SAMAL, THE PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- Five people were killed Tuesday and more than 20 others were injured when a bus crashed into railings along a road in the southern region of the Philippines, disaster management officials said on Wednesday. The cause was not immediately known.

The accident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday when the driver of the Island City Express Bus lost control and slammed into railings along a road on the popular island of Samal, which is officially known as the Island Garden City of Samal, in the province of Davao del Norte.

Benito Ramos, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said five people between the ages of 17 and 53 were killed "Cadavers of the victims were brought to Pena Plata Emergency District Hospital for autopsy," he said.

In addition to the fatalities, twenty-two people between the ages of 1 and 83 were injured in the accident. "Central 911, together with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Davao Chapter Volunteers, brought the 22 injured victims to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City for further assessment," Ramos added.

The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known, although a local disaster management official told Inquirer News that the vehicle may have suffered a malfunction as its brakes stopped working. In order to avoid crashing down a ravine, the driver crashed into a boulder while maneuvering a hill in the village of Kaputian.

Among those killed was the bus driver, identified as 53-year-old Simfoniano Rubio of Poblacion Babak on the island.

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MIAMI, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- Four people were stabbed during a fight early Thursday morning while leaving a Halloween party in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami in southern Florida, local police said. Two of the victims are said to be in an extremely critical condition.

The incident happened shortly after 3 a.m. local time on Thursday in the business district of Coconut Grove when a large crowd gathered as they were leaving a Halloween party at the location. Four young males became involved in a fight with another group of males, after which they were stabbed.

"The crowd separated as the stabbings began and some onlookers watched," said Officer Kenia Reyes, a spokesperson for the Miami Police Department. She said the wounded victims were immediately rendered aid and then transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Unit, where two of them remain in an extremely critical condition.

Shortly after the incident, Miami police officers were able to apprehend a man fitting the description of the knife wielding suspect, although the motive remains unclear. Reyes identified the suspect as 21-year-old Anevri Moreira, who has been charged with one count of attempted second degree murder.

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VARZAGAN, IRAN (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake shook northwestern Iran Wednesday near the borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan, injuring at least 50 people, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. It comes just three months after a larger quake killed more than 300 people in the same region.

The 5.1-magnitude earthquake at 09:56 a.m. local time (0626 GMT) was centered in northwestern Iran about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the city of Varzaghan, the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It struck about 19 kilometers (11.8 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to Iran's Seismological Center.

The semi-official Fars News Agency said the tremors caused damage and injured at least 50 people, many of whom were suffering from hand and foot fractures. Some of the victims also suffered more serious injures and were rushed to an area hospital by rescue workers, the report said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which measured the strength of the earthquake at a body wave magnitude of 5.5, said some 16,000 people near the epicenter could have perceived moderate tremors while as many as 2.6 million may have felt light to moderate shaking.

Earthquakes, even those which have a low or moderate magnitude, often cause heavy damage and large numbers of casualties in certain parts of the country due to poor construction. Tremors which strike during the night are especially deadly when most residents are sleeping.

Less than three months ago, at least 306 people were killed and more than 3,000 were injured when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the city of Ahar in East Azerbaijan Province. It was estimated that more than 5,000 buildings were seriously damaged,

And in December 2010, at least seven people were killed and hundreds more were injured when a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) from the town of Hosein abad in Kerman Province, located in southeastern Iran. It followed a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in August 2010 which killed two young children.

Before that, in November 2009, a light 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, injuring more than 700 people. In December 2003, around 31,000 people were killed and more than 30,000 others were injured when a strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck near Bam. It left the area devastated with 85 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed in the city.

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KAMPALA, UGANDA (BNO NEWS) -- A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has claimed the lives of at least three people in central Uganda, health authorities said on Saturday. It is the third outbreak of the disease so far this year, following deadly outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Laboratory investigations at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe confirmed that two of the victims died of the Sudan strain of Ebola, while no samples were available for testing from the third victim. All three victims were known to each other, and two of them were from the same family.

Uganda's health ministry said the first case involved a boda-boda bicycle taxi rider who died on October 25 after presenting signs of high fever while bleeding from various body parts, though he did not seek medical treatment. The second death involved a 25-year-old woman who had cared for the man.

The young woman died on November 10 at Nyimbwa Health Center IV, located in Luweero District, after presenting symptoms of Ebola. A family member of the woman died two days later with similar symptoms, and one person who cared for them has since been admitted to Bombo Military Hospital after also falling ill.

Due to the latest outbreak, the isolation facility at Mulago hospital in the capital Kampala has been reactivated while another isolation facility has been established at Nyimbwa Health Center IV. "Seven close contacts of the cases have developed symptoms and are being isolated in the isolation facilities," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.

A team of experts from WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), and the Ugandan health ministry are on the ground to prevent the disease from spreading. National authorities have also set up a national taskforce to coordinate the government's response.

"The Ministry of Health is confident that the outbreak will be effectively controlled and there should be no panic among the population," said health minister Christine Ondoa. "The Ministry of Health once again calls upon the public to stay calm as all possible measures are being undertaken to control the situation. The country will be kept informed further on the outcome of the health emergency."

Ebola is a highly infectious disease and kills its victims in a very short time, but the virus can easily be confused with many other diseases. The signs and symptoms include high grade fever, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, measles-like rash, red eyes, and in some cases bleeding from body openings.

The virus, for which there is no cure or vaccine, can spread through direct contact with body fluids such as saliva, blood, stool, vomit, urine and sweat, but also through soiled linen used by an infected person. It can also spread by using skin piercing instruments previously used by an infected person or by touching the dead body of a person who died of Ebola.

Usually a rare disease, there have been three deadly outbreaks this year alone. Seventeen people were killed in midwestern Uganda in July when Ebola spread among mostly family members and health care workers in the village of Nyanswiga. It was followed by an outbreak in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August, killing at least 36 people.

Before the outbreaks in DR Congo and Uganda, the last known case of Ebola was reported in May 2011 when a 12-year-old girl died in a town near the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Despite initial fears of an epidemic, and the Kenyan Ministry of Health issuing an alert to people living near the Ugandan border, no other cases were recorded.

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SNOW LAKE, CANADA (BNO NEWS) -- A pilot who was the son of an airline owner was killed Sunday and seven others were injured when a small plane crashed in the Canadian prairie province of Manitoba, officials said on Monday. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The accident happened at about 10 a.m. local time on Sunday when the Cessna 208 Caravan single turboprop engine aircraft, which was carrying a pilot and seven adult passengers, went down about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) east of Snow Lake, a town approximately 690 kilometers (428 miles) north of Winnipeg.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and emergency medical services responded to the scene after one of the passengers was able to call 911. "There is one deceased and seven injured," said RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish. "All injured have been extricated from the aircraft and are getting medical attention."

Those injured were immediately transported to the Snow Lake Health Centre where their conditions were stabilized, but some of the victims were later taken to larger hospitals in the region for further treatment. Several of the victims were initially in a serious or critical condition, but their latest condition was unknown as of late Monday.

The deceased was identified as 40-year-old pilot Mark Gogal, a resident of Snow Lake, whose father owns Gogal Air Service. The aircraft involved in the accident, which had departed Snow Lake Airport and was heading to Winnipeg, was also owned by and flying for Gogal Air Service.

The cause of Sunday's accident, which took place just 1 mile (1.6 kilometer) from Snow Lake Airport, was not immediately known. Both the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and the Workplace Safety and Health Division of the provincial government will be investigating the incident.

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