News in Brief (02-04-2018)
Monday, 2 April 2018
Governor resigns over deadly mall fire
MOSCOW, Apr 01: Aman Tuleyev (73), the longtime governor of Russia's Kemerovo region, resigned on Sunday over a big mall fire that killed at least 64 people, most of them children, in the city of Kemerovo. Aman Tuleyev said in a video posted on the regional administration's website that stepping down was the only course of action possible. President Vladimir Putin accepted his resignation, the Kremlin said. "With such a heavy burden, it's impossible to work as the governor," said Tuleyev, who governed the region for more than two decades. "It's morally impossible." — Reuters
Building collapse leaves 10 dead in India
NEW DELHI, Apr 01: A dilapidated four-storey building has collapsed in a central Indian city killing at least 10 people, police said Sunday, the latest such disaster in a country infamous for poor construction and safety standards. Rescue workers retrieved several people left trapped under tonnes of debris after the building collapsed in a crowded neighbourhood of Indore on Saturday night. "We pulled out 12 people from under the debris. Ten of them have died," police inspector Sanju Kamle told the news agency. — AFP
5.3-magnitude quake hits Iran
BEIJING, Apr 01: An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Iran's western region of Sarpol-e Zahabon on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake, which occurred at 0835 GMT, was initially determined to be centered at 34.4557 degrees north latitude and 45.7635 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 km. — Xinhua
Libyan navy rescues 125 migrants off coast
TRIPOLI, Apr 01: The Libyan navy on Saturday rescued 125 illegal migrants en route to Europe off the coast of the city of Zuwara, 120 km west of Tripoli. "As part of search and reconnaissance patrols, a distress call was received for a boat carrying migrants 25 km north (Zuwara). One hundred and twenty five migrants of African nationalities were rescued," Col Abo-Ajela Ammar, Libyan navy commander, told the news agency. — Xinhua
Sri Lanka refloats WW2 shipwreck
COLOMBO, Apr 01: A British passenger ship that sank after it was bombed in a Japanese air strike in the World War Two has been raised off the Sri Lanka coast after 75 years, the media reported. The SS Sagaing, whose passengers and cargo were largely saved back in 1942, was refloated on with the help of a team of divers from Sri Lanka's navy. — IANS