OFFICIAL PORTAL
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
LOS ANGELES: A growing wildfire at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim has now charred at least 50 structures, including a historic lodge inside the popular US tourist site and natural wonder, authorities said Monday.
Hundreds of firefighters working from the air and ground in Arizona are battling the so-called Dragon Bravo blaze.
More than 500 tourists and park staffers have been evacuated since the fire broke out on July 4, apparently from a lightning strike.
On Saturday night the flames intensified quickly due to sustained winds gusting at up to 40 miles (64km) per hour, the national park service said.
According to early assessments, the fire has burnt down between 50 and 80 structures, including administrative buildings, a water treatment facility, and a historic building called Grand Canyon Lodge.
It is the only place on the North Rim inside the park where visitors can spend the night. It was rebuilt in the 1930s after being destroyed in a fire and declared a national historic monument in 1987.
Burning for over a week, the fire was initially managed by federal authorities in a confine-and-contain strategy – rather than being tackled aggressively to try to put it out.
Arizona governor Katie Hobbs has criticised the approach and called for an independent probe.
“An incident of this magnitude demands intense oversight and scrutiny into the federal government’s emergency response,” she wrote on X.
“They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage. But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park,” the Democratic governor wrote.
Authorities announced the North Rim is now closed for the remainder of the tourism season running through mid-October.
Firefighters are also battling a second blaze around 35 miles (56km) north of the Dragon Bravo fire in Kaibab National Forest.
Roads have been closed down too, but the more popular South Rim of the canyon remains open.
Dozens of fires are burning in the western US as the country goes into a dry and dangerous season for wildfires.
The region faces additional challenges because the Trump administration has cut funding and staff at federal agencies that work to prevent and grapple with fires and other natural disasters.
One of the greatest wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a chasm up to 18 miles wide and more than a mile deep.
Last year almost five million people visited the world-famous site.
TEHRAN: Sekurang-kurangnya tujuh orang cedera dalam letupan di sebuah bangunan kediaman di kawasan Pardisan, pinggir bandar Qom, Iran awal pagi Isnin, menurut laporan media tempatan termasuk agensi Fars dan ISNA.
Ketua Jabatan Bomba Qom memaklumkan empat unit kediaman rosak dalam insiden tersebut, dan penilaian awal menunjukkan kebocoran gas sebagai punca utama letupan.
Lima ambulans dikerahkan ke lokasi kejadian dan semua mangsa dihantar ke hospital berdekatan untuk rawatan lanjut.
Gabenor Qom menafikan insiden berpunca daripada serangan pengganas atau tindakan luar, dan menegaskan bahawa siasatan masih dijalankan secara menyeluruh.
Pihak berkuasa turut menekankan bahawa penduduk bangunan tersebut adalah orang awam biasa dan tiada kematian dilaporkan setakat ini.
Letupan berlaku dalam suasana tegang susulan siri insiden serupa di beberapa bandar Iran sejak berakhirnya perang selama 12 hari di antara Iran dan Israel bulan lalu.
Walaupun spekulasi mengenai kemungkinan serangan luar tersebar di media sosial, sumber rasmi Iran menafikan penglibatan Israel dan meminta orang ramai agar tidak mempercayai khabar angin.
Pasukan penyelamat dan penyiasat masih berada di lokasi untuk mengamankan kawasan dan mengumpul bukti.
DAMSYIK – Agensi pertahanan awam Syria menyatakan semalam bahawa kebakaran hutan di barat negara itu yang memusnahkan sebahagian kawasan hutan dan ladang akibat gelombang haba, telah berjaya dikawal.
Menurutnya, kebakaran yang turut melibatkan pemindahan penduduk secara paksa itu berjaya dikawal dalam tempoh 10 hari.
Dalam satu kenyataan di Facebook, agensi itu berkata, ia sedang berusaha untuk menyejukkan kawasan yang terjejas sambil memantau sebarang tanda kebakaran semula.
Menurut agensi itu, proses penyejukkan dilakukan selepas kebakaran berjaya dikawal pada Sabtu lalu.
Kebakaran di wilayah pantai Latakia itu berlaku di tengah-tengah gelombang haba yang ekstrem.
Pejabat Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) bagi Penyelarasan Hal Ehwal Kemanusiaan (OCHA) berkata, kebakaran tersebut memusnahkan kira-kira 100 kilometer persegi hutan dan tanah ladang.
Ketika kebakaran marak, pekerja-pekerja kecemasan Syria menghadapi keadaan sukar termasuk suhu tinggi, angin kencang, kawasan pergunungan curam dan bahaya sisa perang yang boleh meletup.
Dalam catatan di platform X, Menteri Kecemasan dan Pengurusan Bencana Syria, Raed Al-Saleh berkata, dengan bantuan Turkiye, Jordan, Lubnan, Qatar dan Iraq, anggota-anggota bomba berjaya menghalang api daripada merebak ke tempat lain.
“Situasi adalah yang terbaik dalam tempoh 10 hari yang lalu,” katanya. – AFP
ISLAMABAD – Monsoon rains in Pakistan have been linked to more than 110 deaths including dozens of children since they arrived in late June, according to government figures released Monday.
In its latest report, the disaster agency said 111 people including 53 children have been killed, with the highest number of deaths in the most populous province of Punjab.
Meanwhile, the national meteorological service has issued a warning for further heavy rainfall in the northern and eastern regions of the country, with the potential for urban flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage due to strong winds.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
But it brings with it flooding, landslides and causes buildings to collapse.
South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.
Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million residents are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency.
In 2022, unprecedented monsoon floods submerged a third of Pakistan and killed 1,700 people, with some areas yet to recover from the damage.
In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms. – AFP
JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers on Monday scaled down a search for 17 people still missing after a ferry sank near the island of Bali earlier this month, an official said.
The ferry, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, was carrying 65 people when it sank almost 30 minutes after leaving East Java province's Banyuwangi port to Bali on July 3.
As of Monday afternoon, 18 people were confirmed dead with 30 survivors, Ribut Eko Suyatno, an official at Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told Reuters.
All passengers were Indonesian except for one Malaysian who was among the fatalities, local media reported.