Month: June 2023

CNN  —  A woman in Ecuador who was previously discovered to be alive in a coffin at her own wake has now actually passed away. Bella Montoya, 76, died Friday afternoon after spending a week hospitalized in critical care in the coastal city of Babahoyo, according to Gilbert Barberán, the woman’s son. Montoya was quickly transported to the Martin Icaza General Hospital when she was found alive after banging on her own coffin at the wake in Babahoyo. “During her hospital stay, she received comprehensive medical care and periodic evaluation by hospital specialists. Likewise, the respective medical audit was carried out for this case,” Ecuador’s Ministry of Public Health said in a statement. Montoya initially entered ...

CNN  —  At least 12 people have died, five are missing and nearly 3,000 have been left homeless after an “extratropical cyclone” hit Brazil’s Rio Grande Do Sul, local authorities say. Traveling to the region’s hardest hit regions, government authorities have reinforced the role of the state’s relief structure and called upon “the solidarity of the population.” Rio Grande Do Sul’s governor Eduardo Leite said that the Military Firefighters Corps conducted around 2,400 rescues over the past two days, with operations still underway. “Our priority at the moment is to find the missing and save people who may still be stranded by the floods.” Leite wrote in a statement. “We have all our teams in the field, and the Secretariat for Lo...

CNN  —  Mexico is launching a new app to speed up its asylum process amid record levels of asylum seekers, even after a similar US app came under fierce criticism for glitches and difficulty of use. Andrés Ramírez, head of Mexico’s refugee assistance agency (COMAR) told CNN he believed an app was necessary in order to manage an overwhelming number of asylum requests in Mexico City. “We’re having so many people that we simply cannot cope,” Ramírez said. Ramírez said that for the first time in the history of his agency, during the first 18 days of May, more asylum applications were filed in Mexico City than in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, which borders Guatemala. During that time, 3,300 applications were f...

Editor’s Note: (June 21, 2023) A 16th person has died as a result of the collision, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The female had been hospitalized after the accident and died on June 20, authorities said. CNN  —  The semi-truck involved in Thursday’s accident with a bus that killed 15 people in Manitoba, Canada, had the right of way at the time of the incident, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Dash camera video taken from the tractor-trailer showed the bus, full of senior citizens, had entered the roadway when the truck had the right of way, superintendent Rob Lasson of the RCMP said in a Friday news conference. Officials have not determined yet why the bus turned into the lane, Lasson...

A company that certifies marine vessels says it “declined a request" from OceanGate Expeditions to certify Titan, the submersible that imploded near the site of the Titanic wreckage, killing all five people on board.The interaction came months after OceanGate had defended a decision not to certify Titan in a blog post. Lloyd’s Register, a marine certification company, did not say why it declined to work with OceanGate on what is typically a lengthy, expensive process to certify a vessel.  The two companies came together in 2019 for Titan’s first depth dive. At the time, OceanGate put out a press release saying the dive “was validated by a representative from Lloyd’s Register.” While it invoked the name of the certification agency, OceanGate did not say the submersible had been certified, j...

CNN  —  An “unprecedented drought” is affecting the Panama Canal’s water supply and leading authorities to impose surcharges and weight limits on ships traversing the key global trade route, according to the Panama Canal Authority. Ships move through the Panama Canal through a lock system, which uses water from several freshwater reservoirs to float the massive cargo vessels overland. But Panama is currently gripped by drought, and water levels at least one of those reservoirs – Gatun Lake – are dropping. Lake levels are forecasted to hit historic lows in July, prompting authorities to implement water saving measures as well imposing strict draft restrictions, which is the distance between the waterline and the lowest point of ...

CNN  —  A 76-year-old woman who was declared dead at a hospital in Ecuador was found to be alive and knocking on her coffin during her own wake in the city of Babahoyo. “I lifted up the coffin, and her heart was pounding, and her left hand was hitting the coffin… We called 911 to bring her here to the hospital,” her son Gilberto Barbera said in a video posted on social media. In the video, people could be seen waiting and supporting Montoya as emergency services arrived at the scene, taking the 76-year-old woman back to the hospital. A state investigation is now underway, according to the Ministry of Public Health. It says the woman had been admitted Friday to the h...

CNN  —  Four young children have been found alive after more than a month wandering the Amazon where they survived like “children of the jungle,” according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro. “Their learning from indigenous families and their learning of living in the jungle has saved them,” Petro told reporters on Friday, after announcing on Twitter that they had been found 40 days after they went missing following a plane crash that killed their mother. Petro said the children were all together when they were found, adding they had demonstrated an example of “total survival that will be remembered in history.” “They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” he added. Authorities were ab...

CNN  —  The Canadian Department of National Defense has confirmed two Royal Canadian Air Force members who went missing in a helicopter crash have died. A Chinook helicopter crashed into the Ottawa River with four people on board during an early morning training flight Tuesday. Two survivors were found and taken to Pembroke Hospital with minor injuries, according to a news release Wednesday from the Defense Department. Both have since been released and are being monitored by Canadian Armed Forces medical personnel, the release said. “I join all Canadians in mourning the loss of two Royal Canadian Air Force members from 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron,” Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said. “These brave Canadian Armed For...