Nation and world news in brief for August 27

16-year-old charged in shooting death of 4 people in Georgia

(TNS) — Four people were found dead at a north Georgia park after reports of gunfire, deputies said.

Now, a 16-year-old is charged with four counts of felony murder in Saturday’s incident, WSB-TV and WAGA reported, citing the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office.

The teen, who wasn’t publicly identified, is accused of shooting and killing four people Saturday in a suspected robbery-turned-shootout at Pleasant Grove Park in Dalton, according to WAGA.

Deputies were called at about 11:15 p.m. after residents reported hearing gun shots, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies arrived to find four people shot to death. Authorities released their identities on Aug. 26: David Antonio Delgadillo, 21, of Dalton; Joshua Pedro Pelico-Pelico, 19, of Dalton; Robery Valencia, 18, of Rome; Daniel Segura-Cruz, 17, of Rome.

Relief in Iceland as no more tourists are trapped under ice

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) — Police in Iceland called off a search for missing persons under a glacier on Monday and said earlier reports that two tourists had been trapped there were wrong.

One person was killed and one injured on Sunday when a natural ice cave collapsed as a group of tourists explored it, but fears that two others were trapped were based on a misunderstanding, authorities said.

Police were told the group consisted of 25 people, but later concluded only 23 had taken part.

An extensive search for missing persons that began on Sunday and continued on Monday was therefore called off.

Orcas ram sailboat off northwestern Spain, vessel towed to shore

MADRID (Reuters) — Orcas rammed a sailboat off the coast of northwestern Spain and damaged the vessel’s rudder, prompting the maritime rescue service to tow the boat ashore, the service said on Monday.

The incident was the latest in a series of boat rammings by orca pods off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Scientists have yet to reach a consensus on the reasons for this recent behaviour.

One of the sailboat’s two crew members seriously injured her hand during the towing manoeuvre amid rough sea conditions and was evacuated by helicopter to hospital, the service said.

Woman died on Burning Man’s opening day

(TNS) — The desert festival Burning Man kicked off Sunday in Nevada on a sour note with the death of a female attendee.

The woman, whose name was not released, was found dead just hours after the festival opened. The cause of death is under investigation; festival organizers announced the death but did not provide any additional information surrounding the episode.

The yearly event in Nevada’s remote Black Rock Desert draws tens of thousands of participants to a makeshift community replete with art and music.

Sacramento homeless residents don’t know where to go as shutdown looms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (TNS) — A tight-knit group of homeless people who have lived on the city-owned land they call Camp Resolution were scrambling to make plans Sunday afternoon as the hours ticked down until the city of Sacramento has warned that they will be considered trespassers.

Nearly 50 people, including many seniors with disabilities, have been living at the encampment in city-issued trailers vacant lot on Colfax Street and Arden Way since 2022.

The city’s eviction notice orders all residents to leave by 12 a.m. Monday. But in the final hours before a possible sweep, many residents are still trying to figure out their next steps.

By Sunday afternoon, two residents had already suffered seizures from extreme stress as eviction loomed, Crystal Sanchez of the Sacramento Homeless Union said.

3 friends drown in California Central Valley whirlpool while trying to save one another

(TNS) — A group of friends from Utah was hiking through the canyons near the Seven Teacups Trail in Tulare County on Friday when one jumped into a seemingly innocuous pool of water.

Minutes later three people were dead, having been caught in a whirlpool and drowning while trying to save one another.

Led by David Bell, 48, the co-founder of the nonprofit Harrington Center for the Arts, 13 people had gone canyoneering — exploring a canyon by hiking, scrambling or rappelling — in the Central Valley near Johnsondale, the organization said in a social media post. One member of the group, Jeannine Skinner, 34, jumped into the pool, but she didn’t return to the surface and appeared to be caught in an undercurrent, Bell’s sister, Summerisa Bell Stevens, told KSL-TV.

Another member of the group, Peter On, 48, dove into the pool to help Skinner, and Bell followed him, Stevens said. On was able to get away from the current at one point but Skinner couldn’t reach his hand, so he went back in.

At least 30 dead, many missing after dam bursts in eastern Sudan

ARBAAT, Sudan (Reuters) — Surging waters have burst through a dam, wiped out at least 20 villages and left at least 30 people dead but probably many more in eastern Sudan, the United Nations said on Monday, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.

Torrential rains caused floods that overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam on Sunday just 40 km (25 miles) north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Man is charged with arson in California wildfire that destroyed 13 homes

(NYT) – A 26-year-old California man was arrested last week on arson charges in connection with the Thompson fire in July, which destroyed 13 homes, burned more than 3,700 acres and forced the evacuation of 26,000 people, according to the law enforcement agencies.

The man, Spencer Grant Anderson, who was taken into custody Thursday, was arraigned Monday and is being held without bail in Butte County Jail.

The Thompson fire began July 2 when Anderson threw a “flaming object” out the window of a car he was driving just north of Oroville, where he lives, according to a news release issued Monday by the Butte County district attorney’s office.