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WORLD NEWS Saturday 31 OctOber 2020
Quake strikes Turkish coast and Greek island, killing 19

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY and Authorities warned peo-
ELENA BECATOROS ple to stay away from the
Associated Press coast and from potentially
ISTANBUL (AP) — A strong damaged buildings.
earthquake struck Friday in Izmir Gov. Yavuz Selim Kos-
the Aegean Sea between ger said at least 70 peo-
the Turkish coast and the ple were rescued from
Greek island of Samos, kill- wrecked buildings, with
ing at least 19 people and four destroyed and more
injuring over 700 amid col- than 10 collapsed. Others
lapsed buildings and flood- suffered less severe dam-
ing, officials said. age, he said, but did not
A small tsunami struck the give an exact number.
Seferihisar district south of Search-and-rescue efforts
Izmir, the city in western Tur- were underway in at least
key that was the worst af- 17 buildings, AFAD said.
fected by the quake, said Turkish media showed res-
Haluk Ozener, director of cuers pulling people from
the Istanbul-based Kan- the rubble, including one
dilli Observatory and Earth- survivor who was found
quake Research Institute. about six hours after the
At least 17 people were quake. Emergency teams
killed in Izmir, Turkey's third- continued digging after
largest city, including one nightfall and cranes lifted
who drowned, and 709 Rescue workers and local people try to save residents trapped in the debris of a collapsed concrete slabs from the
building, in Izmir, Turkey, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea has
were injured, according to shaken Turkey and Greece. wreckage.
Turkey's Disaster and Emer- Associated Press The earthquake, which the
gency Management Presi- Kandilli Institute said had a
dency, or AFAD. On Samos, two teenagers one feels before the loss of on the island, health au- magnitude of 6.9, struck at
Among the dead were the died after being struck by a children." thorities said. 2:51 p.m. local time (1151
wife and two children of wall that collapsed. Greek At least 19 people were The small tsunami that hit GMT) in Turkey and was
the secretary-general of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mit- injured on the island, with the Turkish coast also af- centered in the Aegean
the Turkish Medical Asso- sotakis tweeted condo- two, including a 14-year- fected Samos, with seawa- northeast of Samos. AFAD
ciation's Izmir branch, the lences, saying "Words are old, being airlifted to Ath- ter flooding streets in the said it measured the mag-
group said. too poor to describe what ens and seven hospitalized main harbor town of Vathi. nitude at 6.6. q

Head of church in Montenegro dies after COVID-19 infection

By PREDRAG MILIC a property law adopted by church got a (new) saint to-
Associated Press the parliament in Decem- day," Krivokapic declared,
PODGORICA, Montenegro ber. The pro-Russian church describing Bishop Amfilo-
(AP) — The head of the argued that the law allows hije as "one of the greatest
Serbian Orthodox Church the Montenegrin state to among us in this century."
in Montenegro, which led confiscate its property as a President Milo Djukanovic,
months of protests against prelude to setting up a sep- who was the main target
the small Balkan state's pro- arate Montenegrin church. of the anti-government
Western government that The government denied protests, said he was "sad-
was voted out of power in that claim. dened" by the bishop's
August, has died in a hos- The protests, some held death but added that his-
pital after contracting the in defiance of a ban on tory would judge Amfilohi-
coronavirus, the church public gatherings during je's "overall activity in Mon-
said Friday. the COVID-19 pandemic, tenegro."
The condition of Bishop managed to galvanize the Wearing a traditional bushy
Amfilohije deteriorated on opposition, which narrowly beard of Orthodox priests,
Thursday after he devel- won the vote. Amfilohije — whose civilian
oped heavy breathing and Amfilohije, known for his name was Risto Radovic —
chest pains, doctors said. staunch anti-Western and was an outspoken support-
He had been taken to a pro-Russian political views, er of Serb expansionist poli-
hospital in the capital, Pod- played a key role in lead- cies that led to the bloody
gorica, earlier in October ing the anti-government wars in the Balkans in the
after testing positive for the protests and putting to- 1990's. He was opposed to
virus. gether an opposition coali- Montenegro's 2006 inde-
The church said the tion that is currently trying pendence from Serbia.
82-year-old died Friday to form the country's new Amfilohije once described
from pneumonia caused government. Muslims as "a false people
by COVID-19. Montenegro's prime min- with a false religion" and
Ahead of a parliamentary ister-designate, Zdravko was also known for his fre-
election in August, follow- Krivokapic, called on au- quent statements against
ers of the Serbian Church thorities to declare a day gay and gender equal- In this Jan. 22, 2010 file photo, Bishop Amfilohije performs the
led by Amfilohije staged of mourning for Amfilohije. ity groups and abortion liturgy in Belgrade's Congregational church, Serbia.
months of protests against "I am convinced that the rights.q Associated Press