Ukraine launches drone attack on Moscow: Officials
(MOSCOW) — In what is one of the largest drone attacks since the Russia-Ukraine war began, Moscow officials said they shot down at least 12 drones on Wendesday.
The Air Defense Forces of the Ministry of Defense shot down 10 UAVs Tuesday night and two more Wednesday morning, local time, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
It was not clear how many drones and missiles were launched in total.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — At least 18 people were killed when a plane crashed during takeoff in Nepal on Wednesday, aviation officials said.
Nineteen people were on board when the Saurya Airlines flight went down at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, according to a notice from the Search and Rescue Coordination Center of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which was posted online by the airport.
The domestic flight to Pokhara took off at 11:11 a.m., then “turned right and crashed on the east side of the runway,” aviation officials said.
“It is reported that the fire was brought under control and the rescue work was started immediately and the dead bodies of 18 people were collected and 1 injured person was rescued and taken to the hospital,” the statement said.
The flight’s pilot survived, the aviation authority said, identifying him as Captain Manish Rana Shakya. He was transported to a local hospital with critical injuries, officials said.
Officials released the flight’s manifest, which included 16 Nepali passengers and one Yemeni passenger. Officials said all were killed, along with the co-pilot, whose nationality was not listed.
A video streamed live on Facebook from the airport appeared to show people waiting at their departure gate watching in horror as plumes of dark smoke rise near the airport perimeter.
The plane, which aviation officials identified as a CRJ-200, was registered in Nepal as 9N-AME.
The European Commission includes all of Nepal’s air carriers, including Saurya, on its “Air Safety List,” banning them from operating within the European Union because of safety concerns.
A Yeti Airlines passenger plane crashed in Nepal in January 2023, killing all 72 people onboard, including two Americans, officials said.
That flight, which had also been traveling from Kathmandu to Pokhara, was the country’s deadliest plane crash since 1992, an official at the Rescue Coordination Center in Nepal told ABC News at the time.
(ROME) — A 183-foot sailboat carrying 22 people sank early on Monday off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily following stormy weather in the area, killing at least one passenger, according to Italian officials.
Members of the coast guard have rescued 15 passengers, but six are still missing, according to the coast guard and a local port authority. At least one American is believed to be among those still missing, with British and Canadian citizens also unaccounted for, the coast guard said in a statement. Of those recovered, eight have been transported to local hospitals, officials said.
The U.K.-flagged vessel — named the Bayesian — sank off Porticello, near the coastal city of Palermo, the statement said. The ship is currently located at a depth of around 164 feet, with firefighter divers now attempting to reach it, the statement said.
One body was recovered and six people were missing, an authority from the Palermo Port Authorities told ABC News. Divers reached the hull of the ship early on Monday and were still searching the water, the official said.
The port official was unable to confirm whether any Americans were among the missing, as the coast guard’s statement had said, but added that authorities were still working to verify the nationalities of those who had been on board. The official said the initial investigation into the passenger list appeared to show it was incomplete.
Four coast guard vessels, one helicopter and a team of fire brigade divers are involved in the search, which is being coordinated by the Palermo Coast Guard, the statement said.
Fabio La Bianca, who owns the local BAIA Santa Nicolicchia restaurant, told ABC News that he noticed the moored vessel had disappeared when he went to check on storm damage to his business.
“After half an hour with the other guys we realized that it was no longer there and immediately the rescuers were going around to look for the missing, they had also launched two distress rockets in the air before,” La Bianca said.
Local Mayor Giuseppe D’Agostino wrote on Facebook that the “tragedy that struck our community is unparalleled in history.”
“The administration has activated all channels with the police and is taking care of the people recovered alive so far,” D’Agostino said, adding that local authorities are gathering clothes and finding accommodation for the survivors.
“The search continues at sea and all we can do is pray and hope to find someone alive.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Munich police shot a “suspicious person” in the Karolinenplatz area of the southern German city on Thursday morning, authorities said, adding they had launched a “major operation.”
“Police officers spotted a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm,” Munich’s police force said in a statement on social media. “The emergency services used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured.”
The area was cordoned off, with a helicopter in the air above the scene, the force said.
“There are currently no indications of any other suspects,” police said, adding that there were no other reported injuries.
The shooting occurred next to the city’s Nazi Documentation Center, police said.
“Many emergency services are on their way to the site of operations,” the force noted. “We ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.”
The Nazi Documentation Center is one of the city’s most popular museums, located midway between the famous Karolinenplatz and Königsplatz squares just northwest of the medieval old town. It is less than 500 feet from the Israeli Consulate.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that there had been a “shooting incident” close to the consulate, noting that the facility was closed on Thursday coinciding with the anniversary of the deadly terror attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
“No one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident,” the ministry’s spokesperson said. “The shooter was neutralized by the German security forces and the incident is under their care.”