rescued

Rescue effort under way after boat carrying 18 people capsizes in bad weather off the Mentawai Islands.

Rescuers in Indonesia are searching for 11 people who went missing after a boat capsized in bad weather off the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra province, according to a local search and rescue agency.

Dozens of rescuers and two boats were at the site of the disaster on Tuesday, and seven of the 18 people on board the boat have been rescued, the agency said in a statement.

The vessel capsized at about 11am on Monday (04:00 GMT) as it sailed around the Mentawai Islands.

It had departed Sikakap, a small town in the Mentawai Islands, and was heading to another small town, Tuapejat. Of 18 people on board, 10 were local government officials.

“Our focus is on combing the area around the estimated accident site to find all victims,” said Rudi, the head of the Mentawai search and rescue agency.

He did not give a cause for the boat capsizing, but marine accidents are a regular occurrence in the Southeast Asian archipelago of approximately 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards or bad weather.

On July 3, a ferry carrying 65 people sank off the popular resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people.

In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.

In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest volcanic lakes on Sumatra island.

July 10 (UPI) — Twenty-seven workers were rescued after they became trapped inside a Los Angeles tunnel that collapsed Wednesday night, officials said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reported that all workers who were trapped “are now out and accounted for.”

“I just spoke with many of the workers who were trapped,” she said on X. “Thank you to all of our brave first responders who acted immediately. You are L.A.’s true heroes.”

The Los Angeles Fire Department had sent out a media advisory shortly before 8 p.m. PDT stating that as many as 15 tunnel workers were reported “isolated” by a collapsed industry tunnel in Los Angeles’ Wilmington area. The number of trapped workers was later increased to 27. An additional four workers rushed in to rescue them.

“Thirty-one persons, all believed to be tunnel workers, have been safely removed from the tunnel alive without visible injury,” the LAFD said in an update. “None are missing.”

The tunnel had a diameter of 18 feet and was being constructed for municipal wastewater management.

The collapse occurred about 5 to 6 miles south of the entry point, with preliminary LAFD reports stating the trapped workers were able “to scramble with some effort” over up to 15 feet of loose soil to meet co-workers on the other side of the collapse.

LAFD said the workers were then “shuttled” several at a time via a tunnel vehicle to the entry point.

Interim fire chief Ronnie Villanueva told reporters during a press conference that “tonight, we were lucky.”

“We were very luck this time.”

Bass said she raced to site after hearing of the tunnel collapse and was expecting to be confronted by a tragedy.

“Instead, what we found was victory,” she said.

“We’re all blessed today in Los Angeles. No one injured, everyone safe and I’m feeling very, very good that this is a great outcome in what started as a very scary evening.”

The tunnel is part of the nearly $630-million Los Angeles’ Clearwater Project aimed at protecting local waters by investing in new infrastructure, including the construction of a 7-mile, 18-foot diameter tunnel to transport clean water from the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility to existing ocean outfalls in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The project received a $441 million investment from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022.

“We must never forget these large infrastructure projects require workers that take great risks,” Rep. Nanette Barragan, who represents the area, said during the press conference.

More than 100 LAFD responders were assigned to the rescue mission, it said.

The cause of the collapse will be investigated, officials said.

Surge in Red Sea attacks after months of calm potentially signals revival of Houthis’ campaign over Gaza war.

Five crew members have been rescued from a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea after a suspected attack from Yemen’s Houthi group, according to a maritime monitor. The attack is so far known to have killed at least three sailors out of the 22-member crew and wounded two.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), run by the British military, said on Wednesday that “search and rescue operations commenced overnight” after Monday’s attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C.

UKMTO had said on Tuesday that the ship sustained “significant damage” and “lost all propulsion”. UK-based security firm Ambrey told the AFP news agency that the badly damaged vessel had sunk off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthis.

20250708-UKMTO_WARNING_INCIDENT_027-25-UPDATE 003https://t.co/yo0ifPJbtT#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/7VTJBPT8Tt

— UKMTO Ops Centre (@UK_MTO) July 9, 2025

The Houthis, who say they are targeting Israel-linked ships as part of a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians under relentless Israeli fire, to pressure the Israeli military to end its assault on Gaza, have not claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, it came one day after they claimed responsibility for attacking another cargo ship – the Magic Seas – in the Red Sea, causing it to sink. All the crew were rescued.

The assaults mark the first attacks on shipping in the Red Sea since late 2024, potentially signalling the start of a new armed campaign threatening the waterway, which had begun to see more traffic in recent weeks.

After Sunday’s attack on the Magic Seas, the Houthis declared that ships owned by companies with ties to Israel were a “legitimate target”, pledging to “prevent Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas … until the aggression against Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted”.

Yemen’s exiled government, the European Union’s Operation Aspides military force and the US State Department blamed the rebels for the attack on Eternity C.

“These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

“The United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks,” she added.

The bulk carrier had been heading north towards the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones on Monday night, with security guards on board firing their weapons, according to Operation Aspides and Ambrey, cited by The Associated Press news agency.

Operation Aspides told AFP on Tuesday that three people had been killed, with at least two injured, including “a Russian electrician who lost a leg”.

Authorities in the Philippines told AFP that there were 22 crew on the Eternity C, all but one of them Filipinos.

The Eternity C’s operator, Cosmoship Management, has not commented on casualties or injuries.

In separate incidents, Israel’s military and the Houthis exchanged strikes on Sunday, with Israel saying it had bombed three ports and a power plant in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, prompting the Iran-allied group to fire more missiles towards Israeli territory.

Israel said it struck the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and as-Salif on the Red Sea coast as well as the Ras Kathib power plant.

It said it also struck a radar system on the Galaxy Leader, which was seized by the Houthis and remains docked in the port of Hodeidah.

 

July 9 (UPI) — South Korea on Wednesday repatriated six North Koreans across the maritime border in the East Sea, months after they drifted into southern waters and were rescued.

A repaired wooden boat carrying the North Koreans crossed the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, at 8:56 a.m., Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a statement to reporters.

“A North Korean patrol boat was at the handover point at the time of repatriation, and the North Korean vessel returned on its own,” the ministry said in the statement.

“During the repatriation process, we repeatedly confirmed the North Korean residents’ free will to return, and cooperated with relevant organizations to safely protect the North Korean residents until repatriation,” the ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said earlier this week that Seoul’s intention was to “repatriate them quickly and safely from a humanitarian standpoint.”

In May, South Korea’s military and coast guard rescued four North Koreans who were drifting in a small boat in the East Sea around 60 miles south of the Northern Limit Line. A pair of North Korean nationals were also rescued under similar circumstances in the Yellow Sea in March.

In a background briefing with reporters on Wednesday, a ministry official confirmed that North Korea never responded to notification efforts about the repatriation plan. The South reached out repeatedly via the U.S.-led United Nations Command, whose duties include controlling DMZ access and communicating with the North Korean military.

Seoul informed Pyongyang of the repatriation time and location through the UNC channel, and the North Korean boats appeared without prior notice, the ministry official said.

North Korea has completely cut off communications with the South in recent years as tensions remain high on the Peninsula.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has made an effort to improve inter-Korean relations since taking office last month and has pledged to restore a military hotline that the North has not responded to since 2023. He recently ordered the suspension of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts at the DMZ in an effort to lower tensions in the border area.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry also recently used a press briefing to request that the North give advance notice before releasing water from a dam across the border. Ministry spokeswoman Chang Yoon-jeong called the public appeal a form of “indirect communication” with Pyongyang.

South Korean authorities are currently investigating a North Korean man who crossed the heavily fortified land border between the two Koreas and was taken into custody by the South’s military. The man identified himself as a civilian, officials said, but they have not confirmed whether he intends to defect to the South.

NewsFeed

Video from a Palestinian defence volunteer shows the rescue of a woman from rubble and flames in Gaza City following an Israeli bombing of a building in Al-Zeitoun neighbourhood. The post says the woman is alive and in the hospital under medical supervision.

Officials investigate a deadly airplane crash after a single-engine aircraft slammed into an interstate median wall on the heavily traveled I-285 interstate highway, stopping traffic in all directions in Doraville, Georgia, in 2015. According to authorities, four people aboard the Piper PA-32 aircraft died in an ensuing fire but passing motorists escaped injury. The same model plane crashed Sunday into Long Island Sound. File photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

June 1 (UPI) — Crews rescued two people aboard a small plane that crashed into Long Island Sound Sunday near a Connecticut airport, according to the FAA and U.S. Coast Guard.

The Piper PA-32 plane went down about 10:30 a.m. south of the Tweed New Haven Airport in New Haven, a statement from the FAA said.

“The two persons onboard the aircraft were rescued and in stable condition,” the Coast Guard said in a statement, according to ABC News.

The Coast Guard dispatched a 45-foot New Haven-based rescue boat to the scene after the Sector Long Island Sound Command Center received notification of the incident from the air traffic control tower that the plane had gone down near the Thimble Islands close to Branford, Ct.

The rescued passengers were taken to the Stony Creek Pier in Branford, the Coast Guard said.

The FAA is investigating the incident.