A Florida man died after getting buried alive by a sand dune that collapsed while he was enjoying the sunrise, authorities said.
The freak accident happened early Sunday morning at Rock Beach on Hutchinson Island — where a passerby spotted a pair of human legs sticking out from the sand and called for help, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said.
The grim discovery was made just south of the House of Refuge Museum at around 9 am
Sean Nagel, 37, has died in a suspected accident when a beach dune under which he was recording a sunrise on a Florida beach collapsed on top of him on Sunday. Facebook/Will Nagel
Officials have determined that the man in the sand, who has been identified as 37-year-old Sean Nagel, from Stuart, “died hours earlier from asphyxia as a result of being trapped in the sand.”
Sheriff William Snyder confirmed to WPTV that when first responders dug up Nagel, sand was discovered in his lungs.
The release from the sheriff’s office stated that detectives believe Nagel was laying underneath a sand dune with his feet up while recording video of a sunrise between 5 and 6 am when the dune collapsed, trapping him. They do not suspect foul play.
The incident happened along Rock Beach on Hutchinson Island, Florida, early Sunday.TNS via Getty ImagesA beachgoer found Nagel’s legs sticking out of the sand and called for help, but the man had been dead for a couple hours. Facebook/Will Nagel
A GoPro camera and a plastic bag were found next to Nagel’s body in the sand, reported TCPalm.com.
The sheriff’s office added that investigators were awaiting the results of toxicology tests, as per standard procedure, but it noted the results were “not likely to change the outcome of this incident being a tragic accident.”
Nagel’s older brother confirmed his death resuming from an accidental dune collapse in a Facebook post on Monday.
“I am grief-stricken and still in disbelief to tell you all that my younger brother Sean Alexander Nagel is no longer with us on this earth,” Will Nagel wrote. “Please remember to enjoy your life and don’t take a single second for granted.”
Sean Nagel’s old Facebook posts suggest that he is survived by a young son.
In May, an 18-year-old was killed when a sand hole he was digging at a New Jersey beach suddenly collapsed.
COVID-19 threatens to thwart many Queenslanders’ Christmas plans for a third consecutive year, but the New Year brings the hope of next generation vaccines that may better dampen virus transmission.
Key points:
Experts are warning waves of COVID to continue indefinitely
More than 65 per cent of Queenslanders aged 65 and older have received four doses of a COVID vaccine
Experts say “variant-specific boosters” and nasal vaccines will be rolled out to the public in 2023
With experts predicting COVID waves to roll on indefinitely, Queenslanders are being urged to prepare for a “new normal”, with mandatory mask wearing expected to continue in “vulnerable” settings, such as hospitals and aged care.
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard this week tentatively forecast the next COVID wave to begin in December, although he said it was impossible to predict its severity.
While the third Omicron wave has peaked, Princess Alexandra Hospital Director of Infectious Diseases Geoffrey Playford called on the public to remain vigilant by continuing to wear masks when unable to socially distance and to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and “keep our healthcare system going as best as it can”.
“We’re all aware in other societies, particularly in South-East Asia, and North Asia, that mask wearing has been a part of normal business, normal society for quite some time – well before COVID-19,” Dr Playford said.
“It may well be that’s where the rest of us go as well.
Masks will be the norm for the foreseeable future. (ABC News: Elizabeth Pickering)
“Humans are incredibly adaptable, and I suspect we will just get to a new normal that we’ll accept as the normal moving forward and we will adapt to that.
“I doubt it will get back to the old normal.”
Hospital balancing act an ‘enormous challenge’
As the fourth year of the pandemic looms in 2023, Dr Playford said the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic had left healthcare workers concerned about the management of other diseases, unrelated to COVID, moving forward.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital’s Dr Geoffrey Playford says hospitals have grappled with enormous challenges.(ABC NewsEmma Pollard)
“People’s cancer screenings, people’s cancer management, all the other non-COVID-related health conditions need to be managed as best as we can side by side with the COVID response,” he said.
“Patients who have COVID need to be managed in specific areas of the hospital and that’s over and above all the other pressures upon our healthcare system and our hospital beds.
“That’s been an enormous challenge trying to balance both.
“Although COVID is circulating within the community and will always circulate within the community … we shouldn’t just be accepting transmission without trying to reduce it as much as possible.
“That takes the pressure off the healthcare system and allows all the non-COVID-related conditions to get the appropriate management that they deserve.”
Queensland’s third Omicron wave is in decline.(ABC NewsAlice Pavlovic)
In Queensland on Tuesday, 710 people were taking up hospital beds with COVID – down about 36 per cent from the third wave peak of 1,123 on July 26.
The state also recorded 24 COVID deaths in the previous 24 hours, taking the total since the pandemic began to 1,677.
‘Variant-specific boosters’ and nasal vaccines set to roll out
Federal Health Department data shows 65.81 per cent of Queenslanders aged 65 and older have received four doses of a COVID vaccine – just above the national average of 64.87 per cent.
While the first generation of vaccines have not generated herd immunity – creating immunity within the population to effectively quell the spread of COVID – they have been highly successful in reducing hospitalization and death.
Infectious diseases specialist Paul Griffin says more than 100 COVID vaccines are undergoing clinical trials.(Supplied)
Infectious disease physician Paul Griffin said 2023 should see the availability of second-generation COVID jabs, including a “variant-specific booster”, that may be better at hosing down infections.
“We’re going to get improved tools to combat this virus,” he said.
“If we get a vaccine next year that’s a little bit better at blocking infection, that will go a very long way, if the uptake is good, of course, of reducing the burden of the virus.
“The Omicron-specific vaccines will do that, hopefully, to a better degree.”
Dr Griffin also foreshadowed the possibility of a nasal vaccine being available next year that looks “very promising” in reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“I think we’ll get some additional vaccine options next year, which will hopefully be of greater help in terms of reducing the overall burden of the virus that’s around,” he said.
“There’s well over 100 vaccines still in clinical trials.”
Outbreaks in aged care homes in decline
Until the emergence of better vaccines, Dr Griffin joined Dr Playford in urging Queenslanders to keep wearing masks in high-risk venues, to stay up to date with their booster doses of first-generation COVID shots and when they are infected with SARS-CoV- 2, to access anti-viral medication, if eligible.
“We’re not back to normal,” he said.
“Being back to normal is probably some time away but if we get the basics right, we’ll be able to enjoy a quality of life that will be very close to what we had pre-pandemic.”
For the first time in weeks, Australia’s weekly COVID-19 aged care report shows the number of active outbreaks in nursing homes to be trending down.
More than four in five Australian aged care residents have received a fourth dose of vaccine.(Pexels: Matthias Zomer )
Queensland reported active outbreaks in 201 aged care facilities – down from 231 the previous week.
While Paul Sadler, the interim CEO of Aged and Community Services Australia, described the signs as “positive”, he said that they still represented about 40 per cent of aged care facilities in Queensland with active COVID outbreaks.
“It’s far from over and the expectation is we will continue to see elevated levels of outbreaks and infections through August and probably into September,” Mr Sadler said.
More than four in five Australian aged care residents have received a fourth dose of vaccine.
Mr Sadler said some facilities had needed to cancel booster clinics because of outbreaks.
“In many cases, those services have been rebooked for some time in August. We are confident … that the vaccination rate will continue to improve,” he said.
Mr Sadler said 99 per cent of Australia’s 2,700 aged care facilities had reported COVID cases in residents or staff during the pandemic, compared with 63 per cent of Canadian nursing homes.
“It’s very striking,” he said.
“That statistic about this disease getting into all bar one per cent of aged care homes nationally just shows that we’re fighting something that’s a considerable threat to aged care services and particularly, to older people who live in them.”
Police have confirmed Jifeng (Eileen) Liu as one of the people found dead in a home in Stretton, in Brisbane’s south, yesterday.
A 49-year-old man has been charged with two counts of murder over the deaths of Ms Liu as well as a man in his early 20s.
Police, who were called to the home at Coolidge Court at 9:40am on Monday, found the man and the bodies of Ms Liu and the man on the second storey of the home.
The 49-year-old man was treated for injuries and taken to hospital where he remains under police guard.
He was charged by detectives overnight.
Forensic police attended the scene. (ABC News: Alfred Beales)
Police confirmed the person who rank triple-0 was the 49-year-old male and the use of a Cantonese interpreter was required at the scene.
The scene remained cordoned off overnight, with forensic investigators remaining at the home. Police said they recovered two “bladed weapons” from the scene.
Police say a 49-year-old man is in custody. (ABC News: Alfred Beales)
The relationships of the three people are yet to be fully established, but the police believed they were “linked”.
Late on Monday afternoon, detectives were seen removing two mobile phones, sealed in plastic bags, from the home.
Police are seeking information from neighbors and have asked anyone with information to come forward.
An Arkansas judge drowned in a lake during a weekend getaway with family and friends, authorities said.
The body of Arkansas County Northern District Judge Jeremiah T. Bueker was recovered early Sunday from the bottom of Mud Lake in Jefferson County, sheriff officials said in a statement. He was 48.
The judge was spending time with several relatives and friends during a “recreational” outing over the weekend when he ventured off alone, authorities said.
“After time had passed and no one had seen or heard from Bueker, worry to set in,” sheriff officials said Sunday.
Bueker was last seen near Mud Lake, which dumps into the Arkansas River just north of Reydell. The judge’s family then called 911 after they couldn’t find him on Saturday.
Jefferson County deputies launched extensive ground and water searches for Bueker that were later suspended due to low visibility. Mud Lake was then scoured just after sunrise Sunday and a sonar detected the judge’s body at the bottom, authorities said.
Bueker’s death is being probed as an accidental drowning, but his body is being sent to a state medical examiner for an autopsy, authorities said.Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
“Deputies utilized subsurface body recovery drag/rescue hooks to recover Bueker’s body,” authorities said. “Upon recovery of the body, deputies and investigators with the assistance of family positively identified the body as that of Bueker.”
Bueker’s death is being probed as an accidental drowning, but his body is being sent to a state medical examiner for an autopsy, authorities said.
Sheriff Lafayette Woods said he hoped the recovery of Bueker’s body provides “some sense of closure” to his family and loved ones.
Keep up with today’s most important news
Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update.
“The scour of emotions they must feel right now is devastating,” Woods said.
Stuttgart Mayor Norma Strabala, meanwhile, said she was “shocked and heartbroken” by Bueker’s sudden death.
“Jeremy was an important and special person in this community, serving as a good friend, fierce attorney, and as Arkansas County Northern District Court Judge for nearly a decade,” Strabala wrote on Facebook. “I am praying for Sunny, her family and this community as we mourn this tragic loss.”
Bueker, who was elected as a district judge in 2012, was an “avid outdoorsman” and a “very proud father,” a Stuttgart city official told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
He was last seen alive late Saturday, authorities told the outlet.
“His family had a weekend at a cabin on the family’s property,” said Maj. Gary McClain of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. “They were riding [utility vehicles] and returned back to the cabin. It appears he decided to go swimming after maybe being dusty and he went missing. No one was with him; he was alone.”
Relatives said Bueker loved to swim, so taking a spontaneous dip would not have been unusual for him, McClain added.
Queensland has passed the peak of the third COVID wave with it expected to end in the coming weeks, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.
Ms Palaszczuk made the announcement at the Ekka today with hospitalization numbers falling steadily since last month.
“We actually peaked around July 25… that’s excellent news,” she said.
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the news came much earlier than national modeling had predicted.
“We believe this fantastic result is because Queenslanders have responded to national advice. Namely to get heir boosters, stay at home when sick, take anti-viral medicines and wear a mask in indoor crowded environments,” he said.
Queenslanders are still being urged to get their booster shots and wear a mask when they are indoors.
He said main indicator numbers – including hospitalizations and active cases – had fallen by 45 per cent or more since July 26.
COVID wave ‘every three months’
Dr Gerrard said the wave was expected to end in the coming weeks but another wave was expected in December.
“The virus is not going to go away. We are going to continue to have ongoing transmission,” he said.
“The current pattern we have seen in Queensland and worldwide is a wave every three months.
“We still believe it is likely there will be a further wave this year, but it is likely as time goes by, these waves will become milder in severity.
“Everyone now knows what they need to do.”
Currently 667 people are in hospital with the virus; compared with 1,123 at the peak of the wave.
“There are still 26 patients in the intensive care unit,” Dr Gerrard said.
There were just 2,504 new cases today and there are 35,482 active cases.
That’s a 47 per cent decrease from the peak of 66,569 on July 26.
Monkeypox vaccine available soon
The initial supplies of monkeypox vaccine will arrive in Queensland this week.
The vaccine will be targeted to very close contacts and high-risk cases.
“Initially the numbers of doses will be small and that will escalate in coming weeks and months,” Dr Gerrard said.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
A young California bank executive has been identified as the third person killed in a freak caught-on-camera lightning strike near the White House last week.
Brooks Lambertson, a 29-year-old Los Angeles-based vice president at City National Bank, was identified by DC police as the third fatality from Thursday night’s strike that also left a fourth person in critical condition.
He was killed alongside James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, childhood sweethearts from Wisconsin who were in the capital celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary.
All four had been in Lafayette Park — yards from the White House fence — when cameras caught a huge bolt striking a tree they were near.
City National Bank said Sunday that it was “devastated to learn of the sudden death of one of our colleagues.”
“Brooks was an incredible young man who will be remembered for his generosity, kindness and unwavering positivity,” the bank said.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with his loving family, his many friends and our colleagues. His joyful spirit will live on in our hearts, ”the bank said.
Brooks Lambertson, a 29-year-old bank executive from Los Angeles, was identified as the third person killing in a lightning strike near the White House last week.Facebook/KCRAThe lightning strike at Lafayette Park killed three people and left one other injured.REUTERS
The news sparked tributes for Lambertson, who previously worked as a marketing manager for the LA Clippers and was in DC for business when he was struck.
“He was a joy to work with and a wonderful colleague!” one shocked staffer said, while another wrote about how they “loved working with him.”
Brooks always lit up the room with his million-dollar smile,” that colleague wrote, while another praised his “generosity” and “kindness and unwavering” positive energy.
The fourth person, an unidentified woman, was listed in critical condition on Friday, the police department said. There was no immediate update early Sunday.
Lambertson was in DC on a business trip.@dcfireems via APWisconsin couple James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, were also killed in the lightning strike.Facebook/WISN 12 NEWS
Secret Service officers had been among the first to respond to the tragedy and offer first aid, officials announced last week.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration was “saddened by the tragic loss of life.”
“This is the people’s house. It should be a place all can see,” she said.
The fire at a Pennsylvania house that killed 10 people from the same family, including three children, may have started on the front porch of the Nescopeck home, according to an official.
A preliminary investigation suggested that the blaze erupted on the porch around 2:30 am Friday, according to Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.
“The information I have is that the fire started and progressed very quickly, making it very difficult to get out,” he said.
Shannon Daubert, 45, died in the blaze.FacebookLaura Daubert, 47, was also killed.
The victims have been identified as Dale Baker, 19; StarBaker, 22; David Daubert Sr., 79; Brian Daubert, 42; Shannon Daubert, 45; Laura Daubert, 47; and Marian Slusser, 54.
The names of the youngest victims, two boys ages 5 and 6 and a 7-year-old girl, were not officially released, but a GoFundMe identified the 6-year-old as Aiden Michael James Daubert.
Autopsies were planned for this weekend.
The three children were visiting their aunt and uncle who owned the home.AP
There were 13 dogs in the two-story house as well. The fate of the animals was not clear.
Dale Baker, a 2021 graduate of Berwick Senior High School, was, like his parents, a volunteer firefighter for Nescopeck, which is about 50 miles southwest of Scranton.
Just three adults were able to escape the fire, which completed destroyed the house. A state police investigation into the cause is underway.
The tragedy was compounded when one of the responding volunteer firefighters pulling up to the blaze, Harold Baker, realized that the fire was at the home of his relatives and his son and daughter and grandchildren, among other family members, were inside.
The children were visiting their aunt and uncle who owned the home, Baker said.
“All I wanted to do was go in there and get these people, my family. That’s all that I was thinking about, getting in to them,” Baker told The Associated Press.
A fire that tore through a Pennsylvania house killed 10 people — including three children — early Friday morning, all of whom were members of the same family and related to a volunteer fireman who responded to the blaze.
Three children, ages 5, 6 and 7, and seven adults were killed in the Nescopeck blaze, state police said. Three others were able to escape the inferno, according to first responders.
Nescopeck volunteer firefighter Harold Baker told The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre that the victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives.
“When we turned the corner up here on Dewey [Street] I knew right away what house it was just by looking down the street,” Baker told the paper. “I was on the first engine, and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully involved. We tried to get in to them.”
Thirteen dogs were also in the home it went up in flames around 2:30 am, Baker told WNEP. It was unclear if any of them survived.
Crews work to demolish the house destroyed by a fatal fire on the 700 block of 1st Street in Nescopeck on Aug. 5, 2022.APA Pennsylvania State trooper and members of the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office are at the scene of the fire in Nescopeck on August 5, 2022. AP
“The kids that were there and my two kids were just visiting their aunt and uncle. Those were the ones who owned the house. They were there visiting and going into the pool and all that,” Baker reportedly said.
A loud popping sound or explosion was heard by neighbors, who reported seeing the home quickly go up in flames.
“They’re all dead,” a young man screamed in front of the home, some neighbors reportedly said.
A “complex criminal investigation” was underway, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Derek Felsman said.
The Mayor of Lismore in northern NSW has urged the state government to release a flood inquiry report after hearing unconfirmed leaks from the media and nothing from the government.
The ABC understands the state government has received a $3 billion recovery cost estimate within the findings of a 700-page independent flood report it commissioned to investigate the preparation for, cause of and response to the crisis.
Other recommendations include offering buybacks and land swaps, the rebuilding of assets, and economic measures.
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg had both his home and business damaged in the February flood event.(ABC News: Bronwyn Herbert)
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg said he was frustrated the government had not publicly released the findings.
“I read the information in the paper today, but I’ve had no direct information from the government at all,” Mr Krieg said.
“It would be nice to get a bit of an update and a briefing. What people in Lismore really need now is hope and certainty, and at the moment we don’t have any of those.”
About 4,000 homes were damaged by flooding in February and March.
It is understood the government will seek funding from the Commonwealth to help with rebuilding and disaster proofing of communities.
A flood-hit house on Wotherspoon St in North Lismore. (Four Corners: Tajette O’Halloran)
The inquiry’s recommendations, led by NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane and former police commissioner Mick Fuller, were handed to Premier Dominic Perrottet a week ago.
The findings will likely lead to the disbanding of the disaster agency Resilience NSW, which was heavily criticized for its response to the floods in the Northern Rivers.
The ABC understands a proposal to dismantle Resilience NSW will now be presented to cabinet.
Resilience NSW commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who led the government’s response to the Black Summer bushfires, has not yet commented on the report or his future employment.
The report is still under review by the government.
A 25-year-old woman and her two sons were found shot and killed in their Northfield home, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Officials said Kassandra Sweeney, and her two sons Benjamin Sweeney, 4, and Mason Sweeney, 1, each died of a single gunshot wound. Autopsies by the chief medical examiner revealed each of their manner of deaths was homicide. The bodies of Sweeney and her sons de ella were discovered Wednesday at their home at 56 Wethersfield Drive. The investigation continued through Thursday. Sources told News 9 that Northfield and state police were called to the address just before 11:30 am Wednesday after someone reported that several people might have been injured. When officers arrived, they found the bodies of Sweeney and her two sons. The state police Major Crimes Unit returned to their home just before 9 am Thursday. A silver Ford F-150 was taken away on a flatbed truck Thursday morning, but there was no word as to why it was removed. K-9 units were also seen going in and out of the home, and officers began searching a wooded area near the home later in the day. “Investigators believe they’ve identified all individuals involved at this point and they don’t believe there’s any danger to the public,” said Geoffrey Ward, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Ward would not comment specifically on any suspects in the case. The attorney general’s office said no arrest warrants were issued, adding the investigation remains active. This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information comes in.
NORTHFIELD, NH—
A 25-year-old woman and her two sons were found shot and killed in their Northfield home, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
Officials said Kassandra Sweeney, and her two sons Benjamin Sweeney, 4, and Mason Sweeney, 1, each died of a single gunshot wound. Autopsies by the chief medical examiner revealed each of their manner of deaths was homicide.
The bodies of Sweeney and her sons were discovered Wednesday at their home at 56 Wethersfield Drive.
The investigation continued through Thursday.
Sources told News 9 that Northfield and state police were called to the address just before 11:30 am Wednesday after someone reported that several people might have been injured. When officers arrived, they found the bodies of Sweeney and her two sons of her.
The state police Major Crimes Unit returned to their home just before 9 am Thursday.
A silver Ford F-150 was taken away on a flatbed truck Thursday morning, but there was no word as to why it was removed.
K-9 units were also seen going in and out of the home, and officers began searching a wooded area near the home later in the day.
“Investigators believe they’ve identified all individuals involved at this point and they don’t believe there’s any danger to the public,” said Geoffrey Ward, Senior Assistant Attorney General.
Ward would not comment specifically on any suspects in the case. The attorney general’s office said no arrest warrants were issued, adding the investigation remains active.
The investigation is ongoing and more information will be released as it becomes available, officials said.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information comes in.
