Foreign

Cadet Kills Two Instructors at Military Firing Range

By Web News 974

Two Japanese soldiers have been killed and another injured after a new recruit opened fire at a military training range in central Japan.

According to police, an 18-year-old trainee was detained on the spot and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

They alleged the male shooter fired eight times at instructors during a shooting drill in Gifu on Wednesday.

The authorities said A 25-year-old man was among those killed, as details about the other victims, in their 20s and 50s, are not yet known. But they were all instructors at the facility.

No civilians were involved, Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force said.

They said the shooting had occurred during a live-fire training for new members and potential candidates. The suspect had joined the force in April.

Several soldiers were seen hugging each other and crying outside the range after the shooting, a resident told local media.

The resident added that he had never seen a similar incident in his decades of living in the area.

Live-fire and explosive training drills were suspended across the country after attack, said the chief of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

Gun violence remains extremely rare in Japan, but there have been some notable incidents in the past year.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down at a political rally by a protester last July. Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and his death profoundly shocked the country.

Japan was again rattled in April when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escaped unharmed after having a smoke bomb thrown at his campaign event.

And in May, a Japanese man killed four people, including two police officers, in an hours-long knife and shooting rampage in the Nagano region.

On Wednesday, pictures on Japanese media showed police and emergency vehicles blocking off roads around the training facility in Gifu city.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu said he was aware of the shooting, and said the incident was still under investigation.

Japan has strict gun ownership rules, and only allows civilians to own hunting rifles and airguns. People have to undergo a strict exam and mental health tests in order to buy a gun in Japan.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

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News

Deadly Storm Kills Dozens in Brazil

By Web News 384

Authorities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo say at least 36 people have been killed in heavy flooding and landslides, forcing some cities to cancel annual Carnival celebrations.

The video showed neighbourhoods under water, flooded motorways and debris left after houses were swept away, as rescue teams were been struggling to reach survivors and unblock roads.

More than 600mm, 23.6 inches, of rain, fell in some areas on Sunday, twice the expected amount for the month.

“Search and rescue teams are not managing to get to several places; it is a chaotic situation,” said Felipe Augusto, the mayor of the hard-hit town of São Sebastião.

“We have not yet gauged the scale of the damage. We are trying to rescue the victims.”

Dozens were missing in the town and about 50 houses had collapsed and washed away, Mr Augusto added, saying that the situation remained “extremely critical”.

The state government reported at least 35 deaths in São Sebastião and the mayor of Ubatuba, some 80km, 50 miles, north-east, said a young girl had been killed. Hundreds have been displaced and evacuated.

“Unfortunately, we are going to have many more deaths,” a civil defence official told the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

Meanwhile, officials say another 228 people have been left homeless, with 338 more evacuated from coastal regions north of São Paulo.

A 180-day state of calamity was declared in six towns in the state: São Sebastião, Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela, Ubatuba, Guarujá and Bertioga.

State Governor Tarcísio de Freitas said he had released the equivalent of $1.5m, in funding to aid in disaster relief.

Carnival events were cancelled across the northern coastline, which is a popular destination for wealthy tourists looking to avoid huge street-side festivities in the big cities.

The festival usually lasts for five days in the run-up to the Christian festival of Lent and the colourful celebrations are synonymous with Brazil.

Latin America’s largest port in Santos was also shut as wind speeds exceeded 55km/h, and waves rose to over a metre, local media reported.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was spending the carnival weekend in the north-eastern state of Bahia, said he would visit the affected areas on Monday.

In a post on Twitter, he sent his condolences to those who had lost loved ones and promised to bring authorities together to provide healthcare and rescue teams.

“We are going to bring together all levels of government and, with the solidarity of society, treat the wounded, look for the missing, restore highways, power connections and telecommunications in the region,” Mr da Silva wrote.

More heavy rain is expected in the area, threatening to make conditions even worse for emergency teams.

Extreme weather events such as floods are expected to become more common as the impacts of climate change took hold.

Last year, torrential rain in the south-eastern city of Petropolis killed more than 230 people.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola                                  

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Foreign

Pakistan Mosque Explosion Claims 28 Lives

By Web News 392

At least 28 people have been killed in an explosion at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

According to report, the blast happened when the mosque was packed with worshippers and more than 150 people were injured, and a section of the building was destroyed, as officials say people are buried under the rubble. Several others are being taken to local hospitals.

Meanwhile, the cause of the explosion is unclear. Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack.

In a statement, Mr Sharif said those behind the incident “have nothing to do with Islam”.

He added: “The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism”.

The blast took place during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, near the country’s border with Afghanistan.

Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital, said that some of those injured were in critical condition.

“It’s an emergency situation,” Mr Asim added.

Local media report that police, army and bomb disposal squads are at the scene.

In the capital, Islamabad Police issued a security high alert and said security at all entry and exit points to the city had been increased.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

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Foreign

Auto Crash Kills Polish Tourists in Croatia

By Web News 513

Twelve people have been killed after a bus carrying Polish tourists veered off a road in Croatia on Saturday.

According to the officials, all 31 surviving passengers were injured, with some fighting for their lives in hospital.

The passengers were all adults and all Polish citizens, the Polish Foreign Ministry told local media.

They were travelling to Medjugorje, a Catholic Shrine in Bosnia, when the accident happened at around 05:40 local time.

The bus veered off the A4 road between Jarek Bisaski and Podvorec, north-east of Zagreb.

It was initially reported that 11 people had been killed. One more person died later in hospital, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.

“Some of the injured passengers are fighting for their lives,” Mr Bozinovic told reporters.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, adding in a post on Twitter that emergency services were doing all they could to help.

Two Polish ministers are travelling to Croatia in the wake of the incident, local media reported.


BBC /Taiwo Akinola