Kollam, May 26: The Kerala coast was placed on high alert on Monday after nearly a dozen containers from the Liberian-flagged vessel MSC ELSA 3, which sank in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, drifted ashore between Cheriyazheekal and Sakthikulangara in Kollam district of the state.

The ship, en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi port, capsized approximately 14.6 nautical miles (about 27 km) off the Thottappally coast.

Officials estimate around 100 containers may have fallen into the sea, with more expected to wash ashore due to rough seas and prevailing currents.

The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has issued a public warning urging residents to stay away from the containers.

Local police in Kollam and neighbouring Alappuzha districts are closely monitoring the affected coastline.

Alappuzha District Collector Alex Varghese told reporters that some containers have been identified as empty, but authorities are proceeding with caution.

“Experts are arriving to examine the contents. Preliminary assessments suggest several containers may be empty, but the public has been advised to stay away,” he said.

Some containers are marked with labels such as “Sophi Tex,” leading locals to speculate that they may contain textile materials. While a few appear to be loaded, others seem empty. Curious onlookers who gathered at the scene were dispersed by police.

Fishermen returning to shore on Monday morning reported seeing additional containers floating further out at sea.

Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) have been deployed to manage the risk posed by drifting cargo and the potential for an oil spill.

A high-level emergency meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary has directed the Factories and Boilers Department and the Pollution Control Board to lead the RRTs.

District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), the police, and other key agencies have been instructed to provide full support for ongoing emergency operations.

The Kerala government is coordinating with the Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Forest Department, and other concerned agencies as recovery and containment efforts continue.

Seoul, April 28: South Korea’s National Fire Agency (NFA) issued an emergency response order Monday to mobilise available national personnel and equipment to put out a fire spreading in the southeastern city of Daegu, officials said.

The NFA issued the order about two hours after the blaze began around 2 p.m. on Mount Hamji in the city, some 230 kilometres southeast of Seoul, and was spreading toward nearby villages.

Under the emergency order, the fire authorities have mobilised 28 additional fire engines to aid efforts to extinguish the blaze on top of 67 fire engines and 29 fire helicopters that had already been in operation, according to the officials.

No casualties have been reported so far, but nearby residents have been instructed to evacuate to local elementary schools, reports Yonhap news agency.

Acting President Han Duck-soo also ordered related authorities to “use all available equipment and personnel” to extinguish the fire and help people evacuate to safety.

“As the wildfire is spreading rapidly due to strong winds and there are residential areas nearby, make sure to take all necessary measures for emergency rescue and evacuation to prevent any loss of life,” he said.

The Korea Forest Service also issued a Level 3 wildfire response, the highest in its three-tier scale, as strong winds continued to spread the flames.

A Level 3 response is issued when wind speeds exceed 7 metres per second, the expected damage area is over 100 hectares and firefighting efforts are expected to last over 24 hours.

As of 6 p.m., some 57 hectares of land had been affected by the fire, with the containment rate remaining at 14.5 per cent, according to fire authorities.

Houston, April 21: Three people were killed as heavy storms hit the central US state of Oklahoma over the weekend, authorities said.

A 12-year-old boy and his mother died in Moore, about 10 miles (about 16 km) south of Oklahoma City, on Sunday after floodwaters washed away their vehicle, said local police.

“This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” Moore police said in a statement.

Another person was killed on Saturday night after a tornado hit Spaulding, a town in Hughes County, the county wrote on Facebook, Xinhua news agency reported.

Several homes and structures were destroyed, and there were “numerous washouts” of county roads, it said.

On April 20, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings across several states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana. According to AccuWeather, regions of Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois faced a high risk of severe thunderstorms.

The Storm Prediction Centre warned that strong, damaging winds, hail, and thunderstorms were likely to persist throughout the night. Severe weather was expected to continue across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, extending into the Ozark Mountains and the mid-Mississippi Valley.

By late evening, local news outlets in Arkansas and Montana confirmed at least two tornado touchdowns. In Illinois, the National Weather Service issued alerts for severe storms capable of producing tornadoes.

Around 9 p.m. local time, a tornado was detected east of East Moline, a city in northwestern Illinois that’s part of the Quad Cities. At the time, no injuries or damages were reported.

Looking ahead, forecasters predicted ongoing showers and thunderstorms along and ahead of a front stretching from the Great Lakes down through the Tennessee and Lower Mississippi Valleys to the Gulf Coast on Monday. While heavy rainfall could lead to flooding, the severe weather threat was expected to diminish throughout the day.