Boy, 14, is mauled to death by colony of ferocious crocodiles after tumbling into reptile-infested canal on family trip
Andres Alejandro Santana Hernandez was torn apart by the animals in the waterway in Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico's Pacific coast.
The area is home to a large number of Morelet's crocodiles, which are reportedly responsible for at least a dozen deaths.
The victim was an altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and a member of the Cortazar Fire Department's Marching Band.
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
It is one of the deadliest chemicals on Earth – but even Mexico's cartels can't resist the lure of mercury
Mercury is one of the world's 10 deadliest chemicals – once extracted from the Earth's crust, it can take centuries to break down. In 2013, more than 100 countries signed up to the Minamata convention, committing to restrict its production, export and use, and phase it out altogether. Yet while Latin American countries claim to have ended production of the toxic element and controlled its movement across borders, they have simply driven the trade underground. A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has found that mercury production is 'out of control' in Mexico – the world's second largest producer – driven by high gold prices and cartel involvement. Through illicit networks, mercury is being smuggled into South American countries including Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. There, it fuels a gold rush in the Amazon, contaminating rivers, soil and air, and causing severe environmental and social damage. With gold prices at record highs, the mercury trade has become so lucrative that one of Mexico's deadliest cartels has entered the business. Traffickers are smuggling the substance abroad, into tropical forests in large quantities. 'It is absurd that mercury is one of the 10 most toxic substances in the world – yet smugglers are shipping tonnes of it out of major ports without detection just by hiding it in gravel,' says Adam Dolezal, investigations coordinator at the EIA. Over the past decade, illegal mining has soared, creating an environmental crisis. Mounting evidence of a public health catastrophe has led world leaders to agree on phasing out mercury production and banning its export for goldmining. Mexican documents sent to the UN reported a decline in domestic mercury production from 442 tonnes in 2018 to zero in 2020, when the last mines were shut down. But EIA undercover investigators tracked 200 tonnes of mercury from the rainforests of the Amazon, thousands of miles away, to the dusty hills of northern Querétaro between 2019 and 2025. The EIA team identified at least 19 active mines in Querétaro, producing 100 tonnes a year, with no health, safety or environmental oversight. Investigators discovered that the illegal industry not only polluted rainforests but also one of Mexico's most biodiverse regions: the Sierra Gorda biosphere reserve. 'It's a Unesco-protected site that is home to a third of the country's butterfly species, yet mining is daily, largely unregulated, and contaminating rivers used by at least 17 downstream communities. Some soils have mercury levels up to 150 times the safe limit,' Dolezal says. By conservative estimates, mercury from these mines could have produced up to $8bn (£6bn) in illegal gold, and has attracted the attention of Mexican cartels, according to the report. Although the full extent of cartel involvement is unclear, the message to investigators was obvious. 'The Jalisco New Generation cartel exerts a high degree of control in some of the mines,' Dolezal says. 'Our team documented armed control points, surveillance towers and threats of violence. Cartel involvement has industrialised production and in some mines, where mercury is not processed on-site, ore is trucked out in bulk under cartel control.' The investigation led to the seizure of a five-tonne shipment of mercury hidden in gravel bags at the Peruvian port of Callao – the largest ever confiscated in an Amazonian country. The haul revealed the scale of the trade and how easily criminal networks move the toxic chemical abroad. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Authorities, often more focused on halting the flow of cocaine through Latin America, would probably not have detected the illegal mercury shipment without the EIA tip, says Luis E Fernández, executive director of the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (Cincia), which joined the operation. Once across the border, criminal organisations extract the mercury from rock before sending it to the Amazon. In Colombia, the business is controlled by the same armed groups that run gold trafficking. Unlike deforestation, which leaves visible scars, mercury pollution is invisible. Starting as a grey sludge, it travels undetected for hundreds of kilometres in rivers. Indigenous groups, including the Yanomami in Brazil, suspect the toxin has disrupted the rainforest's balance. Their first warning was dead fish washing up, threatening their food supply. Later, they noticed an increase in the number of babies born with missing limbs and developmental problems. Now, they realise they are victims of vast mercury dumping into their rivers. 'We don't know the full effect, but we know there is no cure,' says Dario Kopenawa Yanomami. 'Experts have already told us the mercury will remain in the water and soil for at least 10 years. It's very worrying.' Illegal mining in the Amazon has risen by 50% in six years (between 2018 and 2024), and experts consider its impact devastating for the world's most biodiverse ecosystems. A study in Yanomami territory found that local communities are highly exposed to mercury through fish consumption, according to safety levels established by the World Health Organization. These communities rely on fish as their primary source of protein. Although species low on the food chain may contain traces of the toxin, predators that eat hundreds or thousands of fish annually concentrate it at dangerous levels. The toxic metal is especially harmful to children, causing neurological disorders, learning disabilities, and visual and motor problems. The same study found mercury present hundreds of kilometres upstream from the mines, suggesting even isolated groups are being poisoned. 'Illegal goldmining is one of the greatest evils that afflict riverside communities and Indigenous populations in South America,' says Antenor Vaz, a specialist at an Indigenous people's rights group, who was not involved in the report. 'The indiscriminate use of liquid mercury contaminates numerous waterways, the food chain from these waters and all the populations that depend on this source of food and water.' Unless Latin American countries take the international mercury trade seriously, it will not stop, the report's authors say. They call on Mexican authorities to regain control of Querétaro's mines from organised crime and shut them down, and urge greater information sharing, the use of artificial intelligence to combat smuggling and the closing of loopholes in the Minamata convention. 'The silence or absence of states in fighting these crimes does not mean neutrality,' Vaz says. 'It means complicity.'
BreakingNews.ie
3 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Funeral of teen (19) who died in Cork crash to take place on Friday
The funeral will take place on Friday of a 19-year-old man who died in a two-vehicle accident on the N71 in Co Cork earlier this week. Dovydas Palkis of Gortnaclohy Heights in Skibbereen, Co Cork, died when the car he was driving collided with a truck on the motorway between Ballinhassig and Innishannon at 7.15am on Monday. Advertisement Mr Palkis was a staff member at the Kerry-based construction firm Jovin Projects. He was also a past pupil of Skibbereen Community School. Tributes have been paid to the teenager. Skibbereen AFC said in a statement that Dovydas played with the club for many years. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with his mother Stella and father Vidmantas, step father John and Vidmantas partner Agne, step sister Chloe and all of his family and friends. "Dovydas was a really lovely young man with a fabulous left leg. He will be greatly missed by the club, his former coaches, teammates & the wider Skibbereen community. Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam. ' Advertisement O'Donovan Rossa GAA Club spoke of their 'wonderful memories' of Dovydas as a young boy playing football with his friends. 'He played all the way up to U17 where he stepped away to concentrate on his leaving cert exams. He was a fantastic corner back with great strength and determination, who for such a quiet character was fearless on the pitch. "He will be remembered by all who had the pleasure of playing or coaching him as a quiet, respectful young man who we will miss dearly. Rest in peace Dovydas.' Dovydas is survived by his parents, sister Chloe, grandparents, extended family, friends and his 'canine friend Peppa.' His requiem mass will take place on Friday at noon in St Patrick's Cathedral, Skibbereen with cremation following at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Cork following at 4pm.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mother, 47, found dead with her disabled daughter, 18, had refused help before they were discovered lifeless at home, inquest hears
A mother who was found dead with her 18-year-old disabled daughter had refused help from a number of agencies prior to their deaths, an inquest has heard. Alphonsine Leuga, 47, and Loraine Choulla, 18, are believed to have died 'weeks to months' before their bodies were tragically discovered inside their home on Hartley Road in Radford, Nottingham, on May 21, 2024. Ms Leuga, originally from Cameroon, is believed to have died of pneumonia of an uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death is set to be determined during an inquest. Now, Nottingham Coroners' Court has heard how Ms Leuga refused help from members of the council who tried to access her property to assist with issues such as damp and mould for up to three years before her death. The mother-of-two had originally relocated to the UK from Italy in 2016 with daughters Elvira Choulla and Loraine, who suffered from Down Syndrome and relied on her mother for food and hydration. Elvira, who told Nottingham Coroners' Court that she had left the family home in 2022, initially said that she maintained a 'happy and healthy' relationship with her mother and would visit the pair up to four times a week. However, the relationship 'began to deteriorate' after Ms Leuga took Loraine on a two-month holiday to Africa in July 2023 without informing Elvira. The pair then began to speak 'less and less', with Elvira only seeing her mother and sister 'every few weeks'. Having last seen Ms Leuga and Loraine in November 2023, Elvira told the court: 'I got a text from her in the last week of January (2024) when she asked me for money for food and taxis. 'I transferred her some money but, after this date, I asked her in late January if she and Loraine were OK and she replied with a thumbs up, nothing further was said.' After being unable to make contact with her mother over the phone, Elvira said she tried to visit the home on multiple occasions in early 2024 - twice in February, once in March and once in April 2024. On April 18, Elvira said she attended the address in the hopes of giving her mother money for a birthday cake for Loraine, who was set to turn 19 the following day. There, she was met with an 'overgrown' front lawn alongside a house 'in darkness' with 'no signs of life'. However, she was hesitant to report the pair as missing given that her mother would often travel for months at a time to Cameroon or Italy, bringing Loraine with her. A close friend, who also visited the property, reported there being no signs of anyone in the home, but claimed to have seen the pair in the first few weeks of 2024. Kathy Sheldon, assistant director of tenancy at Nottingham City Council, said that Ms Leuga had initially engaged with council services and attended maintenance appointments. However, from January 2021, there were ongoing issues with the mother-of-two allowing access to the property 'on multiple occasions', including for reports of damp and mould, a leak and also an annual gas review. In October 2023, Ms Leuga reported the heating had not been working since March 2023. Access was not provided for repairs, however, and a further appointment was cancelled by Ms Leuga. The annual gas safety checks remained incomplete due to Ms Leuga repeatedly not giving access to her property and the gas was cut as a standard procedure in April 2023. It was left to her to call the council and request for the cap to be removed at her convenience after four failed appointments. The inquest was also told the mother was in arrears of rent, but deductions from her benefits, including Universal Credit, meant she was not at risk of eviction. East Midlands Ambulance Service were also said to have missed an opportunity to attend the family's address following a 999 call from Ms Leuga. She requested an ambulance, telling the call handler 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line, the inquest heard. Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing that he could 'not rule out' that Alphonsine might have died on February 2, 2024 - the day she called 999. Prior to Ms Leuge's death, she had been in 'critically unwell' in hospital between January 26 and 28, with low iron levels that required a blood transfusion of up to three litres. She was also suffering from a respiratory tract infection. Both Ms Leuga and Loraine failed to attend 'multiple' doctors appointments from January 2024. Describing her mother as 'truly loving', Elvira said that Ms Leuga 'took great care of Loraine and was very patient and understanding'. The court heard that Loraine had several health conditions that included difficulty breathing due to her weight and epilepsy. Primarily non-verbal, the teenager was also unable to walk short distances and eat on her own, making her 'entirely dependent' on her mother for her hydrational and nutritional needs. Adding that Loraine 'was very friendly and lovely with everyone', Elvira added: 'She was able to say when she was hungry or needed to go to the toilet, but that was about it. She always had positive energy around other people and never appeared sad. 'I loved Loraine and I could tell she loved me back. Loraine and I had an amazing relationship and she was and still is my best friend. She was always there for me.' Between 2018 and 2022, Loraine attended Oak Field School a special needs school located in Bilborough. However, her mother eventually withdrew her attendance from the school due to feeling that she was being 'neglected'. In a statement, the school's headteacher explained that Ms Leuga had told the establishment that she was taking Loraine to Cameroon for two months for her grandfather's funeral. However, by October, the pair still had not returned. While she started attending school again in November 2022, the headteacher said that her attendance continued to 'dwindle', with the mother informing her teachers that 'Loraine didn't want to go to school'. Eventually, her attendance dropped to just four per cent, with Loraine attending only eight days in one year. The inquest heard that the school made a 'significant number' of attempts to engage with Ms Leuge but that she had wanted Loraine to attend Nottingham College. The inquest continues.
