Canada on Tuesday dispatched its military to help rescue more than 200 motorists stranded in a snow storm in the province of Ontario, as a deep freeze gripped the region.
The Ontario Provincial Police said in a statement that a state of emergency had been declared in Lambton County, southwest of Toronto, where hundreds of vehicles became trapped in the snow along a stretch of highway between London and Sarnia.
Officials said 237 people were rescued. They included at least 66 rescued by military helicopters, a Canadian defense ministry spokesman said.
“All motorists on Highway 402 have been evacuated, but abandoned vehicles are still on the highway. The secondary roads are now being searched for any stranded motorists,” defense spokesman Jay Paxton said.
The Weather Office warned of a “snow squall” that created conditions of zero visibility, with wind chill values of minus 20?C.
In some areas, snow was reportedly piled up 2m high.
Despite the extreme conditions, no deaths or serious injuries have been reported.
Police used snowmobiles and four-wheel drive vehicles to locate and extract stranded people from the highway, and the military sent three Griffon helicopters to ferry people from their vehicles to safety.
A Hercules aircraft was also combing the area for motorists trapped overnight in drifting snow and biting cold. And some area farmers were said to be using tractors to drag cars out of ditches.
Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said search and rescue personnel aboard the Griffon helicopters would lower a basket onto the highway and carry motorists to a makeshift “warming area,” where he said they were able to “get coffee, warm food, protection and then make their way home.”
“For someone to be trapped in their vehicle, in some cases for 20 hours, that’s very serious, and these are extreme weather conditions,” MacKay said. “It’s cold. If their vehicle was not running, then clearly that would be a very dangerous situation.”
Many of the stranded have been using cellphones to call for help, “indicate their whereabouts [and] indicate their well-being. That has made rescue efforts a little easier,” he said.
In a few cases, people refused to leave their vehicles, preferring to wait for plows to clear the roads.
MacKay said treacherous conditions, particularly high winds, were a concern for rescuers.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
RSS