A three-storey residential building collapsed Wednesday in a densely-populated part of Lagos, and local media said there could be many casualties, including schoolchildren. The Nigerian news station Channels TV reported that a primary school was located on the top floor of the building, “with pupils feared killed and others trapped.” The collapse occurred in the Itafaji area of Lagos Island. A spokesman for the Nigerian emergency services, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident. “I can’t give […]
Tag: building
Death toll hits 10 in Istanbul apartment block collapse
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — The death toll from the collapse of an Istanbul apartment block rose to 10 on Thursday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble, Turkish authorities said. The eight-storey building, which is located in the Kartal district on the Asian side of the city, collapsed on Wednesday but the cause is not yet clear. Rescuers had initially put the death toll at two, but Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday […]
Microsoft pledges $500 mn to ease local housing crunch
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Microsoft on Wednesday pledged $500 million for loans and grants aimed at ramping up construction of affordable housing in the Puget Sound area of Washington state where the US technology giant has its home. “In recent years, our region hasn’t built enough housing for the people who live here,” Microsoft executives Amy Hood and Brad Smith said in a blog post. “We are committing $500 million as a company to […]
Death toll from India building collapse hits nine
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – The death toll from a collapsed apartment block outside Delhi rose to nine on Thursday as emergency workers pulled four more bodies from a huge pile of rubble and metal, India’s fire brigade said. The six-storey building caved in late Tuesday and crashed into a neighboring building, trapping more than a dozen people, including laborers and two families in Greater Noida, a satellite city east of Indian capital. Five bodies […]
At least two dead in building collapse outside Indian capital
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least two people were killed and more are feared trapped after an under-construction building collapsed onto a residential complex outside Delhi, officials said Wednesday. Emergency workers sifting through piles of iron and concrete overnight pulled out two bodies Wednesday morning from the site in Greater Noida, a satellite town east of the Indian capital. “We have no concrete evidence on the number of people present in the buildings at […]
Mumbai building collapse death toll jumps to 33
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — The death toll from a building collapse in India’s commercial capital Mumbai jumped to 33 Friday after rescuers pulled more than a dozen bodies from the rubble overnight. Officials said 22 men, eight women and three children died when the residential building gave way on Thursday morning in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar following heavy rains. The 117-year-old building had been declared unsafe and was due to be demolished […]
Rescuers fear dozens trapped in Mumbai building collapse
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Rescuers were frantically searching for up to 40 people feared trapped in a four-storey building that collapsed Tuesday in India’s financial capital of Mumbai, officials said. The city’s chief fire officer, Prabhat Rahangdale, said nine people had been rescued but dozens more were believed missing under rubble after the structure gave way mid-morning in the northern suburb of Ghatkopar. “Entire ground and four floored residential building collapsed. About 30 to 40 […]
Five killed as building collapses in Pakistan
Karachi, Pakistan (AFP) — Five people died when an apartment building collapsed in southern Pakistan early Tuesday as most of its residents were sleeping, officials said. Rescuers struggled to pull survivors from the rubble of the three-storey building in the southern city of Karachi. “Five bodies were recovered from the rubble,” the city’s deputy commissioner, Fareed Uddin, told AFP. Another local official said a woman and a 13-year-old boy were among the dead. Rescuers pulled at least nine injured people […]
Masked ‘explorers’ trespass into colonial buildings in bid to preserve Hong Kong history
HONG KONG, China (Reuters) – Atop Hong Kong’s tallest peak blanketed in clouds, three masked urban explorers took a step back in time as they climbed through a hole in a wire mesh fence, climbed down a hill and marched toward an abandoned army barracks built during British colonial times, likely used during World War Two. Twenty years since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule, these young, alternative conservationists are eager to document the […]
Kenya developers fit homes and buildings with solar technology
MACHAKOS COUNTY, Kenya (Reuters) — Greenpark, a residential estate located about 20 kilometers south of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is one of a handful of housing developments promoting solar powered homes in the country. Founded in 2006 the 150-acre estate has 400 units all fitted with solar panels for water heating. Developers are currently working on the fifth phase of the scheme. The panels are made locally and fitted by Steelstone Kenya, which has been contracted […]
Fashion icons light up NY’s Empire State Building
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York’s famed Empire State Building lit up with sky-high iconic fashion photographs after nightfall on Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of style magazine Harper’s Bazaar. Beginning at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Thursday) and slated to run until midnight, the north side of the building flashed iconic shoots and cultural moments from the pages of Harper’s into the New York skyline. Among reproductions of the glossy pages set […]
Google co-founder fuels flying car labs: report
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google co-founder Larry Page has secretly poured more than $100 million into building flying cars, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Page has backed Zee.Aero while striving to keep his involvement hidden, according to the report that cited unnamed sources described as having intimate knowledge of the flying car startup launched in 2010. “Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Zee is developing a revolutionary new form of transportation,” the startup said […]
