الكاتب: kafej

A plane was forced to return to an airport shortly after taking off when a horse got loose on board.

Around half an hour after leaving New York on its way to Belgium, the Boeing 747 cargo plane contacted air traffic control to inform them of the escaped animal.

“Yes sir, we are a cargo plane,” a pilot can be heard saying in an air traffic control recording obtained by Live ATC.

“We have a live animal, a horse, on board the aeroplane and the horse managed to escape its stall. We don’t have a problem as of flying-wise, but we need to return to New York.

“We cannot get the horse back secure.”

FlightRadar24 data showed the plane had climbed to 31,000ft before being forced to make a U-turn off the coast of Boston.

The audio showed it then dumped around 20 tonnes of fuel over the Atlantic, to ensure the aircraft was not above the safe weight limit for landing.

The pilot can then be heard asking air traffic control to request a vet is present when the flight lands at New York’s JFK airport.

‘We have a horse in… difficulty’

Upon landing, a control tower worker asked the pilot if they required assistance.

“On the ground, negative, on the ramp, yes,” he replied.

“We have a horse in… difficulty.”

The operator of the 9 November flight, Air Atlanta Icelandic, has been contacted for comment.

A tiny dog found alive by her owner’s body 10 weeks after the pair went missing on a hike showed “dedication and loyalty” to her owner, a rescuer has said. 

Rich Moore, 71, and his 12-pound Jack Russell terrier Finney disappeared on 19 August on a planned hike to Blackhead Peak in the Colorado mountains.

Rescue teams searched the treacherous and steep mountain between the peak and where Mr Moore’s car was parked without success, said Delinda VanneBrightyn from Taos Search and Rescue.

When a hunter found Mr Moore’s body on 30 October, Finney was still with her owner, despite having lost half her body weight.

Finney is believed to have survived by hunting small animals such as mice while also managing to avoid predators like mountain lions, coyotes and bears, Ms VanneBrightyn said.

“If that dog could talk it would be an amazing story,” she said. “We probably could not even believe the story the dog would tell.”

A recovery crew was flown in the day after Mr Moore’s body was found. Finney was taken to a vet for a check-up and treatment and is now with Mr Moore’s family, the sheriff’s office said.

Ms VanneBrightyn said they were very glad to return Finney to the family “because they have lost their loved one, but they still have this wonderful, loyal dog”.

Read more from Sky News:
Hippos descended from Pablo Escobar’s pets being sterilised
Radio host vanishes in crocodile-infested waters

Ms VanneBrightyn, who has trained dogs for two decades, said Finney’s “magnificent story of survival” was a testament to her dedication and loyalty to Mr Moore.

“Jack Russells are pretty fierce, I have to say, they’re tough little dogs.”

The hunter found Moore’s body about 1.5 miles east of the peak, further away from his car, Ms VanneBrightyn said.

Mr Moore, who was an experienced hiker, died of hypothermia, Archuleta County Coroner Brad Hunt said.

Hypothermia can cause people to become disoriented and confused.

Derna, Libya – About a month after floods devastated Libya’s eastern city of Derna, Dr Khaled al-Shaari was discovered by his neighbours. He had taken his own life near his flood-ravaged home.

His death was not an isolated event. In the weeks following the catastrophe, 25 other Derna residents have died by suicide.

Al-Shaari, 38, had been suffering psychological trauma after losing both his family and home after the two dams in Derna broke on September 10, explained his neighbour, Mohammed Rifaeira.

“He couldn’t bear the shock he faced and found no mental support even a month after the catastrophe,” Rifaei told Al Jazeera. Other neighbours had seen al-Shaari sitting by the door of his ruined home, waiting for news about relatives swept away by the floods.

Once a busy urban hub, Derna and its streets now carry the scars of the overwhelming damage that 30 million cubic metres of rushing water can inflict: buildings crumbled, windows shattered, walls discoloured.

Homes and all sense of place were destroyed in the flood, which claimed as many as 11,300 lives. Muddy handprints of the rescue and relief workers are still visible on bare walls.

The damage extends beyond structures. The faces of the survivors, etched with trauma, are bitter testaments to the horror of what they experienced. And help is hard to find.

‘I’m drowning every day’

Before the flood, 31-year-old Layla Eljerbi was an art teacher. She lived with her family in a small apartment, its walls decorated with her and her students’ artwork, close to the heart of the city.

Her flat was among the first to be hit. “Within moments, it was like my entire life washed away in front of me. The artworks, the photographs, the memories – all gone,” she recalled. Her struggle continues.

“Each night is a battle with sleep; each raindrop is a reminder of the deluge that washed away my life and artwork. Even though I escaped the flood, I’m drowning every day in my mind,” Layla said.

Since the flood, Layla has had acute anxiety. Her hands tremble when the sky darkens and she avoids passing by rivers or any significant stretch of water.

Her diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one shared by countless others who were impacted by the catastrophic floods. However, with mental health services in short supply, Layla has struggled to find help.

She attends group therapy sessions organised by volunteers but admits it is a far cry from the specialised care she needs. In Derna, medical clinics focus more on physical injuries and diseases, rather than mental health.

“The government needs to realise that the catastrophe is far from over. In many ways, it’s just beginning,” Layla said.

As winter approaches, the potential for further rains and floods leads to fear and anxiety.

Lack of psychological support services

Abdulaziz al-Huni is a member of the Libyan Goodness Team which offers free psychological support to flood survivors. He admits to feeling overwhelmed.

“We’re doing our best, but the scale of the need is overwhelming and resources are thin,” he said.

There are nearly 600 displaced families now living in the eastern city of Tobruk, about 67km (42 miles) to the southeast. About 285 families are in the capital, Tripoli, which is 1345km (836 miles) away. These households all rely upon aid provided by local merchants.

The mental health of displaced people is one of the main factors overlooked by authorities in the wake of any crisis, psychiatrists say. Integrating into new locations can be socially and psychologically challenging. This can exacerbate existing trauma and lead to mental illness or even suicide.

Children’s mental health has also been affected. Dr Marwa al-Saadawi, a psychiatrist at Tobruk Hospital, recalls a young child who came to the hospital struggling to breathe. There was no physical explanation for his symptoms, she explained, “but he mentioned waking up from a dream where he was drowning, causing him distress”.

There is a “huge need for psychological treatment … but we are in a crisis and are prioritising those most affected,” al-Saadawi acknowledges.

“Sometimes, [travelling to] affected people is a challenge, but volunteer teams are doing their best,” she said. Still, no matter how hard her teams work, they cannot address the overwhelming need for support.

Reconstruction

With Libya splintered between two rival parliaments, funding for Derna’s reconstruction is equally fractured.

The eastern House of Representatives has allocated 10 billion dinars ($2bn), and the western Government of National Unity has made a smaller contribution. But how these funds will be disbursed and utilised has not been confirmed.

Residents who have returned to a devastated Derna say their governments have abandoned them; weeks after the flood, conditions in the area are still dire.

Social affairs journalist Iman al-Sweihli, who has been covering the fallout from the floods, said neither government has tackled the issue and called for them to “address it courageously” before it turns into a “disaster”.

Several attempts have been made to communicate the conditions of the displaced families to both governments, explained Faraj Abu al-Khattabiya, the mayor of Tobruk, over the phone. However, there has been no response to calls for help.

Many of the displaced families suffer from acute anxiety, fear and an inability to process the trauma they experienced, according to al-Khattabiya.

Meanwhile, Layla looks forward to the day when she can begin to rebuild her life. Until then, she and others like her remain living reminders of a crisis that shows no end.

Some of the 40 Indian construction workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for four days have fallen sick as falling debris and technical glitches have delayed the work to free them.

Wide pipes are set to be drilled through excavated rubble to create a passage to free the workers, who have been trapped since Sunday.

Relatives and friends of the trapped workers gathering outside the tunnel in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand have grown frustrated and angry with reports some workers were becoming unwell.

Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said some workers have sent messages saying they are suffering from fever, body aches, and nervousness.

Medicine has been sent through pipes that were set up earlier to get water and food to the workers.

Two of the workers were reported to have minor injuries from the falling debris.

Around 200 disaster relief personnel are using drilling equipment and excavators to rescue the workers, who are mostly migrant labourers from across India.

Steel pipes 2ft 6in (76cm) wide, which arrived at the site on Tuesday, will be pushed through an opening of excavated debris with the help of hydraulic jacks to safely pull out the stranded workers.

Gaurav Singh, a state government official, said the rescue operation was delayed because of a technical fault in the drilling machine, but a new machine has been installed.

Falling debris also delayed the start of the drilling on Tuesday.

“These are challenges in such rescue operations, but we will overcome them,” said Ranjit Sinha, a disaster management official.

A landslide on Sunday caused a portion of the 4.5km tunnel to collapse about 200m from the entrance.

The construction of the tunnel is part of a flagship federal government project connecting various Hindu pilgrimage sites.

Read more from Sky News:
India breaks world record with Diwali oil lamp display
Driving restrictions to come into force in New Delhi

Region prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods

The region, which is dotted with Hindu temples and sees a huge flow of pilgrims and tourists every year, is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

It has expanded over the years with the massive construction of buildings and roads.

The tunnel collapse follows land subsidence events in the state that geologists, residents and officials have blamed on rapid construction in the mountains.

Colombia has started sterilising hippos descended from animals illegally brought to the country by drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1980s.

The hippos spread from Escobar’s estate into nearby rivers, where they flourished.

There are now more than 100 of them, prompting the government’s plan to control the population.

Two male hippos and one female have been surgically sterilised, environmental authorities said.

The government plans to sterilise 40 hippos a year, transfer others to different countries, and may euthanise some of the animals.

The hippos have no natural predators in Colombia and have been declared an invasive species that could upset the ecosystem.

Sterilisation takes time, because spotting and capturing the territorial, aggressive 3-ton animals is complicated, David Echeverry Lopez, chief of the environment office in charge of the plan, said.

The amount of rain has made things even more difficult.

More grass means “they have an oversupply of food, so baiting them to capture them becomes even more complicated,” he said.

Read more from Sky News:
Radio host vanishes in crocodile-infested waters
Body of missing man found with his dog alive and by his side

A group of hippos was brought in the 1980s to Escobar’s private zoo, Hacienda Napoles, which became a tourist attraction after his death in 1993.

Most of the animals live freely in rivers and reproduce without control. The government estimates there are 169 hippos in Colombia – and that if no measures are taken, there could be 1,000 by 2035.

When the plan was first announced, the environment ministry said each sterilisation costs about $9,800, and involves risks for the hippopotamus, including allergic reactions to anesthesia or death – along with dangers for the animal health personnel involved.