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3 dead, 3 missing after avalanche on Ecuador volcano: officials

AFP

An avalanche Sunday on a snow-capped Ecuadoran volcano, the highest peak in the country, killed at least three climbers and left three others missing, officials reported.

The avalanche struck a group of 16 mountaineers while at an altitude of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet) on the dormant Chimborazo volcano, according to responders.

“There are three missing mountaineers, three dead, three injured and seven rescued, out of a total of 16 people,” Quito firefighters, who provided emergency support, said in a statement.

A previous report from the country’s ECU911 security service had said four climbers had died and one was injured.

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Authorities did not identify the climbers or their nationalities, but the Quito newspaper El Comercio reported that all were Ecuadoran.

The avalanche was spurred by “weather conditions” and was not caused by any volcanic activity, according to the firefighters.

Rescuers as well as police and military personnel specialized in high-elevation operations set up a command center at Chimborazo to coordinate search-and-rescue operations.

The volcano, which rises more than 6,200 meters high, is covered in snow and glaciers year-round and is located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Quito.

Chimborazo attracts both Ecuadoran and foreign climbers. The towns of Riobamba and Ambato lie at its base.

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Ecuador’s Environment Ministry temporarily closed the surrounding Chimborazo nature reserve, which is popular with tourists. Despite the volcano’s constant snow, it is not frequented by skiers.

The volcano has seen a number of deadly accidents in recent decades.

In 2003, the remnants of an Ecuadoran plane that crashed in 1976 with 59 people on board were found by climbers about 700 meters from the summit.

The plane had collided into a stone wall on Chimborazo, and had been covered by an avalanche.

In 2015 the remains of three climbers, believed to have disappeared 20 to 30 years ago, were discovered at about 5,500 meters.

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And in 1994 an avalanche left 10 people dead, including one Swiss and six French nationals.

Chimborazo last erupted sometime between the beginning of the 5th and end of the 7th century, according to the Geophysical Institute of Quito, which said the interval between eruptions is approximately 1,000 years.

The volcano’s ice-capped summit, steep slope and its location near populated areas including towns, make it a high-risk area, according to the institute.

Chimborazo’s summit is the farthest point from the center of the Earth, at 6.38 million meters.

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International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

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International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

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International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”

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