Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost

Two California visitors fell to their deaths while hiking to the Delicate Arch sandstone formation in Arches National Park.

An unidentified 60-year-old woman and 65-year-old man were killed in the fall Friday into the lower bowl area next to the iconic arch, according to a statement from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office in Moab, Utah.

A third Californian, a 30-year-old man, also fell and was injured. He was airlifted to Moab Regional Hospital.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the three fell. They appeared to be hiking together and may have been related, noted the sheriff’s statement. The weather was inclement and conditions were slippery following rain and snow. One area visitor responding to the Facebook post by the sheriff said there were “extremely strong winds” near the arch.

Keep Reading

The trail up to Delicate Arch has reopened for use. Winter conditions make for slippery hiking; proceed with caution.

— Arches National Park (@ArchesNPS) November 29, 2019

 Jimmy Nsubuga, Yahoo News UK

Two bottlenose dolphins dragged a frightened schoolgirl underwater and left her injured after a swimming experience with the animals went wrong.

Lexi Yeo, ten, was in the water with the sea creatures at Dolphin Discovery in Cancun, Mexico, when they suddenly turned on her.

Her mother Laura-Jane Yeo watched in horror as the youngster was submerged during the TUI holiday.

She was eventually rescued from the sea pen when trainers grabbed her on her bodyboard.

Lexi suffered cuts, bruises and deep wounds after she was bitten by the dolphins. 

Ms Yeo, from east London, told The Sun: “It was terrifying. I thought she was going to die.

“But I’ve not even had a card, flowers or terry bear for Lexi from TUI. They have washed their hands of us.

“More concerning, the dolphins are still swimming with tourists and TUI are continuing to work with the company.”

Dolphin Discovery blamed the behaviour of the animals on adverse weather conditions that put them under stress.

Keep Reading

 Evan Hoopfer,American City Business Journals

During the chaotic scene inside Southwest Flight 1380, flight attendants had to deal with a situation not covered in the training manual.

The left engine had just suffered severe damage, causing debris to pierce the side of the plane and blow out a window. The woman sitting in seat 14A, Jennifer Riordan, was partially sucked out of the plane and died from her injuries. 

The death of Riordan, a New Mexico businesswoman, marked the first passenger fatality in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) history. On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the April 17, 2018 accident.

The NTSB is the government agency charged with investigating transportation accidents. As part of the investigation process, the NTSB makes recommendations to other parties about how to prevent similar events from happening again.

Keep Reading

When tour guide Thorolfur Sævar Sæmundsson brings a group to Iceland’s iconic Reynisfjara Beach, he warns them not to go down to the shoreline.

His reason? The beach is well known for having a dangerous undertow and so-called “sneaker waves,” which can catch people by surprise. Several tourists have died there over the past decade or so, Iceland Monitor reported.

On November 11, a dramatic illustration of the dangers of the waves at the beach was observed, from a safe distance, by Sæmundsson, who recorded video of tourists floundering after being caught out.

Emergency services were called to the scene to assess a tourist who was knocked over and injured, the Icelandic news site Visir said.

While the beach is safe “95% of the time,” Sæmundsson told Storyful, “sometimes we have high waves. People need to be careful.” Credit: Thorolfur Saevar Saemundsson via Storyful

Dave Quinn, People

A passenger aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s biggest ship died on Friday as the boat was returning to port in Miami.

The man — identified as Brian Rice — fell four stories from a balcony on the ninth deck of the Carnival Horizon to the fifth, a public information officer from the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE.

Medical staff on board had attended to Rice after the fall, the police rep said. Authorities were called to the scene on Saturday, when the ship was docked.

Darren J. Caprara, director of operations of the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department, told PEOPLE an initial investigation determined that Rice died as a result of a blunt force trauma injury resulting from a fall.

His death is being ruled an accident, though an investigation is still ongoing.

The 3,954-passenger Carnival Horizon — which, at 133,500 tons is the cruise ship company’s biggest vessel — had its maiden voyage in 2018.

For this trip, it had set out on a six-day, round-trip tour of the Western Caribbean, stopping in Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the cruise line is providing support to Rice’s family.

“We can confirm the death of a guest on Carnival Horizon as the ship was returning to Miami on Friday evening,” Gulliksen said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Our CareTeam continues to provide support to the guest’s family and we cooperated with the standard law enforcement investigation when the ship arrived to PortMiami on Saturday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest’s family.”

Justin Chan, AOL.com

A female plane passenger took to Reddit this week to share a horrifying photo of a stranger performing a rude act during her flight. 

The woman, who goes by WoodySoprano on the social media platform, posted an image of a traveler resting their bare feet on her headrest. Though the Reddit user’s face is cropped, her terrified eyes tell all.

“Going to be a long flight,” she captioned the photo.

The woman’s post immediately went viral, generating nearly a thousand comments by Tuesday afternoon. Some argued that the female passenger should have confronted the offender.

“I don’t get it at all. I would get up the moment I felt someone put their feet there and said something,” one person wrote. “You should never suffer in silence, never. Even as a passenger, if I had seen this, I would laugh and look at the person in the unfortunate seat and say ‘I’m glad the person behind me has manners and isn’t a complete idiot.’ because I do realize some people are afraid of confrontations.”

Others suggested that the woman should have alerted a crew member.

“Talk to a flight attendant,” one person posted. “If the plane is still at the gate then kick him/her off..disorderly conduct in a tube that is 30,000+ ft above ground is stupid… if it got worse.. the other passengers can tape him/her to the seat for the rest of the flight.”

Keep reading

John Bacon, USA TODAY,

Rescue teams were searching for four crew members after a cargo ship caught fire and capsized Sunday off the Georgia coast, the Coast Guard said.

Twenty people were rescued from the Golden Ray, a 656-foot-long ship bound for Baltimore that was “listing heavily” in St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, officials said.

Coast Guard Sector Charleston was notified by the Glynn County 911 dispatch that the ship had capsized. The Coast Guard “immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast” and sent ships and two helicopters to the scene.

The ship’s command and chief engineer were assisting authorities and salvage teams in stabilizing the ship so rescue efforts could continue, the Coast Guard said. Local first responders and towing groups also were aiding the effort.

The cause of the incident was under investigation, the Coast Guard said. It was not clear whether weather conditions played a role. Hurricane Dorian brushed past the Georgia coast last week but was centered off Canada on Sunday.

The port of Brunswick was closed to boat traffic, and there was an established emergency safety zone in the St. Simons Sound. Ships were not authorized within a half-mile of the Golden Ray.

The incident comes one week after a diving boat caught fire off California’s Santa Cruz Island, killing 34 people.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Four missing after ship capsizes, burns near Georgia coast

MSC Cruises Northern Europe cruises  (14562241380)   Civitavecchia, Italy March 2020

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say one woman has died and eight people have been sickened in a hazmat incident Saturday at a Northern California hotel.

KTVU reports Saturday that guests of the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose reported smelling a chemical odor — similar to a rotten egg —and feeling faint, light-headed and short of breath.

San Jose police Officer Gina Tepoorten says authorities are investigating the death as a suicide. Tepoorten said in an email the hazmat incident is related to the woman’s suicide.

San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mitch Matlow says the eight people sickened are believed to be hotel employees. Several other people had minor symptoms but “have gotten better with fresh air.”

Matlow said at a news conference more than 100 people were evacuated from the hotel. Exposure to the unknown chemical was believed to be “very brief.”

“Safety is our top priority and top concern,” said Fairmont Hotel spokesperson Michelle Heston in a statement to KTVU.

The hotel’s general manager did not immediately return a request for comment.

The TV station reports the woman who died is believed to be a hotel guest. The eight other people affected were taken to hospitals but none was believed to be in life-threatening condition.