Moroccan tourists 'shot dead' after entering Algerian waters on jet ski - Sky News

Two Moroccan tourists on jet skis have reportedly been shot dead after straying into Algerian waters.

They were among a group who lost their bearings off the Moroccan town of Saidia on Tuesday.

"We were low on fuel for the water scooters and were drifting. In the darkness, we found ourselves in Algerian waters," Mohamed Kissi told Moroccan site Le360.

He said his brother Bilal, 29, and Abdelali Mechouer, 40, were killed after an Algerian government boat approached them and started firing.

He claimed they attacked despite seeing they were unarmed and his brother exchanging words with them.

Another man in their party was wounded and detained, said Mr Kissi, who said he swam away before being picked up by Moroccan authorities.

There is a long history of tensions between the two North African countries over issues such as the disputed Western Sahara region.

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Their border has been closed since 1994 and diplomatic relations were cut in 2021.

Moroccan authorities said they couldn't comment on the incident because the case is a judicial matter. Algerian authorities have also yet to respond.

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Some of the group have dual Moroccan-French nationality, and France's foreign ministry confirmed it had received word that one of its nationals had been killed and another detained.

It said it was in contact with the families and authorities in both Algeria and Morocco.

Mr Mechouer's father, meanwhile, said he wanted his son's body brought home.

"I appeal to Moroccan and Algerian authorities to reach an agreement to bring my son back to me to observe a proper funeral and burial for him," he said.

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2023-09-01 13:27:44Z
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Zelenskyy boasts of new long-range weapon days after strikes inside Russia - Financial Times

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2023-09-01 15:20:19Z
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Zelenskyy boasts of new long-range weapon days after strikes inside Russia - Financial Times

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During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.

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If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

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2023-09-01 12:03:02Z
2350199041

Jet ski tourists shot dead off coast of Algeria - BBC

Getty Images

By George Wright

BBC News

The Algerian coastguard has shot dead two tourists holidaying in Morocco who reportedly strayed into Algerian waters on their jet skis.

They were among four French-Moroccan dual nationals who had set off from the Moroccan resort of Saidia.

A third member of the group was arrested by the coastguard which patrol the two states' closed border.

The two nations have a long history of tensions, as they continue to dispute Western Sahara.

The border between them was closed in 1994, with Algiers severing ties two years ago. It accused Morocco of hostile acts - an allegation rejected by Rabat.

• Drugs, dates and disputes at mules' border crossing

The shooting sparked anger in Morocco after a fisherman posted footage of a lifeless body floating in the sea.

Mohamed Kissi was the only one of the group of four to make it back to Morocco, AFP news agency reports, quoting Moroccan media.

"We got lost but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria," said Mr Kissi, whose brother Bilal was killed. He said the group had also run out of fuel.

"We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came towards us" and those on board "fired at us", he said.

"Thank God I wasn't hit but they killed my brother and my friend," he added.

Mr Kissi denied the group had tried to escape when they were discovered by the coastguard, telling local media that his brother had tried talking to officials before he was shot.

"They arrested my other friend. Five bullets hit my brother and my friend. My other friend was hit by a bullet."

Mr Kissi said he then tried to swim back to Saidia and was eventually picked up by the Moroccan navy.

His cousin, the actor Abdelkarim Kissi, has called on the Moroccan authorities to bring the case to international courts.

"They killed Bilal Kissi my little cousin," he wrote on social media.

"His only fault was crossing the Algerian territorial waters, he was on vacation with his friends."

Abdelali Merchouer has been named as the second man killed.

His body is still in Algeria, according to Moroccan news site Le360.

The man arrested by the Algerian coastguard, named as Smail Snabe, reportedly appeared before a prosecutor on Wednesday but no details were given.

A Moroccan government spokesman declined to comment on the shooting, telling AFP it was "a matter for the judiciary".

There was no immediate comment from Algeria.

The two nations share a border nearly 2,000km (1,242 miles) long which has been a source of tension since independence from French colonial rule.

It was closed in 1994 for security reasons after Islamist militants bombed a hotel in the historic Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

Related Topics

• France
• Algeria
• Africa
• Morocco

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2023-09-01 07:09:09Z
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South Africa president Ramaphosa says blaze that killed 74 people 'a wake up call' - The Independent

Deadly fire rages at multi-storey building in Johannesburg

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South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa said that the Johannesburg blaze that killed 74 people was ‘a wake up call’ for South Africa’s economic hub to address its inner-city housing crisis.

“This is a great tragedy felt by families whose loved ones perished in this awful manner, and our hearts go out to every person affected by this event.”

More than 200 people were living in the building that was ripped through a nighttime fire.

Families were also living in the basement, which should have been used as a parking garage, said witnesses. Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said 141 families were affected by the tragedy but could not say exactly how many people were in the building when the fire started.

Some of the people living in a maze of shacks and other makeshift structures inside the building threw themselves out of windows to escape the fire – one of the worst in South Africa’s history. Officials say that 12 children are among the dead.

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Searching for relatives

One woman told journalists she was outside the building searching for her 24-year-old daughter.

"As soon as I heard the building was burning down, I knew I had to run here to come and look for her," she said.

"Now that I'm here, I'm kept in suspense because I really don't know what is happening. I don't get any direction - so I'm actually very anxious, I don't know if my daughter is alive."

Chris Stevenson1 September 2023 09:35

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Fire took three hours to contain

The fire took three hours to contain and firefighters then needed a long time to work through all five floors, said Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

He said there were “obstructions” everywhere that would have made it very difficult for residents to escape the deadly blaze and which hindered emergency crews trying to search the site.

The chance of anyone else being found alive hours after the fire broke out was “very slim,” Mr Mulaudzi said.

Namita Singh1 September 2023 08:03

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Cyril Ramaphosa offers condolences over the accident

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has condoled the deaths in the Johannesburg fire. “This is a great tragedy felt by families whose loved ones perished in this awful manner, and our hearts go out to every person affected by this event,” she said.

A spokesperson for Mr Ramaphosa said he had offered the assistance of the national disaster management agency if needed, and the president later visited the scene having canceled last evening’s television address on the Brics economic summit held in Johannesburg last week.

Mr Ramaphosa called the fire devastating and a “wake-up call” for South Africa’s economic hub to address its inner-city housing crisis.“We are not here to blame anyone,” Mr Ramaphosa said outside the burned building. “This is a difficult lesson for all of us.”

Namita Singh1 September 2023 07:35

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In pictures: Search and rescue operation after blaze that killed 74

A group of private security guards gather near the entrance of a burned apartment block in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

Private security guards patrol the scene of a fire in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

A private security guard stands at the scene of a fire in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

An officer of the South African Police Service (SAPS) climbs on an armoured personnel carrier as a private security guard stands near the entrance of a burned apartment block in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

Namita Singh1 September 2023 07:15

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More than 140 families affected, say authorities

More than 200 people were living in the building that was ripped through a nighttime fire.

Families were also living in the basement, which should have been used as a parking garage, said witnesses.

Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said 141 families were affected by the tragedy but could not say exactly how many people were in the building when the fire started. Many of the people inside were foreign nationals, he said. That could make identifying victims and tracing the missing hard as many were likely in South Africa illegally, other officials said.

A firefighter climbs a ladder as they extinguish a fire in an apartment block in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

A woman who asked not to be identified said she lived in the building and escaped with her grown son and a two-year-old child. She stood outside holding the toddler for hours and said she didn’t know what happened to two other children from her family.“I just saw smoke everywhere and I just ran out with this baby only,” the woman said. “I don’t have any home, and I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Namita Singh1 September 2023 07:00

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Footage shows deadly fire raging at Johannesburg multi-storey building

Footage shows deadly fire raging at Johannesburg multi-storey building

A fire burning at a multi-storey building in Johannesburg on Thursday (31 August) has killed more than 50 people, city officials have said. Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said 58 bodies had been recovered and 43 people had been injured, with search and recovery operations continuing on Thursday morning at the block on the corner of Delvers and Alberts street in Marshalltown. The building’s occupants were evacuated when firefighters arrived on scene, according to officials. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

Namita Singh1 September 2023 06:30

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Johannesburg: An unequal city with widespread housing crisis

Johannesburg remains one of the world’s most unequal cities with widespread poverty, joblessness and a housing crisis. It has about 15,000 homeless people, according to the Gauteng government.

Household fires are common in Johannesburg, especially in poor areas. One of the poorest townships, Alexandra, has seen hundreds of homes razed in several fires over the past five years.

A man looks on at a burned apartment block in Johannesburg on 31 August 2023

(AFP via Getty Images)

The city suffers from chronic power shortages during which many resort to candles for light and wood fires for heat. Authorities said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Lebogang Isaac Maile, the head of the Human Settlements department for Gauteng province said it “demonstrates a chronic problem of housing” in the province “as we’ve previously said that there’s at least 1.2 million people who need housing”.

Namita Singh1 September 2023 06:00

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Apartheid heritage building

Johannesburg officials initially suggested the building had been occupied by squatters, but Lebogang Isaac Maile, the head of the Human Settlements department for Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, said some of those who died may have been renting from, or were being extorted by, criminal gangs.

“There are cartels who prey on who are vulnerable people. Because some of these buildings, if not most of them, are actually in the hands of those cartels who collect rental from the people,” he told reporters.

City mayor Kabelo Gwamanda told reporters the municipality had leased it to a charity for displaced women but that it had “ended up serving a different purpose”. He did not give details.

A sign at the entrance to the block identified it as a heritage building from South Africa’s apartheid past, where Black South Africans came to collect their “dompas” - documents that would enable them to work in white-owned areas of the city.

Namita Singh1 September 2023 05:30

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Watch: South African president visit site of Johannesburg fire which killed more than 70

Namita Singh1 September 2023 05:00

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At least 60 injured in a blaze sweeping derelict building

More than 60 people were being treated for injuries after a fire ripped through a building in Johannesburg – one of the deadliest blazes in South Africa’s history.

Emergency services officials had earlier warned that the death toll could rise as they continued to search the scene.

Dozens of bodies recovered by firefighters were laid out on a side road outside the apartment block, some in body bags.

“Over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said.

Namita Singh1 September 2023 04:30

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2023-09-01 07:03:47Z
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Live news: Donald Trump pleads not guilty and waives arraignment in Georgia election case - Financial Times

What is included in my trial?

During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.

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For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.

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2023-08-31 17:17:21Z
2392314124

South Africa fire: What are Johannesburg's hijacked buildings? - BBC

AFP

By Lucy Fleming

BBC News

Many buildings in the centre of the South African city of Johannesburg, where a horrific fire has killed more than 70 people, are deemed unfit to live in.

Yet these old blocks, abandoned by their owners or the city authorities, are full of families often paying rent to criminal gangs who run them.

The buildings, which lack running water, toilets or a legal electricity connection, are then said to have been "hijacked".

Scores of people often live in one room, often former offices. Fires are common - though nothing on the scale of the one that went up in flames overnight.

A firefighter at the scene of the five-storey building, in an area called Marshalltown, said many shack-like structures had been erected inside - making things even more combustible.

People tend to cook on paraffin stoves and during the cold winter months - June to September - fires are often lit in large metal drums with wood and other scavenged items thrown in for fuel.

Candles are often used and the numerous illegal electricity connections rigged up to provide power for those inside also pose a fire hazard. It is common to see satellite dishes hanging by windows.

One person who escaped the recent inferno told the BBC the fire had started during a power cut - which happen frequently throughout the country.

She said the cut in the electricity supply triggered a bunch of gunshot-like sounds followed by a massive explosion.

Reuters

The woman asked not to be named - this is because the occupants of these buildings are there illegally, and they tend to shun the authorities and media.

Two years ago, photographer Shiraaz Mohamed gained the trust of some residents of an infamous building in Johannesburg's Hillbrow area - and published a piece on the BBC about their lives.

They told him about the unsanitary conditions - the smell of faeces permeating the corridors as occupants relieved themselves in the building's empty spaces or sometimes on the pavement.

Those living there, who did their best to keep their own areas clean, were a mix of poor South Africans as well as migrants from across Africa - some of whom lack documents and are in the country illegally.

The city centre of Johannesburg is a dangerous place to be - with high levels of crime. It is still referred to as the Central Business District (CBD), though many businesses have long fled.

This happened around the time that white-minority rule ended in 1994. During apartheid, the government imposed strict racial segregation of cities - pushing black and mixed-raced communities into townships outside.

When apartheid was dismantled, those who had been pushed to the edges of cities could move in. Poor people looking for affordable housing moved close to where they worked to avoid high transport costs.

With some businesses and wealthier residents of the CBD moving to the more affluent northern suburbs, including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, old commercial buildings in the city centre were turned into low-rent apartments.

AFP

The newly liberated country also attracted migrants, some fortune-seekers, some refugees - many of whom settled in this cheap housing the city centre.

South Africa faced and still faces a critical housing shortage - a legacy of apartheid and one of the governing African National Congress's greatest challenges.

The country remains one of the most divided and unequal societies in the world.

In Johannesburg, the country's largest city, 15,000 people were estimated to be homeless earlier this year, the provincial department told fact-checking website Africa Check.

Following the exodus of businesses, the CBD became a no-go area with a reputation for crime and violence, and some buildings were reportedly abandoned by owners as rates owed to the council exceeded their value.

Johannesburg city authorities began efforts to rejuvenate things more than a decade ago. They declared building unfit for human habitation and - often after court cases - rehoused some of the residents.

By law property owners must offer a building's occupants alternative accommodation before evicting them, even if they are undocumented migrants.

Some parts of the CBD have been redeveloped - with private investment.

AFP

Yet as derelict buildings proliferated - some owned by the council and tied up in legal wrangles - criminal syndicates spotted an opening to make money, further exploiting those desperate for accommodation.

The rent can be fairly high - but these kind of landlords overlook a bad credit history or the fact that the tenants have no official documents.

It is a tough life for those living in a hijacked building. Drugs and addiction proliferate - and outsiders are at risk when they venture in.

Yet for the occupants, when they open up about their lives, it is clear the abandoned buildings offer a roof over their heads and a chance to dream of a better future.

Related Topics

• South Africa

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2023-08-31 14:44:56Z
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