Dresden, May 21 (IANS/DPA) A lightning strike in the eastern German city of Dresden injured ten people, four of whom sustained severe injuries.

According to a fire service spokesman, two men, aged 27 and 30, were successfully resuscitated after experiencing cardiac arrest.

Amid severe weather conditions and a passing thunderstorm in Dresden, lightning struck the group on the banks of the Elbe river shortly after 5 p.m.

Three women and seven men aged between 26 and 41 were injured. Four of them suffered life-threatening injuries.

According to reports, all patients received initial emergency medical treatment and were transferred to neighbouring hospitals.

The police cordoned off the area and sent a helicopter to find any other injured people.

The emergency services called on people who had been in the area to seek immediate medical attention if they showed symptoms.

The fire brigade made a plea on Monday evening to anyone else who may have been injured, as they could not rule out that other people may have been affected and subsequently fled.

“If you are experiencing symptoms such as a racing heart, irregular heartbeat, numbness or tingling in your extremities, please see a doctor immediately!”

The German Weather Service in Leipzig had warned of severe thunderstorm activity in parts of Saxony.

For Dresden, they issued a thunderstorm risk warning of level two out of four. Police are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.

–IANS/DPA

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Tehran, May 21 (IANS) Iranian Vice-President for Executive Affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, has said that the body of President Ebrahim Raisi would be buried on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

He made the remarks on Monday while elaborating on the planned measures for the holding of the mourning ceremonies of Raisi and members of his accompanying team, who all died in a helicopter crash in the East Azerbaijan province on Sunday, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

He noted that given the frequent requests by people in different provinces to attend the mourning ceremonies, the Iranian Education Ministry had cancelled all students’ exams from Tuesday to Friday, adding nationwide closure had been announced for Wednesday to better hold the mourning ceremonies, Xinhua news agency reported.

The funeral ceremonies would be held for Raisi in Tabriz, Qom, the capital Tehran, Birjand, and Mashhad from Tuesday to Thursday, and the President’s body would be buried in the holy shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad on Thursday night.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday declared five days of national mourning over the incident, according to a statement published on his website.

On Monday afternoon, a large number of people gathered in Tehran, mourning the tragic deaths of Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rahmati, and Iran’s supreme leader’s representative to East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.

The crash occurred on Sunday in Varzaqan County as Raisi, along with his accompanying team on board three helicopters, was on his way from Khoda Afarin County, where he had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier on Monday, to the provincial capital Tabriz.

The members onboard Raisi’s helicopter lost their lives.

–IANS

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United Nations, May 21 (IANS) Members of the UN Security Council have observed a minute of silence to mourn the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other passengers in the helicopter crash late last week.

At the beginning of a Security Council meeting on Monday morning, Mozambique’s UN ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, who chaired the meeting, asked all those present in the Security Council chamber to stand and observe a minute of silence for the tragic loss of life and to present condolences and sympathy to their families and the people of Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the minute of silence was requested by Russia, China, and Algeria.

–IANS

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Moscow, May 21 (IANS/DPA) Rocket attacks on a town in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine have caused a fuel depot to catch fire, according to the occupation authorities.

“As a result of a missile strike with cluster munitions on Sverdlovsk, a fuel and lubricants storage facility was damaged,” wrote Leonid Pasechnik, the head of pro-Russian separatists forces in the Luhansk region, on Monday on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine renamed the small town of Sverdlovsk, which has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014, and Dovzhansk in 2016.

According to Ukrainian media, a Russian military base was also hit in the missile attack.

Videos on social networks show heavy clouds of smoke, but also a burning multi-storey barracks-style building.

The Russian authorities on the ground have not officially released any information on casualties or injuries.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian military invasion for more than two years.

Kiev has recently fired missiles at oil processing plants and fuel depots in addition to purely military targets to hamper the Russian military’s logistics.

–IANS/DPA

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United Nations, May 21 (IANS) UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, has called for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

“I urge the parties to redouble all efforts and return to the negotiating table immediately and in good faith,” Wennesland told the UN Security Council on Monday.

“If talks do not resume, I fear for the worst for the beleaguered and terrified civilians in Rafah, for the hostages held in unimaginable conditions for more than 225 days, and for an overstretched humanitarian operation that remains on the brink inside the (Gaza) Strip,” he said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Just two weeks ago negotiations were taking place in Cairo with the support of Egypt, Qatar, and the US. However, those talks ended on May 9 without agreement, he noted.

“Regrettably we face yet another precipice of further catastrophe in Gaza amid stalled talks between the parties to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza and a cease-fire to provide much-needed relief to the civilian population,” he said.

Wennesland reiterated the United Nations’ full support to the mediators and its willingness to support the implementation of a deal between Israel and Hamas.

Since the first week of May, the security situation in Rafah has been rapidly worsening as the Israeli military operations and maneuvers in and around Rafah intensified, he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, alongside numerous international partners and concerned neighbours, has voiced serious objection to a military operation in Rafah amid clear indications of its devastating consequences for the civilian population, he added.

“Saving lives and addressing the critical needs in Rafah and Gaza more broadly must remain our immediate priority. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian cease-fire,” Wennesland said.

“At the same time, we must not lose sight of the risks that these immediate threats pose to prospects for a resolution to this conflict and for longer-term peace and stability in the region.”

He voiced concern that the failure to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and a large-scale military operation in Rafah exacerbates the risk of escalating regional tensions. He reiterated that there can be no long-term solution in Gaza that is not fundamentally political.

The devastation and misery of the past seven months have reinforced a simple truth.

Palestinians and Israelis can no longer wait to establish a viable political horizon to end the conflict and establish a two-state solution, he said.

“Day after day we are witnessing the deadly consequences of inaction. Now is the time to lay the foundations for a better future for Palestinians, Israelis, and the broader region.”

–IANS

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