NEW DELHI: Nine construction workers went missing after a midnight cloudburst triggered a massive landslide on Saturday (June 28) in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Yamunotri National Highway.

A joint search and rescue operation has been launched by multiple agencies, and the Chardham pilgrimage on the Yamunotri track has been suspended for the next 24 hours.

The deluge of sludge and debris completely devastated the labour camp where workers were staying in tents.

Ten workers were rescued safely by the teams of local police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response (NDRF), National Highway and district administration, but nine of them were still missing.

Police said that nearly five of the missing people were of Nepali origin, three were from Dehradun, and one was from Uttar Pradesh.

Missing persons were mainly road construction workers and those engaged in a nearby under-construction hotel.

Reacting to the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on ‘X’, "It’s reported that some workers are missing in a landslide at Silai Band area of Barkot Tehsil in district Uttarkashi.

"SDRF, NDRF and other teams have reached the site. They have launched an intensive relief and rescue operation to find missing persons. I am in constant touch with the authorities concerned."

Meanwhile, Uttarkashi district administration is ensuring controlled access of the Yamunotri National Highway with priority for public safety, and the Chardham pilgrimage has been suspended on this route for the next 24 hours.

The step has been taken for the safety of the pilgrims stranded on the way, as the road is blocked at several places due to landslides caused by a sudden cloudburst.

Stranded pilgrims are being taken to safer locations by the police and district administration.

Incessant rains for nearly two days in this hill area have caused multiple road fractures on Yamunotri Highway, blocking the road at several points, informed SDRF officials.

Efforts are being made to clear the road and restore connectivity. - The Statesman/ANN

ROME, June 29 — Authorities across Southern Europe urged people to seek shelter today and protect the most vulnerable as punishing temperatures from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France climbed higher in the summer’s first major heatwave.

Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots and regions issued fire warnings as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.

Peaks of 43 degrees Celsius were expected in areas of southern Spain and Portugal, while nearly all of France is sweltering in heat expected to last for several days.

In Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome.

“We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted,” said British tourist Anna Becker, who had travelled to Rome from a “muggy, miserable” Verona.

Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.

“We’ve seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,” he told AFP.

‘Climate shelters’

Hospitals like the Ospedale dei Colli in Naples have set up dedicated heatstroke pathways to speed access to vital treatments like cold water immersion, Guarino said.

In Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public buildings.

Bologna has set up seven “climate shelters” with air conditioning and drinking water, Florence has called on doctors to flag up the lonely and vulnerable, Ancona is delivering dehumidifiers to the needy, and Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70.

Scientists say climate change is stoking hotter and more intense heatwaves, particularly in cities where the so-called “urban heat island” effect amplifies temperatures among tightly packed buildings.

“The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks of 37 degrees or even more in cities, where the urban heat island effect raises the temperatures even further,” said Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).

“A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now,” she told AFP.

Invasive species

In Portugal, several areas in the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are under a red warning for heat until Monday night due to “persistently extremely high maximum temperature values”, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert today for extreme heat and forest fires, as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes yesterday.

In France, experts warned that the heat was also severely impacting biodiversity.

“With this stifling heat, the temperature can exceed 40 degrees in some nests,” said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO).

“We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centres are saturated,” he said. It is also attracting invasive species, which are thriving in the more tropical climes.

Italy’s ISPRA launched a campaign this week urging fishermen and tourists alike to report sightings of four “potentially dangerous” venomous species.

The lionfish, silver-cheeked toadfish, dusky spinefoot and marbled spinefoot are beginning to appear in waters off southern Italy as the Mediterranean warms, it said. — AFP

PETALING JAYA – Nasib tidak menyebelahi dua remaja apabila khemah jualan berhampiran sebuah stesen minyak diterbangkan angin kencang di Balok, Pahang baru-baru ini.

Menerusi satu hantaran di TikTok milik @Sasae, memaparkan suasana kelam-kabut apabila payung khemah diterbangkan angin, manakala semua makanan dalam bungkusan yang telah disusun rapi di atas meja bertaburan atas jalan.

BEIJING, 29 Jun: Kementerian Sumber Air China mengaktifkan pada Ahad tindak balas kecemasan Tahap 4 terhadap banjir di Chongqing, Sichuan dan Gansu susulan pusingan baharu hujan lebat, lapor Xinhua.

Dalam beberapa hari akan datang, tiga wilayah peringkat provinsi itu dijangka mengalami hujan lebat yang boleh menyebabkan paras sungai melepasi paras amaran.

Pihak berkuasa di wilayah terbabit digesa untuk meningkatkan pemantauan masa nyata terhadap paras sungai dan hujan, mengeluarkan amaran tepat pada masanya, serta melaksanakan pemindahan jika perlu bagi melindungi nyawa dan harta benda, menurut kementerian itu.

China mempunyai sistem tindak balas kecemasan empat peringkat, dengan Tahap 1 sebagai tahap tindak balas paling tinggi. – TVS