Boy, 5, ‘incinerated’ after pressurised oxygen chamber explodes in US

Published

4 months ago

March 11, 2025

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A five-year-old boy was “incinerated” when a pressurised oxygen chamber exploded at a medical facility in the US state of Michigan.

Four people have been charged over the child’s death at the Oxford Centre in Detroit, Michigan’s attorney general has said.

Thomas Cooper, from Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene, while his mother, who was standing next to the chamber, suffered injuries to her arms when it exploded on 31 January.

“A single spark it appears ignited into a fully involved fire that claimed Thomas’s life within seconds,” attorney general Dana Nessel said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“Fires inside a hyperbaric chamber are considered a terminal event. Every such fire is almost certainly fatal and this is why many procedures and essential safety practices have been developed to keep a fire from ever occurring.”

The centre’s founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson, has been charged with second-degree murder, according to online court records.

Facility manager Gary Marken, 65, safety manager Gary Mosteller, 64, and the hyperbaric chamber’s operator that day, Aleta Moffitt, 60, have also been charged.

Marken and Mosteller are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Moffitt is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart.

Raymond Cassar, Marken’s attorney, said the second-degree murder charge comes as “a total shock” to him and his client.

“For fairness, he is presumed innocent,” Mr Cassar said.

“This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and our prayers go out to the family of this little boy.

“I want to remind everyone that this was an accident, not an intentional act. We’re going to have to leave this up to the experts to find out what was the cause of this.”

Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported that according to the family’s lawyer, the boy had received multiple sessions of hyperbaric therapy for sleep apnea and ADHD.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared hyperbaric chambers to be marketed as safe and effective for a list of 13 disorders, including severe burns, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds.

But the list does not include many of the other disorders advertised by the Oxford Centre – including sleep apnea and ADHD.

The FDA also recommends that consumers only use hyperbaric centres that are inspected and accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.

The Oxford Centre does not appear on the society’s February 2025 list of accredited facilities.

US

Elon Musk says he’s created his own political party – the ‘America Party’

Published

5 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Elon Musk says he's created his own political party - the 'America Party'

Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.

It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.

On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.

Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.

From bromance to bust-up

The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).

But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.

In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.

After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.

Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.

US

Is this the most powerful Trump’s been?

Published

9 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has passed and he’s due to sign it into law on Independence Day. Mark Stone and David Blevins discuss how the bill will supercharge his presidency, despite its critics.

They also chat Gaza and Ukraine, as Donald Trump meets with freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and talks to Vladimir Putin.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

US

At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

Published

1 day ago

July 4, 2025

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.

Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.

As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.

Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.

A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.

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