Day: February 28, 2022

Parts of Australia’s third-most populous city Brisbane were under water Monday after heavy rain brought record flooding to some east coast areas and killed seven people.

The flooding in Brisbane and its surrounds is the worst since 2011 when the city of 2.6 million people was inundated by what was described as a once-in-a-century event.

A 59-year-old man drowned in Brisbane’s north on Sunday afternoon after he tried to cross a flooded creek on foot and was pinned against a fence, Queensland state police said on Monday.

Queensland emergency services warned life-threatening flash flooding was occurring south of Brisbane in parts of Gold Coast city.

Residents were advised to shelter where they were unless it is unsafe to do so. Access to many areas was cut in multiple places, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said in an alert.

Emergency crews made more than 100 swift-water rescues after receiving 8,000 calls for help in Brisbane and its surrounds since midafternoon Sunday, officials said.

All seven flood deaths have been in Queensland state, of which Brisbane is the capital. A search continues for a solo sailor, aged in his 70s, who fell overboard from his vessel in the Brisbane River near the city center on Saturday.

Multiple emergency flood alerts were in place for Brisbane suburbs, where 2,145 homes and 2,356 businesses were submerged or would become so Monday as the waters rose. Another 10,827 properties will be partially flooded above the floorboards.

The waters were forecast to peak less than 50 centimeters (20 inches) below the 4.46 meter (14 foot, 3 inch) flood level reached in 2011, officials said.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the floods are “very different” to 2011 because the rain pummeled the region for five days. In 2011, the rain had stopped days before the Brisbane River peaked and authorities had warned for several days of flooding downstream.

Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey said major roads had been cut. Train and ferry services across Brisbane have been halted, he said.

“We’re going to have localized flooding in a lot of areas for a couple of days yet,” Bailey said.

South of the Queensland border, the New South Wales town of Lismore was bracing for its worst flooding on record.

Downtown Lismore was inundated on Monday after days of unrelenting rain and 15,000 people had been evacuated, officials said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A youth has allegedly committed suicide after ‘killing’ his lover at Pahartoli in Raozan upazila in Chattogram, police said.

The deceased were identified as Joy Barua, 26, son of Nilendu Barua of Mohamuni village of the union and Anwesha Chowdhury, 19, daughter of Ranjit Chowdhuri of the same village.

Abdullah Al Harun, officer-in-charge (OC) of Raozan Police Station, said Joy called Anwesha to his uncle’s abandoned house in the village around 9 pm on Sunday when he came to know about her marriage with someone else although they had an affair.

Joy first strangled Anwesha and then slit her throat to confirm her death and later committed suicide by hanging himself.

On information, police recovered the bodies and sent those to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) morgue for autopsy, said the OC.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 435 million as Omicron infections keep rising in different parts of the world.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 435,174,068 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,948,306 Monday morning.

The US has recorded 78,939,142 cases so far and 948,397 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 42,916,117 on Sunday, as 10,273 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data.

Besides, 243 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the death toll to 513,724.

Meanwhile, Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 28,776,794 cases as of Monday, while its Covid death toll rose to 649,437.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh logged 9 more Covid-linked deaths with 864 fresh cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning as the positivity rate kept declining.

The daily positivity rate slightly declined to 4.01 per cent from Saturday’s 4.15 per cent after testing 21,508 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 29,033 while the caseload to 19,42,680.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 per cent.

However, the recovery rate increased to 93.00 per cent with the recovery of 6,264 more patients during the 24-hour period.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Ukraine’s president says 16 Ukrainian children have been killed and another 45 have been injured in the Russian invasion.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message Monday that “every crime, every shelling by the occupiers bring our partners and us even closer.”

He hailed the sanctions that the West slapped on Russia, saying they have brought the Russian currency down. Zelenskyy asked the European Union a special quick path to membership.

Zelenskyy said that over 4,500 Russian troops have been killed and called on Russian soldiers to lay down their guns and leave. “Don’t trust you commanders, don’t trust your propaganda, just save your lives,” he said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A woman and her daughter were killed on Monday as a truck hit an engine-driven van carrying them at Shibchar upazila in Madaripur.

The deceased were Jasmine Akter,33, and her daughter Mahfuza,8, from Jaduar Char village in the upazila.

The speeding truck hit the van from behind around 9:30 am near Jaduar Char area on Shibchar-Madaripur road, leaving them severely injured, said Md Miraz Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Shibchar police station.

Local people took them to the upazila health complex where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

Legal action will be taken in this regard, said the OC.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of organising secretary of the UK unit of Awami League Alhaj Sajjad Miah.

Sheikh Hasina, also Awami League president, prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.

Sajjad Miah breathed his last Monday morning at his home in London at the age of 60. He left behind his wife, four daughters, family members and a host of relatives and well wishers.

Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridges Minister and AL general secretary Obaidul Quader also expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Sajjad Miah.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh logged four more Covid-linked deaths with 897 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning as the positivity rate kept declining.

The daily positivity rate slightly declined to 3.65 per cent from Sunday’s 4.01 per cent after testing 24,605 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

On Sunday, Bangladesh reported nine Covid-linked deaths with 864 fresh cases. On Saturday, less than 1000 cases were reported after 52 days on Saturday with 759 cases and 8 more Covid-linked deaths. The country last logged 892 cases with three deaths on January 5 this year.

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 29,037 while the caseload to 19,43,577.

Of the 67 deaths recorded from February 21 to February 27, some 26.5 per cent received Covid vaccines while 73.5 per cent did not, the DGHS mentioned.

Comorbidities among the deceased patients decreased 1.3 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.

Among the new deceased, two were men and two women.

Two deaths were reported from Dhaka division while one each from Chattogram and Khulna division.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 per cent.

However, the recovery rate increased to 93.37 per cent with the recovery of 7,976 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On January 28, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37 per cent reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths.

On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.

The country reported first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.

Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Two people were killed and 2 others injured in a collision between a truck and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Akhaura upazila of Brahmanbaria district on Monday morning.

The deceased were identified as Awal Mia, 50, of Maheshpur village in Nabinagar upazila and Fayez Mia, 45, son of Hekim Bepari of the same village.

However, the identities of the injured could not be known immediately.

Md Shahjalal Alam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Brahmanbaria Khatihata Highway Police said the Brahmanbaria-bound truck collided with the auto- rickshaw in the morning, leaving two people dead on the spot.

The injured were rushed to a hospital, the OC added.

The truck driver fled the scene immediately after the accident.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A man, who lost a recent UP election, has been arrested in connection with the murder of the brother of the victorious candidate in Chattogram.

Suspect Ajgar Ali, 45, was arrested from Sadarghat Thana area in the port city on Sunday night by Rab, said Rab-7 in a press briefing on Monday.

According to Rab, Ajgar was defeated by Tyeb, current member of Bagabil-3 union in Rajanagar UP election held on November, 28, last year.

Angered by the defeat he allegedly attacked UP member Tyeb several times.

On last February 2 Ajgar allegedly sent some men to attack Tyeb’s brother Yousuf Ali near Bogar Bil bazar as he was returning home.

Severely injured in the attack Yousuf fought for life at ICU for ten days.

Later, a murder case was filed accusing Ajgar and some 12 more at Rangunia police station following a complaint lodged by Yousuf’s wife.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Ukrainian authorities say at least 44 people have been wounded in fighting in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, and that seven of them died in hospitals.

It wasn’t clear if the casualties, which covered the past 24 hours, were all civilians. The state emergencies agency said the casualties could be higher because the damage from Monday’s shelling of residential areas is still being assessed.

Ukrainian social networks featured videos showing residential quarters hit by a series of powerful explosions amid fighting with Russian forces.

The Russian military has consistently denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence of shelling of residential buildings, schools and hospitals.

Source: United News of Bangladesh