Russian missile strike kills 41 people and wounds 180 in Ukraine's Poltava city
Kyiv, Sep 3: Two Russian ballistic missiles struck an educational facility and nearby hospital in a central-eastern region of Ukraine, killing at least 41 people and wounding 180 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
The strike occurred in the city of Poltava, the capital of the region of the same name, officials said. Poltava is located about 110 kilometres (70 miles) from the border with Russia and about 350 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Kyiv.
The strike appeared to be one of the deadliest carried out by Russian forces since the war began more than 900 days ago on February 24, 2022.
“One of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
“All necessary services are involved in the rescue operation,” he added. He said he had ordered “a full and prompt investigation” into what happened. Zelenskyy didn't provide any further details.
The missiles hit shortly after the air raid alert sounded, when many people were on their way to a bomb shelter, Ukraine's Defence Ministry said, describing the strike as “barbaric.”
Rescue crews and medics saved 25 people, 11 of them dug out from the rubble, a Defence Ministry statement said.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
