death toll - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Final death toll of Italy hydroelectric plant blast rises to 7

ITALIAN rescuers have found the bodies of the last two missing workers from an explosion at a hydroelectric plant near Bologna three days ago, a spokesperson for the fire brigade said, bringing the final death toll to seven. On Tuesday, a fire broke out on a transformer and the subsequent blast rocked the plant on the shores of the artificial Lake Suviana, owned by Enel Green Power, a unit of utility group Enel. The explosion has heightened concerns by trade unions about workplace safety in Italy, where over 1,000 people lost their lives while working last year, according to a…

Apr

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and AHMED MOHAMED HASSAN

Hamas says Gaza truce talks still deadlocked despite reports of progress

WORLD

A Hamas official said that no progress had been made at a new round of talks in Cairo on a ceasefire in the Gaza war after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda. Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising U.S. pressure for a deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get aid to Palestinian civilians. Qatari representatives also attended. "There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel) and therefore, there is nothing new in the…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

More than 100 killed while seeking aid in Gaza, overall death toll passes 30,000

WORLD

GAZA health authorities said Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over. At least 112 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the incident near Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said. The loss of civilian lives was the biggest in weeks. Hamas said the incident could jeopardise talks in Qatar aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages it is holding. When asked if he thought it would complicate the talks, U.S.…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Death toll in Mali bus accident rises to 40

NEWS

THE death toll in a bus accident near the southern Malian town of Kenieba on Tuesday has risen to 40, Burkina Faso's government said in a statement, adding that its citizens were among the dead. Mali's transport ministry said that at least 31 people were killed when a bus bound for Burkina Faso plunged off a bridge over a river.

Jan

2024

By TIEMOKO DIALLO

Death toll from Mali gold mine accident rises to over 70

NEWS

THE death toll from last week's accident at an artisanal gold mine in southwest Mali has risen to more than 70, the head of Mali's Mines Chamber said on state radio. The deaths were caused after a shaft collapsed on Friday inside an artisanal gold mining site in the Kangaba Cercle in Mali's southwestern Koulikoro Region. The mines ministry reported over 40 killed on Wednesday but said that figure was provisional. The President of Mali's Mines Chamber, Abdoulaye Pona, who headed a government delegation dispatched to the area on Thursday, told state radio the death toll had risen to over 70, including…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Toll from blast and fire at Guinea oil depot rises to 23 dead – statement

NEWS

THE death toll from a blast and fire at an oil terminal in Guinea's capital, Conakry, has increased to 23 from 13 earlier, and the number of injured has risen to 241 from 178, the government said in a statement. The statement said that 10 remains were still to be identified, adding that the government had received reports of several people still missing. The blast at the West African nation's main oil terminal that handles its fuel imports sparked fears of shortages. The government said in the statement that gasoline distribution was ongoing across the country.

Dec

2023

By HUMEYRA PAMUK, JONATHAN SAUL and MAGGIE FICK

Despite Gaza death toll soaring, U.S. unlikely to rethink weapons supplies to Israel

WORLD

FACING a soaring death toll from Israel's renewed offensive in southern Gaza, the Biden administration is trying to pressure its ally to minimize civilian deaths while stopping well short of the kind of measures that might force it to listen, such as threatening to restrict military aid. Top U.S. officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have urged Israel publicly to conduct a more surgical offensive in the south to avoid the heavy civilian casualties inflicted by its attacks in the north. About 900 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli airstrikes between Friday when a truce…

Dec

2023

By NUZULACK DAUSEN

Tanzania flood deaths rise to 63, prime minister says

NEWS

THE death toll from floods in northern Tanzania following torrential rains this weekend has risen to 63, the prime minister said, adding to hundreds of other deaths caused by extreme weather in East Africa since seasonal rains began in October. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said in comments broadcast on television that the number of injured stood at 116 people. Landslides had destroyed half of one village he visited, he said. "We are here in front of bodies of our fellows. We have lost 63 loved ones. Of the total fellows we lost, 23 are men and 40 are women," he…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Death toll from Kenya’s El Nino floods jumps to 120

NEWS

SEVERE flooding caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon has killed 120 people in Kenya, while people in almost 90,000 households have been forced to leave their homes, the government said. The latest estimated death toll in Kenya has doubled as heavy seasonal rains following the worst drought in four decades have submerged towns and villages across East Africa, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Thousands of homes have been washed away or are marooned, while farmland has been submerged and tens of thousands of livestock drowned, aid agencies said. In neighbouring Somalia floods have killed at least 96 people and…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Death toll from flooding in Somalia climbs to nearly 100

NEWS

THE number of people killed by floods from heavy rains in Somalia has climbed to 96, state news agency SONNA said. "Somalia's flood death toll climbs to 96," SONNA said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding the figure had been confirmed by Mahamuud Moallim, the head of the country's disaster management agency. Like the rest of East and Horn of Africa, Somalia has been battered by relentless heavy rains that began in October, caused by the El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole weather phenomena. Both are climate patterns that impact ocean surface temperatures and cause above-average rainfall. The…