16 Dead in Russia Crash Between Minibus, Lorries

Sixteen people were killed Sunday when a minibus collided with two trucks in Russia's southern Ulyanovsk region, news agencies reported quoting emergency services.
According to witnesses quoted by news agencies, a truck veered off the road when it collided with a minibus traveling in the opposite direction near the village of Nikolayevka. 
At the time of the accident, the minibus was also hit from behind by another truck. According to footage broadcast by Russian television channel Ren TV, the minibus was almost completely flattened by the two trucks. 
The accident left 16 dead, 14 Kyrgyz citizens and two Russians, rescue services quoted by the TASS news agency.
Kyrgyzstan's foreign affairs minister confirmed the death of the country's 14 citizens in a statement.
Three other people — two men and a woman — were taken to hospital in a serious condition, Ulyanovsk regional Governor Alexei Ruskikh wrote on Telegram. 
Violations of road safety regulations are common in Russia, where several deadly bus accidents have occurred in recent years. 
In January, five people were killed and 21 injured in a bus accident in the Ryazan region, about 270 kilometers (170 miles) south of Moscow. 
In December 2019, a bus with around 40 passengers on board plunged into a frozen river in the Zabaikalsk region of Siberia, killing 19 people and injuring 21. 

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/16-dead-in-russia-crash-between-minibus-lorries/?feed_id=14010&_unique_id=6302db12e88cf

Indiana funeral set for GOP Rep. Walorski killed in crash

GRANGER, Ind. -- The funeral for Indiana Republican U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski will be held Thursday in her home state of Indiana, where she and three other people were killed in a head-on highway crash.

The funeral is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Granger Community Church, Palmer Funeral Homes said on its website.

Walorski, who was 58, was in an SUV with two members of her staff on Aug. 3 when it crossed the median of a northern Indiana highway for unknown reasons and collided with an oncoming vehicle near the town of Wakarusa, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said.

Walorski, her 27-year-old staffer Zachery Potts of Mishawaka, who was driving, and her 28-year-old communications director, Emma Thomson of Washington, D.C., all died, as did the woman who was driving the vehicle struck by their SUV.

Potts was Walorski’s district director and the Republican chairman for northern Indiana’s St. Joseph County.

Walorski was first elected to represent northern Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012 and was seeking reelection this year in the solidly Republican district.

Walorski's husband, Dean Swihart, said in a statement Wednesday that he was "touched by the support and kindness" the family has received since her death.

“Her loss leaves a massive void in our family, our community and in Congress,” Swihart said. “Our family remains focused solely on celebrating Jackie’s memory and mourning her loss as she returns home to be with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has set a special election to fill the remainder of Walorski's current term running through the rest of this year for the same date as the Nov. 8 general election.

Under Indiana law, it will be up to local Republican officials to decide nominations for the special election and to replace Walorski on the ballot for the full two-year term. The state Republican Party has scheduled an Aug. 20 caucus meeting for those selections. No Republican candidates have yet announced for the seat.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/indiana-funeral-set-for-gop-rep-walorski-killed-in-crash/?feed_id=9397&_unique_id=62f4baaa1b52a

4 riding in golf cart killed in crash at Texas intersection

GALVESTON, Texas -- Four people riding in a golf cart were killed — including two juveniles — when an allegedly intoxicated man driving an SUV ran a stop sign at an intersection in Southeast Texas, police said.

Miguel Espinoza, 45, has been charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter in the crash about 11:30 p.m. Saturday in Galveston, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston, police said.

Espinoza was being held in Galveston County jail Sunday on $400,000 bond, police said. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.

Galveston police Sgt. Derek Gaspard said that after the SUV failed to stop, it struck a pickup truck, which then crashed into the golf cart that had six people aboard. He said that the golf cart and pickup were traveling in opposite directions through the intersection on a street that did not have a stop sign.

Police said the adult driver of the golf cart was pronounced dead at the scene while a woman and two juveniles on the golf cart were taken to a hospital, where they died. The two other passengers — an adult and a juvenile — were hospitalized Sunday in critical condition, police said.

Espinoza, who lives in the Houston-area city of Rosenberg, and his passenger had minor injuries, police said. They were taken to the hospital and later released.

The occupants of the pickup were not injured, Gaspard said. Names and ages of the dead weren't immediately released.

Gaspard said that he believes the golf cart, which was rented, was operating legally on the city street. He said members of two different families were riding on the golf cart at the time of the crash.

Galveston Mayor Craig Brown said golf carts have become “quite a prolific mode of transportation” for residents and visitors to the island resort area, which is located on the Gulf of Mexico.

Brown said that the city has in the past put in place ordinances aimed at make operating them safer, and will be considering additional ordinances at an upcoming City Council meeting.

“I was out last night," Brown said. “The island was busy and there were golf carts — residential as well as rental golf carts — out all over these streets.”

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This story has been updated to correct that Miguel Espinoza lives in Rosenberg.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/4-riding-in-golf-cart-killed-in-crash-at-texas-intersection/?feed_id=7927&_unique_id=62f01fe7d826d

17 missing, dozens hurt as fire rages in Cuban oil tank farm

HAVANA -- A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility raged uncontrolled Saturday in the city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing, Cuban authorities said.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, where the fire began during a thunderstorm Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted. The governmeht said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

The official Cuban News Agency said lightning hit one tank, starting a fire, and the blaze later spread to a second tank. As military helicopters flew overhead dropping water on the blaze, dense column of black smoke billowed from the facility and spread westward more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) toward Havana.

The Facebook page of the provincial government of Matanzas said the number of injured had reached 77, while 17 people were missing. The Presidency of the Republic said the 17 were “firefighters who were in the nearest area trying to prevent the spread.”

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the storage facility, which has eight giant tanks that hold oil used to fuel electricity generating plants.

“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” resident Adiel Gonzalez told The Associated Press by phone. “The city has a strong smell of sulfur.”

Authorities said the Dubrocq neighborhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little farther from the tank farm.

Many ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city with about 140,000 inhabitants that is on Matnzas Bay.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the area of the fire early Saturday, officials said.

Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving from the point of the fire westward and reaching east to Havana.

“That plume can be close to 150 kilometers long,” Pila wrote on his Twitter account.

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Andrea Rodríguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/17-missing-dozens-hurt-as-fire-rages-in-cuban-oil-tank-farm/?feed_id=7514&_unique_id=62eec2fd9b07d