Wildfires in Greece kill 74 in deadliest blazes in decades
RAFINA, Greece — The death toll from Greece’s deadliest wildfires in decades climbed to 74 Tuesday as rescue crews searched on land and sea for those who sought to escape the blazes that engulfed popular summer resort spots near Athens.
The number of victims appeared set to go even higher, with crews checking charred homes and vehicles and the coast guard scouring beaches and deeper waters. There was no definitive count of the missing.
Fueled by 50 mph winds that frequently changed direction, the fires — one to the west of Athens near the town of Kineta and another to the northeast near the port of Rafina — spread at speeds that surprised many, trapping hundreds on beaches and cutting off escape routes.
All the casualties appeared to be from the fire near Rafina, a popular seaside area that is a mix of permanent residences and vacation homes. The blaze broke out Monday afternoon during a hot, dry spell but the cause was not immediately clear. Aerial photos showed charred swathes of forest and homes.
Heart of Yosemite park to close as crews battle blaze
LOS ANGELES — The heart of Yosemite National Park, where throngs of tourists are awe-struck by cascading waterfalls and towering granite features like El Capitan and Half Dome, will be closed as firefighters try to corral a huge wildfire just to the west that has cast a smoky pall and threatened the park’s forest, officials said Tuesday.
Yosemite Valley will be closed for at least four days beginning at noon Wednesday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile stretch of State Route 41, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.
At least a thousand campground and hotel bookings will be canceled — to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said. Rangers were going to campsites one at a time to inform visitors of the closures. Hotels guests were getting phone calls and notes on their doors.
After shooting, gun ownership under
debate in Toronto
TORONTO — Of all the things people in Toronto are horrified by in the aftermath of the shooting that killed two people and injured 13, this stands out: The man responsible had a handgun.
To mass shooting-weary America — where there are about 300 million guns of all kinds — possession of a handgun might seem commonplace.
But in Toronto, the very idea that someone would have a handgun, much less take it out in public and fire it, is nearly incomprehensible. Now, the City Council is considering a motion urging the federal and provincial government to ban the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition in Canada’s largest city.
“If anything, what’s happened in the United States is what not to do,” said City Councilman Joe Cressy, who proposed the motion Tuesday.
Agreed Toronto Mayor John Tory: “Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all?”
LA chief says police fired fatal shot at market
LOS ANGELES — A supermarket worker was killed by a bullet fired by Los Angeles police — not the gunman they were trying to stop — the city’s police chief acknowledged Tuesday, defending the decision to use deadly force as an attempt to stop what officers feared could become a mass shooting.
The suspect, Gene Evin Atkins, 28, already had shot his grandmother, kidnapped his girlfriend and shot at officers Saturday afternoon as they chased his car and then as he ran into the Trader Joe’s in the city’s congested Silver Lake neighborhood, according to police.
After exchanging gunfire with police, Atkins ran into the store and took about 40 people hostage, police said.
Police released several minutes of body camera and dash-cam video that showed Atkins leading officers on then high-speed chase — during which officers say he’s shooting at them — before he crashed into a pole outside the market.
In deciding whether to open fire, officers had to consider whether the gunman was likely to harm the scores of shoppers and workers inside, police Chief Michel Moore said.
By wire sources
