September 12, 2023

The police claimed to have recovered five siblings of 10-year-old Sara Sharif who was found dead in her home in Woking, Surrey, last month. Urfan Sharif and his wife, Beinash Batool — Sara’s stepmother — had left for Pakistan along with one other adult and five children on Aug 9. They left UK a day before Sara’s body was discovered by the police. The police in Pakistan were looking for the couple who were missing since then. The Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Syed Khurram Ali said that a raid was conducted at the home of Muhammad Sharif — Urfan’s father. The police had prior information that the couple were present in the house. Five children were found in various rooms of the house in Jhelum. The children, aged between one and 13, were locked in the rooms, police said. All the children were later shifted to the District Police Officer’s (DPO) office. According to police, Sharif had earlier claimed that he knew nothing about the whereabouts of his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. The grandfather was told to take the children back with him but he didn’t appear before the police. The children would be handed over to the Child Protection Welfare Bureau (CPWB), the police said. Mr Sharif told the foreign media that he had kept the children in his house because of the fear of police. He claimed that the police have taken the children forcefully without informing the family. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/12-Sep-2023/police-claim-to-recover-sara-s-five-siblings-from-jhelum

ABUJA – At least 26 people, mostly women and children died when a boat carrying more than 100 farmers capsized early Sunday in north-central Nigeria, the region’s second boat tragedy in three months, authorities said. A spokesperson for the Niger state government said rescue teams were searching for survivors from the latest boat accident which happened in the state’s Mokwa district, adding that over 30 people have been rescued so far. “The victims … were going for farming activities when the incident occurred between 7:30 and 8 Sunday morning,” spokesperson for the Niger state governor, Bologi Ibrahim, said in a statement. “Twenty-six persons mostly women and children have been confirmed dead and over 30 people rescued,” the statement added. It’s unclear what caused the boat to overturn or whether passengers had any safety gear while onboard. The government statement encouraged the use of life jackets and urged locals to “desist from overcrowding boats.” Boat accidents are common in northern Nigeria. In mid-June, more than 100 people were confirmed dead after a boat carrying hundreds of wedding guests capsized in the river Niger, local police told CNN at the time. At least 15 people had died a month before in another boat mishap in northwestern Sokoto State. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/12-Sep-2023/children-among-26-people-dead-in-nigeria-boating-accident

BENGHAZI-At least 150 people were killed in freak floods in eastern Libya as a result of storm Daniel which has swept the Mediterranean, an official said on Monday. Images filmed by residents of the disaster area showed massive mudslides, collapsed buildings, and entire neighbourhoods submerged under water. “At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, the Jabal al-Akhdar region, and the suburbs of Al-Marj,” Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya, told AFP. “This is besides the massive material damage that struck public and private properties,” he added. He said the prime minister of the east-based government, Oussama Hamad, and the head of a rescue committee as well as other ministers had travelled to Derna to evaluate the extent of the damage. Hamad’s government — which rivals a UN-brokered, internationally recognised transitional administration in Tripoli — on Monday declared Derna a “disaster area”. Experts have described storm Daniel — which also struck parts of Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria in recent days, killing at least 27 people. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/12-Sep-2023/150-killed-in-libya-floods-after-rainstorm