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Blast at Shell’s Nigeria oil pipeline kills 12 – police

Blast at Shell’s Nigeria oil pipeline kills 12 – police

TIFE OWOLABI AN explosion on a Nigerian oil pipeline owned by Shell killed at least 12 people, authorities at the scene said, while members of the affected community in Emohua said they feared many more had died in the blast. A spokesperson for Shell Petroleum Development (SPD) company of Nigeria Limited said a fire occurred on its Rumuekpe-Nkpoku Trunk Line in Rivers State and that it was working with authorities to put it out. Garuba Yabuku, civil defence spokesman for Emohua, in Rivers State, the heart of Africa's biggest oil industry, said the incident was reported around 4:30 a.m. (0330 GMT).…
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Seven people killed in explosion in northern Togo

Seven people killed in explosion in northern Togo

SEVEN people were killed and two injured in an explosion in northern Togo on Saturday night the army said in a statement. The victims were all between the ages of 14 and 18, said a medical source at the regional hospital in Dapaong, who asked not to be named. The explosion occurred in the village of Margba, in the northern Savanes region where Togo declared a state of emergency last month due to rising insecurity. In May, eight soldiers were killed in the same region in what was thought to be the first deadly spillover of Islamist violence from neighbouring Burkina…
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Explosion in a bar kills eight at Congolese military camp

Explosion in a bar kills eight at Congolese military camp

AN explosion in a bar at a military camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed eight people and wounded three more, Congo's government spokesman, Patrick Muyaya, said. The cause of the incident at Katindo camp, in the city of Goma, was not immediately clear. Services have been deployed to investigate, said Muyaya on Twitter. "The population is invited to remain calm while awaiting the report which will allow us to better understand the circumstances of this tragedy," he wrote. The Congolese army is battling multiple rebel groups in its restive east. There was no early indication that the…
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Lebanese protesters storm ministry buildings, TV shows, as Beirut blast protests grow

Lebanese protesters storm ministry buildings, TV shows, as Beirut blast protests grow

MICHAEL GEORGY  LEBANESE protesters have stormed government ministries in Beirut and trashed the offices of the Association of Lebanese Banks, TV footage showed, as shots were fired in growing protests over this week's devastating explosion. A policeman was killed during the clashes, a spokesman said. A policeman at the scene said the officer died when he fell into an elevator shaft in a nearby building after being chased by protesters. The Red Cross said it had treated 117 people for injuries on the scene while another 55 were taken to hospital. A fire broke out in central Martyrs' Square. Dozens…
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Blast rocks military base in Somali capital, at least eight dead

Blast rocks military base in Somali capital, at least eight dead

ABDI SHEIKH A huge blast has rocked a military base in Somalia's capital Mogadishu near a stadium, killing at least eight people and injuring 14, emergency workers said. Soldiers opened fire after the explosion which sent clouds of smoke into the sky, said Halima Abdisalan, a mother of three who lives near the area. "We ran indoors in fear," she told Reuters. "Soon I could see a military pickup speeding and carrying many soldiers covered with blood. I do not know if they were all dead or injured." Army officer Major Abdullahi Mohamud said it was an attack. "It must…
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Lebanon sees possible ‘external interference’ in port blast

Lebanon sees possible ‘external interference’ in port blast

MICHAEL GEORGE and ELLEN FRANCIS LEBANON's president says its investigation into the biggest blast in Beirut's history would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interference, as residents sought to rebuild shattered homes and lives. Rescuers sifted rubble in a race to find anyone still alive after Tuesday's port explosion that killed 154 people, injured 5,000, destroyed a swathe of the Mediterranean city and sent seismic shockwaves around the region. "The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act," President Michel Aoun told…
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A PICTURE AND ITS STORY – Capturing a rescue in Beirut

A PICTURE AND ITS STORY – Capturing a rescue in Beirut

WHEN he first felt the ground shaking, Reuters photographer Mohamed Azakir thought Beirut had been struck by an earthquake. Then he heard the explosion. Grabbing his camera, Azakir rushed out into the streets, trying to locate the source of the blast. When he reached the port, he realized he was close. Dead bodies lay everywhere, and people were screaming. Azakir saw one man, pinned under a vehicle, covered in a thick film of rubble and blood. At first, Azakir thought the man was dead. But then the man opened his eyes and began waving his arms and asking for help.…
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Beirut’s accidental cargo: how an unscheduled port visit led to disaster

Beirut’s accidental cargo: how an unscheduled port visit led to disaster

MARIA VASILYEVA THE chemicals that went up in flames in Beirut's deadliest peace-time explosion arrived in the Lebanese capital seven years ago on a leaky Russian-leased cargo ship that, according to its captain, should never have stopped there. "They were being greedy," said Boris Prokoshev, who was captain of the Rhosus in 2013 when he says the owner told him to make an unscheduled stop in Lebanon to pick up extra cargo. Prokoshev said the ship was carrying 2,750 tonnes of a highly combustible chemical from Georgia to Mozambique when the order came to divert to Beirut on its way…
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Lebanon detains 16 in probe of Beirut port blast

Lebanon detains 16 in probe of Beirut port blast

LEBANESE authorities have taken into custody 16 individuals as part of an investigation into the Beirut port warehouse explosion that shook the capital, according to state news agency NNA. It quoted Judge Fadi Akiki, a government representative at the military court, as saying authorities had so far questioned more than 18 port and customs officials and individuals responsible for or involved in maintenance work at the warehouse housing highly explosive material that blew up. "Sixteen people have been taken into custody as part of the investigation," NNA quoted Akiki as saying, without naming the individuals. He said the investigation was…
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#OurHomesAreOpen: Lebanese offer spare beds to Beirut blast victims

#OurHomesAreOpen: Lebanese offer spare beds to Beirut blast victims

BAN BARKAWI USING social media, hundreds of Lebanese have offered shelter to strangers displaced by a devastating blast, which Beirut's governor said may have left 250,000 people homeless. Tuesday evening's explosion in port warehouses storing explosive material was the most powerful ever to rip through the capital, killing some 110 people, injuring about 4,000 and tearing the facades off buildings and overturning cars. Using the hashtag #OurHomesAreOpen in Arabic and English, social media users have freely offered up spare beds and empty properties to victims, providing their names, phone numbers and details on the size and location of the accommodation.…
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