Mickeys

A skydiver has survived plunging 3,000ft to the ground after a parachute jump went disastrously wrong.

Lareece Butler Picture from Lareece Butler's Facebook page

Lareece Butler, 26, suffered only bruises, a broken leg and concussion when she slammed into the ground, entangled in her chute.

The parachute was attached to the plane by a static line and was supposed to open after she leapt from the aircraft.

But instead, Miss Butler became caught up in the lines, spiralling to Earth as her terrified boyfriend looked helplessly on.

Doctors said her survival was “nothing but divine intervention, nothing short of a miracle”.

She is in a stable but serious condition in hospital following the incident in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Joos Vos, the manager of the EP Skydiving Club, said: “She was trained in all facets she needed to enjoy and perform a safe static line jump.

“Lareece exited the aircraft at 3,000ft (about 1,000m) performing a static line jump in an unstable body position which resulted in an entanglement of the main parachute with her harness.”

Family members told South African media Miss Butler was pushed out of the aircraft after refusing to jump – a claim rejected by the club.

Mr Vos said Miss Butler, who was an inexperienced skydiver, did not release her emergency parachute as she had been trained to do.

An investigation has been launched.

story from SkyNews

The deadly dangers of rail crossings should be part of the theory test for learner drivers, rail bosses have said.

The proposal came as newly released figures showed the extent of recklessness on Britain’s level-crossings.

Last year, there were 3,242 incidents of people either dodging round the barriers or racing through the red lights.

Some 13 people were killed, and there were 140 near-misses – an average of three a week.

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said: “Motorists are too often playing Russian Roulette with a 200-ton train, and tragically some of them lose their lives.”

He added: “Lives will be saved if motorists learn how to use level crossings safely from the day they pass their test.”

In the last year, Network Rail has been stepping up its safety campaign, with graphic adverts on TV and radio.

Slogans like ‘Don’t Run The Risk’, and ‘Would It Kill You To Wait?’, have been accompanied by footage of hair-raising narrow escapes, showing how close some people come to being killed.

In one incident, a woman is seen pushing a pram across the path of an oncoming train.

In another, a motorist ignores the red flashing lights and drives over the crossing just seconds before the train comes through.

Even if the police catch the culprits, many are let off with nothing more than a verbal warning.

The Office Of Rail Regulation wants a much tougher regime, with drivers being given nine points on their licence if found guilty. But as yet, that is still just a proposal.

story from SkyNews

An American man is claiming R12.6m from the Monateng Safari Lodge outside Pretoria after he fell on a wet stoep.

US citizen Michael Francis Klesh walks with a stick to the North Gauteng Court in Pretoria.

Michael Francis Klesh, 55, a marketing specialist, says in his court documents that he fractured a vertebra and broke his left wrist. He was supposedly in shock for three to four months.

He is claiming R12 627 650 from Monateng after he fell outside his accommodation unit on the afternoon of January 19 2008.

Klesh alleges there wasn’t sufficient protection from rain water on the stoep and that there was no warning that the tiles might be slippery or dangerous when they’re wet.

Morris Baslian, Klesh’s legal representative, said Klesh and the defendant reached a verbal agreement when Klesh booked his accommodation by phone on January 10 2008.

When he arrived on January 14, he was given a piece of paper to sign “which is at best an offer and not a contract”.

The receptionist said the document was a “mere formality”.

Baslian said the defendant is relying on the indemnity clause in that document, which was not a condition of the original agreement (when Klesh made his booking).

The indemnity clause is also “hidden” in the document.

At the bottom of the document the signatory agrees to abide by Monateng’s rules and regulations, and gives consent for their vehicle to be searched.

Baslian said the indemnity clause should have been pointed out to the signatory.

Since the receptionist said the document is merely a formality, Klesh had no reason to suspect or believe that it would contain any conditions.

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He loved him and was a big fan of his music, but now this musician had robbed them of their little boy, said a grieving Joyce Ntoga, aunt of Prince Mahube, 17, outside the Kliptown mortuary in Soweto, moments after she and other family members identified Prince’s body.

Phumelelo Masemelo's mother, Mameetse, lies in bed with a photograph of her son next to her.

Prince, Phumelelo Masemelo, 16, Mlugisi Cwayi, 17, and Andile Mthombeni, 19, died on Monday after musician Molemo Maarohanye, better known as Jub Jub and his friend Themba Tshabalala, drove their two Mini Coopers into the group of children.

The four friends died on the scene while two other schoolchildren, Fumani Mushanana, 17, and Frank Mlabo, 18, were seriously injured and taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital.

One of the boys is currently in a coma.

Maarohanye – who had also been a contestant in Survivor SA: Santa Carolina – and Tshabalala were apparently drag racing when the accident happened.

Blood samples were taken to determine whether the men had used drugs.

Police were still waiting for the lab results, said police spokesperson Inspector Kay Makhubela.

According to metro police spokesperson inspector Edna Mamonyane, breathalyser tests showed that Tshabalala’s blood alcohol levels were twice over the legal limit and Maarohanye’s was under the legal limit.

Family, friends and bystanders reacted with shock and anger on Wednesday.

“He was such a clever boy and wanted to become an architect.”

“He always told his mother: ‘Give me only two years and I will change this little house of yours. Jub Jub robbed us of him and he loved Jub Jub so much,” said Ntoga.

Prince’s mother, Janette Mahube, was too shocked to talk to the media.

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Two children died and 85 people were hurt – eight of them seriously -when a goods truck ploughed into a busload of schoolchildren in Polokwane on Friday morning, said police and paramedics.

The truck driver told police the vehicle’s brakes failed after he exited the N1 highway outside Polokwane, said Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe.

He hooted to warn motorists at the intersection of Church street and the Tzaneen bypass.

The truck hit a panel van, then a minibus, then a bus, which overturned onto an Opel Corsa, said Ngoepe.

He said there were 70 children on the bus and more in the minibus. All were pupils at the nearby Dihlathaneng Primary School and had been on a school educational tour.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said five children were trapped in the minibus. The jaws-of-life were used to extricate them. Two of them died. Both were 10 years old.

All the patients were stabilised in a disaster treatment centre set up on the scene before being taken to various hospitals in the area, he said.

Ngoepe said no arrests had been made. People were investigating a culpable homicide.

taken from News24

A quadriplegic man has been seriously injured at an AC/DC concert after his friend hit the joystick of his motorised wheelchair, catapulting him into the mosh pit.

AC/DC were playing the second of two shows in Brisbane when the incident occurred

Witnesses said a metal pin used by the 31-year-old man to manoeuvre objects embedded in his eye as his chair crashed more than a metre to the floor of Brisbane’s Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre.

The venue is facing criticism for not placing a proper barrier in front of the wheelchair podium.

The platform had side and rear barriers, but the only barrier at the front of the podium was a strip of timber and plastic caution tape.

The incident happened as more than 45,000 fans enjoyed the legendary Aussie rockers’ second of two sold-out shows in the city.

The man’s friend accidentally struck the joystick with his hand, and the wheelchair shot forward and fell off the platform.

A witness said the man’s friend was “shattered, just devastated by what happened”.

Paramedics immediately attended to the injured man, a former truck driver who was paralysed in an accident.

A hospital official said the man is out of intensive care but remains in a serious, but stable condition.

Stadiums Queensland, the organisation which controls the venue, issued a statement saying it was aware of the incident and was investigating.

story from SkyNews

Scotland wing Thom Evans has had neck surgery after being injured in the RBS 6 Nations clash against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

The incident happened towards the end of the first half

The 24-year-old Glasgow player was carried off following a sickening first-half collision and taken to Cardiff’s University Hospital.

Scotland Rugby team doctor James Robson said Evans was “moving his arms and legs”.

Full-back Chris Paterson, who won his 100th cap, was also being treated after suffering damage to his right kidney.

Robson said: “Thom has sustained damage to his neck that has required surgery.

“He is moving his arms and legs, and we are hoping for a speedy recovery.

“Chris sustained damage to his right kidney during a collision in the first half.

“On behalf of the players, their families and the entire Scotland party, I would like to thank the hospital staff and the medical team at the Millennium Stadium for the quality of their care.”

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson added: “Our thoughts are with Thom and Chris. We wish both a speedy recovery.”

Evans, who played for Wasps before he joined Glasgow in 2006, has won 10 caps for Scotland, and is a former England Under-21 international.

His elder brother Max, who was among the substitutes today, scored Scotland’s second try as they built an 18-9 interval advantage.

Wales won the game 31-24.

taken from SkyNews

Rescue workers walk along the wreckage of two commuter trains in Buizingen, Belgium. At least twenty people were killed in the collision.

Two trains crashed head-on outside of Brussels on Monday, killing at least 20 people, officials and Belgian broadcaster VRT said.

The local trains collided near Halle, some 15 kilometres (9 miles) southwest of Brussels at around 08:30 (07:30 GMT).

VRT said 20 people were killed, but officials from the train line operator were unable to immediately confirm that figure.

Train services, including the high-speed line between Brussels and Paris, were blocked.

taken from News24

Newcastle – “The housemother tried to save us. I saw her entering a burning room to try to save everyone from the flames.”

amily and friends of Sara Allen mourn at the Hope in Christ Home near Newcastle after it was gutted by fire, killing her and 10 others.

This was the explanation from a traumatised 11-year-old after she was found outside the gutted remains of the Hope in Christ safe haven near eNgogo between Newcastle and Volksrust, which was gutted by fire.

At least 15 people died in the blaze.

It would appear at this stage that 13 of the victims were children, of which nine were orphans.

Six children, among them a seven-day-old baby and four adults, managed to escape from the burning house and were admitted to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, said Bhekani Mswane, the acting head of the department of community services at the Newcastle municipality.

According to KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for welfare, Meshack Radebe, who sent senior officials to eNgogo, four residents of the orphanage were still missing on Tuesday afternoon.

Premier Dr Zweli Mhize expressed his shock and horror at the victims’ horrific death.

Two of the victims were asphyxiated when they tried to reach the door of a storage room where they hoped to reach a window, said Mswane.

The other victims were burnt beyond recognition. Most were surprised by the flames while asleep in their beds.

Police said they were informed of the fire at the orphanage at 06:00 on Tuesday.

The orphanage’s nearest neighbour was an elderly man who lives in a shack.

“There was not much that anyone could do to put out the flames,” said Mswane.

The 58-year-old housemother ran Hope in Christ, which was accredited as a safe haven with the provincial welfare department, from her large home in the rural eNgogo area about 20km outside Newcastle.

According to Mswane, her next-of-kin still had to be informed of her death on Tuesday afternoon and her name could not yet be released.

After police arrived, Newcastle’s fire department and other emergency services finally managed to put out the flames. The remains of the victims were discovered in the rubble.

A minibus and bakkie belonging to the orphanage and which were parked next to the building,  were also gutted.

Radebe informed the provincial government’s executive council that the cause of the fire was presumably a gas explosion or electrical fault.

According to Mswane, firefighters could find no obvious cause for the fire and police requested a forensic team from Pretoria to investigate.

Mswane said the 11-year-old said that the “housemother couldn’t do anything.”

Apart from the housemother, another adult woman and her four children were among the victims, said Mandla Ngema, spokesperson for the department of welfare.

The other victims were orphans between the ages of two and 15.

taken from News24

Five people have died and at least 12 have been injured in a gas pipe explosion at a power station in the US state of Connecticut, the local mayor has said.

The blaze on Acton Lane in Harlesden

The blast at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown reportedly blew out a wall of the gas-fired station, sent flames and black smoke into the sky and shook houses several miles away.

“We know that 12 individuals have been injured. Five individuals are known to have lost their lives,” the mayor of Middletown told a news conference.

However, officials cautioned that because numerous contractors had staff working on the unfinished power plant, they were unable to account for everyone who had been at the site.

Some 11 casualties were transferred to the nearby Middlesex hospital, one with “extensive injuries”, spokesman Brian Albert said.

A search and rescue operation is being carried out for workers who may have been buried in rubble.

Emergency vehicles arrive at Kleen Energy plant after the explosion on Sunday

“There was a massive explosion, there are multiple injuries and possible fatalities,” said Middletown police officer George Yepes.

Earlier reports claimed that up to 34 people had died and 100 were wounded, Viktoria Sundqvist, managing editor of local newspaper The Register Citizen, told Sky News.

“As far as we know, crews have contained the fire and are trying to assess the scene,” she said.

Sky News US correspondent Keith Graves said the situation was confusing as the natural gas plant was still being built and an unknown number of construction workers had been there.

“Nobody seems to know exactly how many people were on the site and it’s posing difficulties for authorities trying to work out how many casualties there are,” he said.

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Cape Town – Two people died after the bakkie they were travelling in plunged eight metres after veering off the N1 in Kraaifontein, paramedics said.

ER24 spokesperson Tristan Wadeley said that the bakkie veered off the road, went over a concrete barrier and fell about eight metres onto railway tracks below.

The driver – still trapped in his seat – and his passenger – who had been ejected from the bakkie – were both dead by the time paramedics arrived on the scene.

taken from News24

Eleven people were killed and two seriously injured after a truck and taxi collided head on the N1 between Polokwane and Matoks, paramedics said on Friday.

ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said that the accident happened when the Toyota Condor Taxi was travelling to Matoks in the early hours of the morning and collided with a truck.

“Paramedics that arrived on the scene found debris and people scattered across the highway.”

All eleven occupants of the taxi died and a truck driver and his passenger were left seriously injured.

The two injured were taken to hospital for further treatment.

The cause of the accident is not known.

“The local authorities will be investigating the accident,” said Vermaak.

taken from News24

A five-year-old girl mauled along with two siblings by a pack of escaped dogs remains unable to breathe on her own, police have said.

A pit bull terrier, similar to the dogs that attacked the children

The girl, whose name has not been released, had been walking with her mother and three siblings along train tracks in California when they were attacked on Monday.

The five dogs had escaped from a nearby garden by digging under a fence, Fontana police Sergeant Jeff Decker said.

One dog, a mastiff, pulled the girl from her mother’s hand “and tossed the child around like a rag doll”, the officer said.

The girl suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and numerous bites.

She remained in a critical condition and was breathing with the help of a ventilator, Sgt Decker said.

Her brother, aged about seven, also needed 237 staples to close a leg wound, he said.

The girl’s sister, thought to be eight, was treated for leg and arm injuries.

Police found the dogs near their home shortly after the attack.

One was shot when it attacked an officer and the other four – the mastiff and what appeared to be pit bull mixes – were taken to an animal shelter, Sgt Decker said.

They have been quarantined until rabies tests are completed and a decision on whether they should be destroyed is made.

The owners could be accused of failing to properly confine their pets, but they were not immediately charged.

“My understanding is they are very sorry about what happened,” Sgt Decker said.

Fontana is in San Bernardino County, about 55 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

taken from SkyNews

An accident between two minibus taxis in Soweto, Johannesburg left 40 people injured on Friday evening, Gauteng paramedics said.

“The two fully laden taxis collided head on and then bust into flames, passages clambered out of the vehicle, some with the aid of fellow commuters and bystanders,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.

“The interior of both taxis were totally gutted by the flames.”

Forty people from both of the taxis have been injured, 6 of them seriously in the Doxenville road accident. One of the injured suffered burns on 50% of his body.

Police were working to re-direct traffic but their work was hindered by rain.

taken from News24

There were 1 582 road accident deaths over the festive season, a decrease from 1 655 in 2008, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said on Tuesday.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest death toll with 298 and the Northern Cape the lowest with 66, Ndebele said at the release of the statistics in Pretoria.

There had been 1 247 vehicle crashes.

“It’s no particular age group who drives badly on the roads, it’s individuals.”

Ndebele said over last year’s Confederations Cup no “major” road accidents had been reported.

“However it is important to contrast that behaviour [of driving] during soccer events to [that of the festive season]. Our behaviour on the road is not expressive of a free democratic society.”

Drivers tended to believe they were the only ones on the road and ignored fellow motorists and pedestrians.

“We must place more value on human life and exercise respect and democracy on our roads as well.”

Over the last three years there had been a “slight decrease” in the number of deaths, but it was so minimal so it could not be attributed to behavioural change.

Ndebele said during the festive season more than 1 500 roadblocks were conducted and more than 1.2 million vehicles and drivers checked.

As a result more than 6 000 vehicles, including 1 536 buses and 1 669 minibus taxis were pulled off the roads.

More than 5 900 arrests were made – including drunk drivers (3 917), reckless or negligent drivers (314), speedsters (415), drivers with overloaded vehicles (250), public transport offenders (246), drivers without driving licences and false documents (251) and other offences (589).

Ndebele said 218 pedestrians were arrested for jaywalking.

More than 447 000 speed camera offences were recorded, with the highest speed clocked was 232km/h in KwaZulu-Natal. The motorcyclist responsible was arrested and fined R18 000.

More than 330 000 fines were issued directly to motorists for various other offences.

“We want to move with speed and put in place measures that have proven to be effective in reducing the impact of road traffic crashes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

He said in terms of the newly-promulgated National Land Transportation Act, all national bus services such as Greyhound and Roadlink would be licensed by the national transport regulator.

“We have legislation in place which provides for cases where provincial or municipal law enforcement is ineffective, national intervention is possible.

“In this regard, I have taken a decision to implement that relevant provision of the law in cases which deem necessary,” said Ndebele.

The current traffic law enforcement system was also not effective, the minister said.

“If we want to stop counting bodies every year we have to change it.”

He said the system of issuing traffic fines with an option of going to court overstretched already burdened courts.

taken from News24