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LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Six people were treated by medics Monday and one hospitalized after a blaze at industrial units in south London sent thick smoke billowing across the British capital and disrupted transport. At its height, some 100 firefighters were sent to tackle the fire in three commercial units under railway arches at Elephant and Castle, near the River Thames. Six cars and a telephone box also caught fire, London Fire Brigade (LFB) […]
by Laurie CHEN Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed and 16 injured when a fire broke out at a martial arts school in central China in the early hours of Friday, according to the local government. Local media reported that most of the victims were boarding pupils aged between seven and 16. The fire had been extinguished and authorities were investigating the cause of the blaze, a […]
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — At least 15 people have died after a blaze swept through a sanitizer factory in the western Indian city of Pune on Monday, police said. “We have recovered 15 bodies so far,” an officer in Pune’s rural police control room, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. “The fire broke out around 4:15 pm at a sanitizer factory, we still don’t know what sparked the fire.” The officer could not […]
by Amal JAYASINGHE COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka was preparing Thursday for a possible major oil leak from the burnt-out cargo ship sinking off Colombo’s main harbour, as worsening weather stalled salvage efforts. The Marine Environment Protection Authority readied oil dispersants and skimmers in case of a leak from the MV X-Press Pearl, which had 350 tonnes of fuel oil on board when it caught fire two weeks ago. The vessel, which burned […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A major fire that tore through an oil refinery in the Iranian capital had been brought under control on Thursday, but was still not completely extinguished. “The fire at the refinery has been brought under control and will be completely extinguished by noon,” the official IRNA news agency said, citing Shaker Khafai, spokesman for Tehran Oil Refining Company. A column of black smoke was still visible over the site of the […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A fire raged Wednesday at a southern Tehran oil refinery after a leak in a liquefied gas line triggered an explosion, the capital’s crisis team chief told state television. Intense flames and thick clouds of black smoke could be seen reaching high into the sky from across Tehran, AFP correspondents said. An “accident was caused by a leak from an emergency liquified gas line,” triggering “an explosion which caused the start […]
by Laurent BANGUET PARADISE, United States (AFP) — “Now, when there’s smoke here, everybody panics,” said Steve Crowder, mayor of the small town of Paradise that was almost wiped off the map by California’s deadly 2018 wildfires. The former police officer still struggles to hold back tears when talking about the blaze that claimed dozens of lives and engulfed 95 percent of his community’s buildings. “It’s still hard to get over the 85 people that […]
TERNATE, Indonesia (AFP) — Search teams are looking for one missing person after rescuing all other passengers from a large ferry that caught fire in Indonesia, an official said Sunday. The KM Karya Indah was heading to Sanana, a remote port in the northeast of the Indonesian archipelago when it was engulfed in flames. Shortly after departing, the ferry caught fire, forcing passengers and crew to jump into the sea to save themselves. […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Hundreds of Greek firefighters battled a forest fire near Athens for a third day on Saturday but brought the main front of the blaze under control as weather conditions improved. The fire, on the Geraneia mountain range, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital, is “one of the biggest in the past 20 to 30 years, and has come early in the season,” fire chief Stefanos Kolokouris told ANT1 […]
by John HADOULIS ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Hundreds of Greek firefighters fought for a second day on Friday to bring a large forest blaze under control, with better weather conditions providing hope the flames could be subdued. Nearly 300 firefighters battled throughout the night to keep the fire contained on the Geraneia mountain range, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from Athens. “Conditions are much better (today),” fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told Skai TV, adding […]
by Will VASSILOPOULOS ALEPOCHORI, Greece (AFP) — More than a dozen Greek villages were evacuated Thursday as firefighters battled the country’s first major blaze of the year on a mountain range overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. No injuries were reported, but “it will be a hard night… we’re fighting in difficult conditions,” junior civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias said. People were evacuated before dawn from the first of 17 villages and hamlets affected after the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — One of California’s iconic giant sequoia trees was recently found to be still smoldering and smoking in an area of the state devastated by massive wildfires last summer, National Park authorities said Wednesday. “Scientists and fire crews were surveying the effects from the 2020 Castle Fire in Sequoia National Park, when they observed a still smoldering and smoking giant sequoia tree that appears to be caused from last year’s […]
