Tag Archives: Death

Photo of Drowned Migrant Boy Spurs Outrage

As tensions continue to swell in Europe over the mass influx of migrants from the Middle East, the photos of a young boy who drowned while attempting to make the journey is causing outrage across the continent.

At least 12 Syrians died when the boat they were using to reach Greece sank in the Mediterranean Sea.  The bodies of the victims washed up on the beach including that of a young boy which a Turkish news agency then published and pushed into social media with the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsnlik, which means “humanity washed ashore.”

Five of the 12 dead are children.

“When mothers are desperately trying to stop their babies from drowning when their boat has capsized […] Britain needs to act,” British Labour Party member Yvette Cooper told the BBC.

Meanwhile, migrants are still protesting outside the train station in Budapest, Hungary where officials are continuing to deny them access to trains to other parts of the EU.

Greece has reported an increase in migrants of 50% in just the last week and have already absorbed more migrants this year than all of last year.

The European Union has an emergency meeting scheduled for September 14th to address the crisis.

Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreaks Nationwide; Four Dead in Illinois

Four residents of a veteran’s home in Illinois are dead after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease.

At least 29 other residents of the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home have been infected with the deadly bacterium.  Those who died allegedly had severe underlying medical conditions that compromised their immune systems and left them particularly vulnerable to the bacteria.

“The Legionella bacteria can be found anywhere, but it’s usually in small doses that won’t make you sick,” Adams County Health Department Director of Clinical and Environmental Services Shay Drummond told WGEM-TV. “But when a cluster of people get sick like this, it’s very likely there’s one source point.”

Drummond believes the outbreak has been contained to just the veteran’s home.

At San Quentin State Prison in California, six inmates have been confirmed to have the disease with another 51 under observation in the prison’s medical unit.

Prison officials say all cooking at the prison has been shut down and that prisoners are eating box meals until the source of the disease can be found.

In New York City, where 12 people died from an outbreak this summer, a school had to be shut down after the bacteria was found in a cooling tower.  City officials praised the school’s quick response and also said the action showed the importance of a new city law designed to combat the disease.

“The Convent of the Sacred Heart School properly disinfected its cooling tower. Its cooling tower’s positive test result, and subsequent disinfection, underscores the importance of the new legislation the Mayor signed just two weeks ago,” the Department of Health said in a statement.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Erika Cause Flooding

Tropical Storm Erika collapsed before making landfall in Florida but the remnants of the storm are wreaking havoc across parts of three states.

Parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are being doused with torrential rains which has led to flooding and even mudslides.

“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly which locations will see the heaviest rainfall on any given day, but a general swath from the Florida peninsula to the coastal plain of the Carolinas may see heavy rainfall through the first half of the new week,” The Weather Channel said.

ABC 4 Charleston reported that 6.43 inches of rain fell by 10 a.m. making the day already the fifth wettest in the city’s history with the rest of the day to go.  Schools across the region were closed and even the city’s trolley service had to be shut down by the flooding.

Fire officials said there was at least one water rescue.

They also reported a dangerous animal situation: a gator was photographed swimming down a flooded residential street.  Officials even used drones to patrol the area to make sure the gator couldn’t sneak up on some of the animal control officials sent to capture it.

Much of the city of Charleston is at or just above sea level and the rainfall struck the same time as high tides.

Erika claimed 21 lives before it broke apart after crossing Cuba.

Brain Eating Amoeba Results in the Death of 14-Year-Old Athlete

The deadly brain eating amoeba has taken another life.

The family of 14-year-old Michael Riley, Jr. confirmed their son died from naegleria fowleri, or the “brain eating amoeba”, at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

“It is with a heavy heart, that we let everyone know that Michael John Riley Jr. lost his battle on this earth but won a victory for his place in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the family said in a statement on their Facebook page.  “Michael fought a courageous fight over the past week, allowing him to move on to be with the Lord for future heavenly tasks, a beautiful set of wings, and a pair of gold running shoes.”

The death is the fourth this month from someone contracting the deadly amoeba.

Riley was also the second child to die at Texas Children’s Hospital from naegleria fowleri this month.

Riley’s family said their son fell ill after a trip with his track team to swim at San Houston State Park.   Doctors couldn’t figure out why the young athlete was suffering from headaches that continued to worsen until they were unbearable until one doctor at Texas Children’s recognized the symptoms from the previous victim.

“It is unknown why certain persons become infected with (Naegleria fowleri) while millions of others exposed to warm recreational fresh waters do not, including those who were swimming with people who became infected,” the Centers for Disease Control said.

Only 3 of the 133 Americans known to be infected with the amoeba since 1962 have survived their infection.

Tropical Storm Erika Death Toll Climbs

The death toll from Tropical Storm Erika has risen to 12.

Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of Dominica, said on Twitter that 12 people are now confirmed dead on the tiny island nation and “the number may be higher.”

The path of the storm now has it tracking squarely over the state of Florida, although forecasters no longer believe the storm is going to reach hurricane status.  Florida officials are warning residents to prepare for the storm despite the weakened predictions.

“We’ve got concerns all across the state now because it’s going to be coming clear across the state,” Gov. Rick Scott told reporters.  He called the storm “a serious threat.”

Scott noted that it’s been years since Florida has experienced a hurricane or tropical storm of any significance in his call for people to prepare.

“Think of how many people have moved to our state and never even experienced a hurricane,” Scott told reporters.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent a warning to ports along South Florida to prepare.

“Mariners are reminded that there are no safe havens in these facilities and that ports are safest when the inventory of vessels is at a minimum,” a Coast Guard statement said. “All oceangoing commercial vessels and oceangoing barges greater than 500 gross tons should make plans for departing the port.”

Plague Claims Another Life

Another western U.S. resident is dead because of the plague.

Officials in Utah say an elderly woman has died after contracting the potentially fatal disease earlier this month.  They could not confirm how the woman was infected but speculated that she likely had contact with a dead animal or fleas.

Utah officials would not release the name of the woman or any demographic information other than she was “elderly.”

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says 11 plague cases have been found this year in the U.S. and three patients have died.

“It is unclear why the number of cases in 2015 is higher than usual,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a brief update.

The average number of cases per year is between 5 and 6.

“Health care providers should consider the diagnosis of plague in any patient with compatible signs or symptoms, residence or travel in the western United States, and recent proximity to rodent habitats or direct contact with rodents or ill domestic animals,” the CDC says in its report.

“In humans, plague is characterized by the sudden onset of fever and malaise, which can be accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.”

British Born ISIS Hacker and Recruiter Killed in Drone Strike

A British citizen who intelligence officials say was a head of terrorist group ISIS’ cyberwarfare division has been killed in a U.S. drone strike.

Juaniad Hussain, also called Abu Hussain al-Britani, died in an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria.  U.S. officials say they have a “high level of confidence” that Hussain is dead.

Hussain has been confirmed as the target of the attack as he moved in a convoy.  The strike was part of a 48 hour campaign aimed at the terrorist’s power structure in their self-proclaimed capital.

“This is a great intelligence success,” one U.S. official told CNN.

Cybersecurity experts say that while Hussain was more of a nuisance than serious hacker, he was especially dangerous in recruiting hackers and others to join the terrorist group.

“He wasn’t a serious threat. He was most likely a nuisance hacker,” Adam Meyers, vice president of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, told the London Independent.   “It was his involvement in recruitment, communications and other ancillary support that would have made him a target.”

Hussain had spent six months in prison for hacking the personal address book of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2012.  He left for Syria soon after the sentence.

Typhoon Goni Hammers Japan

Typhoon Goni has slammed into Japan with wind gusts topping 112 m.p.h. and has left as many as 26 people dead and over 100 injured.

Officials in Japan urged more than 600,000 people to flee their homes and to seek shelter.

The storm made landfall around 6 a.m. in Kumamoto prefecture.  The storm then crossed over one of the country’s four main islands before heading into the sea of Japan and striking North and South Korea.

The storm essentially paralyzed the country, with air and rail service suspended during the course of the storm.  Over 470,000 homes were without power at one point during the storm’s crossing of the nation.

Officials say at least one man is confirmed missing and presumed dead in a landslide caused by the torrential rain.  The city of Hiroshima ordered the evacuation of 70,000 because of potential landslides.

The storm had previously left 26 dead in the Philippines with 15 still reported as missing.  Thousands of homes were destroyed and hundreds of thousands have been left with no shelter because of storm damage.

The typhoon is beginning to break up as the eye has collapsed but heavy rain is still pouring into North and South Korea.  North Korean officials say that at least 40 people have died because of storm related flooding and over 1,000 homes have been damaged.

Second Yosemite Tourist Infected with Plague

The second tourist within a month to Yosemite National Park has been found to have contracted the plague.

The California Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday a “presumptive positive” for plague in a patient who visited Yosemite and the Sierra National Forest in August.  The Centers for Disease Control is now testing the patient, who’s demographic information is not being released to the press.

In late July, a child from Los Angeles County became infected with the plague after camping with their family at Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite National Park.  The child is still hospitalized but recovering from the infection.

“Although the presence of plague has been confirmed in wild rodents over the past two weeks at Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows campgrounds in Yosemite, the risk to human health remains low,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement. “Action to protect human and wildlife health by closing and treating campgrounds was taken out of an abundance of caution.”

Health officials say that campers should never feed squirrels and other small animals.  They also said for campers to avoid making camp near rodent burrows and to wear long pants and use bug repellant to keep the fleas that carry the disease at bay.

The plague has killed two people so far this year in Colorado.  The Centers for Disease Control says there is an average of seven human plague cases per year in the United States.

Syrian Government Bombs Civilians in Douma

The Syrian government has killed over 100 civilians in a series of airstrikes on a marketplace and other buildings in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Syrian warplanes attacked the suburb Sunday and Monday with Sunday’s initial attack on a market killing over 80 civilians including women and children.

“In some places there was not enough capabilities to transfer the victims. It was very painful to see dead human bodies just left on the sidewalk,” said Abdullah al-Shami, a media activist, told CNN. “Scores of injured were bleeding while waiting their turn to get treatment.”

“It was really difficult to identify the bodies of the martyrs. Some of them were burned to the bone, so we couldn’t add them to the documented list,” said a 28-year-old spokesman of the Syrian Civil Defense Force, who declined to give his real name to Reuters for security reasons.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Syrian troops waited after the initial attack for rescue personnel to arrive on the scenes of the bombings and then struck the same areas with a second volley.

The United Nations issued a swift condemnation of the attacks, saying that the “attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop”.

The White House also issued a strong condemnation of the actions of the Syrian government.

“This latest tragedy is just another reminder of the inhumane acts perpetrated daily by the Asad regime against the Syrian people,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.  “The regime is responsible for killing thousands of innocent Syrian civilians and destroying entire towns and cities, historical sites, schools, mosques, markets, and hospitals.  These abhorrent actions underscore that the Asad regime has lost legitimacy and that the international community must do more to enable a genuine political transition.”

(Misspellings of the Syrian regime listed in the quote above were done purposefully, as that is how the White House spells the regime’s name.)