The death toll from a Tanzanian plane crash into Lake Victoria on Sunday morning has risen from three to 19 by late afternoon, said the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.
Majaliwa, who visited the crash site on the shores of Lake Victoria in Bukoba district in Kagera region late Sunday afternoon, said it was likely that some passengers were still trapped in the plane’s wreckage.
The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) stated earlier that Precision Air flight number 5H-PWF from Dar es Salaam to Bukoba was involved in the landing accident at 8:45 a.m. local time (0545 GMT).
‘The aircraft landed in water short of the runaway about 500 meters before the threshold,’ said the statement.
The statement said a rescue operation was in progress, adding the TCAA would keep the public updated on further information and proceedings.
XINHUA
2 (KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — Malaysia reported 3,913 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Sunday, bringing the national total to 4,927,451, according to the health ministry.
There are four new imported cases, with 3,909 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.
Five new deaths were reported, pushing the death toll to 36,487.
The ministry reported 3,774 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,854,248.
There are 36,716 active cases, with 67 being held in intensive care and 50 of those in need of assisted breathing.
XINHUA
3 (MOGADISHU, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) — Somalia National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) on Sunday killed 21 al-Shabab militants and wounded dozens in central Somalia, the government said.
The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said the security operation was conducted in Galka Salimow village after the country’s intelligence agency received prior information of al-Shabab’s intention to carry out attacks against the locals.
The ministry said about 200 members of the al-Shabab group died last week following a relentless onslaught by Somali troops.
‘This is a big blow to terrorists and it means that within four days the National Army has killed almost 200 members of al-Shabab Khawarij,’ the ministry said in a statement issued in Mogadishu the capital of Somalia.
The ministry expressed gratitude to the Somali people for recognizing the significance of the collective resolve to eliminate al-Shabab militants.
XINHUA
4 (Manila, Nov 7, 2022 (AFP) – Philippine police accused Monday the country’s prisons chief of ordering the killing of a prominent radio journalist, whose death sparked international alarm.
Radio personality Percival Mabasa, 63, who went by the name ‘Percy Lapid’ in his programme, was shot dead in a Manila suburb on October 3 as he drove to his studio.
Police filed murder complaints against Bureau of Corrections director general Gerald Bantag, who is currently suspended from duty, and his deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta.
The alleged gunman, Joel Escorial, surrendered to authorities last month out of fear for his safety after police broadcast his face from security footage, officials said previously.
‘He (Bantag) will probably be the highest official of this land ever charged with a case of this gravity,’ Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said.
AFP
5 (Beijing, Nov 7, 2022 (AFP) – China reported its highest daily Covid caseload in six months Monday, despite grinding lockdowns that have heavily disrupted manufacturing, education and day-to-day life.
Beijing over the weekend quashed hopes that its strict zero-Covid policy — in which spot lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing are employed to quash outbreaks — might be relaxed anytime soon.
But a torrent of lockdown-related scandals where residents have complained of inadequate conditions, food shortages and delayed emergency medical care have chipped away at public confidence.
The country logged over 5,600 new Covid cases Monday — almost half in Guangdong province, a manufacturing hub in the country’s south home to major ports.
And in central China, a grueling lockdown at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou led Apple Sunday to warn that production had been ‘temporarily impacted’ and that customers would experience delays in receiving their orders.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
