“60 people have been taken to the hospital. There are five people in critical condition, one in very critical condition,” said Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy via Twitter on Friday evening.Friday evening Amtrak announced the indefinite suspension of service from New York City to Boston due to the rail obstruction caused when a train heading south from New Haven derailed and struck an inbound train around 6:10pm Eastern Time. The resulting impact caused some of the cars on the second train to derail as well. Witnesses at the scene immediately began posting images of emergency response vehicles, and some of the injured being taken away by ambulances. Though no fatalities were reported, one passenger described a graphic scene following the accident, and officials had confirmed 60 people were injured, with five in a critical condition and one considered very critical. “I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed and they were pulling people out of the car,” said Brian Alvarez, a witness to the crash who spoke to CNN. “… They were all bloody,” he added.Rob Oliver, a passenger on board the train that was struck, told ABC News that he heard, “a tremendous amount of metal and just an extremely loud sound.” “We suddenly were screeching to a stop, but you knew it wasn’t a screech-normal stop … because there was just an awful burning smell and the cabin was filling with smoke,” said Oliver.The US National Transportation Safety Board was reported to be sending a team to investigate the incident, and was to take charge going forward. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch later told reporters that the crash would seriously disrupt travel for the communities serviced by the rail line. “This is our pipeline to New York City, and it’s going to be shut down for some time,” said Finch. “And it’s going to cost this region a great deal of money, frankly, not just to repair it but the lost wages and the lost economy,” he added. According to the mayor, workers will need remove the stricken trains, as well as the tracks, mend the rail bed, then lay down the tracks again. … Read More
Support for Press Freedom Day debates in North Kivu
Reporters Without Borders provided funding for two round-table meetings that local journalists’ groups organized for media personnel in the cities of Butembo and Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern province of Nord-Kivu, on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day. The subject for debate at the meetings was “Speaking without fear and guaranteeing press freedom in all the media.” The meetings also provided an opportunity for dialogue with the authorities, who were invited to attend. “We (…) … Read More
‘Turkey won’t act on Syria without US blessing’
Turkish authorities have detained nine people in connection with Saturday’s deadly car bombings in a town near the Syrian border.Two blasts killed 46 and injured over 100 as Turkey was quick to blame Syrian intelligence for the attack, but the government in Damascus denies all the accusations.Middle Eastern history and politics professor at Bilkent University in Turkey, Jeremy Salt, says it’s the Islamists among the Syrian rebels, who look the only party to benefit from the attacks.RT: Why did the Turkish government label the Syrian government as the “usual suspects” in the bombings – before the investigation even started?Jeremy Salt: The Turkish government claims it arrested nine people and it claims to have evidence that they’re connected with the Syrian intelligence service. We haven’t seen that evidence yet. We’ll have to wait and see what it says. At this stage, it seems to me quite inconceivable that Syria would do that because if we look at what’s happening on the ground right now. The Syrian army is rolling back the insurgency. The insurgents have taken huge losses in the last few months, in particular, around Damascus, near the Lebanese border, and even around Halab – Aleppo – and in the North Syria. And along with this is the fact that the Americans are changing pace and are going into negotiations with Russia to come out with a solution. So it doesn’t make any sense that Syria would do that right now. RT: Just in the last few hours, Syria’s information minister said that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s responsible for this by playing a “dangerous game with al-Qaeda”. What did he mean by that?JS: We know for a fact that – because the main Islamist fighting group in Syria has admitted this – al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria are one in the same. And all the fighting groups in Syria are Islamist and they’re working tactically with Jabhat al-Nusra. So, al-Qaeda is in Syria. We know that. It’s now confirmed, but this was more or less suspected from the start. What we’re seeing now is kind of charge and counter-charge as people try to put the blame for this on to someone else. My feeling about this – and obvious kind of guess is that the party responsible for this is one of the armed groups because if anyone has a reason to try to heat up the situation and drag outside countries it would be them. They’re in very serious problems right now. RT: Turkey’s Interior Minister urged the international community to get involved against Syrian President Assad. Doesn’t this undermine the peace efforts proposed by Russia, US and the UK? JS: The whole point is that they (the international community) have been deeply involved for more than two years and they haven’t succeeded in their objective, which is ultimately to overthrow the Syrian government – to bring it down. And so they’re still kind of chanting the same refrain, but there’s actually no possibility that the Syrian government can be brought down without direct intervention from outside governments. And the emphasis on Bashar al-Assad takes the emphasis where it should be, which is the Syrian army. Because the Syrian army is fighting – this is a national project. The foot soldiers in the Syrian army are mainly Sunni Muslims and, so, they have a national spirit. And that kind of refrain that the outside government should do more, should send in arms, should declare a no-fly zone are only going to worsen the situation.What we clearly need now is progress towards negotiating a solution, which is the path Obama has taken. And I think, in spite everything we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks – the chemical weapons propaganda, the Israeli attack – that I don’t think Obama is going allow himself to be drawn into this.RT: Turkey says it will take “every kind of measure” in response. What could that be?One has to take it seriously, but the fact is that [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is going to Washington this week and Syria will be on top of the agenda and my feeling is that Turkey won’t do anything by itself – that if Obama won’t bite, if he won’t commit America to take a more involved position over Syria, I don’t think that Turkey will do anything. Now, the key issue here is what kind of evidence are they going to come up with. Will they come up with any evidence that’s going to convince us that this, in fact, was an action carried out by the Syrian intelligence services. So there are many many unknowns right now and, of course, everything is going to depend on the outcome of the talks in Wahington between Obama and Erdogan. … Read More
Woman pulled from rubble in Bangladesh factory disaster
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A woman has been rescued from the the collapsed factory building in Bangladesh after 17 days. Local television stations broadcast live images of emergency service workers pulling the woman from the rubble.
However, the death toll from the tragedy has climbed to over 1000. It is believed that more bodies might still be trapped two weeks after the Rana Plaza complex accident occurred.
The disaster near the capital Dhaka is said to have been triggered when generators were started up during a blackout. Focus has been placed on Western retailers who use the impoverished country as a source of cheap goods. The garment industry worth almost €15 billion accounts for 80% of the South Asian country’s exports.
The Bangladeshi government has blamed the owners and builders of the eight story complex for using shoddy materials. The European Union has threatened punitive measures in order to press Dhaka to improve safety standards for the 4 million people who work in the garment industry.
More about: Bangladesh, Survivors
Copyright © 2013 euronews
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Watch live: Cleveland victim Amanda Berry speaks
Authorities hold a news conference on the latest in the kidnapping case involving three women held captive in a Cleveland home. Watch the video, broadcast by NBC News and scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern. Watch Amanda Berry, special report broadcast by NBC News.
Toddler taken hostage by off-duty Baltimore cop in standoff with SWAT team
The suspect, identified by police as James Smith, is holed up at a home on the West side of the city. SWAT members arrived at the scene several hours ago, and had removed a woman from the scene before paramedics arrived. Her clothing was seen to be covered in blood.SWAT members then returned to the barricaded site. At 6:40 pm Eastern Time Baltimore police tweeted that negotiators were working to try and peacefully resolve the situation.Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has told reporters that the main concern at the moment is for the child still believed to be inside the home with Smith.”The concern I have right now is slowing this scene down and making sure we get the child out safely,” Batts said. UPDATE – For safety of emergency workers, certain operational details of barricade situation can not be disclosed. — Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) May 7, 2013 DETAILS TO FOLLOW … Read More
