Multiple injured after tornado hits parts of Texas
Houston: Multiple people were injured after a tornado, with 160km/h winds, touched down on parts of Trinity County, US state of Texas, overnight, authorities said.
The Conroe Police Department told media outlet ABC13 that Lt James Waller, a 22-year police officer, and his wife were at their home when the tornado hit their property, Xinhua news agency reported.
The veteran sustained critical injuries. His wife was also injured and received treatment, the police department said.
Another man was taken to a hospital after a tree fell on his house, the Trinity County Office of Emergency Services said.
A separate incident involved a couple who were inside their trailer that was tossed by the tornado’s strong winds.
It was a rough night for many in south-east Texas, with numerous warnings for tornadoes, severe winds and flash flooding, media outlet KTRK reported on Monday. | IANS
Nine killed as military helicopter crashes in Colombia
Buenos Aires: All nine occupants of a military helicopter that crashed in northern Colombia have died, the South American country’s army said.
The Mi-17 helicopter crashed near the town of Arenal del Sur in the department of Bolivar in northern Colombia, the military said on Monday.
“I regret the death of the nine soldiers in the military helicopter that was supposed to supply troops in the fight against the Clan del Golfo in the south of Bolívar,” wrote Colombian President Gustavo Petro on social media platform X.
The Clan del Golfo (Gulf Clan) is the most powerful criminal organisation in Colombia. The crime syndicate recruits its members primarily from former right-wing paramilitaries and is said to have around 6 000 men under arms.
In addition to drug trafficking, the organisation is involved in illegal mining and protection rackets and is responsible for numerous murders and dispossessions. Last year, the former head of the cartel, Dairo Antonio Usuga, commonly known as Otoniel, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the US. | IANS
US President Joe Biden calls for tougher gun controls after Charlotte shooting
Charlotte: US President Joe Biden called on Congress to step up to fight “the scourge of gun violence” after a shooting in the city of Charlotte in North Carolina left four police officers dead and four others injured.
“Leaders in Congress need to step up so that we ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of guns, and pass universal background checks and a national red flag law. Enough is enough,” he said in a statement published late on Monday.
Officers were shot at after they arrived at the suspect’s home to serve a warrant for firearm possession by a convicted felon on Monday.
Police said 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr. was the one who initially opened fire, killing three officers and injuring five others. One officer died in a hospital later that evening. | Sputnik
At least 6 killed, 1 injured in mosque attack in Afghanistan – reports
Afghanistan: At least six people were killed and another one was injured in a stabbing attack at a mosque in Afghanistan’s Western province of Herat, Afghan news agency Pajhwok reported on Tuesday, citing a government official.
Media have reported, citing sources and Afghan government officials, that the attack took place on Monday evening in Herat’s Guzara district. Some report that there was a child among the victims.
The armed man who attacked worshippers remains unidentified. Neither Afghan media nor the Taliban-led government (under UN sanctions for terrorism) have yet provided any other details. | Sputnik
Four killed in two Paris apartment fires
Paris: At least four people were killed in building fires that broke out in two separate Paris neighbourhoods, police sources and prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Three bodies were found soon after 8am (6am GMT) in a seventh-floor flat near the Opera Garnier in the centre of the French capital.
The blaze on the Boulevard des Italiens is believed to have started between 4am and 5am.
Those killed “couldn’t get out of the window because of bars installed to prevent burglars getting in via the roof”, said Ariel Weil, the mayor of the city’s four central districts.
“Around 10 people living on the same floor were rescued by firefighters who got in through the roof,” he added.
Weil and a police source said investigators were looking into whether the fire could have started with a gas leak.
Several firefighting vehicles were on the scene by late morning, an AFP journalist saw, while central Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation.
Prosecutors are also probing a second deadly fire in the 15th district, near the Eiffel Tower in western Paris.
“A 60-year-old person was found dead and another is in critical condition, with two in serious condition,” investigators said.
A second police source said a woman had been killed after the fire apparently broke out in her flat. | Agence France-Presse