Man who died in Yellowstone National Park dissolved in acidic hot spring

Staff reporter(wp/es):

A young American man who died after he slipped into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park dissolved before his body could be recovered.

Colin Scott, 23, from Oregon, died in June when he accidentally fell while looking for a place to soak, or “hot pot”, in the park’s acidic thermal pools.

Rescuers later found his body in the pool but abandoned attempts to retrieve it because of the danger to themselves and an approaching lightning storm.

The next day, workers were unable to find any "significant" remains in the boiling water.

Yellowstone's deputy chief ranger Lorant Veress said: "In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving,"

The incident, which was recorded by the victim’s sister on her mobile phone, emerged following a freedom of information request.

Mr Veress told KULR 8, which broke the story, said the springs were an “unforgiving environment”.

He said: “The whole area is geothermally active.

“There's a closure in place to protect people from doing that for their own safety. It's a very unforgiving environment.”

Yellowstone National Park, which was established in 1872, is situated mostly in Wyoming but parts also extends into Montana and Idaho. 

Woman killed after being hit by Range Rover 'while standing on traffic island'

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A woman has died after being hit by a car while reportedly standing on a traffic island in east London.

The pedestrian, in her 30s, was struck by a white Range Rover Sport, in Commercial Road, Limehouse, just before 11.30pm on Thursday.

It is believed she was standing on a traffic island in the middle of the busy road when she was hit.

Metropolitan Police officers and crews from London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance rushed to the scene but the woman was pronounced dead at midnight.

A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. 

He is being held at an east London hospital.

A Met Police spokesman said: “Next of kin have been informed. Formal identification is yet to take place.

“A post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.”

Detectives are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.

woman trapped under bus which mounted pavement 'avoiding car crash'

Pic:13 people were hurt when the bus veered off the pavement
Staff reporter(wp/es):

A woman was pinned under a double decker bus which mounted the pavement while trying to avoid a car crash, witnesses said today.

Thirteen other people who are understood to have been on board the bus were also hurt in the crash in Ladbroke Grove.

Emergency services rushed to the scene after the woman was hit by the double-decker near the junction with Canal Way just before noon on Thursday.

The woman was trapped under the vehicle. Dramatic pictures show the bus crashed on the pavement with dozens of police officers and paramedics working nearby.

A total of 14 people, including the driver of the bus, were injured in the collision. Police said the victims' injuries were not life threatening or changing.

The woman who was trapped has since been taken to hospital after being released by fire crews.

Personal trainer Karim Roundi, 25, who lives opposite the crash scene said he was on a lunch break when he witnessed the collision.

He told the Standard: “Someone stepped out onto a pedestrian crossing and a car slammed on its brakes. 

“The car behind went into the back of it and the bus swerved out of the way to avoid colliding into them.

“It lost control and went up onto the pavement and hit a block of flats.

“I didn’t realise it hit a woman at first"

“The top window was smashed so I think people on the top deck must have been hurt as well, you could see them getting off the bus.

“There was a lot of screaming when it happened. I went to Sainsbury’s and came back to see police had locked off the road.”

A police spokesman said: “Emergency services are dealing with a collision in Ladbroke Grove. 

“Police were called at 11:51hrs on Thursday, 17 November to Ladbroke Gove near the junction with Canal Way, W10.

“It was reported that a bus had been in collision with a pedestrian.

“London Ambulance Service and London fire Brigade attended.

“A female was reported trapped, she has been taken to a central London hospital; her condition awaits.

“Road closures are in place while emergency services deal.”

Worker Ali Nabi Nur said an air ambulance landed in Emslie Horniman Pleasance park off Bosworth Road.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 11.51am today to reports of a road traffic collision at Ladbroke Grove.” 

“We sent multiple resources to the scene, including four ambulance crews, a single responder in a car, an incident response officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance. The first of our medics arrived at the scene in under six minutes. 

“We are treating a number of patients and more information will follow.” 

Tony Akers, TfL’s Head of Bus Operations, said: “Just before midday today, a route 52 double deck bus, operated by Metroline, was involved in a collision with a pedestrian at the junction of Ladbroke Grove and Canal Way. 

“Emergency services attended the scene. There will be a full investigation into the incident.”

Barking and Dagenham tops list of London's 'least vibrant boroughs'

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Barking and Dagenham has been named London’s least “vibrant” area, according to a new study.

The east London borough was given the lowest score in the capital following a ‘vibrant economy’ index.

The list measures places across England with the best balance between economic growth, social equality, health and happiness.

The list, compiled by accountants Grant Thornton, analyses 52 factors including economic output, earnings, crime statistics and obesity levels.

Barking and Dagenham measured at 92.09 on the index with the next lowest Newham at 96.46.

Waltham Forest, Enfield, Lewisham, Redbridge, Hackney and Haringey all scored less than 100, according to the rankings.

Leafy Richmond upon Thames was named London’s most ‘vibrant’ area and was third in England overall behind Cambridge and Oxford.

It is not the first time Barking and Dagenham has been highlighted as one of the most unappealing parts of the capital.

Last month, the borough was named the least prosperous in Londonaccording to the UK Prosperity Index, which studied education, health and well-being alongside the local economy.

Horrifying moment coach careers into car which killed three people

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This is the horrific moment a coach crashes into the back of a car in a high speed crash in which three people died. 

The chilling footage, released by police, shows the double-decker coach craeer into the back of a car which was pulled over on the hard shoulder of the M1.

Allan Evans 59, from Islington, Tom Aldridge, 20, and Nathan Reeves, 23, both from Newport Pagnell, were killed when the coach carrying cheerleaders crashed into their car early on Valentines day 2015.

Coach driver Alan Peters, now 78, from Gravesend, was convicted after a court heard that he “consistently ignored” signs stating the hard shoulder was only to be used in emergencies.

A fourth man, Jake Dorling, suffered serious injuries in the collision including a fractured skull and a punctured lung. 

Jake, Tom, and Nathan were being given a lift back to Buckinghamshire by Allan following a night out in London when the “tragic” incident happened. 

They had pulled onto the hard shoulder after the car's oil light came on and were about to re-enter the motorway when Peters crashed into them.

The jury heard how Peters failed to see signs saying that the hard shoulder was not to be used except for in emergencies and travelled along it for almost three minutes before colliding with the car – which had its hazard warning lights activated. 

The Crown Prosecution Service also told the court that he had been driving along the hard shoulder for three minutes prior to the collision.

The car had been visible for almost a minute before the crash but he only applied brakes 0.4 seconds before impact.

Peters pleaded guilty to causing the deaths by careless driving, but his pleas were not accepted and, on Wednesday, he was found guilty of three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

PC David Clarke, of the Bedfordshire Forensic Collisions Investigation Unit, said: “This was an utterly devastating incident which resulted in three innocent men having their lives cut short. 

“What makes this even more tragic is that the collision was completely avoidable. 

“Peters consistently ignored signs saying that the hard shoulder was for emergencies only and also had ample time in which to see the car and move to a different lane. 

“His lack of attentiveness on that fatal morning has forever changed the lives of four families and Peters will have to live with that for the rest of his life.”

A statement written on behalf the families said: “The loss of Tom, Nathan and Alan, due to the actions of Mr Peters, has dealt a devastating blow to our families, a blow from which we will never fully recover. 

“Nothing can ever make up for the heartache caused by events on that day, but we hope that this incident will act as a reminder to all other drivers to pay attention to the road at all time.”

Peters will be sentenced in December.

'Crazy' plan to build Westway cycle superhighway scrapped by Mayor

Pic:The planned cycling superhighway adjacent to the Westway
Staff  reporter(wp/es):

Plans to remove a lane from the A40 Westway flyover to create a segregated cycle superhighway have been axed by Sadiq Khan, it emerged today.

The 4.5-mile route was proposed by then-mayor Boris Johnson as an extension of his flagship east-west Victoria Embankment superhighway and would have linked Paddington and Acton, creating a safe route between west London and Tower Hill.

The idea of removing one of three eastbound lanes attracted 71 per cent support in a Transport for London consultation but had sparked concern among motorists and taxi drivers.

The Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush said it would lead to longer tailbacks for shoppers.

The decision emerged from a discussion between Val Shawcross, Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for transport, and British Cycling campaigner Chris Boardman.

Former cycling tsar Andrew Gilligan, who revealed the route’s axing, said: “The cancellation will probably mean that no segregated cycle route from central to west London is delivered in this mayoral term.

“The flyover is in fact the easiest place to put a route. There are none of the usual issues with residents, pedestrians, buses, parking, loading, or junctions. There were even benefits for motorists – several westbound journeys would have been quicker.” 

The Westway route was proposed because of the refusal of Kensington and Chelsea council to allow a cycle superhighway to be built on Kensington High Street. 

It is believed that TfL is instead looking at “alternative routes that will be better”. This is part of the new Mayor’s wish to make cycling and walking joint priorities.

Green assembly member Caroline Russell: “Taking bikes up and over the Westway isn’t necessarily the best route. If Val, who is very persuasive, has managed to get a street-level route, that is not a problem. If she hasn’t, that is very disappointing.”

Ms Russell today published a report calling on Mr Khan to keep his promise to “make London a byword for cycling across the world”.

She called for “a strategic network of fast, direct bike routes from the suburbs to the city centre” and called for every borough to be able to follow Waltham Forest, Kingston and Enfield and receive TfL cash to create a Mini Holland pro-cycling and walking scheme.

She said the Mayor should use his powers to take over borough roads if councils refused to allow cycle superhighways to be built. She called for £1,55 billion - 15 per cent of the TfL budget over the next four years - to be spent on cycling and walking to bring the capital up to Copenhagen levels of spending.

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said the Westway cycle superhighway was a “crazy” idea that would have taken cyclists way off their most direct route. “No-one was going to use it,” he said.

“We’re ambivalent - the A40 [superhighway] would have had very little impact on us. If Sadiq is going to show common sense, we would want him to rule against CS11 through Regent’s Park and Swiss Cottage. We think that is going to cause chaos.”

Mr McNamara added: “We think segregated cycling is the way to go, but on Upper Thames Street, as someone said, it’s done more damage to London than the Luftwaffe. 

“Why wasn’t London the first to have a ‘pop-up’ superhighway? The barriers could have popped up at 630am, gone down during the day and popped up again at 4pm. There’s no-one using the superhighway after 10am but the traffic’s back to Canary Wharf.”

A spokesman for the Mayor said: "Sadiq is absolutely committed to making cycling in London safer and easier - that's why he has asked TfL to increase spending on cycling compared to the previous administration in which Mr Gilligan was the Cycling Commissioner.

"The Mayor has already approved the next two cycle super-highways and is committed to delivering a new East-West route."

two friends killed in horror crash on A12 while driver fights for life in intensive care

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A young father lies in intensive care fighting for life following a “devastating” car crash in which two of his close friends were killed.

Yousif Al-Mussawi, 26, from Maida Vale, was at the wheel of the BMW when it veered off a dual-carriageway and hit a tree.

Farhad-Zubair Maqbool and Yahya Sharif, both 25 and from Acton, west London, were killed instantly in the accident on the northbound A12 at Ingatestone, near Brentwood, at 11.20pm on Saturday.

The trio had been driving to the Chelmsford campus of Anglia Ruskin University where Mr Sharif is a student, friends said.

Mr Al-Mussawi, who works for Virgin Media, was today being held in an induced coma at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge having undergone eight hours of surgery.

According to his Facebook profile, he moved to London from Baghdad and studied engineering at Kingston University. He married in 2011 and has a young daughter.

His family today shared a shocking image of the keen footballer on his hospital bed to “spread the word” about his condition. 

A GoFundMe page has set up to raise money to support all three families raised more than £7,000 in its first 24 hours.

Omar Elsisi, 23, who studied with Mr Sharif at Anglia Ruskin, told the Standard: “Yahya was a decent man and well-liked among students. He would help anyone without ever asking for something in return.

“He went to London on Saturday morning to get to the barbers for a trim and buy a new jacket. He was aiming to get back in the evening after visiting friends.” 

Mr Elsisi said he became concerned for his colleague when he failed to answer messages on WhatsApp on Saturday night.

He said: “The next day he wasn’t online and we all found out on Facebook that they had crashed, we are all devastated. 

“Yahya was so bright and friendly, he was aiming for the top achievements on the course.

“He was very young, we are broken up about it. He loved his friends and they were very close.”

Abdifatah Abdi, who created the campaign, wrote: “Three of our friends were driving to Essex when their car lost control and collided with a tree. 

“Farhad and Yayha were pronounced dead at the scene, while Yousif underwent eight hours of surgery and is currently in a critical condition.

“They were driving to drop Yayha at his university and there was no other car involved.

“All three were good natured people, they had ambitions for the future, and now the future on this earth is gone for at least two of them.

“While this is so hard to accept, we must channel our feelings at this time to help support their families who we class as our own.”

Anisa Choudhury paid tribute to Mr Maqbool, with whom she had studied at Queen Mary University of London, on Facebook. 

She said: “I never in a million years thought you would leave this world so soon. 

“You were full of life, ambition and you had so much ahead of you, so many plans, hopes and dreams that have now been cruelly snatched away. 

“I wish someone would tell me it wasn’t true, I keep calling your phone waiting for you to pick up but you don’t. 

“The world is not the same without you. Life is too short. It could have been any of us in their place.”

DS Damon Bainbridge, of Essex Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “We are appealing for any drivers who were in the area at the time and saw the BMW before the collision.

“We are particularly keen to trace a driver who was travelling ahead of the car and might have seen what happened.”