The death toll from the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe’s history continues to rise and now stands at 1,608, the United Nations said today, adding that the number of cases of the acute intestinal infection caused by contaminated food or water has risen to 30,365 as of 29 December.
UN agencies are continuing their efforts to help the country to tackle the epidemic, which affects all provinces of the southern African country and comes amid a collapsing health system and worsening humanitarian situation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has in recent days set up a response team comprised of an environmental health officer, epidemiologists and data managers.
The Israeli blitz against the Gaza Strip has left two more people killed, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 397 since Saturday.
Over 1900 others were also wounded in the onslaught. Women and children have been among the victims, the UN announced on Wednesday.
A Palestinian medic was killed and two others wounded when a missile struck next to their ambulance east of Gaza City, Palestinians said.
At least 53 people have been killed in a fire in a nightclub in the Thai capital, Bangkok, police say.
More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which broke out as people celebrated the New Year.
Witnesses said bodies were laid out on the pavement in front of the club, named as the Santika, in central Bangkok’s Thong Lor district.
Police said they were investigating what sparked the fire in the club, popular with both Thais and foreigners.
The blaze was now under control but the death toll could rise, a fire official said.
The death toll in the M/B Maejan sea tragedy off in Cagayan province rose to 31 as of Tuesday evening, a television report said.
QTV’s News on Q said that as search and rescue operations continue, authorities have confirmed that 31 bodies have been so far recovered.
According to the TV report, M/B Maejan tragedy appeared to be another case of overloading.
The death toll of a road accident in southern Egypt has risen to 57, the state MENA news agency reported on Sunday, citing a senior official.
Minya Governor Ahmed Diaaeddin said the bus carrying 70 passengers was traveling to Beni Sueif when the accident occurred.
On Sunday morning, the coach overturned some 200 km south of Cairo on the way from the southern city of Minya to Beni Sueif, said MENA.
The bus plunged into Al-Ibrahimia canal as the driver was trying to avoid a speedy truck coming from the opposition direction, Diaaeddin was quoted as saying.
Earlier reports said most of the victims drowned in the canal before rescuers can reach them.
More than 20 ambulances rushed to the spot to take part in rescue operations, said Diaaeddin, adding both drivers are being held pending investigations.
Earlier reports said at least 51 people were killed in the road accident, one of the deadliest tragedies in the country in recent years.
Traffic accidents are common in Egypt with an estimated annual death toll of some 6,000 people.
On Monday, a bus carrying Coptic students overturned about 30 km south of Cairo, killing at least 13 people and injuring 30 others.
On Dec. 1, at least 14 people were killed and 11 others injured when a lorry collided with two microbuses near the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, some 220 km northwest of Cairo.
The Egyptian traffic authorities implemented a new traffic code with tougher punishments for lawbreakers as of Aug. 1 in a bid to reduce road accidents.
HANGZHOU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) — Eight people have been confirmed dead in a collapsed subway tunnel here in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province after another body was recovered on Tuesday afternoon, a local official said.
Four sniffer dogs and more than 400 rescuers are still searching for 13 others, whose hope to survive is very slim after being trapped for more than 72 hours, said Cai Qi, mayor of Hangzhou.
A 75-m section of a subway tunnel under construction collapsed Saturday afternoon. Besides those dead or missing, 24 others were injured.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A powerful typhoon plowed into a densely populated area of southern China on Wednesday, prompting the state Meteorological Administration to issue an “urgent red alert,” its highest-level warning.
Authorities evacuated more than 100,000 people before typhoon Hagupit made landfall around dawn. The storm killed at least eight people in the Philippines earlier in the week.
Tropical Storm Risk (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/) downgraded the storm from category 4 to 3 on a scale of 5 once it made landfall.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — A suicide truck bombing destroyed the packed Marriott Hotel, near the Parliament building and the prime minister’s home, in the city of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday night.
The attack killed at least 40 people and wounded another 200, police said.
People were still trapped in the hotel, which burst into flames after the explosion caused a natural gas pipe leak, officials said. The fire was still burning at 2 a.m., six hours after the blast, according to The Associated Press.
Rescuers worked to move bloodied bodies from the hotel but were forced to stop out of fear that the structure could collapse.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — The Czech Republic’s ambassador to Pakistan has been missing since a deadly blast Saturday night at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the Czech News Agency reported.
Ivo Zdarek, 47, moved from Vietnam to Pakistan a month ago and was staying at the hotel, the national news agency said. It attributed its information to officials at the Czech foreign ministry.
He is married with two sons, according to the Web site of the Czech Embassy in Hanoi, where he was most recently posted.
The Czech Embassy would not confirm the report to CNN on Sunday.
Heavily armed militants opened fire on the United States Embassy in Sana, Yemen, on Wednesday and detonated a car bomb at its gates, in an attack that left at least 16 people dead including six of the attackers, Yemeni officials said.
No Americans were killed or wounded in the blast or when guards began to return fire, said a Yemeni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
Yemeni security officials and witnesses said the death toll was at least 16, including four bystanders, one of them an Indian woman. The other dead were six attackers and six security guards, the Yemeni officials said, speaking in return for anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency also reported that 16 people were killed.
