A building which was under construction in Bangkok, Thailand, collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar.
The catastrophic earthquake hit neighboring country Myanmar, which created a ripple effect across the surrounding area, causing chaos in its wake.
While many buildings began to sway due to the tremors, one skyscraper-in-the-making came crashing down.
Footage posted online by onlookers shows the huge building straining above the rocky movements on the ground, and as it wasn’t a finished building, it soon collapsed.
In the clip, you can see people desperately trying to run away from the construction site in the Chatuchak district before the skyscraper became a pile of rubble and dust.
While Bangkok police told the Associated Press that officers were responding to the scene, they did not know just how many people were working on the construction site at the time of the incident.
Although there were no immediate reports of casualties, in an update from the BBC, it is believed that 43 construction workers are missing after the 30-storey building collapsed.
Seven workers managed to escape while 43 others remained trapped, the National Institute for Emergency Medicine said in a Facebook post.
Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP: “When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me.”
The earthquake struck Bangkok at approximately 1:30pm local time today (March 28), which caused alarms to blare and people to be evacuated onto the streets.
The earthquake caused the building to collapse (ViralPress)
According to local reports, the Ava Bridge in Myanmar also collapsed due to the earthquake, and another video posted to Twitter showed a Bangkok tower building’s rooftop pool splashing down the side of the building as it swayed.
An officer from the Myanmar Fire Services Department told Reuters there is an active search for casualties in the city.
They said: “We have started the search and going around Yangon to check for casualties and damage. So far, we have no information yet.”
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention explained that the Myanmar earthquake was felt in almost all regions of the country.
While it’s not confirmed just how much damage has been caused in Myanmar, as the country is battling a civil war, reports state that in the capital of Naypyidaw, some homes and religious shrines were affected.
As per the US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ Centre for Geosciences, the 7.7 magnitude earthquake had an epicentre at a depth of 6.2 miles below ground, and 12 minutes after the initial quake, a second one hit, which was registered at 6.4 on the Richter scale.
As for why the skyscraper fell, the BBC reports earthquakes are rare in Thailand, so their buildings are not constructed to withstand them.
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Chilling footage filmed on a dashcam caught the moment a devastating earthquake struck Taiwan.
At least seven people are reported to have died and more than 700 people have been injured in the earthquake, which struck in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County just before 8am local time today (3 April).
The US Geological Survey put the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.4, while Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency reported it as a 7.2, and Japan’s meteorological agency put it at 7.7.
The earthquake is the strongest the country has seen in 25 years, when a 7.6-magnitude quake in 1999 killed 2,400 people and injured 10,000.
The moment the ground began to rock back and forth was captured on the dashcam of a car, which was driving down a main road amid the morning traffic.
In the footage, vehicles in front of the camera could be seen shaking violently as the drivers hit the brakes and came to a standstill.
A bus on one side of the road rocked particularly dramatically, though thankfully the quake didn’t appear to impact the surrounding infrastructure.
Hualien County Fire Department/Anadolu via Getty Images
However, a number of buildings collapsed as a result of the earthquake, and a small tsunami hit some coastal areas of Japan, though warnings were later lifted.
The footage shows the quake continue for more than 30 seconds, while drivers sat in their cars and waited for it to end.
Hsien-hsuen Keng, a resident of the capital Taipei, said she’d grown ‘accustomed’ to earthquakes as they’re a ‘common occurence’ in the country, but this one was different.
“Today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake,” she said, according to Sky News. “I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before.”
Guguan Public Works Section/Anadolu via Getty Images
Keng said her fifth-floor apartment shook so hard that ‘apart from earthquake drills in elementary school, this was the first time [she] had experienced such a situation’.
A number of people have had to be rescued from collapsed buildings following the quake, while Taiwan’s Centre for Science and Technology (CST) said both people and vehicles were trapped in the Dachingshui tunnel, with rescue operations ongoing.
Mike Hung Hsu, a US resident who was staying in a hotel in Taiwan when the earthquake struck, said he’d ‘never felt this kind of earthquake’ either in LA or in Taiwan.
“I used to live in Taiwan, in my memory we never had an earthquake like this one,” he said, per The Guardian.
Japan’s meteorological agency is now urging people to be ‘vigilant’ for potential aftershocks, which could hit with a similar intensity for about a week after the first quake.
Video footage shows the moment a light aircraft crashed into the ground and exploded, sending a house up in flames.
The crash occurred in the Fairview residential neighbourhood, according to a report from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office.
In the footage smoke can be seen pouring from houses after the twin-engine aircraft fell from the sky.
The area was also hit by a power outage affecting thousands of people in the area as a result of the crash.
Scott Lewis, the Gresham Fire Chief, said that five units in the neighbourhood had been affected by the fire and that four families would be likely to be displaced.
While injuries and possible fatalities have not yet been confirmed, the sheriff’s office has said that initial reports suggested that three people are missing.
Of these two were reported as being on the plane, while the third is a resident who was reported missing after the crash.
Authorities have confirmed that there have been injuries but are still unsure if there have been any fatalities.
Firefighters attend to the blaze in a property affected by the crash (John Sampson / Facebook)
John Plock, a public information officer from Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, told a news conference on Saturday: “I know that there, there are injuries, I don’t know how many, I don’t know how severe, and I don’t know about fatalities.”
Plock confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will conduct an investigation into the crash.
The officer also added that the aircraft had struck a tower holding up power cables.
“At some point during the crash, it hit a power pole or tower, causing it to fall over,” said Plock.
This fire did not spread as it started in a swampy area.
Plumes of smoke rise into the sky after the crash (X / Wh_So_Serious)
A statement from the FAA said: “A twin-engine Cessna 421C crashed near Troutdale Airport in Oregon around 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, Aug. 31.
“We do not yet know how many people were on board. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.”
A representative from Portland General Electric (PGE) said that approximately 9,000 customers in the area were affected by the power outage.
They said in a statement: “PGE crews are onsite assessing damage to our lines and will communicate with customers when we know more about the extent of damage and restoration timeline.”
PGE confirmed that power has been restored to most residents in the affected area.
Chilling footage shows moment federal agents detain university student legally living in the US
Rumeysa Ozturk was on a visa studying at Tufts University when she was arrested
Footage caught in Boston shows the moment a university student who was living legally in the US was detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, had just left her home in Somerville to meet friends for iftar, when they would break their Ramadan fast, when she was stopped by authorities on Tuesday (March 25).
Ozturk is Muslim and a Turkish national, but was living legally in the US with a visa as she studied for her decorate at Tufts University.
The woman was placed in handcuffs as they told her they were ‘the police’ – though neighbors who later spoke to the Associated Press said the encounter looked more like a ‘kidnapping’
Michael Mathis, whose surveillance camera captured the arrest, said: “They approach her and start grabbing her with their faces covered. They’re covering their faces. They’re in unmarked vehicles.”
The footage shows the officers only showed their badges after Ozturk was already restrained with her hands behind her back.
Ozturk’s lawyer has claimed the student is being held without explanation, and has filed a petition in Boston federal court in the wake of her arrest.
Ozturk’s phone was taken from her when she was arrested (WCVB Channel 5 Boston)
“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her. No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of,” lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said.
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson accused Ozturk of engaging ‘in activities in support of Hamas’.
They said: “Rumesya Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student, granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa. DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans. A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”
The spokesperson did not elaborate on what the alleged activities were.
In March 2024, Ozturk contributed to an op-ed in the newspaper at Tufts in which she criticized the university’s response to the pro-Palestinian movement.
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said the school had learned that an international student’s visa had been terminated, adding: “The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event.”
Tufts University is aware of Ozturk’s arrest (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Kumar added: “We recognize how frightening and distressing this situation is for her, her loved ones, and the larger community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty who may be feeling vulnerable or unsettled by these events.”
Democratic US Rep. Ayanna Pressley has described the arrest as a ‘horrifying violation of Rumeysa’s constitutional rights to due process and free speech’.
“She must be immediately released,” Pressley said. “We won’t stand by while the Trump Administration continues to abduct students with legal status and attack our fundamental freedoms.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said on March 26 that Ozturk had been transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile following her arrest.
Newly shared footage of missing student Sudiksha Konanki and the ‘person of interest’ in her case has been released.
Konanki, 20, was on vacation in the Dominican Republic with her five friends when she went missing on March 6, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said.
The University of Pittsburgh student, who was spending Spring Break in the breathtaking town of Punta Cana, was staying at the adults-only RIU República Hotel.
She was last seen walking towards the beach ‘arm-in-arm’ with ‘person of interest’ Joshua Riibe, 22, at 4.15am, Dominican National Police report.
Sudiksha Konanki was on Spring Break when she vanished (Defensa Civil Dominicana)
It’s understood the pair stayed on the sand when the rest of their group returned to their rooms at around 5.55am, according to CCTV footage.
When Konanki failed to return, the group notified authorities that their friend was missing.
An investigation was immediately launched into her disappearance.
Although Riibe isn’t a suspect and police aren’t implying he has committed a crime, the Minnesota St Cloud State University senior, who is thought to have been the last person to see Konanki, has since had his passport confiscated.
He is also under ‘permanent’ police escort, writes The Mirror.
Following the news that Riibe has been ‘confined’ to the luxury hotel, newly emerged footage featuring both him and the Virginia native has been obtained and released by local news outlet Noticia SIN.
The 20-year-old is yet to be found by the Dominican Republic police (Law and Crime Network)
In one clip, the woman could be seen sitting with her friends in a resort bar.
The video also features a man, who appears to be Riibe, struggling outside while another man is seen comforting him, writes The New York Post.
The pair do not interact with each other in the footage and seem to be separated into their own friendship groups.
In another clip, Konanki, who was dressed in white, was joined by three other girls in the RIU Hotel & Resort lobby just hours before she vanished.
Chad Quinn, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has stressed that although Riibe is a ‘person of interest’ in the case, it is different to being a suspect.
“This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect. It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group traveling with the missing person.”
“A number of people have been interviewed by the Dominican National Police with the assistance of the FBI and this is continuing,” he continued.
