International
‘We have nothing left’: Philippine typhoon survivors plead for help
AFP
Concepcion Tumanda picks through the mud-caked wreckage of her home on a Philippine island devastated by Typhoon Rai that left hundreds dead across the country and survivors pleading for food and water.
Rai slammed into the popular tourist destination of Bohol last Thursday, dumping torrential rain, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees and smashing fishing boats.
“The house was destroyed, everything was broken,” Tumanda told AFP, weeping as she stood in the ruins of her home in the riverside town of Loboc.
“We have nothing left.”
Bohol — known for its dive spots, rolling “Chocolate Hills” and tiny tarsier primates — was one of the hardest hit islands after Rai flooded villages and sent residents scrambling to their rooftops.
At least 98 people lost their lives, Governor Arthur Yap said on Facebook. Another 16 were still missing.
Yap has pleaded for President Rodrigo Duterte to send funds to buy food and water for desperate residents after electricity and communications were knocked out across the island.
“We need food, especially rice, and water,” said Giselle Toledo, whose house was swept away by floodwaters.
“We were not able to save anything. We don’t know where to start our lives again.”
Rai also caused widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of the storm, packing winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour.
Duterte declared a state of calamity in the typhoon-hit areas, where at least 375 people were killed, freeing up funds for relief efforts and giving local officials power to control prices.
The military has deployed ships, boats, aircraft and trucks to deliver food, drinking water and medical supplies to survivors.
The Red Cross is also distributing aid, and a growing list of foreign governments have pledged millions of dollars in financial assistance.
But local officials and residents complain it is not arriving fast enough.
“Please speed up the relief, it’s our only hope because we have nothing else,” said a worker on a floating restaurant on the Loboc river that was destroyed in the storm.
– ‘Water is our main problem’ –
Lines of people waiting to refill empty water drums have formed along roadsides of Bohol, while large crowds of motorbike riders queue up at petrol pumps.
“Water is our main problem,” said Jocelyn Escuerdo, who is living with her family at an evacuation centre after they were left homeless.
“The containers provided by relief agencies are not very big, just five litres, so we run out of water all the time,” she said, adding they have “just enough” food for a day.
While many people fled their homes before the storm hit, some stayed behind to look after precious livestock like chickens and pigs, as well as to protect their properties.
Some of them were cut off by flooding and went hungry for three days, said village chief Pedro Acuna — until he paddled a boat to deliver them food.
Nearly a week after the typhoon hit, residents are still trying to salvage furniture and other belongings from their destroyed homes.
Elderly resident Telesfora Toledo said she did not know how to start again, with “so many things that need to be fixed.”
“It was so painful looking at what was left of the house,” Tumanda said, digging out plates and other kitchen items that survived the onslaught.
“We will try to repair it… if people give us wood and roofing sheets.”
International
Fire in India’s Jhansi Hospital kills 10 newborns
At least 10 newborns have died following a fire in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Jhansi, India, which was attributed to a faulty oxygen machine, authorities reported on Saturday, adding that 39 babies were rescued.
“Unfortunately, 10 infants have died,” said Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, regarding the fire that occurred on Friday night.
The fire started at 10:30 PM (17:00 GMT) at the Maharani Lakshmibai Medical University in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The rescued babies, all only a few days old, were moved to another area of the hospital for treatment.
Dr. Narendra Senga, the director of a medical faculty attached to the hospital, also confirmed the death toll of 10 infants.
International
Seven british citizens arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking 1.2 tons seized
Seven British citizens were arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking in an operation that led to the seizure of 1.2 tons of the drug, which is made from cannabis resin, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported on Saturday.
“National Police agents, in collaboration with the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK, have dismantled an organization allegedly dedicated to transporting drugs in trucks in Marbella and Elche,” the ministry stated in a press release.
“Agents seized 1,200 kilos of hashish and arrested seven British citizens,” the report specified.
The drugs were found in Marbella and Fuengirola, in southern Spain, as well as in Elche, in the southeastern region.
Part of the hashish was hidden in “large plastic barrels filled with fine mortar sand.”
In addition, the police seized over €63,000 in cash, five passenger vehicles, and a heavy-duty truck.
All of the detainees have been placed in pretrial detention.
Spain serves as the gateway for most of the hashish sold in Europe, due to its proximity to North Africa, the main production area.
In 2022, Spain seized 324.7 tons of hashish, according to the latest available official annual data.
International
Sinaloa cartel network dismantled in Spain following kidnapping and ransom incident
Fourteen members of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel were arrested in Spain following an investigation that began with the kidnapping and murder of an associate, the Spanish National Police announced on Sunday.
“The dismantled criminal network, based in Catalonia, is allegedly involved in the kidnapping and death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of the region,” explained the National Police in a statement. The victim had traveled from Italy to meet with some of the leaders of the gang.
The criminal organization was “mainly composed of Mexican individuals” and was “linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.”
The victim, a 46-year-old man, was allegedly working for the organization and had traveled to Barcelona from Italy to meet with leaders of the criminal network. The kidnapping took place between late May and June, and the victim’s family in Kosovo alerted the police after receiving a ransom demand of €240,000 (approximately $253,000). The family paid part of the ransom, $32,000 in cryptocurrency.
The victim’s body, whose nationality was not disclosed, was found in August in a forest, showing signs of violence and in an advanced state of decomposition.
The arrested individuals are allegedly connected to drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder. They received packages from Mexico containing methamphetamine soaked into pieces of clothing, which were sent to Catalonia. Once in Spain, they extracted the drug in a laboratory they operated.
The Sinaloa cartel is named after the northwestern Mexican state where it was founded and remains one of the most important criminal organizations in the world, despite the incarceration of two of its historic leaders, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, in the United States.
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