invigorate” the European fighter jet project, known as FCAS.
It came after Spain revealed it was no longer considering the option of buying US-made F-35 fighter jets and would refocus its defence spending on buying European-made equipment.
At the end of August, a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered GPS jamming as a result of suspected Russian interference, an EU spokesperson told Sky News.
Estonia and neighbouring Finland have also previously blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.
Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks.
World
Israel kills 22 people including 9 children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
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