Latest news with #disabilities
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
French rescuers find fourth body in wreckage of holiday care home
Fire investigators were on Tuesday continuing to sift through the rubble of a care home for adults with disabilities in Montmoreau, south-western France, after a fourth body was found in the charred ruins of the building on Monday night. Police said eight people with mental disabilities, four carers and the two owners of the property were in the converted farmhouse when the fire broke out on Monday. Three residents and one of the owners were among the dead. A fifth person is still missing. Mathieu Auriol, deputy prosecutor at the Angoulême public prosecutor's office, said autopsies would be carried out to establish the causes of death. Officers from the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute will also comb through the building. "They will intervene both on the forensic side and on the fire investigation side," added Auriol. Nearly 90 firefighters tackled the blaze which left four people injured. Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq, France's Minister for Disabilities, who visited the scene of the fire, said: "Obviously I'd like to send my condolences to the families of the victims. I would also like to praise the work of the rescue services. They came swiftly and got people out." Podcast: AI 'à la française', immigration fact vs feeling, disability law Manslaughter investigation? While the precise causes of the fire are being investigated, the public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into manslaughter or unintentional injury. "We don't know what caused the fire, whether the smoke detectors worked properly, nor do we know how people became aware of the fire," added Parmentier-Lecocq. "We'll need to take time to carry out the investigation and not make guesses or speculate. (With newswires)
CBC
9 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
More hot days mean more health risks, say P.E.I. medical officials
As warm weather continues this summer, health officials are reminding Islanders to be aware of the warning signs of heat-related illnesses. For some people, including those with disabilities, the risks can be heightened. CBC's Gwyneth Egan reports.
Japan Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japan expands aid for the elderly and people with disabilities in emergencies
The government on Tuesday approved expanded disaster relief to better support the elderly and people with disabilities during emergencies, including armed attacks. At a Cabinet meeting, the government approved a revision to a cabinet ordinance, adding "provision of welfare services" to the scope of relief under the civil protection law. The change came after a similar provision was added to the revised disaster relief law enacted in May. Under the civil protection law, municipalities are responsible for relief during emergencies, such as setting up shelters and providing medical care. However, there are concerns about disaster-related deaths, as some evacuees die due to their health deteriorating after evacuation. The government also sees a need to strengthen protection for evacuees in the event of armed attacks.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Four people die in French holiday home fire
A fire that broke out on Monday killed four people at a cottage in southwestern France, where adults with learning disabilities had gone on holiday, a French government official said. Including a couple who owned the house, 14 people aged 20 to 75 were inside the stone house when the blaze broke out before dawn in the village of Montmoreau, according to local officials. The guests included eight people with learning disabilities as well as four carers. The victims included one of the owners of the isolated farmhouse and three people with disabilities, including a 60-year-old woman, said France's minister for people with disabilities, Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq. "The woman who owned the property entered voluntarily to rescue the people inside and lost her life in the attempt," Parmentier-Lecocq said. Rescue teams arrived on site 20 minutes after they were called, but were unable to resuscitate one person they evacuated, declaring the victim dead by asphyxiation, deputy prefect Jean-Charles Jobart said. They then found two bodies in the remains of the house, he said. A fourth victim was found later in the day in the burned-down guesthouse, said Parmentier-Lecocq. A fifth person remains missing, though authorities expect to find them "in the rubble," she added. The fire, brought under control late in the morning by some 85 firefighters, also left four people injured -- one of whom was initially in critical condition but is now stable, the minister said. The public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into manslaughter or unintentional injury, said Mathieu Auriol, a deputy prosecutor in the southwestern city of Angouleme. The National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute will carry out an investigation to "look for the causes" of the blaze, he added. - Reputable organisation - Deputy prefect Jobart said state services had inspected the cottage two years ago and approved it to welcome people with disabilities during the holidays. But Parmentier-Lecocq later said that the fire had started in an adjacent building, which had not undergone inspection in 2023. "We don't know what caused the fire, whether the smoke detectors worked properly, or how people became aware of the fire," she added. The minister added that the organisation that arranged the trip was reputable and trained, "particularly in fire safety". The fire comes almost two years after another blaze at a holiday home hosting adults with learning disabilities and their companions killed 11 people in eastern France. A prosecutor found that the home in the town of Wintzenheim was unlicensed and flouting fire security standards required for such a property. The guests on the lower floor of the timbered residence all managed to escape alive, but those on the upper floor found themselves trapped. It was the deadliest such fire disaster in the country since a blaze at a bar in the northern city of Rouen in 2016 killed 14 people. mar/ekf/ah/gv
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
More people with disabilities are in temporary housing despite N.S. plan
There's been a surge in the number of Nova Scotians with complex disabilities stuck in temporary housing, according to recent figures released by the province. This rise in what are called "temporary shelter arrangements," or TSAs, operated by for-profit and non-profit agencies has occurred despite a plan by the province to decrease their use over the past two years. The Department of Social Development describes the temporary housing as being needed whenever a person with a complex disability is in urgent need of housing, and options for a permanent home have been "explored and exhausted." Usually, the person is placed in an apartment, with one-on-one care, but without a long-term plan to improve their lives. "The infrastructure to shift away from the temporary model is slow. It's not happening as quickly as anticipated," said Harman Singh, director of Breton Ability Centre — a non-profit agency in Sydney, N.S., that houses people with disabilities, which has been asked to oversee eight people in temporary shelters. 5-year plan The province introduced a sweeping, five-year reform plan for the care and housing of people with disabilities in 2023. It was the result of a landmark court decision that found there was systemic discrimination against people with disabilities. The plan called for a sharp decrease in the number of people with disabilities in temporary housing arrangements by 2025 but the opposite has occurred. The recent government update on the plan, referred to as "The Remedy," indicated there were 89 people in the temporary arrangements in early 2024, but as of April 1 this year, there was a 49 per cent increase to 146 people. This contrasts with the plan's target of reducing the number of people in temporary housing by 40. Singh said Breton Ability is gradually closing down its larger facility with 68 residents but has been asked to increase temporary shelter arrangements. Some of the arrangements are lasting for years, she added. The lack of permanent solutions isn't working well, as it makes it difficult to attract staff or to spend money needed to ensure the housing arrangements are suitable, she said. For example, Singh said in one case her agency has been housing a person in a temporary apartment since 2021, but it has been unable to invest in much-needed upgrades due to uncertainty about whether they are expected to stay there permanently. If the arrangement were permanent, "we could look at long-term renovations to the house, seek grants from different departments and we would look to raise funds to make the backyard more suitable ... we would look at all these different factors and make it better," said Singh. Delays in hiring, training staff Data released to The Canadian Press through the Freedom of Information Act from January 2024 to last month show the majority of temporary shelter arrangements were provided by five private-sector agencies for 94 people. They received $34 million in 2024, and $20 million for half of 2025, according to the documents. Some people in TSAs cost about $150,000 to up to about $500,000 annually, the records say. However, a separate freedom of information response from the Department of Social Development to The Canadian Press for the same period says there were no records of "audits or reports on safety and quality of care" done on these private agencies. They also said they wouldn't provide estimates of how long people are remaining in the TSAs. In its recent annual report on the plan, the province said it wasn't meeting deadlines for decreasing the numbers because there had been delays in hiring and training staff to oversee the conversion of the system. The department said in an email Friday that so far 24 of the 146 people in the temporary shelter arrangements — about 16 per cent of the total — have been assigned staff to plan their future care and placements in the community. Maria Medioli, director of the provincial disability support program, said in an interview Thursday that the five-year plan — which has committed over $200 million in spending over the first two years — is the first major effort to deal with the TSA issue. Medioli said some of the growth in TSA numbers has been the result of people with "deeply complex issues" being discharged by a care home or a hospital without any destination, and the alternative is homelessness. Asked about oversight of service providers, Medioli said the department receives financial statements from the private-sector service providers but doesn't "generally audit providers unless there is a reason." She added there has been one complaint of financial irregularities by a private-sector provider that is being investigated, but no complaints of safety or quality problems. "I don't like them [TSAs]. They are temporary.... It was done in an emergency and we didn't have the infrastructure to make it anything but temporary. Through the [plan] we're building that infrastructure," she said. Growing numbers a concern However, Kim Long, vice chair of the Disability Rights Coalition, said in an interview Thursday that her group is concerned by the growing numbers. "I'd like to know where [the government] is in the process of establishing a baseline of health and safety.... The thing that we're most concerned about is what is that experience [of living in a temporary shelter arrangement] like?" Long said her advocacy organization wants to hear directly from families and people in temporary shelter arrangements, to learn how the arrangements work and "what they are experiencing." "We need to hear in order to get the full story behind the numbers," she said.
