ZUID-AFRIKA – Het stadsbestuur van Johannesburg is deels aansprakelijk voor de gevolgen van een zware brand in de Zuid-Afrikaanse stad, waarbij 76 doden vielen. Dat is de conclusie van een commissie die onderzoek deed naar de brand, die eind augustus plaatsvond.
Ook de eigenaar zou zijn verplichtingen niet zijn nagekomen, staat in het eindrapport.
De brand in het vijf verdiepingen tellende gebouw was gesticht door een 29-jarige man, die bekende dat hij dit gedaan had om een moord te verdoezelen.
Maar volgens de onderzoekscommissie zouden de gevolgen van die brandstichting veel kleiner zijn geweest als de stad Johannesburg zich aan de wet- en regelgeving had gehouden.
Zo was het gebouw lange tijd een kantoor voor het uitgeven van paspoorten, maar werd het later een opvang voor vrouwen die waren mishandeld. De stad zou niet de juiste procedure hebben gevolgd om er een woongebouw van te maken.
Het gebouw stond officieel leeg ten tijde van de brand, maar er verbleven honderden personen. De bewoners maakten gebruik van illegale water- en elektriciteitsaansluitingen en hadden scheidingswanden gebouwd van licht ontvlambaar materiaal. De stad en de eigenaar van het gebouw, Joburg Property Company (JPC), waren hier al jaren van op de hoogte, maar grepen niet in.(NU)…[+]
Nieuws volgens datum: 7 May, 2024
Stad Johannesburg deels aansprakelijk voor dodelijke brand afgelopen zomer
Surfers killed in likely carjacking, says Mexico
MEXICO – Three tourists found dead in Mexico were shot in the head and their bodies dumped in a well, authorities have confirmed.
Officials believe the men were attacked trying to stop the theft of their pickup truck.
Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, 30 and 33, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, disappeared on 27 April while on a surfing trip in Ensenada.
Relatives of the three men identified their bodies last Sunday after travelling to Mexico to assist authorities, a state prosecutor said.
The attackers wanted the vehicle for its tyres and shot the tourists when they resisted, Baja California state prosecutor Maria Andrade suggested.
Their bodies were found in a 4m (15ft) deep well about 6km (4 miles) from the site of the attack in the town of Santo Tomás last Friday.
Abandoned tents, a burnt white pickup truck and a phone linked to the missing surfers were found nearby.
A fourth body was found in the well but had been there longer and was unconnected to the case, officials said.
Two men and a woman have been detained on suspicion of direct or indirect involvement in the attack. One man has been charged with “forced disappearance”.
Earlier, the FBI said it was looking into the case and was in touch with international partners.
Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, as local drug gangs fight turf wars.
But the Ensenada area, about 120km (75 miles) south of the US-Mexico border and known for its surfing conditions, is considered safer and has long attracted tourists from California.
The brothers’ parents – Deborah and Martin Robinson – said Callum had been living in the US, chasing his dream of becoming a professional lacrosse player.
Jake was on “the trip of lifetime” to visit him before starting a new job in Victoria as a doctor, they said last Friday.
“Callum and Jake are beautiful human beings. We love them so much and this breaks our heart.”
Friends of the brothers have also flooded social media with tributes.
Callum’s teammates at Stevenson University Lacrosse club said the athlete was a larger-than-life personality.
“With his beautiful long hair and charming smile, he truly embodied the nickname ‘big koala’ – warm, friendly, and always there to lend a helping hand,” a statement from the club said.
His girlfriend, Emily Horwath, said her heart was “shattered into a million pieces”.
“I don’t have the words right now… I will love you forever,” she wrote in a post on Instagram, alongside pictures of the couple.
Carter Rhoad’s social media accounts showed happy snaps of him proposing to his partner less than a year ago.
A fundraiser set up by friends of his family said he and the Robinson brothers had “brought immeasurable joy, love, and kindness” to the world.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the country was thinking of the Robinson family.
“It has been an absolutely horrendous, absolutely horrific ordeal and our thoughts are with all of them today,” he said at a news conference yesterday.
The killings have sparked fear and anger in the Ensenada region.
Scores of protesters marched through the city last Sunday, carrying surfboards plastered with slogans written in Spanish.
“They only wanted to surf – we demand safe beaches,” one said. “Australia we are with you,” another said.
A group of surfers later performed a “paddle-out” ceremony, an ocean vigil to honour the trio. (BBC)…[+]
Vermiste surfers in Mexico doodgeschoten en in waterput gedumpt
MEXICO – In Mexico zijn de lichamen teruggevonden van drie surfers – twee Australiërs en een Amerikaans – die sinds een week vermist waren. Ze hadden elk een kogel in het hoofd. Dat heeft de Mexicaanse politie aangekondigd.
Een van de pistes die de onderzoekers volgen, is die van een verkeerd afgelopen poging om de pick-uptruck van de toeristen te stelen. Het voertuig werd uitgebrand teruggevonden, niet ver van de plaats waar de lichamen werden gevonden. Ze lagen in een 15 meter diepe waterput.
De Australische broers Jake (30) en Callum (33) Robinson en de Amerikaans Jack Carter (30) waren vorig weekend voor het laatst gezien op een populaire surfspot in het noorden van Baja California, een Mexicaanse regio die grenst aan de Verenigde Staten. Toen de Australiërs niet kwamen opdagen bij hun eerder geboekte Airbnb en de Amerikaan afwezig bleef van het werk, begon de zoektocht.
Familieleden van de drie surfers waren ter plaatse om de lichamen te identificeren.
In de dagen na de verdwijning arresteerden lokale autoriteiten drie mensen die mogelijk een connectie hadden met de zaak. Ze waren onder invloed en één van hen had de telefoon van één van de vermisten op zak.(De Telegraaf)…[+]
Death toll from southern Brazil rainfall rises with many still missing
BRAZIL – Floods in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 78 people over the last seven days.
The death toll is rising as heavy rains continue to lash southern Brazil, driving floodwaters higher.
The storms and flooding in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed at least 78 people, local authorities said last Sunday, with more than 115,000 people displaced.
Volunteers using boats, jet skis – and even swimming – have assisted in rescue efforts. In the state capital, Porto Alegre, Fabiano Saldanha said he and three friends used jet skis to save about 50 people from floodwaters since Friday.
The death toll could still increase significantly, with 105 people reported missing on Sunday, up from about 70 the prior day, according to the state civil defense authority. It also said it was investigating whether four more deaths were related to the storms.
Driven by the persistent heavy rains, flooding has affected more than two-thirds of the nearly 500 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, according to authorities.
Roads and bridges have been damaged in several cities. Rains have also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant.
More than 400,000 people were without power on Sunday evening, while nearly a third of the state’s population was without water, authorities said.
In Porto Alegre, the Guaiba Lake breached its banks, hitting the highest water level on record, according to the Geological Survey of Brazil. The city’s international airport has suspended all flights since last Friday. (Al Jazeera)07
