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- 111 confirmed dead following 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia
- Greece deploys 200 firefighters as new wildfires threaten local areas
- Seventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, challenges persist for women
- Police classify Saskatoon high school fire as suspicious and begin investigation
- Judge dismisses criminal charges against Gautam Adani but criticises DOJ officials
- Flight cancelled after child refuses to sit and fasten seatbelt in Canada
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111 confirmed dead following 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia
4:00 am
Get you up to speed: 111 people dead after 7.4-magnitude earthquake shakes Colombia | News World
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck near San Jose del Palmar in Choco province, Colombia, causing extensive damage and resulting in at least 111 confirmed fatalities. In Quibdo, the provincial capital, many individuals are believed to be trapped beneath collapsed structures.
Emergency services are conducting damage assessments in Quibdo, where officials report numerous injuries and several people trapped beneath collapsed buildings. President Abelardo de la Espriella has promised to support rebuilding efforts in the affected regions as authorities review the impact of this morning’s quake.
President Abelardo de la Espriella expressed solidarity with affected Colombians, stating, “you are not alone” and committing to rebuilding efforts. Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi confirmed ongoing damage assessments and expressed concern over potential aftershocks in the region.
What remains unclear — The total number of injuries and fatalities from the earthquake in Quibdo has not been confirmed.
111 confirmed dead following 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia
A strong earthquake has flattened buildings across Colombia and killed more than 100 people.
Dramatic footage early this morning showed people running for their lives as a building collapses around them.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck close to the El Cairo region, according to the US Geological Service.
It hit the Choco province on the country’s Pacific coast, with the epicentre located at a depth of 79km near San Jose del Palmar.
President Abelardo de la Espriella confirmed that 111 people are dead after the deadly earthquake.
He wrote on X: ‘To the Colombians who are going through difficult times today, I want to say: you are not alone. You have a President who cares deeply for his people and who will do everything necessary to protect you, support you, and move forward together in rebuilding the affected regions.’
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One woman had a narrow escape as the four-storey building collapsed
The earthquake caused damage across Colombia, including in Cali, where tiles and rubble landed on a car (Picture: AP)
The University Hospital of the Valley saw three floors collapse, including the area where paediatrics, internal medicine and part of the neonatal unit operate.
HUV manager Irne Torres Castro said more than 600 patients were evacuated, but there are fatalities.
‘Yes, there are deaths. I can’t give a number at this precise moment; I can’t say if it’s two, four, or five, but there are deaths at this time,’ he told LAFM.
Many others were injured and buildings badly damaged in the Choco provincial capital, Quibdo, according to the governor, Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi.
Several people are believed to have been trapped underneath huge concrete blocks in Quibdo, the worst affected area.
Families dressed in pyjamas took cover on the streets after the earthquake was felt this morning (Picture: REUTERS)
She wrote on X: ‘We have just experienced a severe seismic event in the department of Chocó. We are concerned about aftershocks.
‘Although the epicentre was in San José del Palmar, in the capital Quibdó there are injuries and severe damage to buildings. We are already conducting the damage assessment to issue the first official report.’
Residents looked at damaged buildings in their neighbourhood in Cali (Picture: Getty/AFP)
According to Cali mayor Alejandro Eder, at least 20 buildings have collapsed with people trapped inside.
In Bogota, families getting ready for work and school fled their homes in the middle of breakfast.
Damage to buildings was reported in Manizales, and evacuations in the coastal city of Medellin.
The famous Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Rosary in Manizales is said to have been damaged and may be at risk of collapse.
A map shows where the 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit on Colombia’s Pacific coast (Picture: USGS)
Tremors were also felt across the border in Ecuador’s capital Quito.
It comes less than two months after the deadly earthquake devastated the already embattled Venezuela on June 24.
Two earthquakes levelled buildings in the capital Caracas and in the state of La Guaira, where nearly all buildings were destroyed.
People were trapped under rubble, some for days as rescuers battled to get to them.
As of August, more than 6,100 people have been confirmed dead from the quakes, while tens of thousands are still missing and people remain in hospital.
Why is Central America vulnerable to earthquakes?
The Central and South American region where both Colombia and Venezuela are located is prone to powerful earthquakes.
They sit near the boundary of several tectonic plates, making it a lively zone for seismic activity that can hit suddenly.
Colombia is prone to natural disasters due to its location on the meeting point of three tectonic plates, the Nazca, the Caribbean Plate and the South American Plate.
Earthquakes above 6 on the Richter scale are considered strong, while anything around 7 is major.
Even strong 6 Richter tremors can cause significant damage, especially in packed urban areas.
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Greece deploys 200 firefighters as new wildfires threaten local areas
2:00 am
Greece deploys 200 firefighters as new wildfires threaten local areas
New Wildfire
In Greece, almost 200 firefighters were mobilised to control a new fire that broke out in Kouvaras, located 60 kilometres southeast of Athens.
In Greece, almost 200 firefighters were mobilised to control a new fire that broke out in Kouvaras, located 60 kilometres southeast of Athens.
Fire Impact
In 2023, wildfires across Europe have devastated over 80,325 hectares in Italy alone, signalling severe environmental degradation and escalating ecological risks in the region.
In 2023, wildfires across Europe have devastated over 80,325 hectares in Italy alone, signalling severe environmental degradation and escalating ecological risks in the region.
Critical Response
“We are facing an extremely difficult, complex and dangerous wildfire,” said Antonio Sanz, Spain’s minister for emergencies, highlighting the ongoing challenges posed by unfavourable weather conditions.
“We are facing an extremely difficult, complex and dangerous wildfire,” said Antonio Sanz, Spain’s minister for emergencies, highlighting the ongoing challenges posed by unfavourable weather conditions.
Europe battles the flames: Wildfire contained near Athens and evacuations in Spain
Europe continues to grapple with major wildfires as the threat of further heatwaves continues to hang over the continent.
In Greece, a new fire broke out on Monday in the village of Kouvaras, 60 kilometers southeast of Athens, prompting the mobilisaiton of almost 200 firefighters.
Greek fire services announced that the blaze has since been brought under control.
Large parts of central and southern Greece, including the greater Athens area and most of the Aegean Islands, face a high risk of wildfires on Tuesday, according to civil protection forecasts.
Five people, four firefighters and the pilot of a water-dropping helicopter, have lost their lives in fires that have ravaged the country in recent weeks.
Additionally, a massive wildfire west of Athens destroyed dozens of homes in the seaside resort of Porto Germeno, reducing to ashes one of the last remaining green spaces near the Greek capital.
Meanwhile, in Spain firefighters struggled on Monday to control three large wildfires in the south that forced the evacuation of around 800 people due to shifting winds and difficult terrain, officials said.
More than 600 firefighters backed by 26 water-dropping aircraft were battling the blaze which broke out last week in the Andalusian province of Huelva, said the region’s minister for emergencies, Antonio Sanz.
“We are facing an extremely difficult, complex and dangerous wildfire, with the weather conditions continuing to offer us no respite. It is a long-distance race full of obstacles,” he said.
“We have to be realistic: there is no forecast that the fire will be brought under control any time soon. There are still hours and probably days of intense work ahead.”
Officials on Monday ordered the evacuation of the municipality of El Madrono, which has a population of around 300 people, bringing to about 800 the total number of evacuees.
Crews are also battling blazes in Castellón and Segovia. All three fires have been graded level two for severity.
In Italy, forecasts indicate an extremely high fire risk across much of the country due to an intense heatwave driven by a North African anticyclone. Nineteen cities have been placed on red alert.
According to the latest update from the association Legambiente, 80,325 hectares have burned in Italy since the start of the year, surpassing the estimate of 70,000 hectares made at the end of July.
Sicily, Calabria and Puglia are the Italian regions hardest hit by the fires. Together, they account for approximately 73% of the total area burned nationwide.
However, northern Italy is not spared from these conditions. Lombardy is facing multiple blazes, with at least seven fires still active on various fronts, stretching from the province of Sondrio to the Brescia area. Hundreds of firefighters and volunteers have been deployed on the ground.
In France, 42 departments were placed at “high” risk of forest fires on Tuesday, up from 17 on Monday, amid a seemingly endless heatwave.
Following destructive fires in the Gironde and Var departments, firefighters have turned their attention to the Drôme, where a fire continued its “slow advance” overnight from Sunday to Monday.
And in Albania, firefighters, helicopters and the army worked through the night to contain a massive forest fire ravaging Mount Krujë.
Authorities evacuated residents from several villages and detained a man suspected of accidentally starting the blaze.
Much of Europe is bracing for yet another scorching heatwave following periods of record drought that have driven rivers to historic lows, ignited historic forest fires and contributed to thousands of deaths.
Swathes of Britain and France on Monday were already under extreme heat warnings with forecasts of temperatures around the mid-30sC.
Unusually high temperatures were also forecast in the coming days across a number of countries not accustomed to the heat, such as Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.
Seventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, challenges persist for women
1:00 am
Get you up to speed: Seventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, the struggle is not over
Sophie Williams-de Bruyn, now 88, returned to the Union Buildings in Pretoria for National Women’s Day commemorations marking 70 years since the 1956 march against apartheid pass laws. Authorities noted ongoing issues, including high rates of gender-based violence and significant unemployment among women, particularly Black African women.
South Africa’s unemployment rate stood at 32.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, with 36.4 per cent for women and 40.5 per cent among Black African women. The National Disaster Management Centre classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster in November 2025, following ongoing pressure from civil society.
President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged the advancements in women’s political representation during the National Women’s Day commemorations, emphasising the need for greater economic security for women. Cassandra Dorasamy from Amnesty International South Africa warned that while some progress has been made, “the realities of the majority of women in the country” remain unchanged, highlighting an ongoing struggle for gender equality.
What remains unclear — It is not specified what concrete actions will be taken to address the ongoing issues of violence, unemployment, and poverty affecting women in South Africa.
Seventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, challenges persist for women
Features|Women’s RightsSeventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, the struggle is not over
Women helped defeat apartheid’s pass laws, but many still face violence, poverty and unemployment.
Published On 11 Aug 202611 Aug 2026
Johannesburg, South Africa – Seventy years ago, Sophie Williams-de Bruyn was 18 when she joined about 20,000 women marching to the Union Buildings, the seat of South Africa’s apartheid government, to protest against the extension of the pass laws to Black women.
On August 9, 1956, the women gathered in Pretoria carrying a petition against laws that restricted the movement of Black South Africans. Williams-de Bruyn was among the leaders of the march, which became one of the defining moments of the country’s liberation struggle.
On Sunday, at 88, she returned to the same grounds.
The country around her had changed. Apartheid had ended, South Africa had become a democracy and women had moved into some of the country’s highest offices. Its constitution guarantees equality and protection from discrimination.
But for many women, the freedoms won through that political transformation have not translated into security, economic opportunity or reliable public services.
“How can we fully celebrate our past victories when our present reality is so deeply disappointing and distressful?” Williams-de Bruyn asked.
Her question set a sombre tone for this year’s National Women’s Day commemorations, which marked 70 years since the historic march.
What the women of 1956 won
The women who marched in 1956 were challenging one of apartheid’s most visible instruments of racial control. The pass laws regulated where Black South Africans could live and work, and the government planned to extend those restrictions to Black women.
The women delivered their petitions at the Union Buildings and stood in silence for 30 minutes before leaving. The protest became a symbol of women’s resistance and is now commemorated each year as National Women’s Day.
Nearly four decades later, apartheid was dismantled.
South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 brought a new political order, followed by a constitution that placed equality and human dignity at its centre. Women entered Parliament in significant numbers and moved into senior positions across government, the judiciary and other institutions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed to those gains during Sunday’s commemoration, highlighting South Africa’s progress in women’s political representation, education, financial inclusion and participation in decision-making.
Women now hold some of the country’s highest positions, including chief justice, parliament speaker and public protector.
But political representation has not brought equal economic security.
“Women are more than half of our population, but they do not yet hold an equal share of our country’s wealth, its land or its enterprises,” Ramaphosa said.
Cassandra Dorasamy, a campaigner at Amnesty International South Africa, told WTX News that while the country had made progress in women’s representation, it had not seen the same improvement in the lives of the majority of women.
“We’ve seen progress in terms of women’s representation in Parliament, companies and local government structures, but we have not seen the same meaningful progress in the realities of the majority of women in the country,” she said.
Violence and fear
Nowhere is that tension more visible than in South Africa’s continuing crisis of gender-based violence.
South African police recorded 9,782 reported rapes between January and March 2026, along with 12,590 sexual offences. That amounts to roughly 108 reported rapes every day.
![Sophie Williams-de Bruyn returned to the Union Buildings 70 years after helping lead South Africa’s historic 1956 women’s march against apartheid pass laws [Courtesy of GCIS]](https://wtxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ead676c8-bf5f-44cc-8c2c-dfc64466da4e-1786362645.jpeg "Seventy years after South Africa's women's march, challenges persist for women WTX News")
Sophie Williams-de Bruyn returned to the Union Buildings 70 years after helping lead South Africa’s historic 1956 women’s march against apartheid pass laws [Courtesy of GCIS]
Almost half of those reported rapes, 4,620, or 47.2 percent, took place at the home of the victim or the perpetrator, according to police statistics.
In November last year, the National Disaster Management Centre classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster following sustained pressure from civil society organisations.
Ramaphosa told the gathering that women continue to live with the threat of violence “in the streets, even in their homes”.
But rights groups say declaring a disaster is only a first step.
Dorasamy said Amnesty International had heard accounts from women who struggled to open cases, were dismissed when reporting violence or received little information after making complaints.
Some women eventually withdraw their cases, she said, because the process becomes so difficult and exhausting that they no longer see a benefit in continuing.
The economic divide
The economic picture is similarly uneven.
South Africa’s unemployment rate stood at 32.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, according to Statistics South Africa. For women, it was 36.4 percent, compared with 29.6 percent for men. Among Black African women, the unemployment rate reached 40.5 percent.
Women were also less likely than men to participate in the labour force, at 53.8 percent compared with 65.6 percent.
Among people aged 15 to 24, 39.2 percent of young women and girls were neither employed nor in education or training, compared with 36 percent of young men and boys.
For women trying to build independent lives, unemployment can deepen dependence on relatives or partners and make it harder to support children or leave abusive relationships.
![South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attends the National Women’s Day commemoration, marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march [Courtesy of GCIS]](https://wtxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/04107b5f-4205-40e8-aa2f-744c55d15012-1786362638.jpeg "Seventy years after South Africa's women's march, challenges persist for women WTX News")
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attends the National Women’s Day commemoration, marking the 70th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march [Courtesy of GCIS]
In poorer and rural communities, those pressures are often compounded by limited access to land, productive resources and reliable public services.
The roots of those inequalities reach back to apartheid and earlier systems of racial dispossession, which denied Black South Africans access to land, capital and economic opportunity. Women faced additional restrictions through discriminatory laws and social structures.
Democracy changed the political system, but it did not erase decades of economic exclusion.
The unfinished promise
That tension was at the centre of Williams-de Bruyn’s speech.
She described women as prisoners in their own homes despite the democratic freedoms won after apartheid, and spoke of poverty, homelessness, a lack of clean drinking water and systemic corruption.
“We fought to dismantle the yokes of systemic oppression of women as a race, class and gender,” she said.
She received a standing ovation.
![People gather at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for the National Women’s Day commemoration marking the 70th anniversary of South Africa’s historic 1956 Women’s March. [GCIS/Supplied]](https://wtxnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/eff0aa73-385d-4849-8391-ecc40405d7b5-1786362640.jpeg "Seventy years after South Africa's women's march, challenges persist for women WTX News")
People gather at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for the National Women’s Day commemoration [Courtesy of GCIS]
The commemorations also took on an international dimension with the attendance of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Ramaphosa praised Yousafzai’s courage and used the occasion to express solidarity with women and girls in Afghanistan who have been systematically excluded from education, employment and public life.
But it was Williams-de Bruyn’s reflections that lingered long after the speeches had ended.
Seventy years after that march, women hold positions of power that would have been almost unimaginable under apartheid. Yet for millions, violence, unemployment, poverty and inadequate public services still shape what freedom means in everyday life.
“This is not the freedom we marched for.”
Police classify Saskatoon high school fire as suspicious and begin investigation
12:00 am
Get you up to speed: Police deem Saskatoon high school fire ‘suspicious,’ launch investigation
Saskatoon police are investigating a fire that damaged a construction area of Bethlehem Catholic High School on Friday. An arson investigator has been assigned to determine the cause of the blaze.
Saskatoon police have confirmed that an arson investigator will be assigned to the case. As of now, there is no public timeline for the completion of the investigation.
Saskatoon police have confirmed that an arson investigator will examine the fire that damaged the construction section of Bethlehem Catholic High School on Friday. As investigations proceed, officials have not yet announced any interim measures to secure the site or aid in the recovery process.
What remains unclear — The exact cause of the fire at Bethlehem Catholic High School is still under investigation.
Police classify Saskatoon high school fire as suspicious and begin investigation
Saskatoon police are assigning an arson investigator to look into the cause of a blaze that ripped through a construction portion of Bethlehem Catholic High School Friday.
Judge dismisses criminal charges against Gautam Adani but criticises DOJ officials
10:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Judge grants DOJ’s request to dismiss charges against billionaire Adani, but sharply criticizes DOJ officials
A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York dismissed criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday, following a decision by the Justice Department to withdraw the case. However, the judge did not dismiss two counts against five co-defendants, expressing concern over the justification provided by the government officials involved.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis has mandated that the Justice Department clarify its rationale for dismissing the remaining charges against five co-defendants by 31 August. Two prosecutors withdrew from the case after the dismissal motion was filed, raising additional questions regarding the decision-making process within the Justice Department.
A federal judge has demanded the Justice Department provide justification for the dismissal of charges against five co-defendants in the Gautam Adani case by 31 August, highlighting concerns over the unusual decision-making process. Additionally, two career prosecutors have withdrawn from the case following the motion to dismiss, raising questions about the integrity of the proceedings.
What remains unclear — It is not yet known why the Justice Department failed to provide sufficient reasons for the judge to dismiss the two remaining counts against the five co-defendants.
Judge dismisses criminal charges against Gautam Adani but criticises DOJ officials
A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and several of his co-defendants, after politically appointed leaders in the Justice Department decided to kill the case in May.
But in an unusual twist, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis for the Eastern District of New York refused to dismiss two of the counts against five other co-defendants, saying the Justice Department had failed to provide him with a sufficient reason for doing so.
In a scathing 47-page ruling, Garaufis took aim at Trent McCotter, the principal associate deputy attorney general, who he said bears sole responsibility for trying to dismiss the case.
“The irregularities in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning,” Garaufis wrote.
“On the current record, McCotter appears to have eschewed the professional opinions of innumerable officials from various federal offices and replaced them with his singular judgment. The fact that McCotter came to this decision largely in collaboration with defense counsel, and seemingly without input from the FBI and SEC agents who investigated the alleged misconduct, or the attorneys from the Department, SEC, and U.S. Attorney’s Office who brought the case, appears to be highly unusual.”
The high-profile foreign bribery case against Adani was brought at the tail end of former President Joe Biden’s tenure, and it managed to survive even after President Trump ordered the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a review into all of their pending foreign bribery cases.
But after Adani retained Bob Giuffra and Jamie McDonald of Sullivan & Cromwell, the Justice Department in May moved to dismiss the case entirely.
McCotter made the determination after he and other government officials met with McDonald, Giuffra and Andrew DeFilippis of Sullivan & Cromwell, sources previously told WTX US News. McDonald has since been nominated by Mr. Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In one of these meetings at the Justice Department about the Adani case, Giuffra made a presentation that disputed evidence of the alleged bribery scheme, according to sources familiar with the matter and records reviewed by WTX US News. One slide touted how one of Adani’s companies is “powering India’s progress,” and another slide said the Trump administration “would not have brought the case.”
If prosecutors were to drop the charges, Giuffra also said at the meeting, Adani — the leader of a massive Indian conglomerate — would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy, sources told WTX US News.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment beyond the letter McCotter submitted to the court about the case, in which he said he made the decision to dismiss the charges “after conducting numerous meetings with defense counsel” and reviewing “hundreds of pages of materials.”
WTX US News has reached out to Adani’s lawyer for comment.
Judges have some discretion to review motions to dismiss charges, but it is unusual for them to extensively question the government’s rationale for tossing out indictments.
The decision to dismiss the Adani case has raised eyebrows and sparked questions from the judge.
Two career prosecutors who were involved in the case withdrew from the matter after the motion to dismiss was filed. Additionally, politically appointed officials — the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and McCotter— were the only signatories on the motion to dismiss.
McCotter initially pushed back when Garaufis first started raising questions about the motion to dismiss the case, prompting the judge to order Adani last month to provide answers to the court on whether there was any sort of quid pro quo arrangement.
Adani ultimately told the judge no such arrangement existed.
In his ruling Monday, Garaufis said that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) requires the government to “set forth the basis for its motion to dismiss,” which should include its reasons and underlying factual basis for doing so.
“It is evident throughout McCotter’s musings on ‘judicial inquisitions,’ the ‘separation of powers,’ and ‘prosecutorial discretion’ that he would like the court to have no role in reviewing this motion,” Garaufis wrote.
“However, the rule’s legislative history and relevant case law confirm that rule 48(a) was enacted to ensure the court’s limited, but key, role in scrutinizing the government’s decision to dismiss charges once a grand jury returns an indictment.”
He criticized McCotter for failing to provide adequate reasons for dismissing the obstruction and foreign bribery counts, noting he was “unpersuaded” by McCotter’s “unsworn statements regarding hypothetical concerns of ‘diplomatic strife’ and ‘waste[d] resources,’ or his unsubstantiated claim that ‘India can better manage its internal systems than can prosecutors in Brooklyn and Washington.'”
The judge did accept some of the Justice Department’s arguments for dismissing the charges against Adani, saying it was “conceivable that the anti-bribery language used in the financial documents is so generic and vague that it would raise legal risks to the prosecution.”
But he was angered by McCotter’s contention that the case was brought by the Biden-era Justice Department as a name-and-shame exercise.
“McCotter appears to be accusing officials across four different government offices of bringing a detailed 54-page, 5-count indictment out of spite,” he wrote. “However, he has not provided a scintilla of evidence to suggest that the timing of the unsealing of the indictment, or the charging decisions, in this case was politically motivated. McCotter’s baseless assertion is unbecoming of his office.”
He gave the Justice Department an Aug. 31 deadline to advise on its reasons for seeking to dismiss the two counts against the five remaining co-defendants. He also ordered attorneys for the remaining defendants to inform the court that they consent to the dismissal.
Flight cancelled after child refuses to sit and fasten seatbelt in Canada
9:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Flight cancelled after child refused to sit down and fasten their seatbelt | News World
A Porter Airlines flight at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia was cancelled after a child refused to sit down and fasten their seatbelt. The aircraft returned to the gate after attempts by the parent and crew to secure the child were unsuccessful, leaving other passengers stranded for the night.
Porter Airlines confirmed that the flight was cancelled due to safety concerns when a child refused to secure their seatbelt, prompting the aircraft to return to the terminal. Passengers had to disembark, and further delays resulted in them being stranded overnight in British Columbia.
Porter Airlines confirmed the cancellation of flight PD444, stating the child’s refusal to sit down created unsafe conditions for take-off, leading to a return to the terminal for disembarkation. Passengers expressed frustration, with some calling for compensation, though the airline has not yet announced any measures to address their requests.
What remains unclear — Porter Airlines has not announced whether it will compensate passengers affected by the cancelled flight.
Flight cancelled after child refuses to sit and fasten seatbelt in Canada
The flight to Toronto was forced to make all of its passengers disembark (Picture: John Keeble/Getty Images)
A flight in Canada was cancelled after a child refused to sit down and fasten their seatbelt.
A Porter Airlines service at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia had left the terminal and was heading for the runway.
According to the airline, cabin crew and the child’s parent had tried repeatedly to secure the youngster in their seat to no avail.
Without the child strapped into their seat, the plane was forced to return to the gate so the parent and child could be removed along with their luggage.
Other passengers on the Toronto-bound flight PD444 also had to disembark the aircraft while flight plans were refiled among other paperwork.
Passengers were left stranded in British Columbia for the night because the incident delayed the flight past the runway’s closure time at 12.30am,resulting in the flight being cancelled.
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A spokesperson for Porter Airlines confirmed the flight was cancelled after the child created unsafe conditions for take-off (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Porter Airlines said in a statement that the child, whose age has not been reported, had been ‘standing in their seat’ creating unsafe conditions for take-off.
Brad Cicero, a spokesman for the Toronto-based airline, said: ‘After the aircraft left the terminal and proceeded to the runway for departure, a young child was standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt.
‘Attempts by the accompanying parent and crew to address this were unsuccessful.
‘The aircraft could not takeoff in this unsafe condition, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the passengers disembark.
‘We apologise for the effect this had on other passengers, who were able to depart on a flight the following day.’
Passengers speaking to Canadian broadcaster CBC said they was ‘a lot of frustration’ over the situation, with one explaining that the child was acting in fear rather than bad behaviour.
Ayreh Kozuch said: ‘They just kept hiding under their seat. If they got forced into being strapped in, they just kind of slid out underneath.”
Passengers on the plane were left stranded in British Columbia following the incident (Picture: Justin Tang/The Canadian Press v)
Another passenger, Hillary Hertzberg, said ‘it took forever’ for the parent and child to leave the plane.
‘The kid eventually got off the plane at 11.30pm, so we had been on the flight for almost an hour at that point.’
She said she wanted the airline to cover the costs for the passengers. Porter Airlines has not publicly commented on whether it would compensate passengers.
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