By Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News
An 8-year-old girl was among three people who lost their lives in a devastating motor vehicle collision at the intersection of South River and Mitchell Town main roads in Clarendon, Jamaica. The tragic crash occurred around 9:15 Saturday morning and involved a 2003 white International motor truck and a 2016 green Toyota Corolla.
In addition to the child, a 44-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man were killed in the impact. So far this year, 181 people have died in road accidents across Jamaica — a slight decline compared to 198 over the same period last year.
In Brazil, eight people have died after a hot air balloon carrying 21 passengers crashed in the southern state of Santa Catarina. Authorities say the balloon caught fire mid-flight and crashed in a forested area of the city of Praia Grande, a popular tourist destination known for its hot air ballooning excursions.
According to officials, the balloon was one of up to 30 that launch daily during peak season. Thirteen survivors were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed condolences to the victims’ families and assured the federal government’s support for ongoing local and state-level investigations.
Turning to South America’s Amazon region — a new study has revealed alarming levels of mercury poisoning among Indigenous and riverine communities in Peru’s Loreto region. Researchers from the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation at Wake Forest University found that nearly 80% of those tested late last year had mercury levels above internationally accepted safety limits.
The findings showed that in six communities, 37% of 273 participants had mercury concentrations exceeding 10 parts per million — more than four times the World Health Organization’s safe limit of 2.2 ppm.
The culprit: a growing illegal gold mining industry driven by soaring gold prices, which have risen nearly 50% in the past year. Mercury, used in extracting gold from river sediment, is later burned off — releasing toxic vapor into the environment, contaminating plants, rivers, and soil. Health experts warn that mercury exposure can cause severe cognitive impairment in adults and irreversible developmental damage in unborn babies and children.