标签： Oceania

Footage of a high-stakes mountain rescue operation that unfolded earlier this year has been made public, detailing the nerve-wracking extraction of a rock climber who survived a devastating 8-meter fall after his climbing gear malfunctioned at a popular Victorian alpine destination.

The incident took place on the Horn, a well-known climbing spot located on Mount Buffalo, roughly 325 kilometers northeast of Melbourne. Standing at 1,723 meters above sea level at its highest plateau, Mount Buffalo draws hundreds of hikers and climbers annually for its challenging rock faces and scenic alpine views. On the day of the accident, a failure in the climber’s protective equipment sent him tumbling off the route he was ascending, leaving him stranded on a narrow, unstable ledge hundreds of meters above the valley floor.

A spokesperson for Ambulance Victoria confirmed that the climber suffered severe trauma from the fall, including suspected broken ribs. The impact of the fall left him briefly unconscious before emergency responders were called to the remote site. Multiple specialized emergency teams were deployed to the incident: a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) air crew, paired with ground teams from Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) with advanced life support capabilities.

Before the extraction could begin, the HEMS crew first completed a low-altitude reconnaissance flight over the ledge to evaluate whether a winch rescue could be carried out without putting responders at unacceptable risk. After confirming the operation was feasible, MICA Flight Paramedic Shaun Whitemore was lowered down onto the narrow ledge to treat the injured climber. Working in what emergency officials described as “extremely tight conditions,” Whitemore stabilized the climber’s injuries, administered potent pain relief, and applied splints to fractured ribs to prepare the patient for air extraction.

Once the climber was stabilized, he was successfully winched back up to the waiting rescue helicopter. He was then flown directly to Royal Melbourne Hospital, a major tertiary trauma center, to receive ongoing specialized medical care. Months after the successful operation, Ambulance Victoria has released on-the-scene footage and photos from the March rescue, shining a light on the extraordinary work of high-altitude emergency responders who carry out these risky missions to save lives.

A routine international flight departing Australia turned into a terrifying ordeal this week, when sudden, unanticipated severe turbulence threw the cabin into chaos and left multiple passengers and crew members injured, airline and medical authorities have confirmed. The incident unfolded on Cathay Pacific Flight CX156, roughly two hours ahead of its scheduled landing at Hong Kong International Airport, catching crew and travelers completely off guard as breakfast service was just getting underway. Without any prior warning from the cockpit or activation of the seatbelt sign, two successive waves of violent turbulence hit the aircraft just 15 to 20 seconds apart, sending loose objects—from smartphones and breakfast trays to hot coffee and food items—flying throughout the cabin. Unbelted passengers and crew members, who were moving through the aisles to serve meals, were thrown violently upward, with many striking the overhead cabin panels before falling back into seats or the aisle floor. When the turbulence subsided, the cabin was left in disarray: food splattered across seats, walls and floors, spilled drinks soaked through passenger belongings, and injured people waited for assistance. Among those on board the flight were four traveling doctors, who immediately stepped in to provide urgent first aid to the injured before landing. Cathay Pacific later confirmed official injury counts: 10 people total, including six cabin crew members and four passengers, were hurt during the event. Eight of those injured required inpatient hospital care after the aircraft landed safely at approximately 6:45 a.m. local time in Hong Kong. Nicholas Stevenson, a Cairns-based businessman who was a passenger on the flight, described the harrowing experience to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), recalling that the sudden drop and jolting left many travelers convinced the plane would crash. “I thought the plane was going down. There were phones flying, coffees smashed into the roof, food absolutely everywhere,” Stevenson said. “People were screaming. There was a lot of people really freaking out.” He added that the turbulence struck at the moment the cabin crew had just woken passengers, turned on the cabin lights, and began distributing breakfast meals, leaving no time for people to return to their seats and fasten their belts. “There was no seatbelt sign or warning before hand,” Stevenson explained. “The first one [episode of turbulence] caught everyone completely off guard… Anyone that didn’t have their belts on hit the roof.” Speaking after landing, the pilot told passengers the turbulence was caused by an overnight thunderstorm cell that evaded early detection, according to Stevenson. Because of the darkness covering the region at the time, the storm system did not appear on the aircraft’s weather radar until it was too late to avoid the turbulence. With the plane already close to its destination and no immediate alternate landing site available to divert to, the crew continued the flight to Hong Kong. After landing, all able passengers were asked to remain in their seats while first responders escorted injured passengers and crew off the aircraft first for immediate medical care. Representatives for Cathay Pacific confirmed the details of the incident to ABC, and media outlets have since reached out to the airline for further comment on safety protocols and potential changes to procedures. The incident has renewed casual conversation among travel experts about the persistent risk of unexpected clear-air or thunderstorm-related turbulence, even on routine long-haul flights, and the importance of keeping seatbelts fastened whenever seated during flight.

Eight minutes ago, AFP updated the death toll from a catastrophic building collapse at a construction site north of the Philippine capital, confirming four fatalities with approximately 17 people still unaccounted for nearly 36 hours after the disaster struck.

The nine-story under-construction structure gave way in pre-dawn hours Sunday in Angeles City, roughly 80 kilometers north of Manila. As the building collapsed, it crashed into an adjacent adjacent hotel, killing one Malaysian guest staying at the property. Immediately after the disaster, two construction workers were pulled alive from the tangled wreckage, but both succumbed to their injuries overnight despite desperate efforts by medical teams to save them.

Regional fire bureau spokesperson Maria Leah Sajili explained to AFP the grim circumstances of the two workers’ deaths: “The first of the two was pulled out alive, but unfortunately, his body gave out and he did not survive. Doctors could not resuscitate him. The other one suffered a cardiac arrest around 3:00 am (1900 GMT Sunday). Doctors could not attend to him as he was still pinned down.”

On Monday morning, rescue crews recovered a fourth unidentified body from the rubble, though officials have not yet confirmed whether this victim was already counted among the missing. As of Monday afternoon, 17 people remain listed as missing, the vast majority of whom are construction workers who were sleeping on the construction site when the collapse occurred.

Families of the missing have flocked to the area, waiting anxiously for any update on their loved ones amid agonizing uncertainty. Lea Casilao, 47, whose boyfriend is among the unaccounted for, traveled from her home in northern Manila to Angeles City on Sunday, bringing rice and canned goods for her partner unaware the accident had already happened. She spent Sunday night sleeping in a local government building near the site, sharing her heartbreak with reporters: “It’s very difficult, it is breaking my heart to wait for something uncertain.”

In Bulacan province, not far from Angeles City, Stephanie Batar and her mother only learned of the disaster Monday morning via social media, and have been unable to reach Batar’s 64-year-old father, who had just started a six-month contract at the site weeks earlier. “I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stand. It’s very painful and we did not know what to do,” Batar told AFP.

Alfredo Albis, a 55-year-old worker who survived the collapse because he was sleeping in a worker barracks just five meters from the fallen building, lost two cousins who are still trapped in the rubble. “They were working here to earn for their families and (they) are missing,” he said, adding he fears the worst for his relatives.

Investigations into the exact cause of the collapse are still ongoing, but regulatory records reveal the construction project was already flagged for serious safety violations just months earlier. Geraldine Panlilio, regional director of the Philippine labor department, told Manila radio station DZMM her office ordered a temporary shutdown of the project in September 2024 after inspectors documented multiple violations of national occupational safety standards.

“Our labor inspectors had monitored poor working conditions, a violation that would put our workers at risk,” Panlilio said. She added that the construction crew lacked basic required safety equipment including hard hats, work boots, safety belts and lifelines, and also worked in poorly lit sites with no mandatory safety warning signage. Construction resumed one month after the shutdown after the project’s contractor reportedly corrected the cited violations and met minimum regulatory requirements.

Officials confirmed that while up to 70 workers were employed at the site, most had left for the weekend to return to their homes, which likely reduced the final death toll. Rescue operations continue at the site, but Sajili noted that search efforts for trapped survivors face extraordinary logistical challenges: “rescue in (a) building collapse is very challenging since any sudden shift triggered by the movements of our rescuers can cause areas to move and people under can get crushed.”

She added that if thermal scanners fail to detect any more signs of life in the rubble, heavy mechanical equipment including excavators will be brought in to clear debris and recover remaining victims. No official timeline has been announced for the transition to recovery operations.

In a conservative Southeast Asian nation where discussions of sexual violence have long been locked behind closed doors, explosive allegations of familial sexual abuse from a Thai beer billionaire heir have unlocked a tidal wave of survivor testimonials, marking an unprecedented cultural reckoning for Thailand.

Siranudh Scott, a 29-year-old fourth-generation member of the Bhirombhakdi family — founders of the globally recognized Singha beer brand, ranked Thailand’s 15th wealthiest clan by Forbes with an estimated $1.75 billion net worth — took to social media this month to share a harrowing emotional account accusing his older brother Sunit of repeated childhood sexual abuse. Siranudh, known locally as Psi, told Agence France-Presse the abuse occurred every summer between the ages of 9 and 13, when Sunit returned home from boarding school.

For nearly two decades, Siranudh stayed silent. He first disclosed the abuse to other family members three years ago, and accepted a financial settlement to keep the allegations private. But a 2024 property dispute, in which his mother sued him under Thailand’s controversial “ungrateful child” law that allows parents to reclaim gifted assets from children deemed unappreciative, became his breaking point. “I felt I needed to speak out, otherwise I would have been dead inside,” Siranudh told AFP. “I’ve been in a family, in a system, in an institution that’s kept my voice silent.” He is now preparing to pursue formal legal action against his brother.

Sunit, in his 30s, has publicly denied the allegations via an online video, acknowledging only rough childhood horseplay between brothers. Despite his denial, Singha’s parent company Boonrawd Brewery removed Sunit from his executive position on Tuesday of this week. The brewery has issued a statement confirming the termination and saying it will cooperate fully with any official investigations, though it declined further comment to AFP.

Singha is one of Thailand’s most iconic beer brands, recognizable worldwide for its golden lion logo and high-profile sponsorships with global sports entities including Premier League club Chelsea FC and the Haas Formula One Team. But it is not the brand’s partnerships that have made headlines around the world — it is the ripple effect of Siranudh’s allegations that has shaken Thai society.

In the weeks since Siranudh went public, the #PsiScott hashtag has gone viral in Thailand, with celebrities, influencers, and ordinary citizens coming forward to share their own previously untold stories of sexual abuse and misconduct, topics long classified as taboo in the country’s conservative culture. Patinya Kuantrakul, heir to one of Thailand’s most famous golf course dynasties, shared that she was raped by her family driver at age 11, resulting in a pregnancy and forced abortion. Prominent Thai podcaster and influencer Taylor Srirat revealed he was sexually assaulted by his 50-year-old employer when he was just 19 years old. Many survivors have said Siranudh’s testimony gave them the courage to speak publicly for the first time, sharing messages of gratitude and solidarity with the beer heir.

Siranudh said the outpouring of support from Thai and international social media users has left him overwhelmed by love, noting that this push for accountability from a powerful, well-connected conglomerate family is unprecedented in Thailand. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of push for accountability before from a huge conglomerate family,” he said.

Analysts and rights activists agree that the public reckoning is a rare and significant shift for Thailand, a country that has never before had a national #MeToo movement. Cultural norms around hierarchy, family reputation, and aversion to public shame have long forced sexual abuse survivors into silence, particularly when abuse occurs within families or involves powerful, respected community figures. “Thai society places strong emphasis on hierarchy, family reputation and avoiding public shame or conflict,” explained Busayapa Srisompong, a human rights lawyer and founder of Shero, an organization that provides free legal aid to sexual violence survivors in Thailand. “This can make disclosure especially difficult when abuse happens within families or involves respected figures.”

Survivor-blaming culture further discourages survivors from coming forward, according to influencer Taylor. But he and other experts note that attitudes are already beginning to shift, in large part because social media has created safe, supportive spaces where survivors no longer have to feel isolated. Younger generations of Thais, explained social psychology lecturer Apitchaya Chaiwutikornwanich, have grown up learning about human rights and bodily autonomy, creating new demand for transparency and accountability.

Siranudh’s high social status, paired with the voice recordings he publicly released confronting his brother about the abuse, have also helped his allegations gain widespread public trust in a way that claims from less privileged survivors often do not.

An environmental activist who has long distanced himself from his family’s business empire, Siranudh said the ocean became his refuge when no one in his family supported him after the alleged abuse. Even with widespread online solidarity, he said he still feels failed by Thailand’s outdated legal framework, pointing to the “ungrateful child” law used against him in the family property dispute as evidence of systemic inequity.

Siranudh said going public has already accelerated his own healing process, and he hopes his actions will set a lasting precedent for other survivors across Thailand to come forward. Busayapa, the human rights lawyer, added that meaningful change will require broader societal shift: creating a safe culture means acknowledging there is no “perfect victim” and committing to genuine zero tolerance for sexual violence in all forms.
“I hope this will set a precedent for other people in Thailand to follow suit,” Siranudh said.