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Nine hurt as quake rattles Peruvian capital

AFP

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake rattled Peru’s capital and surrounding areas Friday, leaving at least nine people injured and some homes damaged, authorities said.

The quake was registered at 5:27 am (1027 GMT), with its epicenter 19 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Lima at a depth of 116 kilometers, according to the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP).

Some people in the capital fled their shaking homes in panic.

Civil defense authorities reported nine people injured, including one person seriously, and damage to three homes in the San Juan de Lurigancho and Ate areas, east of Lima. 

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A major highway linking the capital to central Peru was blocked by fallen rocks.

“Thankfully, we haven’t counted any deaths,” National Emergency Operations Center coordinator Rolando Capucho told TV channel N. 

One man, Jeison Arapa, 28, was injured when he fell from the third floor of his home while trying to evacuate, civil defense authorities said.

Capucho also said three children were trapped in a home after the quake but had since been rescued. 

IGP director Hernando Tavera said the shaking was intense due to the depth of the quake.

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“It is possible that this moderate-magnitude event has generated, in high areas, rockfalls and landslides on roads and in valleys, and even possible damage to precarious homes,” he said in a statement on the institute’s website.

The quake was felt in the provinces of Canete and Chincha to the south of Lima, and in the port city of Chimbote nearly 400 kilometers to the capital’s north. No tsunami threat was registered.

“People of Peru, let us remain calm but let us be prepared for any aftershock,” President Pedro Castillo said on Twitter.

A 7.5-magnitude quake shook the Amazon region in northern Peru in November, destroying 117 homes, injuring 12 people and leaving more than 2,000 without a roof over their heads.

Peru experiences at least 400 perceptible earthquakes every year.

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It is located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire — an area of seismic activity that extends along the west coast of the American continent.  

A powerful 7.9-magnitude quake struck Peru’s central coast on August 15, 2007, causing more than 500 deaths.

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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.

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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.

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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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