Tag Archives: oceania

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Two fighting for life, 17 injured in horror crash

Two people are in a critical condition in hospital and 17 others suffered minor injuries after a car and minibus crashed south of Brisbane.

The vehicles collided head-on on the remote road of Mundoolun Road in Mundoolun in Logan just after 10am today.

The 23-year-old driver of the car and the 74-year-old bus driver were trapped for over an hour and had to be cut free from their vehicles.

READ MORE: One-year-old child among Queensland's new local cases

A bus with 22 people on board, including the driver, and a car with a single female driver collided in Logan this morning.A Queensland Ambulance Officer said it was remarkable no one died in the head-on crash.

They were airlifted to hospital and are both critical.

The female driver was the only one in the car, yet there were 22 people on board the minibus, including the bus driver.

The bus was transporting people back from a hot air balloon ride over the Scenic Rim in south-east Queensland.

The crash sparked a major response from emergency services given the location of the crash and the number of patients. Two rescue helicopters were sent to the scene.

Seventeen bus passengers, including a 13-year-old boy, were taken by road to various hospitals with minor injuries.

Both drivers have been airlifted to hospital in critical conditions.Glass and debris were strewn across the road, which was closed for most of the day.

"How they avoided a fatality beggars belief," Steve Clarke from Queensland Ambulance Service said.

"I think if you look at the impact and the glass that's been shattered across the front, it's old adage, seatbelts save lives."

The road was closed for most of the day while patients were treated and transported out and so forensic crash investigators could probe the cause of the crash.

At this stage, neither speed or alcohol appears to be a factor.

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Man and two boys rescued from sinking boat off WA coast

A man and two boys have been rescued in waters off Western Australia after they were found clinging to their sinking boat.

The man in his 30s and two nine-year-old boys were travelling in their five metre fibreglass boat in the Peel region when their vessel was swamped by a large wave.

The boat quickly took on water and begin to sink.

A man and two boys have been rescued from a sinking boat in waters off Western Australia.

"Around 4.4pm, a hand-held VHF radio floated free from the vessel and the man was able to grab it and make an emergency radio broadcast," WA Police said in a statement.

"Approximately 20 minutes later, an EPIRB in the vessel floated free and this enabled rescuers to hone in on the trio's position."

Police Air-Wing, Water Police officers and Mandurah Marine Rescue were dispatched.

Officers in the police helicopter spotted the trio in the water about 18km west of the Dawesville Cut.

The trio were pulled from the water and then taken to Peel Health Campus for treatment for hypothermia and jelly fish stings.

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Suspicious house fire in Adelaide's northern suburbs

South Australian police are treating a house fire that destroyed a property in Adelaide as suspicious.

Emergency services were called to a property on Nutt Street, Elizabeth Downs, just before 4.30am today after reports of a house on fire.

https://twitter.com/9NewsAdel/status/1426743193538682880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

SA's Metropolitan Fire Service took control of the blaze. No one was at home at the time of the incident.

Crime Scene Investigators have attended the scene.

Anyone with any information about the blaze is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestopperssa.com.au.

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Taliban seize Jalalabad, cut off Afghan capital from east

The Taliban seized the city of Jalalabad early Sunday, cutting off Afghanistan's increasingly isolated capital Kabul to the east as the insurgents' blitz across the country continued as the US and NATO prepare to withdraw from the country after two decades of war.

The militants posted photos online early Sunday showing them in the governor's office in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.

Abrarullah Murad, a lawmaker from the province told The Associated Press that the insurgents seized Jalalabad after elders negotiated the fall of the government there.

READ MORE: Taliban approach Kabul's outskirts, attack north Afghan city

Afghans wait in long lines for hours at the passport office as many are desperate to have their travel documents ready to go (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

The seizure Sunday comes amid rapid gains by the Taliban over the last week, pressuring Afghanistan's central government as US, British and Canadian forces rush troops in to help their diplomatic staffs still there. Thousands have poured into Kabul to flee the Taliban advance.

The fall Saturday of Mazar-e-Sharif, the country's fourth largest city, which Afghan forces and two powerful former warlords had pledged to defend, hands the insurgents control over all of northern Afghanistan.

On Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised speech, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains. He vowed not to give up the "achievements" of the 20 years since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks.

An Afghan Man sells the flags of Taliban in Herat province West of Kabul, Afghanistan (AP Photo/ Hamed Sarfarazi)

The US has continued holding peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar this week, and the international community has warned that a Taliban government brought about by force would be shunned. But the insurgents appear to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up victories on the battlefield.

"We have started consultations, inside the government with elders and political leaders, representatives of different levels of the community as well as our international allies," Ghani said.

"Soon the results will be shared with you," he added, without elaborating further.