At least 32 people have died off the coast of southern Greece after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized and sank, authorities said Wednesday. A large search and rescue operation was launched in the area. Authorities said 104 people have been rescued so far following the nighttime incident some 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Greece's southern Peloponnese region. Also Read: At least 39 migrants dead in bus crash in Panama Four of the survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia. It was unclear how many passengers might remain missing at sea after the 32 bodies were recovered, the Greek coast guard said. Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport plane, an air force helicopter, several private vessels and a drone from the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, were taking part in the ongoing search. Also Read: Migrant boat breaks up off Italian coast, killing nearly 60 The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and Frontex about the approaching vessel on Tuesday. Smugglers are increasingly taking larger boats into international waters off the Greek mainland to try to avoid local coast guard patrols. Also Read: Death toll from Greece train crash rises to 57 On Sunday, 90 migrants on a U.S.-flagged yacht were rescued in the area after they made a distress call. Separately Wednesday, a yacht with 81 migrants on board was towed to a port on the south coast of Greece's island of Crete after authorities received a distress call. Also Read: Greece: 3 dead after boat with migrants hits rocks  

A couple and their son were pulled alive from under a collapsed apartment building more than 12 days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged parts of Turkey and Syria, although the child later died at a hospital, Turkish state media reported Saturday. A foreign search team from Kyrgyzstan rescued Samir Muhammed Accar, 49, his wife, Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son while digging through the rubble of the apartment building in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. They were removed at about 11:30 a.m. local time (8:30 GMT), or 296 hours after the Feb. 6 quake, and quickly transferred to ambulances. TV footage showing medics fixing an IV drip to the man’s arm as he lay on a stretcher. One of the Kyrgyz rescuers said the team also found the bodies of two dead children. Anadolu later reported they also were the children of Samir Muhammad and Ragda Accar. Also Read: Turkish teen filmed ‘last moments’ from quake-hit apartment During a visit to Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the father was conscious and being treated at Mustafa Kemal University Hospital. Anadolu published photos showing American TV personality and former U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz visiting the recovering man. Reporting on their conversation, Anadolu said Samir Muhammed Accar described how he survived the ordeal by drinking his own urine. He also told Dr. Oz that his children responded to his voice for the first two or three days but he heard nothing from after that. Hatay province, where Antakya is located, was one of areas hit hardest by the earthquake, which killed at least 40,642 people in Turkey and 3,688 in Syria. Search and rescue operations are continuing in Turkey, although the head of the country’s disaster response agency said they would end on Sunday.

Coast Guard members on Sunday rescued 23 fishermen who were floating in the Bay of Bengal for five days as the engine of their trawler broke down. Lieutenant Colonel BN KM Shafiul Kinjol, media personnel of Coast Guard South zone, said the engine of the trawler named ‘Mayer Doa’ with 23 fishermen went out of order on Wednesday. Also read: Indian Coast Guard rescues 17 more Bangladeshi fishermen from Bay A patrol team of the Coast Guard found the trawler floating in the Bay and rescued the fishermen in the morning, said Kinjol. The trawler was taken to Nizampur Station where the fishermen were given first aid. Also read: 250 fishermen go missing as 16 trawlers sink in Bay, 150 rescued in Patuakhali All the fishermen, hailed from the Banshkhali area, were out of danger and they were handed over to Al Amin, owner of the trawler, he said.

Police claimed to have arrested eleven extortion gang members and rescued two children and youths from their captivity at a Kolatoli cottage in Cox's Bazar Sunday night. The children are from Dakshin Dikkul of Cox's Bazar and youths from Shahpari Dwip and Satkania of Teknaf. The arrestees are Md Alamgir, Md Salim, Akash Das, Md Jobair, Md Mamun, Nazir Hossain, Sekander Ali, Md Sohail, Md Jahangir Alam, Md Jasim and Md Parvez. Read: Fugitive death-row war criminal held in city A team of Tourist Police raided Sheuli Cottage at night and rescued four people from captivity, Rezaul Karim, additional superintendent of Tourist Police, said. However, the gang members managed to flee through a secret route. Later, they were arrested during separate drives. "Two of the rescued people came to Kolatoli with patients and went to Sheuli Cottage to spend the night as some of the gang members offered them rooms at low rates," Rezaul said. "But they later asked the tourists for higher room prices. The gang members locked the rooms from outside as the tourists refused to pay the extra price."

A woman was rescued Sunday from the rubble of a building in central China more than 50 hours after it collapsed, leaving dozens trapped or missing, state media said. Separately, police arrested nine people including the building owner on suspicion of causing a major liability accident, the official Xinhua News Agency said. State broadcaster CCTV showed video of rescuers bringing the woman out on a stretcher about 4:30 p.m. Some could be heard shouting words of encouragement during the operation. She was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, CCTV said. Also read: 4 students injured after abandoned building collapses in school premises She was the sixth person rescued from the building, which collapsed Friday afternoon in the inland city of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. About 20 others remained trapped, and another 39 had not been accounted for as of late Saturday. Besides the owner, police said they had arrested three people in charge of design and construction and five others for what they said was a false safety assessment for a guest house on the building's fourth to sixth floors. In photos the building appeared to have pancaked down to about the second floor, leaving rubble strewn on the sidewalk. It had stood in a row of buildings about six stories tall. Also read: Worker dies falling off building in Jhenaidah Xinhua said the building had eight floors, including a restaurant on the second floor, a cafe on the third floor and residences on the top two floors. Other media reports said it was a six-story building. Tenants had made structural modifications to the building, but the cause of the collapse remained under investigation, Xinhua said. Police said the Hunan Xiangda Engineering Testing Co. issued the false safety report on April 13. The arrested included the legal representative of the company and four technicians suspected of providing the assessment. Following an increase in the number of collapses of self-built buildings in recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that it was necessary to check such structures for any hidden dangers and fix them to prevent major accidents, Xinhua said. Poor adherence to safety standards, including the illegal addition of extra floors and failure to use reinforcing iron bars, is often blamed for such disasters.

Police rescued 17 tourists as they lost their way while visiting a hill in Sitakunda of Chattogram early Friday after they called  the national emergency service number 999. Suman Banik, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sitakunda Model Police Station, said a group of 17 tourists came to enjoy a waterfall at the hill in Panthichhila area of Sitakunda and decided to spend the night camping here.  Read: Crack down on syndicates of essential commodities, HC asks govt However, four of them lost their way while walking on the hill. Later, the remaining tourists fell in danger while searching for the four and called on the helpline number 999. Being informed, Sitakunda police rescued them safely at 1:30am from the hill, he added. The OC also said the hill is so inaccessible that no one goes to the area at night usually. "Even if anyone goes there during the day, they have to come back in the daylight."

In a daring drive firemen rescued a 24-year-old youth who fell into a 40-feet deep tunnel-like void space surrounded by four multi-storied buildings in the city’s Gandaria in the small hours of Monday. Deputy assistant director (media cell) of Fire Service and Civil Defense, Md Shahjahan Shikdar, said the man, identified by his first name Salman, fell into void space (measuring 3feet by 2 feet) around 12:45 am while passing the road. On information, a rescue team of fire servicemen from Sutrapur Fire Service, led by DAD Bazlur Rashid went to the spot and heard the groans from Salman. Also read: 3 Bangladeshi schoolboys rescued after 999 call After getting a response from Salman, a member of the fire service got down into the hole and pulled the trapped man out from it around 2:20 am. Rescuers used breathing apparatus and other equipment to pull him out. However, the exact circumstances of how he fell are unclear. Also read: 4 kidnapped fishermen rescued in Ctg, 5 robbers held Salman was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital as he got injured in his back.

The pilot of a small plane averted death twice in a span of minutes on Sunday, first when he crash-landed onto railroad tracks, then when Los Angeles police rescued him just before a commuter train smashed into the aircraft. Bodycam video showed the officers working furiously to disentangle the bloodied pilot from the cockpit of the crumpled Cessna 172. “Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!” someone yelled as the officers dragged the man away seconds before the Metrolink train, its horn blaring, barreled through the plane. The single-engine plane had engine failure during takeoff from Whiteman Airport in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima and went down moments later, police Capt. Christopher Zine told reporters. The plane ended up on a rail crossing in an intersection adjacent to the airport and just blocks from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division station. Officers arrived at the crash scene almost immediately. Read: Sorrow, grief shatter Bronx community after deadly fire “I had requested Metrolink to cease all train activity, but apparently that didn’t happen,” Sgt. Joseph Cavestany told CBSN Los Angeles. Officer Christopher Aboyte told KABC-TV that he initially stood by the plane trying to keep the pilot, who was seated, conscious and alert. Then, bells and flashing lights signaled an oncoming train, Officer Robert Sherock told the station. “We looked and sure enough there was a train headed right for us at full speed,” he said. Officer Damien Castro told KNBC-TV that training and experience kicked in, and adrenaline helped. “When things like that happen you kind of just go and do it,” Castro said. “You don’t really have much time to think.” The bodycam captured the sight and sound of the train blasting through where the pilot had been seconds earlier. “I think this guy needs to buy a lottery ticket ’cause he pretty much cheated death twice within 10 minutes,” Sherock told KNBC. Read: Myanmar’s Suu Kyi sentenced to 4 more years in prison The pilot was the only person on board. He was taken to a hospital. He was identified as 70-year-old Mark Jenkins by a relative, Dan Mortensen, who told KNBC-TV that the pilot suffered “pretty significant” damage to his face including broken bones and also had broken ribs. Jenkins is a “very experienced” former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, said Mortensen, who co-owns the plane. Mortensen said Jenkins probably intended to land on the tracks to avoid possibly hitting people on the ground. “He didn’t anticipate a train coming through at 80 mph,” Mortensen said. Metrolink service was halted and road traffic was detoured in the area about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

Another nilgai (blue buck, an antelope) has been found and rescued from Madhabpur village of Bairchuna union of Pirganj upazila on Friday evening. Seeing the Nilgai roaming in the area, locals caught it after a chase and informed the UP chairman about it. UP chairman Humi Sarker said the Nilgai was rescued from the village and later handed over to the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB). Also read: Indian nilgai dies of injuries in Thakurgaon This is the fifth nilgai to be rescued in Thakurgaon in the last four years. Of these, four have died. Earlier on November 26, an adult male nilgai was caught by a mob in Minapur village of Thakurgaon's Haripur upazila, which died of its injuries. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rezaul Karim said the nilgai is safe now. It has been kept in BGB custody. Necessary steps are being taken to transfer it to the Livestock Department, he added. Also read: Nilgai dies trying to escape capture by villagers in Thakurgaon Nilgai is a large Asian antelope, usually  brown or bluish grey, native to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal. Nilgai was previously declared extinct in Bangladesh by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

More than 700 birds of Sturnidae species, known as Shalik, were on Sunday freed by police after they were rescued from a cowshed at Mollahat in Bagerhat. Tipped off, police raided Kaka Mia's house at Rajpat village in Mollahat on Saturday night and found the birds kept in nets. Police could not arrest anyone involved the hunter who fled the scene, said Soumen Das, officer-in-charge (OC) of Mollahat police station. Also read: Two held with 50 wild birds in Jashore Several nets for hunting birds were also seized during the drive.