Tag Archives: Death

Ten-year-old boy on Kansas City waterslide died of neck injury

A general view of the Verruckt waterslide at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas

By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) – The 10-year-old son of a state lawmaker died of a neck injury while riding the world’s tallest water slide in Kansas City, Kansas, police said on Monday.

Caleb Thomas Schwab died on Sunday at the Schlitterbahn waterpark on the Verrückt water slide, which sends riders plunging down 17 stories at up to 50 miles an hour (80 kph).

He was riding with two women on a raft, Kansas City police said in a statement.

Police and fire officials rushed to the scene after a report of an emergency and found the boy “dead from a fatal neck injury at the end of the ride, in the pool,” the statement said.

The two women on the raft suffered minor injuries to their faces and were hospitalized, it said.

The ride is more than 168 feet (51.4 meters) high, making it taller than the Statue of Liberty from torch to the top of its pedestal. The ride’s name means “insane” in German.

Park officials said in a statement that Schlitterbahn Kansas City would remain closed at least until Wednesday, while the slide would be shut down during the course of the investigation.

Police and a park spokeswoman declined to give additional details about the child’s death, including whether the child met the ride’s height requirement of 54 inches (1.37 meters) or whether the three riders and the raft met the weight requirement.

Schwab was the son of Kansas State Representative Scott Schwab, who said in a statement the family was devastated.

“Caleb was an incredible young man,” the family’s pastor, Clint Sprague, told a news conference. He was “full of life, loved baseball, basketball, soccer. He was always doing something.”

The Verrückt water slide is the tallest in the world, according to Guinness World Records. The park postponed the 2014 opening of the slide three times to ensure safety.

Kansas state Senator Pat Pettey said the tragedy occurred during the park’s “elected officials day” and that she was at the site.

Pettey said in a telephone interview she left the park before the incident that led to the boy’s death. She said relatives of hers who stayed at the park had seen blood on the slide.

Under Kansas law, the state Department of Labor has jurisdiction over amusement parks, which must inspect their rides every 12 months with state officials authorized to conduct random inspections.

The incident will likely lead to a discussion in the state legislature about how water parks are regulated, she said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Bernard Orr and Paul Tait)

Macedonia declares emergency after 21 die in flash floods

A wrecked car is seen after heavy floods in Cento

By Kole Casule

SKOPJE (Reuters) – Macedonia declared a state of emergency in its capital Skopje and neighboring districts on Sunday, a day after at least 21 people were killed in flash floods caused by a storm.

Torrential rains flooded homes, swept away a section of the ring road around Skopje and wrecked cars late on Saturday evening. Northern suburbs of the capital were particularly hard hit, though the city center also suffered flash floods.

Children were among those killed, a police spokesman said, adding that searches were continuing for six people who have been reported missing.

Macedonia, a small former Yugoslav republic of about two million people, has declared Monday a day of national mourning.

“This is a catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude,” Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Todorov told reporters.

Special police forces and trucks loaded with drinking water were sent to the worst affected areas, where there also have been some electricity outages and where scattered debris of furniture swept away from houses could be seen on the streets, a Reuters reporter said.

The rain had stopped by Sunday morning and water levels were receding, though there was some more rain on Sunday evening in Skopje. There were no reports of further flash flooding.

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Twitter that the EU stood ready to help Macedonia, which is a candidate to join the bloc.

Further north in the Balkans, in Croatia, heavy winds caused disruptions on some roads, including the closure of the highway linking the capital Zagreb to southern coast for lorries and buses, local media said.

(Additional reporting by Igor Ilic in Zagreb; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Florida woman killed in London was retired educator

Police officers stand near a forensics tent after a knife attack in Russell Square in London

(Reuters) – A Florida woman killed in a knife attack in London this week was a mother, a retired special education teacher and an avid tennis player, local and national media said on Friday.

Darlene Horton, 64, of Tallahassee died at the scene after a 19-year-old man with suspected mental health problems went on a rampage with a knife in central London’s Russell Square on Wednesday evening, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Five other people were injured in the attack, for which police said there was no evidence of a link to terrorism.

Horton was in London with her husband Rick Wagner, a psychology professor at Florida State University (FSU), the university said on Thursday.

“There are no words to express our heartache over this terrible tragedy,” FSU President John Thrasher said in the statement.

Horton worked as an educator for special-needs children for 30 years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Her friends described her to the Tallahassee Democrat as a dedicated teacher and pleasant personality.

“She is absolutely lovely. Just one of the nicest, sweetest family focused people who is very happy in her space and place,” neighbor Jane Marks said.

Horton loved spending time in London, where her husband taught each summer and her two grown daughters would regularly visit, a friend told the Wall Street Journal.

Horton’s neighbor Mary Alice Linzy told the newspaper that the couple enjoyed entertaining Florida State students and visiting London museums.

“I’m just devastated,” Linzy told the Journal. “She was one of the warmest and most beautiful people. This was somebody that I’ve never seen cross.”

Horton was also involved in the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation and the local humane society, her friends told the Tallahassee Democrat.

Linzy told both papers that her friend was an avid tennis player. Horton and her husband were soon to return to Tallahassee, where her regular doubles match waited.

“I’m just going to miss her so much. She was an inspiration for me,” Linzy said to Tallahassee Democrat. “Every time I step on the tennis court now I’m going to be thinking of Darlene. I just cannot believe it.”

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

California wildfire near Big Sur coast steered away from homes

A firefighter stands on steep terrain while fire crews create fire breaks at Garrapata State Park during the Soberanes Fire north of Big Sur, California,

By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) – Crews battling a deadly wildfire burning well into its second week near California’s Big Sur coast have carved buffer lines around a quarter of its perimeter, steering flames more deeply into the forest and away from populated areas, officials said on Wednesday.

The gradual but steady progress being made against the so-called Soberanes blaze comes as wildfire season in the western United States was reaching its traditional peak, intensified by prolonged drought and extreme summer heat across the region.

The 13-day-old conflagration near Big Sur is one of nearly 30 major wildfires reported to have scorched roughly 700 square miles (1,813 sq km) in 12 states, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

“It’s bad now and it’s going to get worse,” AccuWeather long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok said.

Authorities said on Tuesday they had traced the origins of the Soberanes blaze to an illegal campfire left unattended in a state park about a mile from the famously scenic coastal drive known as Highway 1, south of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Since erupting on July 22, the fire has blackened nearly 46,000 acres (18,600 hectares), destroyed at least 57 homes and claimed the life of a bulldozer operator who died when his tractor rolled over as he helped property owners battle the blaze.

He became the sixth wildfire fatality in California this year.

Efforts to quell the Soberanes fire have been complicated by steep, rugged terrain and persistently hot, dry weather, said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the fire command.

As of Wednesday morning, a firefighting force that has grown to more than 5,500 had managed to hack through enough unburned vegetation to carve containment lines around 25 percent of the fire’s perimeter, up from 18 percent a day earlier.

With the fire now largely hemmed in on its northern flank, closest to communities that were threatened, the blaze is moving primarily in a southeasterly direction deeper into the Los Padres National Forest, Scott said.

Some evacuation orders have been lifted, but fire officials said about 300 residents remained displaced and about 2,000 structures were listed as threatened. Several popular California state parks and campgrounds also were closed.

Another fire, burning north of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Yolo-Napa county line, has scorched 4,000 acres of grass and oak woodlands since it erupted on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of a campground and residential community. Dubbed the Cold fire, that blaze was listed as just 5 percent contained.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and James Dalgleish)

Maryland police kill armed black woman who threatened them

(Reuters) – Maryland police fatally shot an armed black woman who espoused anti-government views and threatened to kill officers during a standoff where her 5-year-old son was wounded, authorities said on Tuesday.

The shooting of Korryn Gaines, 23, of Randallstown, Maryland, about 17 miles northwest of Baltimore, on Monday prompted outrage on social media, reigniting concerns about police use of force, especially against African-Americans.

Gaines pointed a shotgun at Baltimore County officers when they arrived at her apartment to serve warrants on her and Kareem Courtney, 39, her boyfriend, police said.

“When somebody points a gun directly at an officer and threatens to shoot them, it very well may not end well. That is the situation we had in this case,” police spokeswoman Elise Armacost told reporters.

Police said Gaines was live-streaming video during the faceoff and followers were encouraging her not to give in peacefully.

Gaines had faced charges that included disorderly conduct and resisting arrest from a March traffic stop. Courtney was wanted for an assault charge against Gaines.

Courtney, who is also black, fled with a 1-year-old boy and was arrested. Gaines remained in the apartment with her son.

After a standoff of about five hours, an officer fired when Gaines pointed the gun at officers and threatened to kill them. She was then killed in an exchange of fire.

The wounded boy was struck in the arm and is in good condition at a hospital, police said. Who fired the round that hit him is not known.

Police did not give the race of the officers involved.

During the March traffic incident, officers stopped Gaines for driving with pieces of cardboard in the place of license plates, a police report said.

One of them had written on it, “Any Government official who compromises this pursuit to happiness and right to travel will be held criminally responsible and fined, as this is a natural right and freedom.”

She tossed the officers’ citations out the window. She said they “would have to ‘murder’ her” to get her out of her car so it could be towed, the report said.

Armacost said Gaines espoused anti-government views but did not know if she belonged to a specific anti-government group.

Facebook deactivated Gaines’ account during the standoff at the request of police.

The hash tags #KorrynGaines and #SayHerName trended heavily on Twitter. Videos showing Gaines’ encounter with police went viral.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and by Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andrew Hay)

Bodies found off coast of Libya as migrant toll climbs: IOM

Migrants await rescue in dinghy

GENEVA (Reuters) – The bodies of 120 migrants believed to have been trying to reach Italy by boat from Libya have been found off the Libyan coast over the past 10 days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

“We are getting this information from Libyan authorities that we are collaborating with,” said IOM spokesman Joel Millman. The bodies had been discovered near Sabratha and had not come from previously known shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

Mainly African migrants are taking often unseaworthy boats from Libya to Italy, gateway to Europe. Nearly 8,000 were rescued at sea between Friday to Monday on that central Mediterranean route, Millman told a briefing.

It is a longer and more perilous journey than that from Turkey to Greece, largely shut down since a deal was struck between the European Union and Turkey in March, although 174 migrants did make it by sea to Greece over the weekend, IOM said.

More than 257,000 migrants and refugees have already entered Europe by sea this year through July 27, and for the third straight year, at least 3,000 others have died, the agency said.

A total of 4,027 migrants or refugees have perished worldwide so far this year, three-quarters of them in the Mediterranean, Millman said.

The figures represents a 35 percent increase on the global toll during the first seven months of 2015, he said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Federal Team begins probe of deadly Texas balloon crash

Authorities head down a dirt road toward to investigate the scene of a hot air balloon crash that left 16 feared dead near Maxwell, Texas, U.S.

By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – U.S. safety investigators in central Texas began gathering evidence on Sunday into what caused the crash of a hot air balloon that killed 16 people after it hit a power line and plummeted to the ground in flames.

The balloon crashed on Saturday into a pasture near Lockhart, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Austin, killing all aboard. It was the deadliest crash ever involving a hot air balloon in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Balloon Federation of North America.

Aerial television footage showed flattened remnants of the red, white and blue balloon, adorned with a yellow smiley face wearing sunglasses.

The crash comes two years after the National Transportation Safety Board recommended greater oversight of the hot air balloon industry, said Robert Sumwalt, who is heading the NTSB’s investigation of the accident.

“The NTSB feels that there needs to be greater oversight by the regulator, and that regulator is the Federal Aviation Administration,” Sumwalt told a news conference near the crash site on Sunday. The FAA could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sumwalt said the balloon struck high-voltage power lines crossing the pasture before it crashed. But he said it had yet to be determined whether the fire started before or after it struck the wires.

The balloon took off about 20 minutes late, after passengers met in a Walmart parking lot and took a van to a nearby launch site, he said. Investigators want to know why takeoff was delayed.

Investigators have recovered cameras, iPads and mobile phones belonging the people on board the balloon. Most of the devices were damaged, but NTSB investigators still hoped to be able to gain information from them, he said.

Not counting Saturday’s incident, there have been 60 hot air balloon crashes in the United States since 2011, leading to seven deaths, Sumwalt said.

The balloon was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, based in New Braunfels, according to the NTSB. Attempts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed that Nichols had a 2014 commercial pilot’s license for hot air balloons, with an address in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Authorities have not released the names of the passengers.

But friends and family of Paige Brabson and her mother, Lorilee Brabson, said the two women are among the dead.

Paige Brabson was herself a new mother, according to a Facebook post by Ivan Monterrosa. It was not immediately clear where the women lived, but Monterrosa’s Facebook profile indicated that he graduated from high school in Wylie, Texas, in 2011.

“Yesterday, the beloved mother of my daughter, Paige Brabson and her mother, Lorilee Brabson, both passed away in a tragic hot air balloon accident,” Monterrosa wrote. “All I ask for are prayers and good vibes not just for myself but the Brabson family as well.”

The firm’s records as well as photos and videos will be part of the investigation, Sumwalt said.

The balloon company said in a recorded telephone message that chief pilot and owner Alfred “Skip” Nichols had died in the crash and all flights were canceled.

In a 2015 Facebook video, Nichols said he was inspired to become a balloonist at 15, when one landed on his street. He helped pack it up and became a crew member.

“It’s an adventure every time,” he said.

The company’s Facebook page was filled with condolence messages and photographs of Nichols.

“In loving memory of my sweet friend, Skip Nichols, I will always remember your visits to my house, just showing up for long walks and talking about life, I will love you forever, Godspeed, my friend!” Lisa Wade Kaminski wrote on Facebook.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Frank McGurty in New York; Writing by Ian Simpson and Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sandra Maler)

Two dead as flood tears through Maryland town

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Flooding from torrential rain killed two people in Ellicott City, Maryland, with floodwaters washing through the U.S. town’s historic downtown, collapsing a street and sweeping away cars, officials said on Sunday.

Ellicott City received almost 6 inches (15 cm) of rain in two hours late on Saturday as thunderstorms moved through the region, causing the Tiber, a tributary of the Patapsco River, to break its banks, officials said.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said the flooding in Ellicott City, about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Washington, was worse than that from Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

“I don’t believe there’s ever been a flood and the devastation that we’ve had overnight in Ellicott City,” he said in an interview with Baltimore’s WBAL NewsRadio.

County spokesman Andy Barth said a man and a woman were killed. The woman’s body was recovered from the river overnight.

Barth said every business near the river on the town’s historic Main Street had suffered major damage, including building fronts torn off and doors stripped away.

In all, at least four properties were completely destroyed and another 20 to 30 buildings were badly damaged, Kittleman said in a statement.

Howard County officials posted a photo on social media of a glass and wood storefront with its foundation ripped away, leaving a void where wooden struts were installed as a work crew tried to stabilize the building.

Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency, as did Kittleman. The declarations allow aid to be released more quickly for Ellicott City, which has a population of about 65,000.

Firefighters rescued about 120 people and emergency workers were also dealing with a water main break, Howard County said in a statement. On a video posted online, men formed a human chain to get a woman trapped by raging waters out of her car.

Television footage showed a downtown street collapsed, power poles down, mud-covered roads and cars tossed onto one another.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Adrian Croft and Marguerita Choy; Editing by Michael Perry)

U.S. leaders seek unity at vigil for slain Louisiana officers

police saluting the caskets of fallen police officers

By Sam Karlin

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Loretta Lynch called for unity to honor three slain Louisiana police officers, speaking at a memorial service on Thursday in Baton Rouge where they were gunned down this month by a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Several hundred people and dozens of law enforcement officers attended the vigil, where Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards also implored the community to seek peace and healing after the July 17 attack that also wounded three other officers.

The shootings came amid a series of deadly encounters igniting debate over policing and minorities in the United States. The killings rattled a city already grappling with protests after the fatal police shooting on July 5 of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man confronted by officers while selling CDs outside a convenience store.

Biden said he heard that Sterling’s aunt, who raised him, had prayed with a slain officer’s father.

“Loss is loss is loss,” he said, speaking at a church in Baton Rouge, the state capital. “Now the city has to reach out, the country has to reach out to law enforcement, and let you know how much we care.”

On the stage behind him, three chairs sat empty, decorated with sashes and uniform caps representing the officers.

Choking back tears, two of the officers’ wives recalled phone calls and door knocks on an initially normal Sunday morning that changed their lives forever.

Slain Baton Rouge police officers Matthew Gerald, 41, and Montrell Jackson, 32, and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, 45, were killed in what Louisiana officials described as a calculated attack. Shooter Gavin Long, 29, a black former Marine with ties to an African-American anti-government group, was also killed in an exchange of gunfire.

“No family should ever have to be without their loved ones, especially when these three heroes could be home had a person not been filled with so much hatred,” said Tonja Garafola.

Jackson’s wife, Trenisha, recalled his wish to see healing in the city and directed the crowd to repeat sentiments that he had posted on Facebook in the tense days before his death.

“I will not let hate infect my heart,” the crowd repeated.

The assault followed the deaths of five officers in Dallas, Texas on July 7, who were shot by another black former U.S. serviceman. President Barack Obama traveled to Dallas in the wake of those shootings.

One of the wounded Louisiana officers, Nicholas Tullier, 41, remains hospitalized in critical condition, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday. At the vigil, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said he is “fighting for his life.”

(Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and James Dalgleish)

San Diego police say officer fatally shot, another wounded

police sirens

(Reuters) – A San Diego police officer was fatally shot and another was wounded late on Thursday, the police department said on Friday, adding one suspect was taken into custody.

The officers, members of the department’s gang suppression unit, were shot during a traffic stop at about 11 p.m. PDT (0600 GMT) in Southcrest, a neighborhood in southeast San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The officers were taken to hospitals.

“It is with a very sad heart that we announce the death of one of our officers tonight,” the department said on Friday on its Twitter feed.

The second officer underwent surgery and is expected to survive, it said.

The police department added it was searching for other suspects.

The incident comes after eight officers were shot dead in ambushes in Dallas and Baton Rouge in July, putting police departments across the United States on high alert.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Editing by Tom Heneghan and W Simon)