July 22 Photo Brief: Santas take to the streets, international protests continue, the countdown to the Royal baby
Santas take to the streets, international protests continue, the countdown to the Royal baby and more in today’s daily brief. | Warning: Photos included may depict violence and/or injury.
- Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shout slogans in Cairo July 22, 2013. The family of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Monday it would take legal action against the army, accusing it of abducting the country’s first democratically-elected president. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
- A man holds a baby after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Minxian county, Dingxi, Gansu province, July 22, 2013. The earthquake killed at least 89 people with hundreds injured for many homes in the affected areas collapsed, state media reported on Monday. (Stringer/Reuters)
- Santas from all over the world parade on July 22, 2013 in the streets of Copenhagen during the annual Santa Claus World Congress in Denmark. The Santa Claus World Congress runs till 24 July and takes place in the world’s oldest amusement park, Bakken, 10 km north of the capital of Denmark. (Torkil Adsersen/ /AFP)
- Sebastian Morales Mendoza of Colombia competes in the Men’s 1m Springboard Diving final on day three of the 15th FINA World Championships at Piscina Municipal de Montjuic on July 22, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
- Anti-government protestors scuffle with riot police during Philippine president Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address on July 22, 2013 in Quezon City, Philippines. Thousands of protestors tried to break through police barriers to get near the House of Representatives where Aquino is speaking before the Upper and Lower House of the Philippine Congress. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
- William Miler of Australia looks to pass against Dusko Pijetlovic of Serbia during the Men’s Water Polo first preliminary round match between Serbia and Australia during day three of the 15th FINA World Championships at Piscines Bernat Picornell on July 22, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
- Royal supporter Terry Hutt poses for a picture outside The Lindo Wing of Saint Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London on July 22, 2013. Prince William’s wife Kate, (Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) was admitted to hospital today in the early stages of labour as the world awaited the birth of a baby directly in line to inherit the British throne. (Andrew Cowie/AFP)
- Indian people cross a flooded road near Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, as the water level of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers slowly rises in Allahabad on July 22, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP)
- Hindu priests of the Sangam move their shelters from the banks of the Ganga river as the water level of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers slowly rises in Allahabad on July 22, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP)
- Re-enactors take part in the ‘Grand Parade’ during the ‘History Live!’ event at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire on July 20, 2013 in Kelmarsh, England. The English Heritage event ‘History Live!’ brings together over 2000 re-enactors to animate 2000 years of English history. The re-enactment highlights include: the Battle of Hastings, Wars of the Roses, Roman soldiers and the D-Day landings. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
- Britain’s Hannah Cockroft celebrates after winning the Women’s 100 m T34 final, on July 22, 2013 during of the IPC Athletics World Championships at the Rhone Stadium in Venissieux outside Lyon. (Desmazes Philippe/AFP)Britain’s Hannah Cockroft celebrates after winning the Women’s 100 m T34 final, on July 22, 2013 during of the IPC Athletics World Championships at the Rhone Stadium in Venissieux outside Lyon. (Desmazes Philippe/AFP)
- Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shout slogans in Cairo July 22, 2013. The family of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Monday it would take legal action against the army, accusing it of abducting the country’s first democratically-elected president. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
RELATED
China quake death toll more than doubles to 54, hundreds hurt
By: Megha Rajagopalan, Reuters
5:54 a.m. EDT, July 22, 2013
BEIJING (Reuters) – The death toll from a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in China’s western Gansu province on Monday more than doubled to 54 people, the municipal government said, with hundreds injured as many homes in affected areas collapsed.
The quake hit Minxian and Zhangxian counties, about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of the provincial capital of Lanzhou, at 7.45 on Monday morning (7.45 p.m. ET Sunday), the official Xinhua news agency said.
It put the number of people seriously injured at 296. Earlier reports by the official Xinhua news agency said 22 people had died.
Eight towns in the remote, mountainous area sustained serious damage in the quake and subsequent flooding and mudslides, state media said.
There were also power outages, while cell phone and Internet coverage was disrupted, residents and state media reported. The Red Cross Society of China said it had sent relief supplies to the affected areas, including jackets and tents.
“Many have been injured by collapsed houses,” said a Minxian county doctor surnamed Du. “Many villagers have gone to local hospitals along the roads.”
Photos posted on Chinese social media showed roads on the sides of riverbanks that had subsided and farmhouses reduced to piles of red bricks.
About 380 buildings had collapsed and 5,600 sustained damaged in Zhangxian county, the Dingxi municipal government said in a microblog post.
A school building in Minxian county was also damaged, a teacher in the area said, although he said he didn’t believe any students were injured because they were away on summer holidays.
Heavy rain is also forecast for the areas hit by the quake, which officials fear would compound the damage by causing more landslides and flooding.
A second 5.6 earthquake struck the same region about 90 minutes after the first, Xinhua said, the most significant of several aftershocks. The United States Geological Survey said the first quake had a magnitude of 5.9.
Gansu abuts Sichuan province, where a 6.6 quake in April killed 164 people and injured more than 6,700, China’s worst quake in three years.
That quake hit close to where a devastating 7.9 temblor killed some 70,000 people in May 2008.
Among those killed in the 2008 quake were thousands of children, raising suspicions that the schools that had collapsed on them had been poorly constructed, in part due to corruption.
(Additional reporting by Michael Martina, Ben Blanchard and the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Paul Tait)