ALERT: Turkey Travel Warning

The U.S. State Department updated its Travel Warning for Turkey.

The warning includes information on the government’s decision to order family members of “employees

posted to the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul” to leave the country, due to security concerns.

According to the updated State Department Travel Warning:

The U.S. Department of State is updating this Travel Warning to reflect the October 29,

2016, decision to order the departure of family members of employees posted to the U.S.

Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey. The Department of State made this decision

based on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive

efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent. The

Consulate General remains open and fully staffed.

This order applies only to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, not to other U.S.

diplomatic posts in Turkey. The Department continues to monitor the effect of these

developments on the overall security situation in the country.

Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous

terrorist organizations in Turkey. In the past year, extremists have carried out attacks in

France, Belgium, Germany, Mali, Bangladesh, Tunisia, and Turkey. Additional attacks in

Turkey at major events, tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centers, places of worship,

and transportation hubs, including aviation services, metros, buses, bridges, bus

terminals and sea transport, could occur. Extremists have also threatened to kidnap and

assassinate Westerners and U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal

security plans, monitor local news for breaking events, and remain vigilant at all times.

ALERT: Plane Catches Fire at O’Hare Airport

A Miami-bound American Airlines flight caught fire, after an aborted takeoff at Chicago’s O’Hare

International Airport this afternoon.

The Boeing 767 had 161 passengers and nine (9) crew members aboard. All were evacuated safely,

though local news reports indicate several passengers were injured, none critically.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting:

An American Airlines flight bound for Miami caught fire on a runway at O’Hare

International Airport Friday afternoon when a tire apparently blew as the jetliner

was taking off, officials said.

The pilot of Flight 383, a Boeing B767, aborted the take off around 2:35 p.m.,

according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Passengers were taken off

through emergency chutes, it said.

Video footage from the scene showed all the planes chutes deployed and the right

wing blackened and sagging to the tarmac.

While the FAA said the problem started with a blown tire, American Airlines said

in a statement that the take-off was aborted “due to an engine-related mechanical

issue.”

“The 161 passengers and nine crew deplaned on the runway, and buses are

enroute to pick up the passengers and bring them back to the terminal,” the

airline said.

According to the FAA:

Due to RWY-TAXI / DISABLED AIRCRAFT, there is a Traffic Management

Program in effect for traffic arriving Chicago OHare International Airport,

Chicago, IL (ORD). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average

of 1 hour and 15 minutes.

ALERT: Shooting Outside U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya

A man was killed outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

While no Security Message for U.S. citizens has been issued, the embassy confirmed the shooting via

Twitter: “Confirmed: Shooting incident near the Embassy. No Embassy personnel were involved. We

refer you 2 Kenyan authorities 4 further details.”

According to the International Business Times:

A man wielding a knife in an alleged attack on the United States embassy in Nairobi,

Kenya Thursday was reportedly shot and killed after he tried to stab a guard near one of

the entrances, NTV Kenya reports.

The man’s identity is presently unknown, but bystanders posted pictures of his body

after he killed to social media.

His motive for the alleged attack is also unknown, and the embassy has yet to make an

announcement regarding the attack.

The man reportedly tried to stab a General Service Unit officer, which is part of Kenya’s

National Police Service.

According to Capital News:

A man was on Thursday afternoon shot dead by GSU officers guarding the US Embassy

in Nairobi, police said.

The shooting occurred at the entrance of the VISA section on UN Avenue in Gigiri.

“There has been a shooting outside the embassy and a man is dead,” a senior police

officer said.

When contacted, Gigiri Divisional Police chief Vitallis Otieno said “The man was shot

after stabbing a GSU officer in the hand and left him with injuries.”

He added that “The officer sustained injuries in the head and hand after the

confrontation in which the attacker had tried to grab a gun from him.”

Heavily armed police officers were immediately deployed to the scene and sealed off part

of the road as investigations got underway.

ALERT: Italy Earthquake

As an update to our earlier alert, there have now been two earthquakes in Italy this evening.

At 7:10 p.m. local time, a 5.4-magnitude quake struck near Visso in Macerata province, according to the

U.S. Geological Survey. That was followed, two hours later, by a 6.1 magnitude aftershock.

Reuters is reporting:

A series of strong earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday, striking fear among

residents still rattled by a deadly tremor in August, but there were no reports of

casualties.

A quake measured at 6.0 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey struck about two

hours after a first quake measuring 5.4 struck.

Both were strong enough to be felt more than 150 km south in Rome, where lamps

swayed on the upper floors of building.

The epicentres of both quakes were near the town of Castelsantangelo sul Nera in the

Marche region.

First reports indicated that some old buildings collapsed but that the damage would not

approach that caused by the major quake that struck the Marche, Lazio and Umbria

regions on Aug 24, which devastated several towns and killed nearly 300 people.

Officials in the town of Visso, not far from the epicentre, reported several injuries.

Several old rural churches collapsed or were damaged. Schools were ordered closed on

Thursday.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially attributed a magnitude of 5.6 to the first quake and

6.4 to the second, before revising them lower. USGS said the epicentre was at a depth of

about 10 km (6 miles).

Electrical power was lost in some of the areas and some roads were closed.

According to Fox News:

In Rome, some 145 miles southwest from the epicenter, centuries-old palazzi shook and

officials at the Foreign Ministry evacuated the building.

The quakes were actually aftershocks of the magnitude 6.2 earthquake from two months

ago. Because they were so close to the surface, it has the potential to cause more shaking

and more damage, “coupled with infrastructure that’s vulnerable to shaking,” said U.S.

Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle.

“They have a lot of old buildings that weren’t constructed at a time with modern seismic

codes,” he said.

Given the size, depth and location of the quakes, the USGS estimates that about 12

million people likely felt at least weak shaking.

This original quake was about 12 miles northwest of the original shock, which puts it on

the northern edge of the aftershock sequence and two months is normal for aftershocks,

Earle said. The August 6.2 quake was five times bigger than Wednesday’s and was 11

times stronger based on energy released.

ALERT: Palm Springs: 13 Fatalities and 31 Injuries in USA Holiday Motor Coach Crash

On Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, California, a USA Holiday tour bus crashed into a freight truck,

resulting in at least 13 fatalities and another 31 injured. The driver was among those who lost their lives.

According to CNN:

A tour bus that crashed into a freight truck on Sunday in Palm Springs,

California, resulted in 13 fatalities and 31 injuries, California Highway Patrol

Chief Jim Abele said a press conference. The driver of the bus was among those

killed. The accident’s cause has not yet been determined.

The accident happened at 5:17 a.m. local time on westbound Interstate 10,

according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs reported receiving 14

patients early Sunday. Five were in critical condition while 3 were in serious

condition, the hospital said.

Early videos from the scene shows dozens of firefighters with ladders inside the

mangled remains of the tour bus, struggling to reach the victims. KESQ reported

that rescuers also used a crane to search the wreckage.

The California Highway Patrol told KESQ the bus was owned by a Los Angeles

company, USA Holiday. The California Highway Patrol told KESQ that the

company’s owner, who was driving the bus at the time, was not injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet Sunday that

investigators were heading to the crash scene.

ALERT: London City Airport Evacuated

London City Airport has been evacuated due to a possible fire. Passengers and staff were directed out of

the terminal building and onto the tarmac and runway.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail:

London City Airport has been dramatically evacuated this afternoon as the capital

remains on high alert following the terror alert at a tube station just 24 hours ago.

Hundreds of passengers and staff were ordered to leave the terminal building midafternoon

and no flights were able to depart and land following reports of a fire.

Pictures from the scene show crowds gathering on the tarmac and the runway.

An airport spokesman could not confirm whether a fire had been discovered. She said an

alarm was activated at around 4.30 pm. The incident remains ongoing.

The incident comes just 24 hours after North Greenwich Tube Station in the capital was

dramatically closed to the public following a ‘terror-related incident’.

A suspicious package was exploded by the bomb squad as counter-terror after

passengers were evacuated at about 11am and a huge section of the Jubilee line was

suspended. The station was closed for more than six hours and no trains were running

between Stratford and Canary Wharf in East London until about 3.15pm.

A 19-year-old man was Tasered and arrested under the Terrorism Act today in

connection with the incident.

Security has been ramped up on London’s public transport network since with more

officers, including armed police, on patrol at travel hubs and high visibility patrols.

The UK’s Mirror also reports:

A spokesman for City Airport confirmed that the terminal had been evacuated after

reports of a fire.

He told the Evening Standard: “The terminal was evacuated after a fire alert was raised

in line with normal procedure.

“It is too early to establish a cause.”

London Fire Brigade said three fire engines had been sent to the scene.

The alert comes just a day after a 19-year-old teenager was arrested under Terrorism Act

after a controlled explosion at nearby North Greenwich tube station, which is less than

six miles away from the airport.