TheNewsGuru

Tag: London

  • London fire toll hits 30, dozens still missing

    At least 30 people have been confirmed killed and dozens more are feared dead in the London tower block fire, police said on Friday, as firefighters continued searching for bodies amid outrage over the use of cladding blamed for spreading the flames.

    “We know that at least 30 people have died as a result of this fire. I do believe the number will increase,” police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters in front of the charred Grenfell Tower.

    Cundy said police had started a criminal investigation but there was nothing to suggest “that the fire had been started deliberately”.

    He also said the last flames had finally been put out, two days after the fire broke out in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in the 24-storey tower in a working-class enclave of the wealthy London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

    More than 70 people are unaccounted for, according to media reports, although it was not known whether some of those were among the bodies recovered so far.

    Police have warned some of the victims may never be identified because of the state of the remains.

    Cundy said one of the victims was a person who died in hospital. Twenty-four injured survivors are still being treated, 12 of them in critical care.

    Firefighters were using drones and sniffer dogs to search the building, saying that some of the upper floors are still inaccessible to humans because of concerns about the stability of the structure.

    Queen visits survivors

    The area surrounding the council-owned tower has been plastered by desperate relatives with pictures of the missing, from grandparents to young children, and large numbers of volunteers were assisting survivors.

    Queen Elizabeth II and her grandson Prince William visited a community center where some of the survivors are being housed, as anger grows among local residents about allegations that fire safety concerns were ignored for years.

    The government has ordered a judge-led inquiry into Wednesday’s disaster, which is under pressure to act quickly.

    “Something’s gone wrong here, something’s gone drastically wrong,” Communities and Local Government Minister Sajid Javid told BBC radio.

    Javid said inspections of similar buildings had been ordered, with particular attention to the modern cladding used to beautify and add an insulation layer to ageing concrete and steel structures.

    “We need to do whatever it takes to make people that live in those properties safe: that’s either make the properties safe or find some other accommodation, it has to be done,” he said, adding that survivors from the tower would be re-housed in the local area.

    Opposition Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for houses in the area to be “requisitioned” for survivors.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Prime Minister, Theresa had on Thursday called for a full investigation into the incident. She promised that findings will be made public to satisfy the curiosity that greeted the sad incident.

     

  • Death toll in London tower block fire rises to 17

    Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said on Thursday that the death toll in the blaze that engulfed a residential tower in west London has climbed up to 17 lives and is expected to rise further.

    “Thirty-seven people remain in hospital, including 17 in critical condition, Cundy said.

    London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton said it “could take weeks” for firefighters to complete a search of the gutted, 24-storey Grenfell Tower.

    “I want to be realistic, this could be a long process,” Cotton said, speaking alongside Cundy.

    Cotton said that many of the 250 firefighters who tackled the blaze were traumatised by the “horrendous” scenes they found.

    He said that the officers had seen people jumping and throwing children from windows at the 120-home social housing block.

    “I spoke to one of my officers who was very near when someone came out of the window, and he was in tears, and he is a professional fire officer.

    “We like to think of ourselves as roughy, toughy, and heroes, they are heroes, but they have feelings, and people were absolutely devastated by yesterday’s events.

    “It was the worst thing I have ever seen, it was a horrendous, major incident of a large scale that involved so many people, and it was beyond belief.

    “Words cannot describe it, it was just that truly awful,” Cotton said.

    He said that the firefighters have not been able to conduct a comprehensive search of the 24-storey block of flats that went up in the flames because it is not safe for them to walk to the edges of the building.

    Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Theresa May and other politicians have paid tribute to the firefighters.

    The Fire Brigades Union, which represents most of Britain’s firefighters, earlier said the firefighters and other emergency personnel were “doing a particularly difficult job.”

    The union said, “the firefighters are witnessing brutal and tragic scenes with the professionalism we have come to expect from them.”

    NAN

  • Londoners slam Facebook after Grenfell Tower fire

    Angry residents have slammed Facebook for activating its Safety Check for people who lived hours away from the Grenfell Tower fire.

    After the massive fire broke out at the London apartment block, Facebook activated its Safety Check feature.

    At least 12 people died when the London’s Grenfell Tower became engulfed in flames, with many people still unaccounted for.

    And while Facebook’s Safety Check was a helpful way for those living in the apartment complex to tell friends and family they were able to escape the inferno, some Londoners have suggested the feature could use some fine tuning.

    After a number of people who do not live in proximity to the tower were promoted by Facebook to mark themselves as safe, the social media platform was criticized for generating unnecessary concern for friends and relatives.

    According to Facebook, the algorithm-based safety feature is activated if enough people in an affected area post about an incident, with people nearby prompted to use the service.

    However, the Grenfell Tower incident is the just the latest example of the feature doing more harm then good.

    Just weeks earlier the feature was criticised for making the terrorist attack at London Bridge seem bigger and more widespread than it actually was by having too large of a proximity for people to mark themselves as safe.

    London local Aaron Balick explained he refused to mark himself as ‘safe’ following the terror attack, feeling it created an over-inflated sense of danger.

    “From what I understood about last night’s event, my assumption was that my friends were probably OK. I hope that they would also assume that I was safe unless they heard otherwise,” he told The Independent.

    “For events on the scale of last night, the Facebook Safety Check reverses this assumption. It creates an implicit supposition that we are not safe until we let people know that we are.

    “It creates a culture of hyper-vigilance that undermines our capacity to feel relatively secure about our environment.”

    After hearing these criticisms, Facebook said it was working to make the feature more accurate.

    “We’re working to improve Safety Check so we’re better at prompting people in the affected area to mark themselves safe,” a spokesman told Mashable.

     

  • Fire engulfs 24-storey apartment block in West London

    Tragedy struck again in London, as huge fire engulfed a 24-storey apartment block in West London. London Fire Brigade confirms that 200 firefighters have been deployed to tackle the blaze as rescue workers try to evacuate the building located in Lancaster West Estate in North Kensington.

    The London Fire Brigade said it had sent 45 fire engines to the scene of the blaze at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, where a number of people were trapped.

    The fire, which broke out about 1:00am before spreading through the entire building from the second floor upwards, has for the most part has been brought under control.

    “I am very sad to confirm that there have been a number of fatalities,” London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said.

    “I cannot confirm the number at this time due to the size and complexity of this building and it would clearly be wrong for me to speculate further.

    “Equally, the cause of this fire is not known at this stage.”

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan said a “major incident” had been declared in response to the blaze, which London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Dan Daly described as “large and very serious”.

    “Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire,” Mr Daly said.

    There are grave concerns for residents who were at the top of the building when the fire broke out.

    More than 200 people live in the tower, but it was not clear how many people were inside.

    Police said a number of people were treated for a range of injuries and the London Ambulance Service said 30 patients had been taken to five hospitals.

    Source: ABC

  • ‘Aisha Buhari did not see her husband when she visited him in UK’

    ‘Aisha Buhari did not see her husband when she visited him in UK’

    President Muhammadu Buhari was not allowed to see the first lady during her recent visit to the UK.

    “The information came from presidency sources on Tuesday, affirming that the president has been kept away from several of his aides and even those bodyguards who supposedly traveled with him.” Online news site, SaharaReporters claimed.

    The President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari is the ‘manipulator-in-chief’, according to the sources.

    The report also says that Buhari has not spoken to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for several weeks following his departure from Abuja for a second round of medical treatment.

    Also, that the public declaration by former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, that he met Buhari in London is a complete fabrication as Buhari did not at any time receive Kalu.

    It was also confirmed that Buhari is in a non-speaking mode, and is only reached by two aides, Tunde Saburi and Sarki Abba, who haven’t mentioned any improvement.

    Aisha Buhari returned from her UK trip, we would recall, sending messages to her family members in Adamawa claiming her husband was recovering fast but asked for continuous prayers.

    Kyari is said to be the brain behind all the underground moves. It was he, they claimed, who a few days ago passed a fake document to Garba Shehu, one of Buhari’s spokespersons, claiming that Buhari had given Osinbajo the go-ahead to sign the 2017 budget.

    According to their sources, Osinbajo had already decided on the date he would sign the budget, a decision that was delayed only by a last-minute discussion to include some projects such as the Lagos-Apapa Port road repairs. They said they were not surprised at Shehu’s fake statement claiming Buhari sent a letter granting the Acting President the right to sign the budget.

  • Why I visited Buhari in London, Sunbo Onitiri

    A former chieftain of the Peoples Democracy Party, PDP, Chief Sunbo Onitiri has explained why he visited President Muhammadu Buhari in London.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Onitiri delivered a ‘quick recovery’ letter to the President in Abuja House in London, United Kingdom on May 29th (Democracy Day).

    However, following the controversies that greeted the visit, the former opposition party chieftain has cleared the air on the motive of the visit.

    Onitiri explained that apart from wishing the president a quick recovery, the main thrust of his letter and visit was to address some of the challenges bedeviling the nation.

    He noted further that since the president’s assumption on May 29th 2015, the economy has dwindled backwards and the masses are especially affected by paying through their nose to get even the smallest commodity in the market.

    He said kidnapping, indiscriminate killing and corruption had reached its peak and it was time the president acted before the nation hits the rocks.

    Onitiri noted that contrary to what was widely spread especially on social media; his visit to the president wasn’t for selfish and or ulterior motives.

    In his words: “The main objective of the visit was to give our President the true and correct feelings of Nigerians. With his two year administration, Nigerians are yet to enjoy dividends of democracy, the economy is worse off, prices of essential stuff are out of the reach of poor masses; insecurity has increased, there is more kidnapping, cultish and ritual killings; corruption has reached the roof with our economy in the firm grip of very few people who are richer than the country”.

    He said his quest for good governance dates back to the military junta, especially during the struggle for democracy and the actualization of June 12 president elections whchi was annulled by Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1993.

  • BREAKING: Aisha Buhari returns from London, says President recuperating

    BREAKING: Aisha Buhari returns from London, says President recuperating

    Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari on Tuesday morning returned from London where she had visited ailing President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Her spokesperson, Suleiman Haruna in a statement said Mrs. Buhari on arrival conveyed the appreciation of President Buhari to Nigerians.

    According to her, the President is recuperating fast.

    She also thanked Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for his loyalty while also urging Nigerians to support the present adminstration.

    “Mr. President thanked the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for his loyalty and called on Nigerians to continue to support the acting President in his effort to actualize the mandate of the All Progressives Congress,” she said.

    She also wrote on her Instagram page, “I thank Allah for my safe trip to U.K, where I visited President @muhammadubuhari He thanks Nigerians for their constant prayers for his health and steadfastness in the face of challenges .

    “He is soliciting for your continuous cooperation and support to the Ag. President @profosinbajo towards achieving the mandate of this administration as contained in our APC manifesto, so that we can build a very strong institution for a better future of our country Nigeria.”

    Mrs. Buhari had on May 30 traveled to the UK to spend some time with the President.

    Buhari left Nigeria in May 7 for medical treatment for the second time in recent months.

  • Police release identities of two London attackers

    Police release identities of two London attackers

    Two of the men who carried out Saturday night’s terror attack in London have been named by police.

    Scotland Yard said Khuram Butt, 27, from Barking, east London was known to police and MI5 but there was no intelligence to suggest an attack.

    The other attacker was named as Rachid Redouane, 30, from Barking.

    The pair and one other man were shot dead by police after killing seven people and injuring 48.

    They drove their hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in the area around Borough Market.

    A vigil is being held at Potters Field Park near London Bridge to remember the victims.

    NHS England said 36 people remained in hospital, with 18 in a critical condition.

    The Met Police said Butt was a British citizen born in Pakistan, while Redouane claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan.

    He also used the name Rachid Elkhdar, claiming to be six years younger.

    Assistant Commander Mark Rowley said: “Inquiries are ongoing to confirm the identity of their accomplice.”

    He said the investigation into Butt began two years ago but “there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned and the investigation had been prioritised accordingly”.

    He added: “Work is ongoing to understand more about them, their connections and whether they were assisted or supported by anyone else.”

  • 6 killed in London terror attacks, 3 attackers shot dead – police

    6 killed in London terror attacks, 3 attackers shot dead – police

    Terrorism struck at the heart of London, police said Sunday, after a vehicle veered off the road and mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge and witnesses told of men with large knives stabbing passers-by at nearby Borough Market.

    Police said six people died and 20 were injured in the attacks, while police shot dead three suspects. The Metropolitan Police head of counter-terrorism, Mark Rowley, said police believe all of the attackers were killed, but investigations are underway to ensure there are no more.

    The violence turned a summery on Saturday night in an area packed with bars and restaurants into a scene of panic and chaos, with officers running through crowded streets screaming for people to flee and lifeboats drafted to help clear the area.

    The Metropolitan Police force declared the attacks “terrorist incidents.” Hours after the attacks began, a large area of central London remained cordoned off and police told people to avoid the area, leaving tourists and revellers struggling to get home. It was unclear whether any of the attackers was on the run.

    Bursts of gunfire echoed through the streets – likely from armed police – and at least three blasts rang out as police performed controlled explosions. One image taken by a witness showed a man on the ground surrounded by police; he appeared to be wearing a vest with canisters attached to it.

    Gerard Vowls told The Guardian newspaper that he saw a woman being stabbed by three men at the south end of London Bridge. He said he threw chairs, glasses and bottles at the attackers in a bid to stop them.

    “They kept coming to try to stab me, they were stabbing everyone. Evil, evil people,” he told the newspaper. “I want to know if this girl is still alive. I’ve been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I don’t know what to do.”

  • Former PDP chieftain, Onitiri delivers ‘letter of quick recovery’ to Buhari in London

    A Nigerian man and former chieftain of the Peoples Democracy Party, PDP, Chief Sunbo Onitiri on Monday May 29th, 2017 visited the Abuja house in London, United Kingdom to deliver a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that May 29th marked the return to democracy from military rule in 1999. The date also marked the second anniversary of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    According to him, his letter was to ‘pray for quick recovery’ of the president, but also to highlight some of the issues being faced by the common man in Nigeria at present.

    He also called on the youths to wrestle power from the elders for the leadership of our country as they have run out of ideas, adding that “the solutions to the problems of our country and the future are all in the hands of our youths”.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that in 2015, Chief Sunbo Onitri was part of the top PDP campaigners rooting for former President Goodluck Jonathan to retain the seat of the presidency during the election period.