Fire
Minnesota mayor blasts police tactics to control protesters
Elected leaders in the Minneapolis suburb where a police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright want officers to scale back their tactics amid nightly protests, leaving some law enforcement called in to assist asking whether the city still wants their help.
Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the heavily guarded Brooklyn Center police station every night since former Officer Kim Potter, who is white, shot the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop on Sunday. Protesters have shouted profanities, launched fireworks, shaken security fences surrounding the building and lobbed water bottles at officers. Police have driven away protesters with tear gas grenades, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and long lines of riot police.
On Friday night, officers fired irritants into a crowd of several hundred after part of an outer fence was opened. Demonstrators dissipated shortly after 10 p.m. when officers quickly advanced. Flash bangs and sponge grenades were fired into the crowd, and several protesters who neared a group of officers were pepper sprayed. Some demonstrators scrambled through yards and over backyard fences to evade a perimeter authorities set up for a block around the police department.
People who live in the area have said many neighbors are staying in hotels or with relatives to avoid the noise as well as the tear gas that seeps into their homes.
“We can’t just have our window open any more without thinking about if there’s going to be some gas coming in,” said 16-year-old Xzavion Martin, adding that rubber bullets and other projectiles have landed on his apartment’s second-story balcony. “There’s kids in this building that are really scared to come back.”
Also read: Former Minnesota cop charged in shooting of Black motorist
The tactics have not sat well with Brooklyn Center city officials, who passed a resolution Monday banning the city’s officers from using tear gas and other chemicals, chokeholds, and police lines to arrest demonstrators.
Mayor Mike Elliott, who is Black, said at a news conference Wednesday that “gassing is not a human way of policing” and he didn’t agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs against demonstrators. Elliott didn’t respond to multiple messages from the Associated Press earlier Friday.
But Brooklyn Center police aren’t dealing with protesters on their own. Other agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department and the Minnesota National Guard, have provided support at the city’s request in a joint effort dubbed Operation Safety Net. The city’s resolution isn’t binding on those agencies.
Protests have continued since Potter was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter. The former police chief in the majority nonwhite suburb said Potter fired her pistol when she meant to use her Taser, but protesters and Wright’s family say there’s no excuse for the shooting. Both Potter and the chief resigned Tuesday.
Sheriff David Hutchinson asked Elliott in a letter Wednesday to clarify whether he still wanted the department’s help. The mayor wrote in a letter Thursday that his city still needs help but pressed assisting agencies not to engage with protesters.
“It is my view that as long as protesters are peaceful and not directly interacting with law enforcement, law enforcement should not engage with them,” Elliott wrote. “Again, this is a request and not an attempt to limit necessary law enforcement response.”
Sheriff’s spokesman Jeremy Zoss said Friday that no agencies had pulled out of Brooklyn Center. Scott Wasserman, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Operation Safety Net’s tactics will not change.
Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat and commander-in-chief of the Minnesota National Guard, said at a Thursday news conference that he’s concerned about tactics but that police are trying to protect the community.
Also read: 1 dead, 4 injured in shooting at Minnesota health clinic
Tensions already were high amid the nearby trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death last year of George Floyd. Then on Thursday, Chicago officials released graphic video showing an officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo, a Latino boy, in March. And On Friday, transcripts were released showing that a grand jury investigating the police suffocation death of Daniel Prude last year in Rochester, New York, voted 15-5 not to charge the three officers involved in his restraint.
Walz told reporters that protesters might have burned down the police station and other buildings if police hadn’t intervened — a lesson he says he learned after a Minneapolis police station burned during protests last year over Floyd’s death. Those demonstrations damaged more than 1,000 buildings across the Twin Cities area.
“I trust our safety officials to be very judicious and think about this,” Walz said.
Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags, but they sought to arrest him after discovering he had an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter in June with Minneapolis police.
Body camera video shows Wright struggling with police after they say they’re going to arrest him. Potter, a 26-year veteran, pulls her service pistol and is heard repeatedly yelling “Taser!” before firing. She then says, “Holy (expletive), I shot him.”
Japan announces $1 million emergency aid for Rohingya camp fire victims
Japan has decided to extend emergency support of around $1 million for the victims and survivors of the Rohingya camp fire in Cox's Bazar.
The aid comes through the Japan Platform, an international emergency humanitarian aid organisation.
Also read: $20mn required to respond to urgent needs after Rohingya camps fire: IOM
This support will include health and medical care; food, water, sanitation, and shelter assistance, the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka said on Thursday.
With this assistance, Japan has contributed $156 million to humanitarian assistance in Cox's Bazar since August 2017.
Also read: Maldives sends message of sympathy over Rohingya camp fire
On March 22, at least 15 people were killed in a massive fire that swept through Balukahli Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
Tens of thousands were left homeless in Cox's Bazar after fleeing the blaze. Aid groups estimate that around 40,500 and 50,000 people have been hit hard by the fire.
Read EU scales up assistance for fire victims in Cox’s Bazar
3 Rohingyas killed in Ukhiya fire
At least three Rohingyas were killed Friday as a fire – the second in less than two weeks – broke out in the makeshift Kutupalong Bazar near a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar.
The fire started in a market store and quickly spread to seven nearby shops in the early hours when residents of the sprawling Kutupalong camp were asleep.
The deceased – Ansar Ullah, 20, Faridul Islam, 25, and Ayas, 22 – used to work in a shop in the market.
They died on the spot as the fire gutted seven clothing stores and damaged 10 to 12 other shops, Kutupalong Bazar Committee President Md Helal Uddin, also the member of Rajapalong Union Parishad said.
Also read: Rohingya camp fire: Death toll climbs to 11
Md Imdadul Haque, Ukhiya Fire Service Station in-charge, said: "We are suspecting that the fire originated from an electric short circuit around 4:30am in one of the Rohingya shops. It took us several hours to bring the blaze under control."
"Three charred bodies were recovered from the spot after we put out the fire," Imdadul said.
On March 22, a massive fire tore through the Balukhali Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya, killing 11 people.
Also read: Rohingya camp fire: Humanitarian community calls for compassion
The fire turned 9,300 shanties, 136 learning centres and a police barrack into ashes, displaced more than 45,000 people.
Aid agencies and the government had started rebuilding shelters after the large scale fire ripped through the camp last month.
UN agencies ramp up response for Rohingya refugees after ‘unprecedented’ fire
United Nations agencies have stepped up their efforts to assist thousands of Rohingya refugee families left homeless after last week’s devastating fire at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
The fire destroyed about 9,500 shelters and also reduced to ashes over 1,600 vital facilities, including hospitals, schools, and food and aid distribution centres.
As of Tuesday, at least 11 people are confirmed to have perished in the fire and over 300 are still missing, reports the UN News.
Richard Ragan, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Bangladesh, said the scale of the fire was “unprecedented” and that the agency is “determined” to help those affected get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible.
“WFP, together with our partners and thousands of volunteers, have supported the families since the start of the tragedy, in meeting their most urgent needs of food and water. Where two of our nutrition centres once stood, debris were cleared in record time, stocks were replenished, and services resumed for children and their mothers,” he said.
Also read:Rohingya camp fire: Death toll climbs to 11
According to WFP, its top priority now is providing food to affected families, until they can have access to shelters and cooking stoves. It aims to reopen electronic voucher outlets to allow families to purchase staple and fish foods.
The agency has also erected temporary structures, from which it is providing breastfeeding support and counselling to mothers, and additional food to children under five. “We’re determined to do what we can to help them get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible,” Ragan added.
Psychosocial support
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) have also upped their response, deploying mental health and psychosocial support teams to help refugees who lost everything in the fire. So far, over 5,000 people have been provided with emotional and psychosocial support, and more than 700 with psychological first aid.
Also read:UN releases US$14mn for Rohingyas left homeless by camp fire
IOM also engaged over 11,500 cash-for-work laborers to help clear debris and support reconstruction.
UNHCR teams on the ground are monitoring the safety and security of refugees, and working to address the needs of separated children, spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said.
“Since the fire, together with our partners, we’ve identified more than 600 separated girls and boys who have been reunited with their families. Our protection partners also established two child protection helplines and four reunification help desks,” he added.
Also read:Maldives sends message of sympathy over Rohingya camp fire
Refugee volunteers supporting response
Refugee volunteers are also supporting affected families, according to the UNHCR spokesperson. They were among the first responders to help combat the fire and since then have been helping older refugees, children and pregnant women find shelters, escorting people to health care facilities, and identifying and referring refugees with specific needs to relevant services.
“They’re also running awareness sessions on child protection risks such as child-trafficking and gender-based violence, fire safety, first aid and general assistance,” Mahecic added.
The UNHCR spokesperson also called for additional resources to address the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic fire. “[We are] asking government and private sector donors to keep their contributions flexible, thus allowing their use across the overall operation.”
2 BRTC buses torched in Rajshahi
Unidentified criminals set two stationary buses of Bangladesh Road Transport and Corporation (BRTC) on fire at Rajshahi Truck Terminal in the city’s Amchattar area on Sunday during the countrywide daylong hartal enforced by Hefazat-e-Islam.
Senior Station officer of Fire Service and Civil Defense of Rajshahi Abdur Rauf said the criminals set a bus of BRTC on fire around 6:30 am and the fire spread to another stationary bus of BRTC.
On information, fire fighters rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze.
Also read: Hefazat’s hartal underway; Dhaka-Chattorgam highway blocked
However, no causality was reported till the filling of this report.
Saiful Islam Khan, officer-in-charge of Shah Makhdum Police Station, said police are investigating the incident.
The countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by Hefazat-e-Islam protesting police action on their anti-Modi processions in Dhaka, Chattogram and other districts is underway on Sunday.
Also read: Hefazat calls countrywide hartal for Sunday
Hefazat-e-Islam announced the day long countrywide hartal at a press briefing at Purana Paltan in the capital on Friday night.
They also held nationwide demonstrations on Saturday.
10 Covid patients die in India hospital fire
At least 10 Covid patients were killed in a massive fire that broke out at a coronavirus hospital in the Indian city of Mumbai in the small hours of Friday, officials said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently in Bangladesh on a two-day state visit, said that he was "pained by the loss of lives". "I pray that the injured recover soon," he tweeted from Dhaka.
Also read: Fire in residential building kills 5 in India
The fire started at the first floor of Dreams Mall in Mumbai's Bhandup area and soon engulfed Sunrise Hospital on the fourth floor. At least 22 fire tenders were pressed into service but it took them several hours to contain the blaze.
All the Covid patients, except 10, on ventilator support have been rescued and shifted to other Covid hospitals, a fire officer told the media.
Local TV channels beamed footage of the charred bodies being pulled out of the mall.
Also read: 10 newborns die in hospital fire in India's Maharashtra
Chief Minister of the western state of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, visited the hospital later in the day and sought forgiveness from the families of the victims.
"The firefighters did a great job in rescuing people. However, some who were on ventilators could not be rescued. I seek forgiveness from their families," Thackeray told reporters after visiting the spot.
The Chief Minister has also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the victims.
Read Fire in India’s Andra Pradesh kills 7 patients
The hospital, the Chief Minister said, had been set up to deal with the increasing cases of Covid infections in the city.
"We have been fighting against the coronavirus for the past year. When the pandemic hit the state, there were very few beds and ventilators, but we continued our fight and set up temporary hospitals. This hospital was temporarily allowed to treat coronavirus patients," he said.
Referring to preliminary reports, he said that the fire started at a shop in the mall. "I want to assure you that whoever is at fault... they will be punished."
Also read:Battery factory collapses in fire in new delhi, injuring 14
Rohingya Camp Fire: Australia announces additional $10mn for affected people
Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne on Thursday (March 25, 2021) announced an additional $10 million in emergency assistance from the existing humanitarian budget to those affected by the fire at Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp.
“This funding is in addition to the over $260 million Australia has provided to the humanitarian response for Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh since 2017,” said Senator Payne.
Also read: $ 20mn required to respond to urgent needs after Rohingya camps fire: IOM
Their additional support will be provided through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme and the United Nations Population Fund.
“I am deeply saddened by the news of the devastating fire at Kutupalong Balukali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. I offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones,” she said in a statement.
The impact on over 120,000 people and the extensive damage to food distribution centres, health clinics, learning centres and essential facilities is of great concern to Australia and the international community, said the Australian Minister.
Also read: Maldives sends message of sympathy over Rohingya camp fire
She commended the response of the government of Bangladesh and Rohingya volunteers who assisted with bringing the fire under control and the initial rescue operation, and the humanitarian agencies delivering food assistance, emergency shelter, and water and sanitation services for those affected.
“Australia is committed to sustaining our humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya and host communities in Cox’s Bazar,” she said.
Also read: Australia working closely with Bangladesh: Marise Payne
Fire at Bibiyana power plant puts steam turbine out of action
A fire broke out at the 418-megawatt Bibiyana power station in Parkul village of Aushkandi in Nabiganj, an upazila of Habiganj on Monday morning.