BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 15, (Xinhua/GNA) — The wildfire in Argentina’s Nahuel Huapi National Park has so far destroyed over 3,500 hectares, local authorities reported on Friday.
“Following several reconnaissance flights, the fire’s perimeter was updated with greater accuracy, estimating an affected area of 3,527 hectares,” the park’s administration said in a press statement. The area, it said, was shrouded in smoke Friday morning, which spread across nearby valleys and prevented aerial operations to combat the blaze. Access from Los Rapidos to the Circuito Cascada los Alerces area would remain conditionally restricted over the weekend, allowing only authorized vehicles from official institutions and local residents, it added.
Established in 1934, Nahuel Huapi National Park spans 710,000 hectares across the southern provinces of Neuquen and Rio Negro. It is Argentina’s first national park and protects Andean ecosystems in northern Patagonia, water basins, wildlife and a diverse cultural heritage.
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Social Aircraft Crash
At least 3 killed on ground as light aircraft crash-lands in coastal Kenya
MALINDI, Kenya, Jan.12 (Xinhua/GNA) — Three people on the ground were killed Friday in Malindi, a town on the north coast of Kenya, when a light aircraft crash-landed on a roadside, the police confirmed.
Kilifi County Police Commander Joseph Ongwae, said the aircraft, 5Y-CDC, had taken off from Malindi Airport en route to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, when it soon developed mechanical problems and crashed at about two km outside the airport at around 2:52 p.m., local time (1152 GMT). Ongwae said the aircraft, which had a pilot, an instructor, and a student, all of whom survived, landed on several motorcycles in the vicinity. “Two motorcycle taxi riders and a pillion were killed during the incident, while three people escaped with injuries,” the police commander said at the scene.
Video footage shared online showed parts of the plane lying on the road as a section of it was on fire, an indication that it burst into flames on impact. Separate images showed nearby makeshift structures had also caught fire, but fire engines arrived and put out the fire.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has launched an investigation into the incident, confirming the aircraft had three people on board who survived and were rushed to the hospital. “Regrettably, there were three fatalities on the ground.
Government agencies are already on the site to establish the cause of the accident,” said the KCAA in a press release.
GNA