Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes Mexico-Guatemala border
Tapachula, May 12: A strong earthquake shook the border of Mexico and Guatemala early Sunday, driving frightened residents into the streets.
The temblor struck just before 6 am near the Mexican border town of Suchiate, where a river by the same name divides the two countries. The epicentre was just off the Pacific coast, 10 miles (16 kilometres) west-southwest of Brisas Barra de Suchiate where the river empties into the sea.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, according to the US Geological Survey and a depth of 47 miles (75 kilometres).
In Mexico, there were no immediate reports of damage, but more mountainous, remote parts of the border are prone to landslides.
Across the border, Guatemala's national disaster prevention agency shared photos of small landslides onto highways in the Quetzaltenango region and large cracks in walls in a hospital in San Marcos on its social media accounts, but there were no reports of deaths.
In Tapachula, near the border, civil defence brigades were moving through the city looking for signs of damage.
Didier Solares, an official with Suchiate's Civil Defence agency, said so far they had not found damage.
“Luckily, everything is good,” Solares said. “We are talking with companies, to the (rural areas) via radio and there's nothing, there's no damage thank God,” he said.
The early morning quake still gave people a fright.
In the mountainous and picturesque colonial city of San Cristobal, the shaking was strong.
“Here we got up because we have the seismic alert service,” said resident Joaquin Morales. “The alert woke me up because it comes 30 seconds before (the quake).”
In Tuxtla Chico, a town near Tapachula, María Guzmán, a teacher said: “It was horrible, it felt strong. It was a real scare.”
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4 Indian students among several injured in stabbing attack in Russia
Moscow (PTI): At least six people, including four Indians students, were injured on Saturday in a stabbing attack at a university in Russia's Bashkortostan Republic, media reports and the Indian mission here said.
According to preliminary reports, a teenager armed with a knife entered a dormitory of the State Medical University in Ufa in the Bashkortostan Republic. He attacked the students living there and stabbed several of them, the Interior Ministry said.
“The attacker resisted arrest, during which two police officers were stabbed. Furthermore, the suspect also inflicted bodily harm on himself,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Maj General Irina Volk was quoted as saying by RTVI.com webportal.
Calling it an "unfortunate incident", the Indian Embassy here said, "Several persons including four Indian students have been injured."
The Embassy said it is in touch with the authorities, and officials from the Consulate in Kazan are en route to Ufa to provide assistance to the injured students.
In a release, the Russian Federal Health Ministry said that four people injured in the attack are receiving medical care. One is in serious condition, while three others are in moderate condition, it added.
The attacker, identified as a 15-year-old youth, has also been admitted to a local children's hospital in serious condition, the Baza telegram channel said.
Authorities in Ufa, the capital of the Bashkortostan Republic about 1,200 km east of Moscow, have launched a high-level probe into the incident.
The Baza channel claimed that the attacker belonged to a banned neo-Nazi outfit.
"He belonged to the banned NS/WP neoNazi organisation. During the frenzy of attack, he was shouting nationalist slogans about (the) Holocaust,” it said and shared the photo of a Swastika drawn on a wall with the blood of the victims.
According to eyewitnesses, “there was blood all around,” Ren TV said, showing footage of wounded being taken to hospital by ambulance vans.
