Nocere – Earth Disasters

On Sunday, while people were gathering for worship, gunmen entered the Catholic church and held the worshipers hostage.

It is suspected that the gunmen are involved with al Qaeda.

The standoff lasted hours and ended with 37 people being killed. Some were hostages, kidnappers and security personnel.

There was possibly 7 or more  hostages that died and another 57 hostages were injured.

Iraqi security forces forced their way into the Catholic church to end the hours long stand off.

There were 8 of the kidnappers arrested.

“All the marks point out that this incident carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda,” Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said on state television Sunday.

Hostages were apparently killed or injured when the suspects set off bombs within the church.

The Islamic State of Iraq has admitted that they are responsible for the hostage situation. They have made affirmations of it on a radical Islamic website.

A spokesperson for the American military stated that as many of 10 of the hostages were killed and there were 20 to 30 wounded during the standoff. There were 7 Iraqi security personnel that died and 5 to 7 possible freedom fighters killed.

According to survivors, the service was about to start when the men with guns entered the church. There were about 50 people in the church at the time and a priest guided them into a back room.

According to a US spokesperson for the military, there were possibly 120 people that were taken hostage.

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In San Pedro Sula, a city located in the northern parts of Honduras, a deadly shooting happened at a soccer field.

There were 14 people that died from gun shot wounds.

10 of the people died at the field, the other 4 later died at area treatment center from their injuries.

It is unknown what the reason for the shooting was at this time. What group could be behind the shooting.

Juan Lopez, a spokesperson for the police stated “We’re investigating to see what sort of organization could be behind this. The most likely (scenario) is that the attack was directed at one or some of the men on the field and that the others were caught in the crossfire,”

So it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The names of the dead are not being released.

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On Wednesday, 15 people were shot and killed in Nayarit, a state in the western part of Mexico.

The shootings took place at the carwash called Gamboa located in Tepic. It is being assumed to have been the job of organized crime.

There had been a murder there Tuesday night, the night before the shooting and in the same area. A man was shot and killed.

The shootings were heard on Wednesday morning by witnesses. They happened only 2 blocks away from the area offices of the federal police. The police went to the scene of the shooting and found 15 people had been killed. The dead included both people working the carwash and customers.

There were hundreds of blank shell casings found at the scene by the investigators.

After the shootings, man of the nearby schools and business’s closed.

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The volcano didn’t only erupt one time, it erupted 2 more times sending people running for their lives.

It has been reported that 15 people have died as a result of the eruptions. Some of the dead are journalists. They were staying in a guest house of a resident to try and be close to the volcano.

Mount Merapi is located in the northern part of Yogyakarta. It is known as one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. It also is located in one of the most populated areas of Indonesia. The peak of the volcano is close to 10,000 feet.

There were sirens sounding which was the first alert that people living in the area had. The sirens precede possible eruptions.

Upon hearing the sirens, people went into a panic to get out. They could hear the sounds of the volcano gearing up to erupt.

It was dark when the volcano did erupt. It is not known if the eruption was any worse then previous ones.

At this time relief groups are trying to get to people that need help.

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An earthquake hit just off of Sumatra on Monday killing at least 112 people. It was a 7.7 magnitude. A tsunami was also triggered and there are 502 people still yet missing.

It is possible that after the tsunami was started that many of the still missing people could have ran for higher ground and will be found at a later time.

A witness in West Sumatra is reported as stating that they saw a wave nearly 20 feet in height and others are saying there were 10 foot waves.

A village of about 200 residents has been washed away according to Satoko the head of the Mentawai Islands parliament. Only about 40 residents have been located.

A tourist boat with 8 to 10 Australian tourists on board was a first missing but has now been found. All the Australian tourist are said to be alright.

Possibly the island that took the worst hit was the Mentawai Islands. It is well known for surfing.

Information is only coming in a bit at a time as the area hit was the remote areas of Indonesia and mainly islands.

The quake happened at 9:42pm on Monday night.

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On Friday evening, in Juarez, a city that borders Mexico, a home full of young people were having a party.

14 of the party goers were shot and killed by people with guns that entered the home and started shooting. Another 14  young people were wounded.

All of the deaths were young people between the ages of 14 and 30.

Juarez has been full of violence and it’s not sure what the motive was in this case.

Officials are investigating the backgrounds of all who were killed or wounded.

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A group of people in southern Italy are complaining about the proposal of a dump being started in the area. There are many angry people complaining about all of this.

The police were injured in the town of  Terzigno which is near Naples. It happened on Thursday night.

People who live in the area do not want the odor which would come from a dump being close by. They are already smelling another one a short distance away.

The people who are rebelling against the dump being opened threw stones, fireworks and Molotov Cocktails while the police fought back with tear gas to bring the protest under control

There is a discussion going on now with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as to how to take care of the situation with federal and local officials.

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There have been dozens of people die in central Haiti due to a possible outbreak of cholera.

They are waiting for laboratory test to confirm if it is indeed cholera.

The sick suffered from diarrhea, high fever and were vomiting. At this time there are over 450 sick in the hospital with these symptoms.

The suspected outbreak is mainly located in the Artibonite and Central Plateau areas, north of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Cholera is caused by bacteria. It is an disease found in the intestines. It enters the body through drinking water or food that has the bacteria in it. The bacteria usually comes from the bowel movements of people who have cholera.

Cholera can lead to very bad cases of dehydration and can cause death if not treated quickly enough.

The treatment for cholera is fluids and antibiotics.

At this time it is suspected that more then 49 people have died from the outbreak.

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