Witnesses give harrowing accounts of Johannesburg fire that killed 77
Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters An inquiry opened on Thursday tasked with determining responsibility for a fire in Johannesburg that killed 77 people, exposing the living conditions of the victims and throwing a spotlight on gangs that seize abandoned buildings and rent them out. One of the worst disasters in living memory in South Africa’s economic […]
Iraq wedding fire caused by “gross negligence”, government investigation says
Baghdad, Iraq Reuters A fire that swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern Iraqi town killing more than 100 people was blamed on “gross negligence” and lack of safety measures, the results of a government investigation into the disaster said. The investigation results, announced at a news conference on Sunday by interior minister […]
Mourners demand accountability, bury loved ones after Iraq wedding inferno
Hamdaniya, Iraq Reuters Calls for accountability grew on Thursday for the victims of a deadly fire at an Iraqi wedding celebration in a Christian town as grief-stricken mourners attended a packed memorial service and families buried their loved ones. More than 100 people died and at least 150 were injured on Tuesday evening in an […]
Iraq wedding fire kills more than 100, relatives identify bodies
Mosul, Iraq Reuters A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people in a Christian town that had survived Islamic State occupation. Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside […]
More than 100 dead, 150 injured in Iraq wedding inferno
Nineveh, Iraq Reuters More than 100 people were killed and 150 injured in a fire at a wedding party in Hamdaniya district in Iraq’s Nineveh province that left civil defence searching the charred skeleton of a building for survivors into the early hours of Wednesday. Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq told Reuters that 113 people […]
Essay: Johannesburg fire disaster – why eradicating hijacked buildings is not the answer
Researcher RICHARD BALLARD, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the response in the wake of last week’s devastating fire in Johannesburg…
Johannesburg fire: Life inside the ‘hijacked’ building where scores burned alive
TIM COCKS and CARIEN DU PLESSIS, of Reuters, report in the wake of last week’s devastating fire in Johannesburg…
Eleven dead in fire at French holiday home for disabled
Wintzenheim, France Reuters Eleven people died in a fire that tore through a holiday home for disabled people in eastern France in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said. The blaze broke out around 6.30am as the holiday-goers with learning disabilities and their carers were still asleep in the two-storey building in the town of […]
Oak trusses raised to roof of fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral as crowds watch along the Seine
Paris, France AP A crane hoisted massive oak trusses from a barge and onto Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday in a spectacular operation to rebuild the fire-ravaged monument and bring it back to life by December, 2024. With trusses weighing 7 to 7.5 tons, the delicate operation drew crowds along a bridge over the Seine River and […]
Massive fire as Sudanese factions battle for control of arms factory
Khartoum, SudanReuters A massive fire broke out on Wednesday near a military complex containing an arms factory in southern Khartoum that Sudan’s army has battled to defend in some of the fiercest fighting for weeks in its conflict with a rival faction, witnesses said. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, in the eighth week of a […]