08/08/2026

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Eight dead, 15 injured in Thai school shooting

Manila hit by third quake in two days MANILA: A magnitude-5.4 earthquake jolted Occidental Mindoro yesterday, Philippines News Agency reported, citing the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). It was the third quake to hit the Philippines in two days. On Thursday, the Davao Occidental was hit with a magnitude-5.6 earthquake while a magnitude-5.3 quake was also recorded 408km southeast of Balut Island. In the most recent tremor, initially recorded at magnitude-5.8, the tectonic quake struck 13km southwest of Mamburao at 10.38am, at a depth of 14km. Intensity V (strong shaking) was felt in Mamburao in Occidental Mindoro, and the City of Calapan, Naujan, Puerto Galera, San Teodoro and Victoria in Oriental Mindoro. Intensity IV (moderately strong shaking) was reported in Taal in Batangas, and Abra De Ilog and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro. Intensity III (weak to moderate shaking) was felt in Quezon City, Batangas City, City of General Trias in Cavite, City of San Pedro in Laguna. Intensity II (slight shaking) was felt in Parañaque City, Santa Cruz in Laguna and Guinayangan in Quezon. Phivolcs said aftershocks were possible but damage is not expected. In a separate development, hundreds of thousands of people in southwestern Japan were ordered to evacuate and more than 500 flights were cancelled yesterday as slow-moving Typhoon Dolphin approached the region with violent winds, heavy rain and high waves. The Category One typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 144kph, with gusts reaching 198kph and was nearing a chain of islands between the Kyushu region and Okinawa prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Authorities issued evacuation orders for nearly 260,000 residents in Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures. – Reuters Landmines wash up in South Korea SEOUL: South Korean authorities have collected 15 landmines believed to have washed over into their coastal territory from the inter-Korean border on monsoon deluges, officials said yesterday. The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), splitting the Koreas since their 1950-1953 war ended with an armistice, is one of the most heavily mined places on Earth. Some 800,000 are estimated to be buried around the area, according to military data cited by the Yonhap news agency. Many are from the war but mine-laying has continued in recent years. South Korea’s northwestern border country Gwangwha civil defence head Choi Young-ran said 15 “suspected North Korean landmines” were “discovered along coastal areas”. She said the mines, “believed to have been washed away during the monsoon season and recent torrential rains”, had been found between July 23 and Monday. Gwangwha, an archipelago county, sits at the mouth of the Han River estuary, which is bisected by the border between North and South Korea. Seoul’s military warned last month about the risk of heavy rainfall washing explosives into rivers crossing the border and causing “serious damage”if they explode downstream. In 2015, two South Korean soldiers patrolling the western DMZ lost limbs when they were severely wounded by a North Korean mine, the military said. In late July, Gwangwha county sent out alerts to residents warning them of the danger of North Korean mines along coastal areas. County officials said on Wednesday they had “not ruled out the possibility that more could arrive”. – AFP

An AFP journalist saw a dozen mental health workers arrive at the school, where traffic was nearly at a standstill. Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation – one for every seven inhabitants. Past promises of tightening gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings. Thai police shot and arrested a teenager who opened fire at a school in the south of the country in February, killing the principal and wounding two students. The teen had used a police officer’s weapon in the shooting. A local police chief said at the time that the suspect had been hospitalised for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged. The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his weapon – a 9mm pistol – just before the incident, and then used it to carry out the attack. In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and a knife stormed into a nursery in the country’s north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults, one of Thailand’s deadliest massacres. – AFP

said Grade 12 student Pawarisa Maylissa, who hopes to attend medical school. “I heard many gunshots very loudly because it seemed the suspect was on the floor directly above us. I could even hear bullets casings hitting the floor.” Fifteen injured students were not struck by gunfire but hurt as they were trying to flee, Interior Deputy Minister Polapee Suwunchwee told local broadcaster Thai PBS. A 47-year-old emergency worker said he was called to treat the teenage shooter after hearing a final shot. “We rushed up and found that the perpetrator had shot himself in the right side of the head and collapsed. When we got up there, we checked his pulse, he still had one, so we started CPR.” The teen was taken to the hospital but was later reported dead, he said. “It is such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House. Photos published by local media show the shooter wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.

BANGKOK: A teenage student killed his grandparents before shooting dead at least six more people at a school near Bangkok yesterday, police said. He first shot dead his grandparents using his grandfather’s handgun, then went to a secondary school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, police said in a statement. Police added that the shooter, who was 14 years old, fired at least 26 bullets and was found with 34 additional rounds. Dozens of police and emergency responders gathered outside the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province yesterday while parents raced to pick up their children and tearful students and staff comforted one another outside. “I was afraid that I would die, and I was scared that I would not be able to pursue my dreams,” o Perpetrator identified as teenage student takes own life after rampage

A student is hugged by a family member after being evacuated from Debsirin Nonthaburi School yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Indonesia traps monkey that wounded 18

JAKARTA: Animal trappers have cut short the two-week rampage of a monkey that randomly attacked 18 people on Sumatra Island in Indonesia, prompting dozens of schools to close in fear. The animal, an adult long-tailed macaque, wounded 18 residents of the town of Tembilahan, biting and clawing at its victims, most of whom it targeted when they were alone. Those hurt included children as well as elderly people. “There were 19 attacks, with 18 victims. One victim was attacked twice,“ said Tembilahan Fire and Rescue Service head Junaidy Ismail yesterday.

situation is deemed safe, the local government said in a statement. The monkey has been transferred to Pekanbaru, the capital of Sumatra’s Riau province, where the nature conservation agency will carry out blood and observational tests. “We want to establish whether the monkey is carrying any diseases,“ said agency official Ujang Holisudin. Human-animal conflicts are common in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for oil palm plantations is shrinking the habitats of animals such as monkeys, elephants and tigers. – AFP

Some required over a dozen stitches and rabies shots. The monkey was caught on Thursday in a trap set up in town and the rescue service issued a video yesterday showing it alive, seemingly stressed, behind bars in a cage. Town official Ari Syuria urged residents to remain cautious as the monkey may have operated as part of a gang. “The concern is that there may be other monkeys attacking people,“ said Ari in an Instagram post. Forty schools remained shuttered yesterday, with three days of online learning ordered for hundreds of Tembilahan pupils. Doors will reopen next Monday if the