MANILA: More than 180 people were reported killed in the southern Philippines on Saturday as heavy rains from tropical storm Tembin caused floods and mudslides that wiped out homes.
Tembin struck just days after tropical storm Kai-Tak pounded the central Philippines, leaving at least 45 people dead and 46 missing, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).
Officials said the death tolls are likely to rise as dozens are still missing.
The NDRRMC has yet to issue an official casualty count from Tembin. Thousands of families have been displaced.
An NDRRMC official said the council has received reports from regional branches of the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government, “but these are subject to validation and verification by the NDRRMC.”
Information from the police earlier placed the number of fatalities in Zamboanga Peninsula at 46 with 28 missing after flash floods hit villages in five coastal towns in the region.
In Lanao Del Norte, where a landslide hit a mountain village near Tubod town and floods ravaged other parts of the province, officials reported at least 43 fatalities.
Lanao Del Sur, still reeling from the five-month battle to liberate Marawi City from Daesh-linked militants, reported at least 18 fatalities.
Five people were reported killed in Bukidnon and one in Iligan City.
The death toll is expected to rise as responders have yet to reach some of the hardest-hit areas, local officials said.
Responders, including military and police, are having to remove rocks, boulders and debris using shovels and their bare hands in their search-and-rescue operations in landslide- and mudslide-affected areas.
Maj. Ezra Balagtey, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines — Eastern Mindanao Command, said military community support and anti-terror teams have been deployed to undertake disaster response operations in affected areas.
Police said many roads remain impassable and seas have been extremely rough, making it difficult even for navy and coast guard vessels.
Officials gave assurances that they have enough resources to mount full search-and-rescue operations.
Tembin is expected to leave the country by Sunday, said the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Tembin will head west toward the South China Sea and make second landfall near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Monday.
Kai-Tak affected some 1.7 million people in 2,419 villages and damaged more than 12,000 homes.
The NDRRMC placed the cost of damage from the storm at 1.451 billion Philippine pesos ($28.7 million).
Over 100 killed in Philippines due to floods, mudslides
Over 100 killed in Philippines due to floods, mudslides
Manila deploys coast guard ship to counter China patrols
- Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that went against it
- There have been frequent clashes or tense standoffs between Philippine and Chinese vessels
MANILA: The Philippines said Sunday it had deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that went against it, and there have been frequent clashes or tense standoffs between Philippine and Chinese vessels.
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the waters.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon.
“Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement.
He later told reporters Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area to challenge the “unlawful” Chinese patrols.
He said the deployment aimed to ensure Chinese patrols “are not normalized, and that this bullying behavior does not succeed.”
Tarriela said the Chinese coast guard deployed three vessels from its Guangdong and Hainan bases to Philippine waters between December 30 and January 11.
The South China Sea confrontations have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila’s long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.
India set for Maha Kumbh Mela, world’s largest gathering of humanity
- Over 400 million people expected to take a holy dip in northern city of Prayagraj over six weeks
- Kumbhs are big test for authorities to showcase India’s ability to manage movement of millions
PRAYAGRAJ, India: A six-week Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival begins in India on Monday, a Hindu sacred event that will be the world’s largest gathering of humanity as it showcases religion, spirituality, tourism and crowd management.
More than 400 million people are expected in the northern city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers — the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati.
Devout Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, it also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality from demons.
In a 12-day celestial fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, which host the festival every three years by rotation.
The Kumbh held once every 12 years in this cycle has the prefix ‘maha’ (great) as it is considered more auspicious due to its timing and attracts the largest gathering.
The Kumbhs are a big test for authorities to showcase India’s ability to organize and manage the movement of millions of people and retain the ancient festival’s sanctity.
A sprawling 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers has been converted into a temporary city to house the visitors in 150,000 tents and comes equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 restrooms and 99 parking lots.
Authorities are also installing up to 450,000 new electricity connections, with the Kumbh expected to drain more power than what 100,000 urban apartments in the region consume in a month.
Indian Railways has introduced 98 special trains that will make 3,300 trips during the festival to transport visitors besides regular trains that connect Prayagraj.
Prashant Kumar, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh, said around 40,000 police personnel and cybercrime experts have created a web of surveillance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to protect and help navigate the sea of humanity at the site. “Security and safety of pilgrims is our priority,” said Kumar.
Emergency response capabilities include 125 road ambulances, seven river ambulances and air ambulances for swift medical assistance.
“I am fortunate to host one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals in my state,” state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told the Aaj Tak TV channel.
Adityanath is also a powerful Hindu monk and a popular hard-line Hindu politician in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A successful Maha Kumbh is expected to burnish the BJP’s record of reclaiming and glorifying India’s religious and cultural symbols for its Hindu base, promised by Modi and Adityanath since their Hindu nationalist party swept to power nationally in 2014.
The state government has allocated 64 billion rupees ($765 million) for this year’s event, officials said. It has also promoted the Kumbh Mela at several international tourism expositions and invited foreign representatives.
In 2021, Modi’s government had refused to call off the Kumbh festival despite a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases and allowed thousands of ash-smeared ascetics and devout Hindus to take a dip in the Ganga, possibly fearing a backlash from religious leaders in the Hindu-majority country.
($1 = 86.1650 Indian rupees)
South Korea’s Yoon will not attend first impeachment hearing
- Yoon Suk Yeol has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force
- The Constitutional Court has scheduled five trial dates spanning January 14 to February 4
SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol will not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial next week because of safety concerns, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Yoon has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force since being suspended and impeached last month, following a short-lived declaration of martial law that plunged the country into political chaos.
He has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators and his presidential guard unit thwarted an attempt to arrest him following a tense, hours-long standoff earlier this month.
The Constitutional Court has scheduled five trial dates spanning January 14 to February 4, which will proceed in his absence if he does not attend.
“Concerns about safety and potential incidents have arisen. Therefore, the President will not be able to attend the trial on January 14,” lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement sent to AFP.
“The President is willing to appear at any time once safety issues are resolved.”
The court will decide whether to uphold his impeachment or restore him to office.
Separately, investigators seeking to question Yoon on insurrection charges linked to his ill-fated martial law declaration are preparing another arrest attempt.
His lawyers have repeatedly said an initial seven-day warrant and the new one they secured this week were both “unlawful.”
Investigators have kept secret the length of the new warrant, with local media reports saying it is longer than the previous seven days.
Rival protesters for and against Yoon have gathered almost daily in the South Korean capital since the crisis unfolded.
On Sunday more demonstrations were planned by rival camps outside Yoon’s residence and on the streets of Seoul — either calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid or for him to be detained immediately.
The president’s legal team say his guards remain on “high alert.”
Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested if investigators are able to detain him.
If convicted, he faces prison or even the death penalty.
A team of Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) officials and police are planning for the next attempt, which they said could be their last.
The CIO said anyone obstructing their attempt could be detained themselves and police reportedly held a meeting of top commanders on Friday to plan for the renewed effort.
Former Presidential Security Service (PSS) chief Park Chong-jun — who resigned on Friday and was automatically replaced by a more hard-line Yoon loyalist — told reporters there must be no bloodshed in any second arrest attempt.
He faced two days of questioning and did not explain his resignation.
“I am cooperating as diligently as possible with the authorities’ investigation,” he told reporters Saturday.
His replacement, acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hun, refused to turn up to a third summons on Saturday claiming he had to protect Yoon, opening him up to possible arrest.
Lee Jin-ha, head of the service’s security and safety division, was questioned on Saturday.
The National Office of Investigation, a police unit, sent a note to high-ranking police officials in Seoul requesting they prepare to mobilize 1,000 investigators for the fresh attempt, the Yonhap news agency reported.
As the crisis goes on Yoon’s ruling party has seen a bump in approval ratings.
A Gallup survey published Friday showed the People Power Party’s approval rating had risen to 34 percent from 24 percent three weeks ago.
Los Angeles wildfire death toll rises to 16
- Figure expected to rise as cadaver dogs search leveled neighborhoods and crews assess the devastation
- Authorities have established a center where people can report the missing
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the area has risen to 16.
The total of confirmed fatalities stands at 16 victims, and the cases remain under investigation. Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire, and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening.
The previous number of confirmed fatalities was 11, but officials said they expected that figure to rise as cadaver dogs search leveled neighborhoods and crews assess the devastation. Authorities have established a center where people can report the missing.
Firefighters raced to cut off spreading wildfires before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward the world famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.
A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill. Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.
At a briefing, CalFire Operations Chief Christian Litz said a main focus Saturday would be the Palisades Fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus.
“We need to be aggressive out there,” Litz said.
County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area “had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the northeast expansion of the Palisades Fire.”
Light breezes were fanning the flames, but the National Weather Service warned that strong Santa Ana winds — the nemesis of firefighters — could soon return. Those winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around to city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
The hunt for bodies continues
The grim work of sifting through the devastation continued Saturday, with teams conducting systematic grid searches with cadaver dogs, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. He said a family assistance center was being established in Pasadena, and he urged residents to abide by curfews.
“We have people driving up and around trying to get in just to look. Stay away,” he said.
The fires have consumed about 56 square miles (145 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people remained under evacuation orders and new evacuations were ordered Friday evening after a flare up on the eastern side of the Palisades Fire.
Since the fires first began Tuesday just north of downtown LA, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles.
No cause has been determined for the largest fires, and early estimates indicate the wildfires could be the nation’s costliest ever. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between $135 billion and $150 billion.
Rays of kindness amid the devastation
So many volunteers showed up to help at donation centers Saturday that some were being turned away. That was the case at a YMCA in the Koreatown neighborhood. By late morning, cars with would-be helpers were also being turned back from the Santa Anita Park horse racing track, where donations of necessities were being accepted.
At the racetrack Friday, people who lost their homes could be seen sifting through stacks of donated shirts, blankets and other household goods. Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three homes occupied by more than a dozen of his family members were destroyed.
“Everything is gone,” he said, speaking in Spanish. “All my family lived in those three houses and now we have nothing.”
Officials warn against returning to burned homes
Some residents have been venturing back to see what can be salvaged after wildfires destroyed their homes, sifting through rubble for keepsakes. But officials on Saturday urged them to stay away, warning that the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.
“If you’re kicking that stuff up, you’re breathing it in,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the unified incident command at the Palisades Fire. “All of that stuff is toxic.”
Residents will be allowed to return, with protective gear, after damage teams have evaluated their properties, Thomas said.
City leadership accused of skimping on firefighting funds
Allegations of leadership failures and political blame have begun and so have investigations. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water.
“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” she said.
Progress made on fighting the Eaton fire
Firefighters for the first time made progress Friday afternoon on the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 structures. Officials said most evacuation orders for the area had been lifted.
LA Mayor Karen Bass, who faces a critical test of her leadership as her city endures its greatest crisis in decades, said several smaller fires also were stopped.
The level of devastation is jarring even in a state that regularly confronts massive wildfires.
Scramble to shelter animals from Los Angeles wildfires
BURBANK, USA: When wildfires roared to life around Los Angeles, Janell Gruss had to leave immediately. But as the manager of a stable with 25 horses and other animals, she knew it was going to be complicated.
While some people just got in their cars and drove out of the danger zone, Gruss had to wrangle more than two dozen frightened horses, as embers swirled in 100-mile (160-kilometer) -an-hour winds.
“The last horse we had to get out of the barn... it was pretty bad,” Gruss told AFP at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where hundreds of animals have been brought this week.
“It was very smoky. It was dark. I couldn’t see where I was,” she recalled. “Both the horse and I were tripping over things, branches, whatever was on the ground.”
Gruss said coralling the animals was so challenging, she feared at one point she might not make it out alive.
“I thought I might have been one of those casualties,” she said, as tears rolled down her face.
“You hear about the person that goes in to get the last horse and doesn’t come out.”
More than 150,000 people have been forced from their homes by the huge blazes tearing through the city in a tragedy that has killed at least 16 people and changed the face of Los Angeles forever.
With so many people ordered to get out of the way of the advancing wildfires and needing to take their animals with them, capacity is strained.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jennie Nevin, director of communications for the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.
“The first night was very busy and chaotic. Lots of people coming from all over.”
Care for Animals
Dozens of people milled around the barns Saturday at the equestrian center, where donkeys, pigs and ponies have also found shelter.
Tarah Paige, a professional stuntwoman, had brought her three-year-old daughter to visit their pony Truffles and her miniature cow Cuddles — a TV star in her own right who has appeared on several programs.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Paige, for whom the equestrian center has been an oasis in the midst of an unimaginable catastrophe.
Nevin says there has been an outpouring of support and people offering their services to help care for the menagerie.
“It really takes a village,” she said. “It takes the community.”
Across the Los Angeles sprawl there are activists, veterinarians and volunteers working to rescue and care for animals made homeless in the tragedy, including some that were injured.
The Pasadena Humane Society received about 400 animals from Altadena, where the flames have already consumed more than 14,000 acres (5,600 hectares).
One of their patients is a five-day-old puppy that was found in the ruins of a building, its ears burned.
Annie Harvilicz, founder of the Animal Wellness Center, says she has hardly slept a wink all week.
As the fire spread through the upmarket Pacific Palisades, Harvilicz posted on Facebook that she was happy to take in animals.
The post “exploded,” she said, and dogs, cats and even a rabbit began arriving.
With flames still raging out of control, the calls for help have not stopped.
But, she thinks, even when the firefighters have quelled the blaze, the slow-motion tragedy will roll on.
“There’s gonna be more pets found, more pets injured, with smoke inhalation and burns that we’re gonna start to discover as some of the fire recedes,” she said.
“This is just the beginning.”
