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Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei ex Dickson Ndiema in intensive care with 30% burns
Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei ex Dickson Ndiema who burned Marathon star to death in intensive care with 30% burns
OLYMPIC runner Rebecca Cheptegei’s ex Dickson Ndiema who allegedly burned her to death is in intensive care with 30 per cent burns.
The Ugandan athlete, 33, died after her former partner snuck into her home and allegedly set her on fire – causing horror burns on over 75 per cent of her body, local media reported.
Local police chief Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Tuesday that Cheptegei’s ex-boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her alight during an argument on Sunday.
He reportedly entered her home while she and her two children were at church.
As he allegedly set her alight using a matchstick he was also engulfed by the flames and rushed to hospital, Nation Africa reports.
Now the alleged perpetrator has been named as Dickson Ndiema who is recovering from burn injuries he sustained in the heinous attack.
He apparently has 30 per cent burns, Menach reports.
One of Cheptegei’s own daughters is said to have seen the deadly assault at her mum’s home, it’s reported.
She told Kenya’s The Standard: “He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother.
“I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbour who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible.”
According to local media, the attack was launched after Ndiema allegedly snuck into her compound while she and her children were at church.
He was allegedly armed with petrol and poured it on the athlete before setting her alight with a matchstick.
In the process he too was engulfed by the flames, Nation Africa reports.
This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure
Donald Rukare President of the Uganda Olympic Committee
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph Cheptegei, spoke from hospital with his other daughter before she died and told local media that the pair were fighting over her land prior to the alleged attack.
He also confirmed to Kenyan newspaper The Star that his daughter’s two children are not fathered by the alleged attacker.
Mr Cheptegei also claimed that she and her ex-partner, who he alleges have been separated for a long time, are involved in a case being investigated by Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Cheptegei was rescued by neighbours after the horrific incident in her town of Endebess.
She then spent days in critical condition at an Intensive Care Unit in Eldoret city’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, western Kenya.
The Ugandan Athletics Federation posted on X on Thursday morning: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence.
“As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest In Peace.”
Inside Rebecca Cheptegei’s athletic career
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
Rebecca Cheptegei, who has died aged 33, was a Ugandan cross country, long distance and marathon runner.
She had represented Uganda at global competitions since 2010 including the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, World Mountain and Trail Running Championships and World Athletics Championships.
Cheptegei most recently competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics in the women’s marathon race.
She finished in 44th place.
According to local reports, Cheptegei had two children.
She had recently moved to Trans Nzoia County to be closer to Kenya’s athletic training facilities.
Cheptegei was a cross country, long distance and marathon runner who competed globally and most recently finished 44th in the Paris 2024 Olympics Women’s Marathon race.
People on X paid tribute to the athlete, writing “RIP” and “May her soul rest in peace”.
One woman added: “So so sad, watched her race many times.”
Another wrote: “Dear Ugandans, and to her family, we are sorry. This is heartbreaking.”
The president of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) Donald Rukare said in a post on X today: “We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei… following a vicious attack by her boyfriend.
“This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure.”
The UOC is urging local law enforcement to “take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice”.
The pro runner finished 44th in the marathon at Paris 2024 Olympics.
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk .
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
- Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’ - September 28, 2024
- Hurricane Helene kills at least 44 and causes havoc across the Southeast - September 28, 2024
- Haitian immigrant group calls for arrest warrants for Trump and Vance in Ohio - September 28, 2024
CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour is chastising former first lady Melania Trump over comments she made attacking the mainstream media in a recent interview.
“Mrs Trump is mistaken, political violence is not the fault of the ‘mainstream media’ and I wish she would take back this false and dangerous accusation,” Amanpour wrote in a social media post Friday morning.
The CNN anchor was referencing an interview Trump gave on Fox News a day earlier.
When asked about the recent assassination attempts against her husband, the former first lady called it “really shocking that all this egregious violence goes against my husband.”
“Especially that we hear the leaders from the opposition party and mainstream media branding him as a threat to democracy, calling him vile names,” she said. “They only fueling a toxic atmosphere and giving power all of these people that they want to do harm to him. This needs to stop. This needs to stop. The country needs to unite.”
Amanpour’s post was first highlighted by Mediaite.
Trump’s sit-down was the first interview she had granted to a major media outlet in more than two years, and it came as she was promoting a new book.
Former President Trump and his allies regularly attack the mainstream media, singling out CNN in many cases as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.”
- Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’ - September 28, 2024
- Hurricane Helene kills at least 44 and causes havoc across the Southeast - September 28, 2024
- Haitian immigrant group calls for arrest warrants for Trump and Vance in Ohio - September 28, 2024
(AP) — Hurricane Helene left an enormous path of destruction across Florida and the southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 44 people, snapping towering oaks like twigs and tearing apart homes as rescue crews launched desperate missions to save people from floodwaters.
Among those killed were three firefighters, a woman and her 1-month-old twins, and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. According to an Associated Press tally, the deaths occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The Category 4 hurricane knocked out power to some hospitals in southern Georgia, and Gov. Brian Kemp said authorities had to use chainsaws to clear debris and open up roads. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) when it made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated region in Florida’s rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where the state’s panhandle and peninsula meet.
Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.
The wreckage extended hundreds of miles northward to northeast Tennessee, where a “ dangerous rescue situation ” by helicopter unfolded after 54 people were moved to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital as water rapidly flooded the facility. Everyone was rescued and no one was left at the hospital as of late Friday afternoon, Ballad Health said.
In North Carolina, a lake featured in the movie “Dirty Dancing” overtopped a dam and surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated, although there were no immediate concerns it would fail. People also were evacuated from Newport, Tennessee, a city of about 7,000 people, amid concerns about a dam near there, although officials later said the structure had not failed.
Tornadoes hit some areas, including one in Nash County, North Carolina, that critically injured four people.
Atlanta received a record 11.12 inches (28.24 centimeters) of rain in 48 hours, the most the city has seen in a two-day period since record keeping began in 1878, Georgia’s Office of the State Climatologist said on the social platform X. The previous mark of 9.59 inches (24.36 cm) was set in 1886. Some neighborhoods were so badly flooded that only car roofs could be seen poking above the water.
Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes in a matter of hours.
When Laurie Lilliott pulled onto her street in Dekle Beach, Florida, after Helene plowed through, she couldn’t see the roofline of her home beyond the palm trees. It had collapsed, torn apart by the pounding storm surge, one corner still precariously propped up by a piling.
“It took me a long time to breathe,” Lilliott said.
As she surveyed the damage, her name and phone number were still inked on her arm in permanent marker, an admonition by Taylor County officials to help identify recovered bodies in the storm’s aftermath. The community has taken direct hits from three hurricanes since August 2023.
All five who died in one Florida county were in neighborhoods where residents were told to evacuate, said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County in the St. Petersburg area. Some who stayed ended up having to hide in their attics to escape the rising water. He said the death toll could rise as crews go door-to-door in flooded areas.
More deaths were reported in Georgia and the Carolinas, including two South Carolina firefighters and a Georgia firefighter who died when trees struck their trucks.
Video on social media showed sheets of rain and siding coming off buildings in Perry, Florida, near where the storm hit land. A news station showed a home that was overturned, and many communities established curfews.
Also in Perry, the hurricane peeled off the new roof of a church that was replaced after Hurricane Idalia last year.
When the water hit knee-level in Kera O’Neil’s home in Hudson, Florida, she knew it was time to escape.
“There’s a moment where you are thinking, ‘If this water rises above the level of the stove, we are not going to have not much room to breathe,’” she said, recalling how she and her sister waded through chest-deep water with one cat in a plastic carrier and another in a cardboard box.
President Joe Biden said he was praying for survivors, and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency headed to the area. The agency deployed more than 1,500 workers, and they helped with 400 rescues by late morning.
In Tampa, some areas could be reached only by boat.
Officials urged people who were trapped to call for rescuers and not tread floodwaters, warning they can be dangerous due to live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.
More than 3 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas as of late Friday, according to poweroutage.us. The site also showed outages as far north as Ohio and Indiana due to Helene’s rapid northward movement throughout the day.
In Georgia, an electrical utility group warned of “catastrophic” damage to utility infrastructure, with more than 100 high voltage transmission lines damaged. And officials in South Carolina, where more than 40% of customers were without power, said crews had to cut their way through debris just to determine what was still standing in some places.
The hurricane came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of where Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the damage from Helene appears to be greater than the combined effects of Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August.
“It’s tough, and we understand that. We also understand that this is a resilient state,” DeSantis said at a news conference in storm-damaged St. Pete Beach.
Soon after it crossed over land, Helene weakened to a tropical storm and later a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters said it continued to produce catastrophic flooding, and some areas received more than a foot of rain.
A mudslide in the Appalachian Mountains washed out part of an interstate highway at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.
Another slide hit homes in North Carolina and occupants had to wait more than four hours to be rescued, said Ryan Cole, the emergency services assistant director in Buncombe County. His 911 center received more than 3,300 calls in eight hours Friday.
“This is something that we’re going to be dealing with for many days and weeks to come,” Cole said.
Forecasters warned of flooding in North Carolina that could be worse than anything seen in the past century. Evacuations were underway and around 300 roads were closed statewide. The Connecticut Army National Guard sent a helicopter to help.
School districts and universities canceled classes. Florida airports that closed due to the storm reopened Friday. Inspectors were examining bridges and causeways along the Gulf Coast, the state’s transportation secretary said.
Helene also swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, flooding streets and toppling trees as it brushed past the resort city of Cancun this week. It also knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in western Cuba.
Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
- Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’ - September 28, 2024
- Hurricane Helene kills at least 44 and causes havoc across the Southeast - September 28, 2024
- Haitian immigrant group calls for arrest warrants for Trump and Vance in Ohio - September 28, 2024
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a non-profit organization that “provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal and social services”, filed criminal charges against Donald Trump and JD Vance over their inflammatory, racist remarks about Haitian immigrants. The rhetoric has led to threats of violence in Springfield, Ohio, including more than 30 bomb threats, forced evacuations of schools and government buildings and violence against Haitians in the city .
The filing comes after both the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate made false statements about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, alleging that they were stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets. The charges include disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity. Ohio law allows the public to file criminal charges in the same way a prosecutor would. In this case, the Haitian Bridge Alliance is asking the Clark county municipal court to affirm that there is probable cause that Trump and Vance committed the crimes, and to issue arrest warrants for them both.
“Trump and Vance have knowingly spread a false and dangerous narrative by claiming that Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian community is criminally killing and eating neighbors’ dogs and cats, and killing and eating geese,” the affidavit reads. “They accused Springfield’s Haitians of bearing deadly disease. They repeated such lies during the presidential debate, at campaign rallies, during interviews on national television, and on social media.”
Trump continued perpetuating the statements even after they had been confirmed to be false , while Vance recently remarked that he was willing to “create stories” for political gain.
They continued to repeat what the filing calls an “orchestrated … campaign of lies” that “spread a false narrative that Haitians in Springfield are a danger”.
“Many public institutions have been forced to evacuate, and vital local resources were diverted to investigate the barrage of threats to the community,” the filing reads.
Despite the public nature of Trump and Vance’s claims, local prosecutors have failed to take any action. But because the criminal charges were filed by citizens, a prosecuting attorney will be obligated to make a public decision.
Trump and Vance, the US senator from Ohio, have indicated that they may travel to Springfield. The filing asks the court to make a decision prior to their arrival.
“This should be done before Trump fulfills his threat to visit Springfield – despite Mayor Rob Rue’s request that he not do so – so that he may be arrested upon arrival for his criminal acts,” the affidavit reads.
- Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’ - September 28, 2024
- Hurricane Helene kills at least 44 and causes havoc across the Southeast - September 28, 2024
- Haitian immigrant group calls for arrest warrants for Trump and Vance in Ohio - September 28, 2024
Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’
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