In brief: 474 injured in fire during concert at Taiwan water park
Taipei, Taiwan – A fire on a music stage spread into a crowd of spectators at a party Saturday night at a Taiwan water park, injuring nearly 500 people, including 141 in serious condition, authorities said.
The fire was sparked by an accidental explosion of an unknown powder near the stage in front of about 1,000 people, said Wang Wei-sheng, a liaison with the New Taipei City fire department command center.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency today reported 474 have been injured, including 141 in serious condition.
The fire erupted at the Formosa Water Park in New Taipei City near the island’s capital and was quickly brought under control.
Video showed rescue workers and bystanders carrying burned and injured people on their backs, in inflatable boats and on stretchers to get medical treatment.
CNA reported witnesses as saying the fire spread quickly after the colored powder was blown into the air.
It wasn’t clear if the colored powder was part of a performance. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Quasi Modo, with spinal defect, earns World’s Ugliest Dog title
Petaluma, Calif. – A 10-year-old mutt named Quasi Modo, whose spinal birth defects left her a bit hunchbacked, is the winner of this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest.
The pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix and her owner took the $1,500 prize Friday night, besting 25 other dogs competing in the contest that applauds imperfection, organizers said.
Quasi Modo was abandoned at an animal shelter before being adopted by a veterinarian in Loxahatchee, Florida, according to her biography posted on the contest’s website.
Two Chinese crested and Chihuahua mixes named Sweepee Rambo and Frodo took the second- and third-place prizes, respectively.
The contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, is in its 27th year.
The dogs are scored by a three-judge panel in several categories, including special or unusual attributes, personality and natural ugliness.
Tunisia calls for new security measures after mass murders
Sousse, Tunisia – Tunisia’s prime minister announced on Saturday a string of new security measures including closing renegade mosques and calling up army reservists as thousands of tourists fled the North African country in wake of its worst terrorist attack ever.
Tourists crowded into the airport at Hammamet near the coastal city of Sousse where a young man dressed in shorts on Friday pulled an assault rifle out of his beach umbrella and killed 38 people, mostly tourists – at least 15 of them British.
In the early hours of the morning Saturday, a visibly exhausted Prime Minister Habib Essid called for everyone to work against terrorism and promised financial rewards for information leading to arrests.
The attack came the same day that a suicide bomber killed 27 people in a Shiite mosque in Kuwait and a man in France ran his truck into a warehouse and hung his employer’s severed head on the gate.