Pilot threatening to crash stolen plane into a Walmart store in city lands safely: Mississippi Gov
Washington, Sep 3: A pilot, who was circling a stolen airplane for hours over Tupelo, a city in the state of Mississippi in the US, and threatened to intentionally crash it into a Walmart store has been taken into custody after he landed the aircraft safely, Governor Tate Reeves said on Saturday.
Mississippi Governor Reeves announced on Twitter that the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured.
The plane over North MS is down. Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured. Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism, Reeves said in a tweet.
The pilot was taken into police custody, authorities said.
The nine-seater airplane started circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, about 5 am local time, when the pilot made contact with 911, issuing the threat, according to CNN.
It was airborne for more than five hours, which police described as a dangerous situation.
About 8:30 am local time, the plane was north of Tupelo, police said.
A government source said the aircraft was later flying over the Holly Springs National Forest, CNN reported.
A reporter of local television station WTVA showed footage of the plane perched in a field, according to the BBC.
The Daily Journal, a local newspaper, reported that the pilot of the plane is an employee of Tupelo Regional Airport.
Authorities believe the aircraft a Beechcraft King Air C90A was stolen.
An online flight tracking service showed the plane meandering in the sky for several hours and following a looping path.
Details of the conversation between the pilot and police while he was in the air, or his identity, were not immediately made public, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, the Walmart and another nearby store were earlier evacuated by security officials, while citizens were asked to avoid the area.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it "is aware and is coordinating with local law enforcement," the agency told CNN Saturday.
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Karachi shopping plaza fire death toll reaches 28, another 80 missing
Karachi (PTI): At least 28 people have died in the fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s Karachi with another 80 missing as rescue operations continued to locate them in the rubble of the old building on Tuesday.
Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed confirmed on Tuesday that so far 28 bodies had been brought to the Jinnah and civil hospitals while another 20 were still under treatment but in stable condition.
“Since Saturday night when the fire broke out, 28 bodies have been brought to the hospitals,” she said.
Syed said so far 18 bodies had been identified while DNA tests were also being carried out to confirm the identity of the others.
The fire broke out at a shop in the basement of the Gul Shopping Plaza, a wholesale and retail market, and quickly spread to the rest of the building.
Rescue 1122 Chief Operating Officer (COO) Abid Jalal said due to the intensity of the fire, which was only brought under control after nearly 34 hours, many portions of the dilapidated structure had collapsed.
“We have been given a list of some 80 people who are believed to be missing in the fire,” he said.
He added that some of them could be on the list of dead sent to hospitals since Saturday.
“The rescue operations are progressing slowly because of the condition of the building and there were around 1200 shops on all floors,” he said.
Relatives and families of the missing people have refused to leave the site of the building as they wait anxiously for news while the authorities have closed the M A Jinnah Road for all traffic.
Business owners and traders observed a one day mourning on Monday in remembrance of those who perished in the fire.
Tanweer Pasha, a senior official of the Gul Plaza shop owners association, estimated that the fire has caused losses of at least 3 billion PKR.
He said that the exact figure would only be known once the rescue operations are completed.
