Tag: evacuation

Wildfire engulfs parts of main town in Canada’s Jasper National Park

By Jacob STONE with Anne-Marie PROVOST in Montreal MONTREAL, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – An “out of control” wildfire has devoured up to half of the main town in western Canada’s popular Jasper National Park, authorities said Thursday, with 400 foreign firefighters called in to help battle the blaze. While the fire has so far caused no casualties, as many as 25,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from the area before the conflagration suddenly grew […]

Papua New Guinea faces new devastating landslide; evacuation underway for 7,900

PORT MORESBY, May 28, 2024 (AFP) – Papua New Guinea moved to evacuate an estimated 7,900 people from remote villages near the site of a deadly landslide on Tuesday, as authorities warned of further slips. Some 2,000 people are already feared buried in a landslide that destroyed a remote highland community in the early hours of May 24. With rescue and relief efforts hampered by the remote location, a severed road link, heavy rainfall and […]

Israel’s Rafah evacuation order sparks global alarm

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Israel called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah Monday ahead of a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, amid increasing global alarm about the consequences of such a move. The evacuation call followed disagreement between Israel and Hamas over the Palestinian militant group’s demands to end the seven-month war, during weekend negotiations in Cairo. Egyptian state-linked media said the talks stalled after a rocket attack claimed […]

Indonesia volcano eruption shuts more airports, ash reaches Malaysia

Indonesia, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, officials said Wednesday, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears. Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, spewing lava and ash more than five kilometres (three miles) into the sky and forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for 12,000 locals. A rescue ship and […]

Russia offers to relocate border city residents after shelling

By Victoria LUKOVENKO KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 5, 2024 (AFP) – Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod offered to evacuate worried residents on Friday, an unprecedented announcement that follows waves of fatal Ukrainian attacks. The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but the recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to home for Russians. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s assurance that scared civilians can relocate […]

China calls for ‘restraint’ from all parties after N. Korea shelling

BEIJING, Jan 5, 2024 (AFP) – China called Friday for “restraint” from all sides after Seoul said North Korea had fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean islands. “Under the current situation, we hope that all relevant parties maintain calm and restraint, refrain from taking actions that aggravate tensions, avoid further escalation of the situation, and create conditions for the resumption of meaningful dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. Hours after the […]

URGENT: South Korea stages live fire drills on border island: Yonhap

SEOUL, Jan 5, 2024 (AFP) – South Korean marines on the border island of Yeonpyeong conducted live-fire artillery drills Friday, the Yonhap news agency reported, hours after North Korea staged an artillery barrage in the area. The troops held “live-fire artillery drills with K9 self-propelled howitzers,” Yonhap said, the first such drills in the area since both countries dropped a military accord in November. This is a developing story…

Icelandic volcano could destroy town of Grindavik: experts

By Jeremie RICHARD REYKJAVIK, Nov 12, 2023 (AFP) – An Icelandic town home to some 4,000 people near the capital Reykjavik could be heavily damaged by a volcano expected to erupt within hours or days, experts said on Saturday. The town of Grindavik on the southwestern coast was evacuated in the early hours of Saturday after magma shifting under the Earth’s crust caused hundreds of earthquakes in what was believed to be a precursor to […]

Israel army orders evacuation of northern city after Lebanon clashes

JERUSALEM, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – The Israeli army announced plans to evacuate the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday, after days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border with Lebanon. “A short while ago, the Northern Command informed the mayor of the city of the decision. The plan will be managed by the local authority, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Defence,” the military said in a statement. Lebanon’s Iran-backed […]

Thousands flee north Gaza after Israel evacuation warning

By Adel Zaanoun, with Amit Meyer in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Oct 14, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands of Palestinians fled Saturday to southern Gaza seeking refuge after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that nearly a week of fierce bombardment was “just the beginning” as Israel seeks to retaliate against Hamas after their fighters […]

Hurricane Idalia poses grave threat to Florida with 15-foot storm surge and potential catastrophic devastation

STEINHATCHEE, United States, Aug 29, 2023 (AFP) – Hurricane Idalia intensified Tuesday as it churned toward the west coast of Florida, triggering mass evacuation orders and flood alerts as authorities warned of life-threatening ocean surge and catastrophic destruction when the storm rages ashore early Wednesday. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Idalia, which earlier raked western Cuba, had strengthened to a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour, and […]

Athens district evacuated as Greek fire death toll hits 20

ALEXANDROUPOLI, Greece, Aug 22, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands of people in an outer district of Greece’s capital Athens were under evacuation orders Tuesday as firefighters battled a steadily growing wave of wildfires around the country that has left 20 dead. Civil protection ordered the evacuation of Ano Liosia in northwest Athens, a district of over 25,000 people while at the neighbouring community of Fyli an AFP journalist saw homes on fire. Over 60 fires had […]