Four die as cyclone wreaks havoc in 73 villages

Gujarat: A severe cyclone roared in the Arabian Sea off south-western India with winds of almost 90mph, causing heavy rains and flooding that killed at least four people.

Cyclone Tauktae, the season’s first major storm, is expected to make landfall on Tuesday in Gujarat state, the

India Meteorological Department said.

In areas along the Arabian Sea coast, four people were killed yesterday and 73 villages badly damaged amid severe conditions.

Nearly 2,500 government rescuer workers have been deployed in six states on Cyclone Tauktae’s path – Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa – equipped with wireless radios, satellite phones, cutters and tools needed for post-cyclone operations.

Fontana: The driver of a Tesla involved in a fatal crash that California highway authorities said may have been operating on autopilot, posted social media videos of himself in the vehicle without his hands on the wheel or foot on the pedal.

The crash on May 5 in Fontana, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, is also under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The probe is the 29th case involving a Tesla the agency has investigated.

In the Fontana crash, a 35-year-old man identified as Steven Hendrickson was killed when his Tesla Model 3 hit an overturned lorry at about 2.30am.

Mr Hendrickson was a member of the Southern California chapter of a Tesla club who posted numerous photos and video on social media of his white Model 3.

One video on his Instagram account showed him in the driver’s seat without his hands on the wheel or foot on the pedal as the Tesla navigated traffic.

At least three people have died in previous US crashes involving autopilot, which can keep a car centred in its lane and a safe distance behind vehicles in front of it.

Prayagraj: Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the banks of the Ganges, prompting speculation they are the remains of Covid-19 victims.

Officers in jeeps and boats, and using loudspeakers with microphones, asked people not to dispose of bodies in rivers.

Rains exposed the cloth coverings of bodies buried in shallow sand graves on a wide, flat riverbank in Prayagraj, a city in Uttar Pradesh state.

Navneet Sehgal, a state government spokesman, denied reports more than 1,000 corpses of Covid victims had been taken from rivers in the past two weeks.

Yesterday, the country’s health ministry reported 311,170 confirmed Covid cases in the past 24 hours, down from 326,098 on Saturday. It also reported 4,077 additional deaths, taking the total fatalities to 270,284.

Beijing: China has cancelled attempts to climb Mount Everest from its side of the world’s highest peak because of fears of importing Covid-19 cases from neighbouring Nepal.

China has mostly curbed domestic transmission of the coronavirus, Nepal is experiencing a surge, with record numbers of new infections and deaths.

China had issued permits to 38 people, all Chinese citizens, to climb the 29,032ft peak this spring. Nepal has given permission to 408 people.