Iran’s presidential election is expected to head to a second round after none of the candidates managed to secure more than 50% in Friday’s vote, according to the spokesperson of the election committee, Mohsen Eslami.

A runoff vote is expected to take place on July 5 between the candidates with the most votes – Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist lawmaker and former health minister ahead of Saeed Jalili, a hardline security adviser and former nuclear negotiator.

The results will be reviewed by the influential Guardian Council before the top two candidates start campaigning again.

Pezeshkian received almost 10.5 million votes while the runner up Jalili received almost 9.5 million votes, according to numbers published by state news agency IRNA.

Twenty-four million people cast their ballots out of 60 million eligible voters, with a turnout of 40%, Eslami said.

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow…

Dozens of sick and injured children, including 20 cancer patients, have been evacuated from Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, the first to leave since Israel launched its offensive in Rafah last month.

The 68 were transferred to Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, Israeli authorities say. COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for approving aid into Gaza, coordinated the passage along with the Israeli military, the US, Egypt and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The news provided a moment of relief for the parents, whose children who had been unable to access lifesaving care after more than eight months of Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

“She is suffering and moving between hospitals receiving blood treatments… Every day she feels more pain than the day before,” said her mother Umm Ubaida. “She is extremely tired. She can’t wait any longer.”

The evacuations come with the southern Rafah crossing, a key transit point, still closed despite negotiations on its re-opening.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the evacuation on Friday. He appealed for increased medical passage “via all possible routes including Rafah and Karem Shalom, to Egypt, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and from there to other countries when needed.”

But as Israel’s siege persists – and the risk of famine grows – Palestinian officials have warned that the operation was “a drop in the ocean” compared to hundreds more severely ill children who are still trapped in the ravaged enclave.

More than 25,000 sick people require urgent treatment abroad, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Among those are 980 children with cancer – including 250 patients who could face “certain death” – the ministry reported on Friday. Israel’s military campaign has depleted the medical system and drained food supplies.

Israel insists there is “no limit” on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, but human rights agencies warn that its rigid inspection regime on trucks, sustained restrictions on land crossings and relentless bombing campaign means relief is barely dripping in.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were abducted.

Israeli attacks in Gaza have since killed 37,718 Palestinians and injured another 86,377 people, according to Gaza health officials.

‘I was not allowed to leave with them’

Even before the war, chronically ill patients in Gaza faced numerous hurdles when trying to access medical treatment abroad – having lived through years of partial blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

“I submitted a request to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to travel with them. They said you cannot travel because you are less than 60 years old.”

Diego Cardeñosa has loved sharks ever since he was a child. The Colombia native was never afraid of them when he visited his beloved beach. Instead, he was fascinated with how sharks move through water using their multiple fins. It’s no surprise he became a marine biologist.

“As soon as I realized they were going through a conservation crisis, I wanted to help what I love the most,” said Cardeñosa.

Sharks need him more than ever. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature reports 35% of all shark species are threatened with extinction. That number has grown nearly 50% in a decade’s time.

The primary reason is overfishing; shark meat and fins are highly sought.

“They are being killed at a rate that cannot be sustained in the future,” said Cardeñosa.

Scientists worry the sharks’ dwindling numbers could bring ecological collapse as they play a number of key roles in the ocean.

Unlike many fish, sharks take a long time to reproduce. Fisheries kill about 100 million sharks a year, according to the non-profit Save Our Seas. Many sharks end up as bycatch when long lines and gill nets unintentionally catch them.

The largest demand that drives the international trade is shark fin soup. “Shark finning is problematic because when you remove the fins from a shark and you put it back in the water, it’s just like a rock or a log just falling to the bottom of the ocean,” said Cardeñosa.

“If they cannot swim, they will suffocate to death.”

Hammerheads are one of the of the most critically endangered sharks- having lost 80% of their population in just the last three decades.

“Their fins are big and really good quality,” said the scientist. “That means they’re thick and they have these cartilaginous filaments that are used in the shark fin soup.”

In recent years, demand has also risen for shark meat- a cheap protein consumed throughout Europe and South America.

A small DNA tool makes a big difference

Today Cardeñosa is fighting the illegal trade of endangered sharks as a Distinguished Postdoctoral scholar at Florida International University in Miami. The marine biologist is using molecular and forensic tools to combat smuggling that stretches from Hong Kong to Latin America.

One of the biggest challenges for law enforcement at ports around the world is determining whether shipments of shark fins and meat are violating CITES- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

“A lot of the fins look the same,” explained Cardeñosa. “How can you tell whether a shark fin that is coming into the country is legal or illegal, is from a species that is regulated or not regulated?”

Cardeñosa, along with fellow FIU adjunct professor Demian Chapman, came up with a portable DNA kit that looks like a small red cube. It identifies species and country of origin of shark fins and meat coming into ports.

“We take a little piece of this fin, we run it through a machine for two hours, and we’re able to tell what species it is without sequencing very cheaply, very quickly.”

For years, port authorities were sending samples off-site to labs for testing that came back days if not a week later- slowing down the seizures.

Their technology is now used in the shark trade’s busiest ports: Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Spain, Belize, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.

Cardeñosa said it has helped Hong Kong authorities go from seizing an average of five tons of shark fins annually before 2018 to one hundred tons since they started using the tool.

His DNA toolkits have also helped stop illegal shipments of European eels and South America’s matamata turtles, earning the marine scientist Interpol’s Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol medal.

A decade of pounding pavement leads to international shark protections

Cardeñosa and a team of Hong Kong scientists have surveyed fish markets for a decade to determine the source of their shark meat and fins.

Using DNA, they’ve tested more than 15,000 samples in Hong Kong and mainland China and discovered a whopping two-thirds of what’s being sold in those markets are from threatened shark species.

“We’re removing and trading some of the ones that are the most critically endangered in the ocean,” said Cardeñosa.

That research has helped expand the number of shark species now regulated by CITES. Governments that sign on to the agreement must require permits for every shipment of shark products that moves through their ports, ensuring the trade is legal, traceable and sustainable.

Cardeñosa said when he got started in the field, there were only five or six shark species regulated by the CITES agreement. Today there are more than 150 sharks and rays covered.

Cardeñosa also discovered through genetic tracing that 85% of the fins at those markets belong to sharks caught in the Eastern Pacific, which stretches from Baja, California south through Central and South America to Peru- including Cardeñosa’s home country, Colombia.

“The vast majority of the markets and the fisheries for sharks around the world are unsustainable, unmanaged, unregulated and sometimes illegal,” said Cardeñosa.

The scientist is working with fishermen in South America – some of whom rely on fishing all kinds of marine life for their livelihoods. He’s teaching them ways to fish sustainably – without dangerous long lines and gillnets – and how to protect known endangered shark populations.

“What we’re trying to do is to identify areas where those hammerhead sharks spend the majority of the time and make agreements with them to not fish those locations.”

Cardeñosa says good management of shark fisheries “is a really hard task to do. Everybody is trying to find a way to do it.”

He also enlists those local fishermen to help him. “We teach them how to collect data and bring them in as part of our projects to help.”

The shark scientist is also trying to convince more countries to sign on to the CITES convention on sharks.

How you can help sharks

One of the easiest ways to help sharks and all marine life is to try to consume seafood from sustainable sources. There are a number of online resources and apps for that including the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.

Just 4% of global shark catches are sustainable – so it’s generally not a good idea to consume sharks. Additionally, their dense meat often contains a lot of mercury.

“That will go to our lab and our programs to fund these projects and really have an impact on a global scale.”

You can also donate to the research Cardeñosa is conducting at FIU’s Research Foundation.

At least eight people have been injured after a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Peru overnight Friday at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGC).

The quake hit 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of Atiquipa, about 600 kilometers (372 miles) south of the capital Lima.

Some residents of Atiquipa said on social media they felt a very strong and long quake that caused their beds to shake.

CCTV footage from the nearby town of Caraveli shows a residential street as the tremor shakes violently and people come out of their houses.

The quake was felt as far as the capital. Video posted to social media shows lamps swaying inside houses in Lima.

Eight people have been injured in the incident, according to authorities. Of those, five received medical attention in two hospitals in the Ica region and three were treated for minor injuries at a hospital in the neighboring Arequipa region, both in southwestern Peru, the ministry of health said Friday morning.

No deaths have been registered following the quake, according to Prime Minister, Gustavo Adrianzen.

“We are just finishing analyzing the preliminary reports which tell us that there are no deaths, and we are monitoring the impact on infrastructures,” Adrianzen told radio RPP, according to Andina, the Peruvian news agency.

The Peruvian Presidency said on X that the government is monitoring the situation and evaluating any possible damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) initially issued an alert warning of “possible” tsunami waves reaching up to 1 to 3 meters along some coastal areas in Peru. But it later dropped the alert, saying there was no tsunami warning, advisory or threat.

“There is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake,” the PTWC said.

Peru, and most of the South American Pacific Coast, are on border of two tectonic plates: the South American plate, which includes most of the continent, and the Nazca plate, which extends across the Pacific along most of the coast.

This story has been updated.

Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles III, returned to her Gatcombe Park home on Friday morning, after a short stay in hospital where she was treated for minor injuries and a concussion, according to a royal source.

The Princess Royal, 73, had been injured while walking near horses at the royal estate, in Gloucestershire, western England, on Sunday evening.

Her husband Vice-Adm. Tim Laurence expressed his gratitude to the medical staff for their care.

He said in a statement, “I would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the team at Southmead Hospital for their care, expertise and kindness during my wife’s short stay.”

The exact circumstances that led to the Princess Royal’s injuries were not clear but there were horses in the vicinity and previously her medical team said that her head injuries were consistent with a potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.

Emergency services were sent to the estate and, after medical care at the scene, she was transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for appropriate tests, treatment and observation.

While it’s not known how long the princess will be convalescing for, she will be receiving rehabilitation support at home as she follows standard concussion protocols.

Anne is widely considered to be one of the hardest working royals, dutifully undertaking hundreds of engagements each year. She is one of several senior royals that stepped up further to support the King when he briefly stepped away from public-facing duties following his cancer diagnosis.

The five-day hospital stay caused the princess to miss several engagements this week, including a state banquet at Buckingham Palace held for the emperor and empress of Japan on the first day of their state visit to the United Kingdom. She had also been due to travel to Canada for a royal visit this weekend.

Her accident is the latest in a series of health challenges the family has faced since the new year, with her brother Charles and the Princess of Wales continuing their cancer treatments. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York was also diagnosed with malignant melanoma in January.

This story has been updated.

A super-rich Indian businessman took to social media to appeal for urgent blood donations for a critically ill puppy.

Ratan Tata, 86, rose to prominence at the helm of the Mumbai-based conglomerate the Tata Group, where in 2008 he famously oversaw Tata Motors’ purchase of British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. He retired as chairman in 2012 and has since thrown himself into improving the lot of India’s many stray animals.

On Thursday, the multimillionaire took to Instagram to appeal for help for a young dog being cared for at the Small Animal Hospital Mumbai, which was set up by Tata himself and opened earlier this year.

The post featured a picture of the sick pup, with an IV drip in its front left leg, covered by a blue bandage.

Tata, who has 9.7 million Instagram followers, wrote: “I would really really appreciate your help.

“This 7 month dog at our animal hospital needs urgent blood transfusion. He is admitted for a suspected tick fever and life threatening anaemia.”

Tata, who tagged the hospital in the post, did not identify the dog by name or sex. However, he did go on to detail the requirements for potential blood donors. Eligible dogs would need to be clinically healthy, aged between 1 and 8 years old, weighing at least 25 kilograms (55 pounds), fully vaccinated and with a clean bill of health.

His efforts quickly proved successful, as Tata wrote in a later post that same day: “I would like to thank the spirit of Mumbai and Casper, Leo, Scooby, Ronny and Ivan for coming forward to donate blood for the patient in crisis. We have a cross match on one of you and hope that the recovery will be quick.”

According to its website, the new veterinary hospital features “every possible diagnostic and treatment specialty.”

It states: “The city of Mumbai and its small companion animals have long awaited a one-stop healthcare facility where no stone is left unturned to treat your valued family member. At the Tata Trusts, we have recognised this plea.”

It is unclear whether the dog has an owner or is a stray. Last year, the Press Trust of India estimated there were around 62 million stray dogs in the country, although experts say the real number would be nearly impossible to verify.

It is an issue that Tata has previously spoken out about. In an Instagram post last year, he expressed concern for the safety of stray cats and dogs that shelter under cars during the monsoon season.

In 2019, Tata posted a picture of himself holding the paw of a German shepherd dog.

He wrote: “Today would be the 14th birthday of my late dog, Tito. I still come home to two kind souls and meet so many others in and around the office. While few have the comfort of families, many struggle on the streets, and yet somehow, their affection remains the same. Those of you who strive for the welfare of the voiceless, truly have my respect.”

Under the specter of conflict with Israel, a struggling economy and social discontent, Iranians headed to the polls on Friday for snap presidential elections that could be the most important for the country in decades.

The sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a recent helicopter crash, alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, has left a leadership void. Raisi, a hardline regime loyalist, was widely regarded as a leading candidate to replace Iran’s Supreme Leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority over all state matters.

It is also the first presidential election since the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s notorious morality police in 2022, an event that sparked the largest protests since the regime’s founding in 1979. The vote takes place amid deteriorating relations with the West, an advancing Iranian nuclear program, and an increasing risk of direct war with Israel. Just two months ago, Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time as the Gaza conflict widened, and Israel is now preparing for a potential second front with Hezbollah, Iran’s primary regional proxy, in Lebanon.

Three conservatives are vying with a single reformist candidate for the country’s top elected seat, after dozens of other candidates were barred from standing. Of those running, Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, a reformist lawmaker and former health minister, Saeed Jalili a hardline security adviser and nuclear negotiator, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the conservative speaker of the Iranian parliament, are widely considered the frontrunners in the first round of elections. The final candidates were pre-selected by Iran’s Guardian Council, which reports directly to Khamenei.

Some polls have shown increasing popularity for Pezeshkian, with the rest of the conservatives splitting the vote. During nationwide protests against Amini’s death in 2022, Pezeshkian said in an interview with Iran’s IRINN TV: “It is our fault. We want to implement religious faith through the use of force. This is scientifically impossible.”

On Thursday, two conservative candidates, Amirhossein Qazizadeh-Hashemi and Alireza Zakani, withdrew from the race to help consolidate the hardline vote. Qazizadeh-Hashemi urged other candidates from the “revolution camp” to do the same to secure a hardliner victory.

Any candidate who wins at least 50% of votes in the first round will be elected president, otherwise the two top-ranking candidates will face off in a second round a week later.

“These are nothing like free and fair elections, and only those who’ve already pledged absolute loyalty to Khamenei and the Islamic Republic can run,” said Arash Azizi, an Iranian writer and fellow at the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG), a Berlin-based think tank. “But there are still very important differences between the three main candidates. Each of them present certain problems for Khamenei.”

The top contenders are children of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, likely shaped by their experiences fighting the then US-backed Saddam Hussein regime in the bloody, decade-long war with their neighbor Iraq, as well as careers serving the Iranian state.  
 
But voters’ choice between either of the conservatives or their reformist co-candidate will steer a different path forward for the country.

“What we have seen in this election compared to (the) previous one (in 2021), is that in the last couple of days there has been a degree of energy for the election,” said Trita Parsi, a Washington-based Iran analyst and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, suggesting the participation rate may end up being higher than previous elections.

The Iranian electoral process has been marred by voter apathy of late, causing embarrassment to an establishment that has relied on high voter turnout to bolster its democratic credentials and popular legitimacy.

Elections in March for the parliament and the Assembly of Experts, an oversight body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader’s successor, recorded the lowest turnout since the Islamic Republic’s founding, despite government efforts to rally voters ahead of the ballot.

Khamenei urged Iranians to head to the polls and vote after he cast his ballot in the election on Friday morning.

“People’s participation is part of the essence of the state and continuation of the existence of the Islamic Republic and its status in the world is tied to people’s participation”, he said.

Despite some momentum, however, low voter turnout “remains a distinct possibility, fueled by widespread disillusionment and economic hardships,” said Sina Toossi, an Iran analyst and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC.

“Many Iranians feel disenfranchised and skeptical about the electoral process, doubting its ability to bring about meaningful change, particularly in light of the government’s violent repression of popular protests in recent years,” he said. “A substantial number of Iranians say they will boycott the elections, including prominent civil society activists and political prisoners like Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi.”

‘Iranians need simple things’

At Shiroudi stadium in Tehran, there was an ebullient atmosphere Wednesday as supporters of the conservative Ghalibaf gathered for his final campaign rally.

Several thousand Iranians crammed into the indoor arena, mobbing the candidate as he entered, chanting: “We salute Raisi, we say hello to Ghalibaf.”

Economic concerns are foremost on the minds of many voters.

In June, inflation in Iran stood at 36.1%, straining wallets across the country. Although down from highs exceeding 45% last year, the country’s annual inflation rate hasn’t dipped below 30% in over five years. This persistent inflation follows the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement and the subsequent reimposition of heavy sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Ghalibaf has been determined in his attacks on the 2015 nuclear deal and paths towards rapprochement with the West, pinning much of the country’s economic woes on Iran’s Western enemies.

“The first thing people expect is economic development. There is no doubt that this development can happen through the path of elections,” Ghalibaf shouted to the crowd, echoing promises from his campaign.

Draped along the walls were campaign pledges of food on the table of all Iranian households and free land for homeless families.

“Iranians need simple things, a good economy, good relations with other countries,” she said, adding that she trusted Pezeshkian to deliver on them.

‘A small window of hope’

As night fell at the nearby Heidarnia stadium, supporters of Pezeshkian gathered to hear him speak, with many focused on improving Iran’s international relations.

Around her, the crowd was on edge, an urgent energy rippled across the stadium. An hour before, organizers abruptly announced the event had been cancelled, and police blocked the gate.

Despondent supporters poured into nearby streets; their chants, like the mood, were resolute: “Our vote is one word: Pezeshkian.”

Cheers surged through the crowd of several thousand Pezeshkian supporters when they were later allowed into the stadium but the incident in the final hours of his campaign stung his assembled voters.

Parsi, the Iran expert, suggested that enthusiasm for this vote may stem from it being a snap election.

“No one expected this to happen,” he said, noting that Raisi’s unexpected death might be creating a public perception that “perhaps the regime doesn’t have the capability of controlling this election,” as it has in the past.

Relations with the West

Iran’s foreign policy direction is largely steered by Khamenei, and the president’s role is principally domestic. However, the future president and his foreign minister will play a crucial role in the working relations with the international community.

“Pezeshkian’s victory won’t be bad news for Khamenei and, in fact, might even be the best outcome since he will be a weak president with a smaller base and thus easier to control,” said Azizi.

Pezeshkian’s key ally is former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. If the US-educated Zarif, who oversaw the warmest recent period of ties with Washington, returns in an official capacity, he may provide a conduit for an easing of tensions with the West.

However, this week Khamenei condemned those chasing improved relations with the West – in an apparent implicit attack on Pezeshkian and Zarif.

He blasted thinking that, “all the ways of progress pass through the US.” Politicians who think they cannot progress without being in the US’ favor “will not manage (the country) well,” Khamenei was cited as saying in Iranian state media.

Even if Tehran isn’t expected to pivot towards the West anytime soon, the prospect of an uncompromising Trump presidency and the already bloody tensions in the Middle East make any improvement in relations crucial.

Moreover, even if a more Western-friendly candidate takes power, a shift in Iran’s foreign relations is not guaranteed, as goodwill gestures toward the West may not be reciprocated.

“A more Western-oriented administration in Iran may not find a willing partner in Washington under Biden,” Parsi said. “It takes two to tango.”

China on Thursday expelled its former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor from the ruling Communist Party over corruption allegations, state broadcaster CCTV reported, deepening a sweeping purge within the top ranks of the military.

Li was removed in October last year without explanation after he vanished from public view for two months, amid a series of high-level shakeups that have roiled the world’s largest military.

Li’s mysterious disappearance and drastic ouster just months into his job fueled intense speculation, coming after the surprise sacking of two top generals of the PLA Rocket Force, an elite unit overseeing the China’s nuclear and ballistic missiles, also without explanation.

Thursday’s announcement is the first official confirmation from Chinese authorities that graft allegations are behind his dramatic disappearance.

In a sign of the scale of the high-level purges, Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also expelled from the Communist Party Thursday over alleged corruption, according to CCTV.

Both Li and Wei were former members of the Central Military Commission (CMC) – a powerful body headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping who ultimately commands the armed forces.

Li was placed under the military’s internal investigation over “serious violations of party discipline and law” on August 31 last year, according to CCTV, two days after he was last seen in public at a security forum in Beijing.

The investigation by the CMC’s Commission for Discipline Inspection found Li had allegedly “seriously violated” political and organization disciplines, resisted investigation, sought “personnel benefits” for himself and others, and received “huge sums of money” in bribe as well as bribing others.

“As a senior party and military leader, Li Shangfu betrayed his original mission and lost the principles of party spirit,” the CCTV report said, adding that his actions “betrayed the trust and responsibility placed in him” by the top leadership of the party and the military.

His actions also “severely tainted the political and industry environment of the military equipment sector, caused significant damage to the party’s cause, the development of national defense and the military, and the image of senior leadership,” CCTV said.

“The nature of his misconduct is extremely serious, the impact is exceedingly harmful, and the consequences are particularly severe.”

Wei, Li’s predecessor as defense minister from 2018 to 2023, was also accused of serious violations of political and organization disciplines, resisting investigation, taking bribes, as well as “collapse of faith and loss of loyalty,” according to CCTV.

Both Li and Wei’s cases have been handed to the military procuratorate for prosecution, CCTV said, adding that the two generals had been stripped of their military ranks.

The allegations laid out in the CCTV reports appear to point to corruption in the procurement and development of China’s military equipment, with a likely focus on the Rocket Force – which has been a key element in Xi’s efforts to “modernize” the PLA and transform it into a “world class” fighting force.

Before becoming Defense Minister, Li headed the PLA’s Equipment Development Department for five years, while Wei was the inaugural commander of the Rocket Force when it was revamped at the end of 2015.

Since last summer, more than a dozen high-level military officers and aerospace executives in the military-industrial complex have been stripped of their public roles.

Xi has made rooting out corruption and disloyalty a hallmark of his rule since coming to power in 2012, and the purges suggest that campaign is far from over within the military.

This story has been updated with additional information.

A section of roof at New Delhi’s airport collapsed following heavy rain on Friday, crushing one man to death and injuring eight others in the latest high profile infrastructure disaster to dent India’s image.

“Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy at the old Departure forecourt of Delhi’s Terminal 1 collapsed around 5 am,” a statement from the Indira Gandhi International Airport said.

All departures from Terminal 1 are temporarily suspended, the statement added.

Delhi Fire Services assistant divisional officer Ravinder Singh said rescuers got to the scene to find two support pillars had collapsed over a car.

“It took us a little longer to get his body out. Our rescue operations ended in 20 minutes,” he said, adding the wounded were taken to hospital.

Photos of the scene released by the fire service showed the large white canopy of the roof had plunged to the ground, crushing several cars. One person could be seen slumped under twisted metal in the driver’s seat of one of the cars.

India’s minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, said he was “personally monitoring” the collapse in a statement on X.

Parts of the capital territory of Delhi experienced heavy rainfall this week, flooding roads and submerging cars. The showers brought some respite from weeks of blistering heat after the city experienced temperatures as high as 49.9 degrees Celsius (121.8 degrees Fahrenheit) – its highest on record – straining the country’s electricity grid and power supply.

Friday’s incident is the latest in a string of collapses and other mishaps in the nation of 1.4 billion, which in recent years, has prioritized spending on grand infrastructure projects and upgrading its aging transport network.

Earlier this month, at least nine people were killed and dozens of others injured after a cargo train collided with a passenger train in eastern India.

In 2022, some 135 people were killed when a newly renovated suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi, in the western state of Gujarat, in what was described as one of the worst public safety tragedies in recent years.

Bolivia has arrested more than a dozen high-ranking military and intelligence officials following a failed attempt to unseat the country’s president in a coup allegedly led by its former army chief.

The meetings were led by former army chief Gen. Juan Jose Zúñiga and former navy commander Gen. Juan Arnez, with Zúñiga’s civilian personal adviser allegedly devising the “strategy” of the coup, the report claims.

All three men are among 17 people arrested so far in connection with Wednesday’s events – most of them members of the military, the report says. Other top officials arrested include military intelligence chief Julio Buitrago.

The coup attempt, which was condemned by the Bolivian government and international leaders, comes as the South American country of roughly 12 million people struggles with an economic crisis and political instability that has fueled mass street protests.

On Wednesday, military units led by Zúñiga – who was fired as commander of the Bolivian army just a day earlier – occupied La Paz’s main Murillo Plaza as armored vehicles rammed the presidential palace door and soldiers tried to break into government offices.

Hours later, President Luis Arce – who had called on the public to “organize and mobilize” in defense of democracy – could be seen confronting Zúñiga in the crowded palace hallway, ordering the general to withdraw his soldiers and stand down.

Arce, who has been in power since 2020, later declared victory to crowds in front of the Quemado Palace after Zúñiga was handcuffed and forced into a police car.

Following the coup attempt, Bolivia’s defense minister Edmundo Novillo told a news conference the government had regained “total and absolute control” over its military. “We urge the population that everything goes back to normal,” he said.

As he was being arrested Zúñiga alleged – without providing evidence – that he was acting on Arce’s instructions.

Arce denied the former army chief’s allegations on Thursday, telling reporters the coup attempt had caught him by surprise.

Bolivia, which has seen almost 40 attempted or successful coups since 1946, has been wracked by dwindling foreign currency reserves, particularly the US dollar, and shortages of fuel and other necessities. Tensions have also been rising over plans by leftist former president Evo Morales to challenge one-time Arce ally in next year’s general elections.

The investigation into Wednesday’s events will continue until all “participants” in the coup are identified, according to the Bolivian government report.

It also says the country’s Air Force commander was involved with planning the failed coup, but no one of that description is included in the list of arrests.