Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A weekend fire at a Kenyan high school dormitory that killed nine teenaged girls was started deliberately, Kenya’s education minister said Monday. Fred Matiangi said arson was to blame while announcing the death toll had risen to nine. “Most of the investigations are done and …
Read More »Seven Kenyan schoolgirls killed in dorm fire
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Seven teenage girls died in a fire at a Nairobi school dormitory on Saturday, and 10 others were injured, according to Kenya’s education minister. “We have lost seven students in this unfortunate incident,” said Fred Matiangi on visiting Moi Girls High School, a prestigious government …
Read More »Shell shuts down Europe’s largest refinery after fir
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The British-Dutch oil giant Shell said it was temporarily shutting down Europe’s biggest refinery after a pre-dawn fire broke out at a power station on the vast site on Sunday. Flames billowed into the sky over the port of Rotterdam after the blaze …
Read More »Eucalyptus gets the chop after deadly Portugal forest fires
Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | Portugal is to reduce the number of eucalyptus groves after the highly flammable plant was blamed for last month’s deadly forest fires. Parliament voted for the measure Wednesday as part of ongoing forest law reforms that started in April, before the blaze in the central Pedrogao …
Read More »PAKISTAN: 123 dead, more than 100 injured in oil tanker fire
Ahmedpur East, Pakistan | AFP | At least 123 people were killed and scores injured in a fire that erupted after an oil tanker overturned in central Pakistan early Sunday and crowds rushed to collect fuel, an official said. The tragedy came less than a day before Pakistan was due …
Read More »London tower blocks evacuated over fire fears
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Thousands of residents from 650 London flats were evacuated Saturday due to fire safety fears in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, but dozens refused to leave their homes, according to local officials. Four of the five Chalcots Estate towers in Camden, north …
Read More »Five London towers being evacuated over fire safety fears
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Five residential London tower blocks were being evacuated on Friday due to fire safety concerns over their external cladding following the deadly Grenfell Tower inferno. The towers in the Swiss Cottage area of north London, containing around 800 homes, were deemed unsafe following urgent …
Read More »Anger simmers around burnt-out west London tower block
London, United Kingdom | AFP | One week on from the fatal London tower block inferno, the macabre smell of the burnt-out building clings to a traumatised neighbourhood, where every conversation is peppered with indignation. Some 79 people are presumed dead after last Wednesday’s blaze, which quickly engulfed the 24-storey …
Read More »‘Portugal weeps’ as deadly forest fire rages, 62 dead
Pedrógão Grande, Portugal | AFP | More than 1,000 firefighters on Monday continued to battle a giant forest fire that swept through central Portugal at the weekend, killing at least 62 people. The country was in mourning after the deadliest such disaster in its recent history, with many victims burnt …
Read More »UPDATE: 58 presumed dead in London tower block blaze
London, United Kingdom | AFP | The presumed death toll from the London tower block inferno jumped to 58 on Saturday as embattled Prime Minister Theresa May, accused of misreading the growing anger over the tragedy, pledged action after meeting survivors desperately seeking answers. Dozens of people were still missing …
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