At least eight dead in hot air balloon accident in Brazil

Image source, Santa Catarina Military Fire Department Image caption, The state governor has ordered a task force to the scene of the incident

Author, Danai Nesta Kupemba & Andre Biernath Role, BBC News

21 June 2025, 15:07 BST Updated 2 hours ago

At least eight people have died in a hot air balloon accident in Brazil, a state governor has said.

There were 21 people on board the balloon in the city of Praia Grande on Saturday morning, Governor of Santa Catarina Jorginho Mello said in a post on X.

Thirteen people, including the pilot, survived and no one is missing, the state government press office said.

It added that the balloon had crashed near a health centre.

“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump,” officer Tiago Luiz Lemos, from the Praia Grande police station, told reporters at the scene.

“They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.

“It later fell because of a loss of suspension.”

The state government press office said 13 survivors were taken to nearby hospitals.

In a video also posted on X, Mello, who is on an official mission in China, said he had sent “the entire state structure” to “rescue, help and comfort the families” and was continuing to monitor the situation.

“We are in mourning, what happened is a tragedy,” he added.

“We will investigate why this happened. But the important thing now is to do everything possible to reach out to the people and the families.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X expressing his “solidarity with the families of the victims”.

He said he had placed “the federal government at the disposal of the victims” and that “state and municipal forces ” were working on the rescue and care of the survivors.

Praia Grande is in southern Santa Catarina and is a popular tourist destination. The city is known for it’s ballooning activities.

Man suffers head injury in fight outside bar

Image source, Google Image caption, Officers were called to a group of men fighting outside Bambu Tiki Bar in the early hours of Saturday

Author, George Torr Role, BBC News, Derby

5 hours ago

A man has been taken to hospital following a fight outside a bar in Chesterfield.

Officers were called to reports of a group of men fighting outside the Bambu Tiki Bar in Corporation Street at about 01:00 BST on Saturday.

A man, aged in his 20s, sustained a head injury and was taken to hospital for treatment, Derbyshire Police said.

Another man, also aged in his 20s, was arrested on suspicion of assault.

The force is appealing for anyone with any information, including businesses with CCTV covering the area, to come forward.

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Israeli hospital hit by Iranian missile strike

2 days ago Share Save Ruth Comerford BBC News Share Save

BBC on the scene at Israeli hospital struck by Iranian missile

A hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba has been hit as Iran fired a barrage of missiles at the country, with the conflict between the two nations continuing into a seventh day. Iran said it had targeted a military site close to the Soroka hospital, not the facility itself. Israel said 271 people were injured in strikes reported across the country. Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility. Israel said at least 24 people had been killed in the country since the start of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on 15 June, when it said 224 people had been killed.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – a Washington-based human rights organisation that has long tracked Iran – has said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday. The conflict began on 13 June, when Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear scientists. Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister said Iran’s hit on the Soroka hospital on Thursday was “deliberate” and “criminal”. In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site was the main medical centre for Israel’s entire Negev region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran”. Israel also threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”. Katz told reporters: “Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.” Khamenei is Iran’s spiritual leader and its highest authority, with final say over all government matters in the country. In response to a question from Israeli broadcaster News 12 about whether Khamenei was a target, Netanyahu replied: “I have instructed that no one is immune.” Netanyahu told reporters at the site that Israeli forces had harmed “the nuclear program very strongly” but claimed that there are “other nuclear targets” and “nuclear missiles” in Iran. “We will remove the nuclear threat, just as I promised. By the end of this operation, there will be no nuclear threat to Israel, nor will there be a ballistic missile threat.” He also told broadcaster Kan that Israel had destroyed “more than half” of Iran’s missile launchers but that “all help” would be welcome in destroying nuclear sites.

BBC correspondents reporting from the hospital described the damage as extensive, with debris and plumes of smoke floating through the air long after the blast. Several wards were completely destroyed as fire spread through one of the buildings, causing windows to smash and ceilings to collapse, hospital authorities said. About 200 patients will be transferred to other hospitals centres, Prof Shlomi Codish, chief executive of the Soroka hospital said. Elsewhere on Thursday morning, an Iranian ballistic missile struck the business district of Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv – causing a large sheet of glass to fall several floors from a skyscraper and part of an electrical pylon to crash to the ground. About 20 people are believed to have been injured by the blast in the area, authorities have said.

Israel’s military, which targeted the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday, said it told people living in the nearby Iranian cities of Arak and Khondab to leave the area “as soon as possible” prior to the attack. Heavy water reactors produce plutonium, which – like enriched uranium – can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats. In a separate announcement, Israel’s military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains “unique components and equipment used to develop nuclear weapons”. Israel has alleged Iran has recently “taken steps to weaponise” its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. Iran’s armed forces said their response to the Israeli attack will have “no limits”. Iran has lodged a complaint with the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing Israel of “continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities,” Iranian state media reported.

Reuters Arak’s nuclear facility had been evacuated before the attack according to Iranian media

The UN’s high commissioner Volker Türk said it was “appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage” in the conflict. He warned officials against “inflammatory rhetoric”, which he said pointed to a “worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians.” “The only way out of this spiralling illogic of escalation is maximum restraint, full respect for international law, and return in good faith to the negotiating table,” he said.

On X, the International Committee of the Red Cross stressed that hospitals must be “respected and protected” under international law. And the World Health Organization’s director general said in a statement: “We call on all parties to protect health facilities, health personnel, and patients at all times.”

Body of man, 20, recovered from river after search

Image source, Philippa Goymer/BBC Image caption, Police believe the man went into the river at Gainford and got into difficulty

5 hours ago

A 20-year-old man’s body has been recovered from a river.

The man is believed to have gone into the River Tees at Gainford on Friday afternoon and got into difficulty.

Durham Police said formal identification had not yet taken place but the man’s family had been informed.

Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were involved in the river search.

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Train passengers evacuated as temperatures soar

Image source, Angela Lewis Image caption, Passengers were evacuated after a fault on a Thameslink train meant others could not move

Author, James W Kelly Role, BBC News

21 June 2025, 14:51 BST Updated 3 hours ago

Passengers have been forced to evacuate trains in south London as temperatures soared above 30C (86F).

A fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services in the area to a halt, three of them outside station platforms, Thameslink and Network Rail said in a joint statement.

“Without power and air conditioning on such a hot day, we pulled all resources from across Sussex and Kent to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track,” it said.

Angela Lewis, a Gatwick-bound passenger, said it was “a bloody nightmare”. Thameslink apologised to those affected for the “difficult and uncomfortable experience”.

The incident began at about 10:40 BST with the evacuations of the first two trains completed at about 12:20 and the third at about 13:10, a spokesperson said.

They added that due to engineering works, this was the only route taking Thameslink services south out of London and “and disruption is expected into the evening”.

Image source, Angela Lewis Image caption, One passenger said they waited two hours on board a train before they made it off

Writing on social media, Ms Lewis said passengers had been left on the train for about two hours before being removed.

“Some people had luggage and infants, had been trying to get to Gatwick,” she said.

Ms Lewis added that some had missed their flights due to the disruption, adding: “Who will compensate them?”

Heatwave peak

The heatwave was forecast to bring temperatures of up to 33C (91F) to the capital on Saturday, and drew thousands to its lidos and bathing ponds to cool off.

But warnings over heat-related illnesses and remaining safe while swimming in open water have been issued as London Ambulance Service (LAS) predicted a surge in 999 calls.

Meanwhile, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London (ICL) released a study that used historical data to forecast the capital could see 129 excess deaths related to this week’s hot temperatures.

Image source, PA Media Image caption, People could be seen enjoying the sunshine at London’s Victoria Embankment

Across England and Wales, excess deaths from Thursday to Sunday are estimated at about 570 people.

By lunchtime, the temperature at Heathrow Airport had reached 31C (88F).

Researchers said their assessment highlighted how extreme heat posed a growing threat to public health in the UK.

Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, lecturer at the Grantham Institute at ICL, said: “Heatwaves are silent killers – people who lose their lives in them typically have pre-existing health conditions and rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death.

“This real-time analysis reveals the hidden toll of heatwaves and we want it to help raise the alarm.”

He added that heatwaves were an “underappreciated threat” in the UK.

Temperatures had been forecast to hit 32C (90F) across the south-east England on Saturday having already reached that level on Thursday in London.

The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber heat-health alert covering all of England to warn vulnerable populations of the health risks, including “a rise in deaths”.

To play this content, please enable JavaScript, or try a different browser Video caption, Watch: More hot weather and risk of heavy storms

LAS said on 13 June, when temperatures hit 28C (82F), it received 7,000 calls compared with 5,500 on a typically busy day.

The service has activated plans to manage high demand, including deploying community response cars, increasing clinicians for phone assessments, and speeding up patient handovers at hospitals.

Stuart Crichton, director of 999 operations at LAS, said: “We have been very busy this week and expect to be even busier this weekend as temperatures climb even further.

“We would will like to remind Londoners to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency.”

He said that older people, the very young and those with pre-existing conditions are particularly vulnerable to heat-related issues.

“Look out for neighbours, family or friends who may need some help and make sure they are able to keep cool during the heat,” Mr Crichton added.

Dr Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in east London, said: “We are seeing cases of heat-related illnesses rising in our urgent care departments.

“Heat exhaustion can quickly trigger more serious illnesses as dehydration sets in and the cardiovascular system becomes overwhelmed.”

Image caption, Swimmers took an early morning dip at Charlton Lido to mark the solstice

Andrew Lewington, from London Fire Brigade, told the BBC that 15 people have died so far this year in the capital’s waterways.

He said there had been an increase of 15% in the number of callouts for water rescue, equating to 12 a week.

“People need to understand what lies beneath water and think twice about jumping in,” said Mr Lewington.

With additional reporting from PA Media.