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14 bodies Found by Sri Lanka Navy As Chinese Boat Capsizes

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At least 14 bodies have been recovered by Sri Lanka’s navy inside a Chinese fishing boat that had capsized last week with 39 crew on board.

The discovery came a day after a preliminary Chinese government probe concluded there were no survivors.

The Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 overturned on May 16, with 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and five Filipinos on board within Australia’s vast search-and-rescue region, 5,000 kilometres (2,700 nautical miles) west of Perth.

The Sri Lankan navy said its divers had recovered two bodies and spotted 12 more on Tuesday, releasing photos showing the upturned red hull of the vessel and bodies being hauled out of the water.

“Due to decomposition and the potential health hazards posed by operating in contaminated waters with limited protective gear, it was determined that retrieving those bodies would be exceedingly dangerous,” the navy said in a statement.

It said the locations of the 12 bodies inside the boat were mapped and handed to Chinese authorities. The nationalities of the located bodies were not immediately known.

The Sri Lankan navy statement came a day after a preliminary probe by the Chinese transport ministry concluded that all those on board had died.

Australia had sent three aeroplanes and four ships to help in the international search-and-rescue efforts.

Rescuers had trawled an area of around 64,000 square kilometres (18,700 square nautical miles), and “did not find any sign of survivors”, according to the Chinese transport ministry.

The fishing vessel’s distress beacon was first detected last week as Cyclone Fabian drove waves as high as seven metres (23 feet) and winds as strong as 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour) through the area.

Rough weather held back rescue efforts, with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Canberra warning of “challenging” survival conditions.

The vessel was owned by the Penglai Jinglu Fishery Company, one of China’s major state-run fishing firms.

It was authorised to fish for neon flying squid and Pacific saury, according to the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.

It left Cape Town in South Africa on May 5 for Busan in South Korea, according to the Marine Traffic tracking website, which last located the vessel on May 10 southeast of Reunion, a tiny French island in the Indian Ocean.

Penglai Jinglu Fishery also runs squid and tuna fishing operations in international waters, including the Indian Ocean and seas surrounding Latin America.

AFP

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International

Death toll in Spain rail crash reaches 64, injures 80

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

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At least 64 people have been killed, officials say, after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, killed 64 passengers and injured 80.

The updated death toll makes the rail disaster the country’s worst since 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in north-western Spain.

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he is “shocked by the serious train accident” and is in constant contact with the transport minister.

Rail operator Adif says the incident occurred between a Renfe train and another of the Iryo company, which covers the Madrid to Seville route”

It was a catastrophe” – a 17-year-old, who was travelling on one of the trains, tells a Spanish broadcaster there was “chaos” at the scene

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Luxury cruise passengers stranded in Cambodia due to soaring fuel costs

Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.

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•Villa Vie Voyage ship

A luxury cruise ship on a years-long voyage around the world said it suspended operations due to extraordinarily high fuel costs, leaving over 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia.

The US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey said it was working with passengers on disembarkation plans and “temporary living arrangements”.

According to the BBC, the nearly 200m (656ft) vessel departed Belfast in October 2024 for a “continuous voyage around the world”.

Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.

Villa Vie Residences said it had taken “significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port”. But those measures turned out to be insufficient to “offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs”

“Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution,” it said.The company would spend the next 60 days on “restructuring and recapitalisation”, though “no outcome is assured”, it said.

There were reportedly around 200 passengers on board when they were ordered to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, a once sleepy beach town that has gained global notoriety in recent years as a hub for Chinese casinos and scam centres.

The Villa Vie Odyssey’s voyage was expected to span 3.5 years and cover nearly 150 countries, according to its website.

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International

Brazil’s Lula Wins Fourth Term In Presidential Runoff

Flávio Bolsonaro rejected the runoff result, describing it as “inexplicable” and calling for the election to be annulled.

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Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in office after defeating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely fought presidential runoff.

The 80-year-old secured just under 52 per cent of the vote, overturning Bolsonaro’s first-round lead in a surprise victory that runs against a wider shift towards right-wing leadership across Latin America.

Addressing cheering supporters in São Paulo, Lula thanked voters for what he described as their defence of Brazilian democracy.

The victory follows a bitter election campaign between the veteran left-wing leader and Bolsonaro, whose father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a prison sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the previous presidential election.

Flávio Bolsonaro rejected the runoff result, describing it as “inexplicable” and calling for the election to be annulled.

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