New Zealand charter boat flips; 5 dead
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Five people died Saturday in New Zealand after the small charter boat they were aboard capsized, authorities say, in what may have been a collision with a whale. Another six people aboard the boat were rescued.
Police said the 28-foot boat overturned near the South Island town of Kaikoura. Police said they were continuing to investigate the cause of the accident.
Kaikoura Police Sgt. Matt Boyce police divers had recovered the bodies of all those who had died. He said all six survivors were assessed to be in stable condition at a local health center, with one transferred to a hospital in the city of Christchurch as a precaution.
Mayor Craig Mackle told The Associated Press that the water was calm at the time of the incident and the assumption was that a whale had surfaced from beneath the boat. He said there were some sperm whales in the area and some humpback whales traveling through.
The mayor said locals had helped with the rescue efforts throughout the day but the mood in the town was "somber" because the water was so cold and they feared for the outcome of anybody who had fallen overboard.
He said he thought in the past about the possibility of a boat and whale colliding, given the number of whales that frequent the region.
Mackle said the boat was a charter vessel typically used for fishing excursions. News agency Stuff reported the passengers belonged to a bird enthusiasts' group.
Police said they were still notifying the relatives of those who died and couldn't yet publicly name the victims.
Compliance agency Maritime New Zealand said it sent two investigators to the scene and would be conducting a thorough investigation once recovery operations concluded.
Fiery truck, bus crash kills 18 in Mexico
A fiery crash between a tanker truck carrying fuel and a passenger bus Saturday killed at least 18 people in northern Mexico, authorities reported.
Police in the northern border state of Tamaulipas said the collision left both vehicles completely burned. Police photos showed the bus was reduced to a tangle of smoking, charred metal.
The death toll could rise as more charred remains are recovered. The crash occurred before dawn Saturday on a highway that leads to the northern city of Monterrey.
The driver of the fuel truck survived and is under investigation. The bus apparently departed from the central state of Hidalgo and was headed to Monterrey.
The tractor-trailer was carrying two fuel tanks in tandem and such double-container freight trucks have been involved in numerous deadly crashes in the past.
Because weight restrictions and safety inspections in Mexico are lax, there have been calls in the past to ban such extremely heavy and unwieldy trucks.
3 die in Afghanistan chopper crash
ISLAMABAD -- At least three Afghan crew members were killed Saturday when a U.S.-manufactured Black Hawk helicopter they were flying crashed, the Taliban's defense ministry said.
According to the statement, five others were wounded in the accident during a training session overseen by Afghanistan's defense ministry at the capital of Kabul.
It is not known how many U.S. choppers remain in the hands of the Taliban government. As the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed in August 2021, dozens of Afghan pilots fled to Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Separately, three civilians were wounded when a bicycle bomb exploded in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the the capital's police chief.
The attack occurred in the Shai neighborhood and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
Recently, the Islamic State group has claimed similar attacks in the country. IS has waged a bloody campaign of attacks on Taliban targets and minority groups, particularly Shiites whom the extremist IS considers heretics.
U.S. to give $40M in aid to Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The United States announced Saturday $40 million in aid to buy fertilizer and other key agricultural inputs in time for the next cultivation season in crisis-hit Sri Lanka.
USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who is visiting Sri Lanka, made the announcement after she met farmer representatives in Ja-Ela. She said the money will be in addition to the $6 million announced earlier to assist low income farmers.
Sri Lanka is facing an economic crisis and acute shortages of essentials like food, fuel and medicine because of a lack of foreign currency to pay for the imports.
According to the World Food Program, Power said more than 6 million people -- nearly 30% of Sri Lanka's population -- are currently facing hunger and require humanitarian assistance.
Power said the money will help 1 million farmers in time for the next season starting soon.