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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Two patients died on Tuesday after a fire broke out in the coronavirus ward of a hospital in northern South Africa, the local health department said. The incident occurred at a hospital in Modimolle, 170 kilometres (106 miles) north of Johannesburg in rural Limpopo province. “A team of fire experts… have been dispatched to F.H. Odendaal hospital in Modimolle where two patients died after a fire broke out at the […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq’s health minister resigned on Tuesday, ten days after a fire in a Baghdad Covid-19 hospital killed more than 80 people. Hassan al-Tamimi, who joined the government with the backing of powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, stepped down of his own accord, a government statement said. The fire, which killed 82 and injured 110, triggered outrage on social media, with a widespread hashtag demanding the health minister be sacked. Prime Minister […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney was enveloped in a thick bank of hazardous bushfire smoke Monday, forcing authorities in Australia’s largest city to scale back controlled forest burning nearby. Ferries were cancelled and the city’s five million residents were told to stay indoors if necessary, as air pollution levels spiked. Levels of hazardous PM 2.5 pollution — particles that can seep deep into the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses — were among the worst in […]
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — At least 16 Covid-19 patients and two nurses died Saturday in the latest in a series of hospital fires in India, officials said, as the country’s health care system buckles under a surge in cases. There were around 50 other patients at the four-storey hospital in Bharuch in the western state of Gujarat when the blaze began at 1:00 am (0730 GMT). It has since been put out. The death […]
by Bhuvan Bagga with Ammu Kannampilly in Mumbai NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Delhi hospitals issued desperate appeals for oxygen on Friday and 13 Covid patients died in a fire, as India’s healthcare system buckles under a new wave of infections. The surge in cases, blamed on a new virus variant and the government allowing “super spreader” public events to go ahead, saw another 330,000 new infections and 2,000 deaths reported in the past 24 […]
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s Table Mountain smouldered on Tuesday after a fire swept the iconic site, destroying a library housing rare collections and forcing thousands to evacuate, but officials said the blaze was under control. Smoke rose from the mountain after firefighters battled to contain the flames with the help of helicopters dumping water on the blaze, which first broke out Sunday. “The fire is very much under control,” City of […]
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — A sweeping fire on South Africa’s iconic Table Mountain that choked Cape Town with smoke and destroyed several historic sites including a university library was almost fully contained on Tuesday, officials said. High winds had strengthened the blaze that was first spotted Sunday but calmer weather conditions Tuesday allowed for fire crews to ramp up their aerial attack with five helicopters, said Rey Thakhuli, spokesman for South Africa National […]
by Linda GIVETASH CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — A blaze advanced along South Africa’s iconic Table Mountain toward central Cape Town on Monday after ravaging university buildings, while firefighters battled strong winds in their efforts to control it and officials evacuated residential areas. The fire broke out Sunday morning in the foothills of the mountain and spread to the University of Cape Town (UCT), destroying buildings and part of a library housing a unique […]
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — A fire in Cape Town has ravaged part of a university library housing a unique collection of African archives, its director said, as the blaze advanced Monday towards the city centre. The fire, which broke out Sunday in the foothills of the landmark Table Mountain before spreading to the University of Cape Town (UCT), forced hundreds of students to flee on foot. The African studies section of the 1930s […]
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Twelve people were killed and dozens of houses burnt when a fuel tanker overturned, spilled its contents and caught fire in central Nigeria, the emergency services said Monday. The accident, which occurred on Sunday in the Agatu area of Benue state, is the latest to hit the oil-rich West African nation in recent months. “Twelve bodies were recovered from the scene of the carnage yesterday, while over 50 houses and shops […]
SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Tuesday detained two people after a huge fire gutted a historic factory in Saint Petersburg, as firefighters continued putting out the blaze. On Monday, a fire broke out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building in Russia’s second city. The inferno killed one firefighter and left two more hospitalised with serious burns. The fire continued burning into Tuesday over an area of 500 square metres (5,381 […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal is experiencing its worst fire season in almost a decade, officials said Tuesday, as huge blazes rage across the country’s forests, engulfing the Himalayan nation in a shroud of brownish haze. Air quality in the capital Kathmandu was ranked on Tuesday as the worst in the world, according to monitoring site IQAir, with some international flights delayed as thick smoke blanketed the city. “The highest number of wildfires have been […]
