Hope for South Africa building collapse survivors fuels massive search and rescue operation
CBSN
Cape Town, South Africa — Rescue teams searching for dozens of construction workers missing after an apartment complex collapsed in South Africa brought out more survivors Tuesday as they entered a second night of desperate work to find anyone alive in the wreckage. At least seven people have been confirmed dead.
Authorities said 26 workers had been rescued from the site where the five-story building collapsed Monday while under construction in George, about 250 miles east of Cape Town on South Africa's south coast. An additional 42 people were still believed to be buried in the debris of concrete and metal scaffolding.
Rescuers were hopeful of more people being found alive after saying earlier that they had made contact with at least 11 workers trapped in the rubble and were communicating with them.
Kyiv, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a "real difference" on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In increasingly intense attacks along Ukraine's northeast border in recent days, Moscow's troops have captured around 40 to 50 square miles of territory, including at least seven villages, according to open source monitoring analysts.
A trove of gold and silver coins that experts believe were swindled out of an ailing population by an 18th-century conman has been discovered in central Poland, officials said. Volunteer metal detectorists found the treasure hidden underground in multiple locations while exploring the Jeleniowskie mountain range with permission from the local government, and the fact that it exists seems to validate a centuries-old legend.
Tel Aviv — Nearly 360,000 people had fled the Gaza Strip's southernmost city of Rafah by Monday, according to the United Nations, in an exodus that tripled in size over just a few days. The Israel Defense Forces sparked the upheaval late last week, issuing evacuation orders by text messages and fliers dropped from the sky to people in the city's eastern half.
Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday. Thousands of civilians fled the Kharkiv region as the intense battle capitulated more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-called contested "gray zone" along the Russian border.