Tag Archives: oceania

Hundreds of coffins fall into ocean after cemetery landslide in Italy

A landslide on the Italian coast near Genoa caused the collapse of a cemetery yesterday, leading to hundreds of coffins falling into the sea.

The Camogli cemetery, built more than 100 years ago, is situated along an area of rocky seaside cliffs. Francesco Olivari, the mayor of Camogli, called the collapse an "unimaginable catastrophe."

It is estimated that 200 coffins had fallen, but only 10 have been recovered, according to Giacomo Giampedrone, regional assessor of civil protection. Recovering the rest of them "will depend on the sea in the coming days," he added.

READ MORE: Families forced to fill sinking graves after deluge

On Saturday, maintenance being performed along the area of fragile coastline was abruptly stopped when workers noticed cracks in the rock.

"We were doing work on a portion of the rocky coast – it was close to the area that fell today," Mr Olivari told CNN on Monday.

"Some signs of fissures were seen. We decided to close the cemetery."

He said that they called officials at the Office of Civil Protection in Liguria to intervene and evaluate the situation.

READ MORE: Why death is forever but your grave may not be

A team of geologists with the department is using drones to get a better sense of the damage and determine if there is danger of another landslide.

"This type of collapse that happened today is very hard to detect or to predict," Mr Olivari said.

"This area is subject to this type of collapse – it's very fragile."

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Giampedrone said the port authority of Genoa blocked the coastal area below the cemetery overnight to keep the coffins from floating out to sea.

Today, after surveying the site, officials said they will continue work on recovering the coffins and corpses.

WA's border closures 'justified', rules High Court

The High Court of Australia has determined Western Australia's decision to close its borders last year was "not discriminatory".

The court said the state's decision was justified due to risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state shut its borders to the rest of Australia in April last year, to stop the spread of the virus. 

LIVE UPDATES: Palaszczuk slams overdose bungle

WA premier Mark McGowan.

Mining billionaire Clive Palmer challenged the hard border closure after he was denied a travel exemption in May last year. 

A hearing took place in the High Court over two days in November.

The court published its findings today, with the reasons on why the border closure did not infringe on a section of the constitution stating interstate travel should be "absolutely free".

The findings said during a state of emergency an authorised officer may "direct or, by direction, prohibit, the movement of persons, animals and vehicles within, into, out of or around an emergency area or any part of the emergency area".

The court considered the potential impacts on WA if people entered the state while infectious at the time of the hard border.

"There would be a high probability that the virus would be transmitted into the Western Australian population and at least a moderate probability that there would be uncontrolled outbreaks," the court said.

READ MORE: High Court rejects Clive Palmer's final bid to tear down WA border ban

"If there were uncontrolled outbreaks, the consequences would include the risk of death and hospitalisation, particularly for the vulnerable groups mentioned above.

"In a worst-case scenario, the health consequences could be 'catastrophic'".

The court ruled Mr Palmer should pay the costs of the special case.

WA Premier Mark McGowan welcomed the High Court's decision.

"Clive Palmer challenged the borders at the height of the pandemic," Mr McGowan told reporters today.

"What we did saved lives."

Clive Palmer.9News App

Mr McGowan said he did not have an estimate of the costs Mr Palmer would be required to pay to WA, however he said he believed it would be "significant".

READ MORE: NSW easing coronavirus restrictions from this Friday: 50 people allowed in a house, 30 on a wedding dancefloor

"I'm pleased we were successful," he said.

The decision reaffirms decades of case law allowing states to restrict travel through interstate borders in the event of national disasters.

Australia's accidental vaccine overdose not the only one

The accidental COVID-19 vaccine overdose given to two elderly Australians is not the first mishap to hit vaccination trials around the world.

Yesterday, an 88-year-old man and 94-year-old woman were given five times the recommended dose in a bungle at the Holy Spirit Nursing Home in Carseldine in Brisbane.

The man was taken to hospital first and 9News understands the woman was also moved to hospital this morning. The GP involved has been temporarily stood down from administering further vaccines.

While very concerning, this is not the first accidental overdoses of the vaccine.

On December 23 last year, a medical staff worker in Central Israel was given five doses of the vaccine in a single shot. He was mean to receive one dose and then a second 21 days later.

READ MORE: Palaszczuk slams overdose bungle

He was immediately taken to hospital for supervision and soon discharged after reporting to be feeling well and suffering no side-effects.

Six days later, on December 29, eight workers in an aged care centre in Germany were also given an accidental COVID-19 vaccine overdose.

Four were taken to hospital for monitoring after they developed flu-like symptoms after their jabs. Three of the workers were discharged while the fourth was admitted as an inpatient.

The overdoses in Germany were the first cases BioNTech was aware of out of more than a million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine jabs.

The mishap occurred after some German districts rejected vaccines provided at the time over concerns cold conditions were interrupted during delivery, Reuters reported.

Canberra reacts to vaccine overdose

In a 2020 Pfizer clinical trial paper on COVID-19 vaccines, the company said it "does not recommend specific treatment" for an overdose. It instead listed emergency steps.

That the investigator should: contact the medical monitor within 24 hours; closely monitor the participant; document the quantity of the excess dose as well as the duration of the overdose and report the overdose.

Back in Australia, top health officials have today moved to allay any fears about vaccine doses.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said a number of safeguards were immediately put in place to deal with the incident.

READ MORE: Common medicines hit with shortages as COVID supply issues worsen

"I think it's very important that we're up front," Mr Hunt told media today.

"The safeguards that were put in place immediately kicked into action and a nurse on the scene identified the fact that a higher than prescribed amount of the dose was given to two patients.

"I want to thank her for her strength of character and her professionalism."

He said all medical staff administering the Pfizer vaccines were required to complete "highly developed modules".

He described the overdose as a "serious breach" in protocol.

Australia's vaccine rollout is broken down into phases.

An investigation will determine why the incorrect dosage was given and whether the doctor responsible was qualified to administer the vaccine.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said early clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had experimented with different dosages up to four times the prescribed amount.

"During those trials, the side effect data was not a higher problem, so there's that element," Professor Kelly said.

"Second of all, as has been mentioned by the minister, we are aware of several cases like this happening early in the phased rollout through residential aged care facilities in Germany and the UK.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.

"The side effect profile was minimal, particularly in older people, so that gives us hope."

Queensland began its rollout of the vaccine on Monday with 1000 people expected to receive the jab by the end of the week.

The state government has set an ambitious target of 125,000 people to be vaccinated by early April starting with frontline medical and hotel quarantine staff and the elderly.

Teen stabbed with machete during Sydney home invasion

This story contains images and content that may be distressing to some readers

A family has been left "traumatised" after a terrifying home invasion in Sydney's south west overnight during which a teen was attacked with a machete.

About 1.15am today, emergency services were called to Simpson Road in Bonnyrigg Heights after reports of a break in.

Police have been told two men entered the premises wearing face coverings and armed with a machete and a hammer.

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A bathroom door in the house is covered in marks.

"Both my parents screamed and I've never heard those types of screams before," the victim's sister told 9News.

"The guy with the machete stormed into the house and went straight for my brother.

"He went for my brother's throat but he guarded his throat with his arm so he slices both of his arms instead…I screamed and locked my door in fear … it was a really scary experience.

"For my family to experience this, it's really traumatising especially for my mum She saw everything, she saw the pool of blood my brother was sat in."

The male was treated at the scene by paramedics and was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious but stable condition where he underwent surgery.

A crime scene has been established at the home and police are continuing to investigate.

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Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.

Truck collides with train in Texas causing large explosion

A tractor-trailer and a freight train collided in central Texas, causing a large explosion and fire, authorities said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries after the collision in Cameron, about 210km south of Dallas.

Homes in the immediate area were evacuated as the fire burned, authorities said.

A train and a tractor collided in Texas.A train and a tractor collided in Texas.

READ MORE US family sues power company for $100m after boy dies of hypothermia

Milam County Judge Steve Young tells TV station KBTX that the truck hit the train, causing 14 train cars to derail.

Texas collision on February 24, 2021.

Milam County Sheriff Chris White said the train was carrying coal and gasoline, which caused the large fire.

He said the back of the train contained hazardous material but it did not spill.

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"There's no more threat at this point," Mr White said.