Violence and atrocities : #texas

Showing posts with label #texas. Show all posts

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Midair collision between two WWII-era planes near Dallas kills at least two

The WW-II vintage planes were a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a P-63 Kingcobra fighter aircraft. Both were participating in a commemorative air show near Dallas. They involved in a mid-air collision during an air show in Texas. At least two lost their lives in the tragedy. Video footage shows the aircraft striking each other at a low altitude as one of the aircraft breaks in half and a fireball hit the ground. There was no confirmation on the occupants of the two aircraft. The Allied Pilots Association represents American Airlines pilots. It identified two of the victims as those who died in the collision. A media report suggests as many as six people may have lost their lives in the collision. A group of between 4,000 and 6,000 had gathered to watch the Wings Over Dallas Airshow. One of the aircraft involved in the midair collision were a B-17 bomber that played a major role in winning the air war against Germany in WW2. The second plane was a P-63 Kingcobra fighter aircraft used in the same war, but in combat only by the Soviet Air Force. Dallas air show crash: Two World War Two planes collide in mid-air. Eric Johnson, Mayor of Dallas, described it as a "terrible tragedy."

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash at the three-day event. This event is the US's premiere WW2 air show and the occasion was Veterans Day. The authorities could not confirm the number of casualties but said there is no report of injuries to anybody on the ground. The B-17 usually has a crew of about four to five people, while the P-63 has a single pilot.

Monday, October 24, 2022

A school in Missouri was the scene of another incident of gun violence with three dead, including the shooter

Another tragic incident of gun violence happened at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in the Midwestern U.S. city of St. Louis, Missouri. The school specializes in the visual and performing arts and has a student body of around 380. On Monday, a gunman opened fire inside the premises of the high school, killed two people and wounded six others. The police fatally shot the suspect. St. Louis Police identified the victims as a teacher and a teenage girl. Other victims suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds. The police took prompt action to rush to the scene of shooting and exchanged fire with the shooter. That helped to end the violence on priority. Many of the students barricaded themselves in their classrooms for safety. It seems the principal of the school announced a code word over the loudspeaker. That word indicated the presence of a school shooter in the building. 3 Dead, Including Suspected Gunman, at High School Shooting in Missouri.

The identity of the suspected shooter is not yet established. However, the police described him as a man in his early 20s. His motive is also not known. This was the latest such shooting to happen at a U.S. school. Only last May, a gunman killed 19 children and 2 adults in Uvalde, Texas. At that time, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said lawmakers must take measures to stop gun violence. In her words - “Every day that the Senate fails to send an assault-weapons ban to the president’s desk or waits to take any other common-sense action is a day too late for families and communities impacted by gun violence." Such violence leads to not only the death of innocents but to traumatic experiences for those who witness the sight of blood and bodies writhing in pain all around them.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Massacre of children in Thailand in a knife and gun rampage, condolences pour in

It was a sad day for Thailand when a former police sergeant, discharged over drug allegations, shot and knifed children and staff in a daycare center. The assailant targeted the children, aged between two and five. He slashed them to death, and shot the adults. It happens to be one of the world's worst death tolls of children massacred by a single killer. The killer was facing trial on a drugs charge. The tragedy happened in Uthai Sawan, a town about 310 miles northeast of Bangkok, the capital of the largely Buddhist country. After committing the massacre, he left the daycare centre, went home and shot dead his wife and son before taking his own life. Families traumatised by Thailand attack cling to slain children's toys. The national police chief Damrongsak Kittipraphat said - "The reasons are probably unemployment, no money, and family issues," he said, adding that the attacker and his wife had had "longstanding problems."

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha met the families of the victims. He lay flowers and observed a moment of silence in front of the centre. King Maha also Vajiralongkorn visited the hospital. The Vatican said Pope Francis was deeply saddened by the "horrific attack." He condemned it as an "act of unspeakable violence against innocent children." Incidentally, there have been earlier instances of death in schools in other parts of the world. In Norway in 2011, Anders Breivik killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp. Later, in 2012, it was the killing of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. In 1996, the toll as of 16 at Dunblane in Scotland and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year. As far as Thailand goes, it has strict gun laws but gun ownership is high when compared with some Southeast Asian countries. Moreover, illegal weapons are common, with many brought in from strife-torn neighbours.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Fire in a mosque in Texas - the Islamic Center of Victoria badly damaged

Islamic Center of Victoria, a mosque in Texas, has been badly damaged by a fire just hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The fire was noticed by a clerk at a convenience store. He spotted smoke and flames billowing from the mosque at around 2am on Saturday.
The fire department spent more than four hours trying to battle the blaze. Photographs showed the dome toppled, and as the center's president has said: 'It looks completely destroyed.'
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 29 January 2017.

The imam of the mosque was awake in the early morning hours and, on checking the mosque's online surveillance, found that the alarm was inactive and the doors were unlocked. Just last week, someone had gained entry into the mosque and stole a number of electronic items, including laptops. In addition to the break-in, the mosque was subject to vandalism in July 2013 when a man painted 'H8' or 'hate' outside the building.
The mosque had been built in 2000, and has enjoyed support from the city 115 miles southwest of Houston.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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ISIS destroys portions of Roman amphitheatre in the ancient city of Palmyra

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Bomb blast in a vegetable market in Parachinar kills at least 20