Deaths (Fatalities)

Subterms

    More stories

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Body of Tennessee Factory Worker Killed in Hurricane Helene Is Found

      by

      She is believed to be the last employee who was missing after the plastics plant flooded. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances around the deaths. The remains of a sixth factory worker in eastern Tennessee who was swept away in the flooding brought on by Hurricane Helene have been found, ending a search for what is believed to be the last missing employee more than a month after the storm tore through the Southeast.Officials on Friday disclosed the identity of the body as Rosa Andrade, 29, one of a half-dozen victims of the flood who worked at Impact Plastics, a factory in the close-knit town of Erwin, about 120 miles east of Knoxville.“These people were just reporting to work that morning,” Andrew Harris, a captain with Unicoi County Search and Rescue, said in an interview on Saturday. “We’re trying to provide closure for the families, and obviously grieving with them.”The deluge at the factory on Sept. 27 was part of a trail of devastation caused by Helene, the Category 4 hurricane that hit the coast of Florida on Sept. 26 and decimated neighboring states with landslides and flooding in the days that followed. Helene killed more than 200 people across the Southeast.In North Carolina alone, there were more than 100 storm-related deaths, with damages and recovery efforts projected to cost the state an estimated $53 billion.Although Ms. Andrade is thought to be the last missing person from the factory, Mr. Harris said that search and recovery efforts continue for victims from North Carolina, some of whom are believed to have been swept into Erwin and nearby counties. State officials from Tennessee and North Carolina have suggested that at least a dozen people overall remain unaccounted for in the two states.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 163 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Amid Flood Cleanup in Spain, Residents Try to Make Sense of the Disaster

      by

      Some see the floods as an example of the effect of a changing climate that is making overwhelming downpours more common. Locals also say government warnings came too late.Mari Luz Sánchez’s body lay on top of an overturned refrigerator in a corner of her kitchen when her family found her. A wave of water in the village of Chiva, in southeastern Spain, had deposited her there after devastating flooding across the region on Tuesday night.“The torrent of water took her away,” said Ms. Sánchez’s daughter-in-law, Pilar Zahonero. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”Never had locals in Chiva seen their streets turn into such furious surges of muddy water that tore through their homes. Not in the 1983 floods, nor in the ones in 2019, had waves over six feet high trapped people inside their cars and homes and taken so many lives.“I’d never seen rain like this,” said Concepción Feijoo Martínez, 66, as she stood in her house in Chiva, which had been torn open on one side by the rushing waters let loose when a nearby river overflowed its banks.“They say there is no climate change,” she added. “Then what is this atrocity?”Residents cleaning a mud-covered house in Chiva on Thursday. Locals have never seen their streets turn into such furious surges of muddy water that tore through their homes.Kai Forsterling/EPA, via ShutterstockDays after their country’s deadliest natural catastrophe in recent decades, as they swept mud off their floors and mourned their dead, Spaniards started to try to make sense of the tragedy that had struck them: Why were the floods on such an enormous scale, and why did so many die?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      House Covid Panel Refers Andrew Cuomo for Potential Prosecution

      by

      The Republican-led House subcommittee asked the Justice Department to investigate Mr. Cuomo for possible prosecution for “false statements” in his testimony.A House subcommittee has referred former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York to the Justice Department for potential prosecution, accusing him of lying to Congress about his involvement in a state Covid report on nursing home deaths.Mr. Cuomo was accused of engaging in a “conscious, calculated effort” to avoid accountability for his handling of nursing homes where thousands of people died of Covid, according to the referral from the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.The referral, which was sent Wednesday night to the Justice Department, was signed by the subcommittee chairman, Representative Brad Wenstrup, Republican of Ohio. No other committee member, including the ranking Democrat, Representative Raul Ruiz of California, signed the referral letter, in a potential sign of political partisanship.The referral centers on closed-door testimony Mr. Cuomo gave to the committee, when he asserted that he had not reviewed a State Health Department report that deflected blame for the deaths of people in New York nursing homes in early 2020.The New York Times reported last month that Mr. Cuomo had reviewed the report and had personally written portions of early drafts, according to a review of emails and congressional documents.Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said that the former governor testified that he did not remember having any role in the report, and rejected assertions that Mr. Cuomo had lied.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Dozens Killed in Israeli Strikes in Eastern Lebanon, Lebanese Officials Say

      by

      Israeli airstrikes on Monday killed at least 60 people in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, in what appeared to be the deadliest barrage of strikes in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah escalated last month.At least 58 others were injured in the attacks according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which reported the death toll. Most of the airstrikes were concentrated in Baalbek district, a patchwork of farmlands and villages in the valley that is home to a city of the same name. Hezbollah holds sway in parts of the district, one of Lebanon’s most underdeveloped regions, which borders Syria.Israel’s military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. On Tuesday, Israel’s military said its forces had engaged in “joint aerial and ground operations” against “terror infrastructure sites” in Lebanon, but it did not mention the Bekaa Valley.While Israeli airstrikes have rained down across the valley over the past month, residents described the barrage of strikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning as the most intense they had experienced. The strikes also hit within the city of Baalbek — an urban center that has been largely spared in Israel’s recent air campaign — stoking unease that a rare pocket of relative safety in the district was no longer.“They were the most powerful strikes we’ve had here,” said Ibrahim Bayan, a deputy of the mayor of Baalbek city. “We thought the strikes wouldn’t stop until they had leveled all of Baalbek.”At around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Mr. Bayan began to hear the thud, thud, thud of airstrikes raining down on the hills surrounding the city, he said. Then at around 7 p.m., his house shook and some of his windows shattered after strikes hit within the city limits. Mr. Bayan said he had barely slept the rest of the night as the booms of strikes and the roar of ambulance sirens echoed across the city. More

    • 150 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Dock Collapse in Georgia Strikes Sapelo Island Community Fighting for Its Culture

      by

      The deaths of seven people on Sapelo Island have brought to the fore longstanding frustrations among its Gullah Geechee community.The dozens of descendants of enslaved people who form the backbone of the Gullah Geechee community on Sapelo Island, off the coast of Georgia, have fought for years to protect their homes and traditions from the erosion of time and development.The deadly collapse on Saturday of a dockside gangway not only jolted the community into a deep grief but also brought to the fore longstanding frustrations over the treatment of residents and the state of the island’s infrastructure. Seven people were killed as they waited for a ferry back to the mainland after taking part in an annual cultural celebration on the island.“We are on Sapelo fighting for our survival,” said Reginald Hall, 59, who was among a group of residents who confronted officials during a weekend news conference to demand answers on the collapse of the dock.On Monday, state officials said they had removed the gangway as part of an investigation into its “catastrophic structural failure,” but they provided no new details on the cause of the collapse.Some residents questioned whether Georgia officials, who have responsibility for most of the island, had taken adequate precautions to prepare the dock for the influx of hundreds of visitors for the festivities. Officials said they had established additional ferry runs but did not rule out the possibility that the increased traffic contributed to the collapse.The collapse of the gangway set off a frenetic rescue effort.Lewis M. Levine/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares149 Views

      in Elections

      He Dreamed of Escaping Gaza. The World Watched Him Burned Alive.

      by

      He was the son his mother boasted about: He memorized the entire Quran as a boy, and rose to the top of his university class. He wanted to become a doctor. But most of all, Shaaban al-Dalou dreamed of escape.Since Israel launched its devastating retaliation for the Hamas-led attack just over a year ago, Mr. al-Dalou wrote impassioned pleas on social media, posted videos from his family’s small plastic tent and even launched a GoFundMe page calling out to the world for help getting out of the Gaza Strip.Instead, the world watched him burn to death.Mr. al-Dalou, 19, was identified by his family as the young man helplessly waving his arms, engulfed in flames, in a video that has become a symbol of the horrors of war for Gazans, trapped inside their blockaded enclave as the international community looks on.A still image from a video of Mr. al-Dalou amid burning debris.Hani Abu Rezeq, via ReutersOn Oct. 14, Israel said it conducted a “precision strike” on a Hamas command center operating near Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, a coastal city in central Gaza. Dozens of families like the Dalous, forced to flee their homes, had set up tents in a parking lot inside the hospital compound. They had hoped that international laws forbidding most attacks on medical facilities would ensure their safety.The Israeli military said that the fire that erupted afterward was probably caused by “secondary explosions,” without specifying what that meant. It added that “the incident is under review.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      At Least 7 Dead After Ferry Dock Collapses on Sapelo Island, Georgia

      by

      The circumstances of the accident in Sapelo Island, south of Savannah, were not immediately clear.At least seven people were killed on Saturday when the gangway of a ferry dock collapsed on an island in Georgia, forcing at least 20 people into the water, the authorities said.The deaths on Sapelo Island were confirmed by Mark Deverger, the volunteer fire chief for McIntosh County. He said he did not know the specifics of what had happened. The island is about 70 miles by road south of Savannah, Ga.The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which manages the island and operates the ferry service, said in a statement that at least 20 people went into the water when the gangway collapsed.A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guardin Savannah said that he could not confirm how many people had been injured or killed in the accident.The McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that it was “working an active situation on Sapelo Island,” and that multiple agencies were responding. A fire department in nearby Glynn County said that emergency crews had responded around 4:30 p.m.J.R. Grovner, who owns Sapelo Island Tours, a company that uses the dock, was on the scene shortly after the gangway collapsed. As he arrived at the dock, he said, he saw bodies floating in the Duplin River.“Most of the bodies were already on the edge of the river, and people were pulling them up,” Mr. Grovner said by phone on Saturday night, adding that several of the victims appeared to be elderly. He said he had helped to check some of their pulses as people at the scene administered C.P.R.“I’ve been on Sapelo for 44 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Mr. Grovner said. A majority of the people visiting the island on Saturday were attending an annual Cultural Day festival, Mr. Grovner said.The festival is organized by the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society, a nonprofit that helps to preserve the heritage of the Gullah Geechee people who live along the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia and northern Florida. The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved West African people who were brought to the southeastern United States more than two centuries ago.The society could not immediately be reached for comment late Saturday.This is a developing story. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      3 People Killed and 4 Injured in Mississippi Bridge Collapse

      by

      A bridge over the Strong River in Simpson County that was being demolished collapsed in a “work site accident,” the authorities said.Three people were killed and four were critically injured after a bridge in Mississippi that was being demolished collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, the authorities said.The bridge, on State Route 149 over the Strong River in Simpson County, “collapsed this afternoon in a work site accident,” according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.“Sadly, there were fatalities as a result of the accident, and we extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones,” the department said in a statement.Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, told the Times that seven men were working on the bridge, using heavy machinery to tear it down, when it gave way and plummeted nearly 40 feet. Three of the men died, and four were injured, Mr. Tutor said.The remains of two victims had been recovered as of 7:30 p.m. local time, and emergency responders were working to recover the third victim, Mr. Tutor said. “Keep us in your prayers,” he said.It was not clear who the men worked for. Sheriff Paul Mullins of Simpson County told WLBT, an NBC affiliate station in Jackson, Miss., that the four people injured were in critical condition. The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday evening.It was unclear on Wednesday evening what had caused the collapse. A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation declined to answer additional questions on Wednesday evening but said that it would share more information when it becomes available.According to the department, the bridge has been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 as part of a bridge replacement project. The contractor was in the process of demolishing the bridge when it gave way, the agency said.Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, was on the scene, a representative with the coroner’s office said. Mr. Tutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.An inspector with the transportation department was at the work site when the bridge collapsed but was unharmed, the department said.Simpson County, in south-central Mississippi, has a population of about 26,000 people, according to census data. More