BEIJING: Hundreds of temporary one-room housing units were set up Thursday in northwest China for survivors of an earthquake that destroyed more than 14,000 homes and killed at least 144 people, according to state media reports.
The death toll rose by nine as search teams dug through heavy mudslides that had inundated two villages, a city official in Qinghai province said Friday morning. Three people remained missing in the mudslides.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of cranes lifting white, box-like housing units and lining them up in an open field in Meipo, a village in Gansu province. About 260 had been erected, and the total in the village was expected to reach 500 across nine sites by Friday morning.
The arrival of the prefabricated units was a sign that many of the more than 87,000 people resettled after the Monday night earthquake may be homeless for some time. Many have been enduring temperatures well below freezing in flimsier tent-like units with blue plastic sheeting on the outside and a quilted cotton lining inside.
An assessment of the houses in a village visited by The AP on Wednesday found that 90 percent weren’t safe to live in, experts told CCTV in an online report. Some of the homes in Yangwa village appear OK, but they have structural damage that make them unsafe, the experts said. For those that can be repaired, the work may have to wait until next year, because the soil is frozen.
The death toll included 113 people in Gansu and another 31 people in neighboring Qinghai. Nearly 1,000 were reported injured. The magnitude 6.2 quake struck in a mountainous region on the Gansu side of the boundary between the two provinces and about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
Funerals have been held for the dead, some following the Muslim traditions of much of the population in the affected area.
The mud rose as high as 3 meters (10 feet) in the two villages in Qinghai province, leaving only the rooftops of some buildings showing. Search teams used excavators to dig through the thick sea of mud that covered roads, encased buildings and blocked entry points.
Experts quoted by CGTN, the Chinese state broadcaster’s international arm, said the earthquake liquefied underground sediment in the area, where the water table is relatively high. At some point, the muddy sediment burst through the surface and flowed down a usually dry ditch into the villages.
Most of China’s earthquakes strike in the western part of the country, including Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang region and Tibet. The latest quake was the deadliest one in the country in nine years.
China starts erecting temporary housing units after earthquake destroys 14,000 homes
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China starts erecting temporary housing units after earthquake destroys 14,000 homes
- More than 87,000 people resettled after the Monday night earthquake may be homeless for some time
- Many have been enduring temperatures well below freezing in flimsier tent-like units
One passenger reportedly survived India plane crash
Indian rescue teams with sniffer dogs clawed through smoldering wreckage through the night searching for clues for what had caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London’s Gatwick Airport to explode in a blazing fireball soon after takeoff from the western city of Ahmedabad.
Bodies from Air India’s flight 171 were lifted out of the torn fuselage, as well as being pulled out of the charred buildings of the medical staff hostel that the airplane smashed into, killing several there too.
The death toll currently stands at 260, police said.
But hours after police said that there “appears to be no survivor in the crash,” officials reported the initially seemingly impossible account that one man had walked out alive.
“One survivor is confirmed,” Dhananjay Dwivedi, principal secretary of Gujarat state’s health department, told AFP.
The person was being treated in hospital, he added without further details.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the crash site and then the hospital, said he was “pained beyond words by the tragic plane crash” in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat state, where Shah is a lawmaker.
But he also told reporters he had heard the “good news of the survivor” and was speaking to them “after meeting him.”
Indian media widely reported the survivor had been sitting in seat 11A, after videos shared on social media showed a man — in a bloodied t-shirt and limping, but walking toward an ambulance.
He shared a boarding card that named him as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, one of 53 UK citizens on board.
AFP was not able to confirm the reports, but the BBC spoke to his cousin in the city of Leicester, Ajay Valgi, who reported that Ramesh had called his family to say he was “fine.”
Britain’s Press Association news agency also spoke to his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, also in Leicester.
“He said, I have no idea how I exited the plane,” his brother told PA.
But while Ramesh’s reported survival offered a chance of hope, stories also flooded in of heartbreaking loss: elderly parents going to visit children in Britain, or family returning home.
Air India is organizing relief flights — one from the capital New Delhi and another from financial hub Mumbai — to Ahmedabad for “the next of kin of passengers and Air India staff,” the information ministry said in a statement.
They will have to take part in the grim task of identifying the bodies, many of which were reported to have been badly burned.
The plane, which was full of fuel as it took off for a long-haul flight to London, exploded into a burst of orange flame, videos of the crash showed.
Dwivedi, the health official, said DNA collection facilities had been set up at BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad.
“DNA testing arrangements have been made,” he told reporters.
“Families and close relatives of the flight passengers, especially their parents and children, are requested to submit their samples at the location so that the victims can be identified at the earliest.”
Air India crash adds to Boeing’s recent troubles
- Air India tragedy is first fatal crash since the Dreamliner went into service in 2009
- Cause of accident still unknown but comes after series of setbacks for the manufacturer
The crash of a Boeing 787 passenger jet in India minutes after takeoff on Thursday is putting the spotlight back on a beleaguered manufacturer though it was not immediately clear why the plane crashed.
The Air India 787 went down in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad with more than 240 people aboard shortly after takeoff, authorities said. It was the first fatal crash since the plane, also known as the Dreamliner, went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing shares fell more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.
The 787 was the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries. In 2013 the 787 fleet was temporarily grounded because of overheating of its lithium-ion batteries, which in some cases sparked fires.
737 Max
The Max version of Boeing’s best-selling 737 airplane has been the source of persistent troubles for Boeing after two of the jets crashed. The crashes, one in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia in 2019, killed 346.
The problem stemmed from a sensor providing faulty readings that pushed the nose down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system.
Last month, the Justice Department reached a deal to allow Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading US regulators about the Max before the two crashes.
Worries about the plane flared up again after a door plug blew off a Max operated by Alaska Airlines, leading regulators to cap Boeing’s production at 38 jets per month.
Financial woes
Boeing posted a loss of $11.8 billion in 2024, bringing its total losses since 2019 to more than $35 billion.
The company’s financial problems were compounded by a strike by machinists who assemble the airplanes plane at its factories in Renton and Everett, Washington, which halted production at those facilities and hampered Boeing’s delivery capability.
For the first three months of 2025, Boeing reported a narrower loss of $31 million compared with the previous year. CEO Kelly Ortberg said Boeing made progress on stabilizing operations during the quarter.
Orders and deliveries
The stepped-up government scrutiny and the workers’ strike resulted in Boeing’s aircraft deliveries sliding last year.
Boeing said it supplied 348 jetliners in 2024, which was a third fewer than the 528 that it reported for the previous year.
The company delivered less than half the number of commercial aircraft to customers than its main rival Airbus, which reported delivering 766 commercial jets in 2023.
Still, Boeing’s troubles haven’t turned off airline customers from buying its jets. Last month the company secured big orders from two Middle Eastern customers. The deals included a $96 billion order for 787 and 777X jets from Qatar, which it said was the biggest order for 787s and wide body jets in the company’s.
Air India crash leaves UK’s Indian community ‘deeply shocked’
- MP who campaigned to open direct flights between Ahmedabad, London praises Gujarati community
- Former PM Rishi Sunak, who recently watched IPL final in the city, sends prayers to families of victims
LONDON: The Indian community in the UK has been left in deep shock after an Air India airplane bound for London Gatwick crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people burst into flames when it hit buildings in Gujarat state’s largest city shortly after takeoff.
Among those on board were 53 British passengers and 169 Indian nationals, many of whom would have been on their way to visit relatives in the UK.
The former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he and his wife Akshata Murty were “deeply shocked and distressed” by the tragedy.
Sunak and Murty were in Ahmedabad earlier this month to watch the Indian Premier League cricket final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Sunak said on X: “There is a unique bond between our two nations and our thoughts and prayers go out to the British and Indian families who have lost loved ones today.”
The High Commission of India in London said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic crash,” and that “thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this devastating incident.”
It urged those affected to follow official updates from India’s civil aviation ministry and added that High Commission staff would assist the next of kin of the victims in the UK.
With the UK and India’s deep historic, political and trade ties, the Indian community in the UK is thought to number around 1.8 million. At least 600,000 are part of the diaspora from Gujarat, the state where the Air India plane crashed.
MP Bob Blackman, whose constituency of Harrow East is home to one of the largest Gujarati communities in the UK, said almost all the Indian nationals on board would have been on their way to visit relatives in Britain.
“The community is shocked by what’s happened,” he told BBC radio. “A third of my constituents come from Gujarat originally, and they will all have family and friends there. It’s a very close community and so they’ll all be affected by this.”
Blackman had campaigned to get direct flights set up between Ahmedabad and the UK.
The route was among the promises made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who is from Gujarat — during a visit to the UK in 2015. Air India finally opened the route to Gatwick in 2023.
Blackman said: “It’s taken a long time to get these flights underway and that’s also what makes it even more of a tragedy: that one of these should crash and so many people have unfortunately lost their lives as a result.”
The MP praised the Gujarati community in the UK, saying that wherever they go throughout the world they bring improvements to education and the economy.
He added: “They’re hard-working people who look after their families and make sure everyone is protected, so when something like this happens it's a tragedy that’s felt by the whole community.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scenes of the crash in Ahmedabad as “devastating.”
He added: “My thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”
King Charles III said he was “desperately shocked” by the tragedy.
“Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations, as they await news of their loved ones,” he said.
The crash comes a month after the UK and India signed a trade deal in the latest boost to their historic economic ties.
The accident stunned the business community operating between the two countries.
The UK India Business Council said it was deeply saddened by the crash.
“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by this tragedy,” it said.
The UK branch of the Friends of India Society International said: “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those on board.”
Student who stabbed Labour MP in east London in 2010 to be freed from prison, says Parole Board
- Roshonara Choudhry was 21 when sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Stephen Timms twice in the stomach
- Choudhry, now 36, participated in programs to understand her extreme beliefs, behavior was ‘exemplary,’ says panel
LONDON: A student who attempted to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms in May 2010 can be released from prison following a Parole Board decision.
Roshonara Choudhry was 21 when she was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Timms twice in the stomach, and was also charged with two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.
Choudhry, a former King’s College London student, was radicalized after watching lectures by an Al-Qaeda cleric, and her attack was believed to have been the first Al-Qaeda-inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil.
Choudhry attacked the East Ham MP, the minister of state for social security and disability in the current UK government, while he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community center in east London. Following her arrest, she told police the stabbing was “punishment” and “to get revenge for the people of Iraq.”
During a Parole Board hearing on May 20, a panel decided to release her from prison. It added that her imprisonment “was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.”
Choudhry, now 36, participated in programs while in prison to understand her extreme beliefs, and her behavior was described by the panel as “exemplary.”
It added: “Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself.
“She would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.”
The panel recommended Choudhry’s release on license, with conditions to live at a designated address, follow a curfew, and avoid contact with Timms.
Indonesian president to meet Putin on first Russia visit next week
- Prabowo will meet Putin in St. Petersburg, where he will address an economic forum
- He referred to Russia as ‘great friend’ when he visited Moscow as defense minister last year
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will meet Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg next week, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, as the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is set to make his first visit to Russia since taking office.
Prabowo will begin his three-day visit on June 18, during which he will also attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“This visit is to fulfill the invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a bilateral meeting,” Rolliansyah Soemirat, spokesperson for Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in Jakarta.
“This visit is also part of the 75-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries … (and) is expected to include discussions on the progress of bilateral cooperation as well as an exchange between the leaders on regional and global issues of common concern.”
Indonesia is also hoping to sign new agreements with Russia during the upcoming visit, he added without specifying details.
Prabowo last met Putin in July, during a trip to Russia as Indonesia’s defense minister that took place months before he was inaugurated as the country’s new president. He called Russia a “great friend” at the time and said he wanted to develop nuclear energy cooperation with Moscow.
The two countries held their first joint naval drills on Java in November. It was followed by talks between Indonesia’s Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, in Jakarta in February, during which they discussed ways to strengthen defense ties.
Indonesia also became a full member of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies in January, a geopolitical forum that was co-founded by Russia.
Since taking office, Prabowo has visited over a dozen countries, including China, the US and the UAE.
The 73-year-old leader has committed to maintaining the country’s long-standing “free and active” foreign policy. Under the non-aligned approach, Jakarta has refused to take sides over Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
