LONDON: Officials say 13 monkeys have died in a fire at a safari park in England, marking the second major fire at an animal attraction in the last two weeks.
The fire started early Tuesday morning in the Patas monkey house at Woburn Safari Park, located 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of London. The enclosure is part of the African Forest drive-through section of the popular attraction.
The park said in a statement that nothing could be done to prevent the death of the 13 Patas monkeys. “Staff and fire crews attended the scene; however, devastatingly for everyone at the park, none of the 13 animals could be saved,” the park said.
Firefighters found the Patas monkey house ablaze with the roof caved in when they arrived. Officials said 90 percent of the building was damaged.
It took just over two hours to control the fire.
Early indications are that other animals were not injured. The safari park houses a variety of animals including elephants, lions and zebras.
The fire follows a Dec. 23 blaze at London Zoo that killed an aardvark and four meerkats. The cause of that fire, which badly damaged a cafe, has not been established.
The London zoo Tuesday postponed its annual animal census, which is required by law in order for the zoo to maintain its operating license, because of the fire.
Officials say the cause of the Woburn Safari Park fire is being investigated. The park will remain open except for the African jungle enclosure section.
13 monkeys die in fire at UK safari park attraction
13 monkeys die in fire at UK safari park attraction
Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to home confinement
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October
- Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service
LOS ANGELES: A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer. Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.
He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.
The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks — Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen;” a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.
Sangha admitted to supplying the ketamine dose that killed Perry, and Iwamasa acknowledged injecting Perry with it. It was Iwamasa who later found Perry, aged 54, face down and lifeless, in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said. Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
