BUCHAREST, Romania: A powerful explosion tore through two stories of an apartment building in Romania’s capital on Friday, killing three people and injuring at least 13 others, authorities said.
The explosion affected the fifth and sixth floors of the eight-story building, according to the capital’s Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. More than a dozen emergency vehicles, including 11 fire engines and four mobile intensive care units, were dispatched to the scene of the blast on Calea Rahovei in Bucharest’s Sector 5.
The cause of the fatal blast was not immediately clear, but authorities said the gas supply had been shut off in the area as a safety precaution.
Romania’s Ministry of Health said victims had been reported with polytrauma and burns.
The ministry later said one person was found dead under a concrete slab on the building’s sixth floor. At least 13 people were transported to hospitals in the capital.
All residents were evacuated from the building and rescuers carried out search operations to identify anyone trapped. Students and teachers at a nearby school were also evacuated as a precaution, Bucharest’s School Inspectorate said.
Video footage shared by emergency authorities showed the facades of corner apartments on two stories badly mangled by the blast, which appeared to have also blown out windows in neighboring apartments. Rubble was strewn across the street below.
“Following the explosion, another nearby apartment block was affected, where detached construction elements from the building’s facade were observed,” emergency authorities said in a statement.
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Powerful blast at apartment building in Romania’s capital kills 3 and injures at least 13
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Powerful blast at apartment building in Romania’s capital kills 3 and injures at least 13
- Romania’s Ministry of Health said victims had been reported with polytrauma and burns
China FM wants to work with Canadian counterpart to ‘eliminate interference’
- Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States
MUNICH: China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand their two countries should work to “eliminate interference,” as they met on the sidelines of a security conference on Saturday.
Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets and decrease trade reliance on the United States.
Under a preliminary trade deal announced, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China.
But the United States — Canada’s traditional ally and largest trading partner — has threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to “dump goods.”
Beijing’s top diplomat Wang told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on Saturday that their countries should jointly counter “interference,” without naming the United States.
“China is willing to work with Canada to eliminate interference, restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” Wang told Anand, according to a readout from Beijing’s foreign ministry.
China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was detained on drug charges in 2014, a Canadian official told AFP in February.
China-Canada ties had nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.
But on Saturday, Wang hailed Carney’s visit to China as “fruitful” and said the two countries should build a healthy and stable “new type of strategic partnership.”
Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets and decrease trade reliance on the United States.
Under a preliminary trade deal announced, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China.
But the United States — Canada’s traditional ally and largest trading partner — has threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to “dump goods.”
Beijing’s top diplomat Wang told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on Saturday that their countries should jointly counter “interference,” without naming the United States.
“China is willing to work with Canada to eliminate interference, restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” Wang told Anand, according to a readout from Beijing’s foreign ministry.
China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was detained on drug charges in 2014, a Canadian official told AFP in February.
China-Canada ties had nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.
But on Saturday, Wang hailed Carney’s visit to China as “fruitful” and said the two countries should build a healthy and stable “new type of strategic partnership.”
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