BERLIN (AP) — An overnight protest by climate activists at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany forced a three-hour halt to cargo flights, officials said Thursday.
The protest by the Last Generation group followed demonstrations last week at Cologne-Bonn Airport and then at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's busiest, which significantly disrupted passenger flights.
Federal police said five activists attached themselves to the ground inside the airport perimeter shortly after midnight, and another two were prevented from doing so, German news agency dpa reported. They were removed at about 5 a.m. Last Generation said they didn't set foot on the runways.
Leipzig/Halle is an important air freight hub. Airport spokesperson Uwe Schuhart said air cargo movements had to be suspended for about three hours starting at 12:30 a.m.
There didn't appear to be a significant impact on passenger flights, which don't arrive and depart during the night. The airport's website showed the first plane leaving at 5:41 a.m., about 15 minutes late.
Police said the activists, who had cut a hole in the perimeter fence, were detained.
Last Generation is demanding that the German government negotiate and sign an agreement on a global exit from the use of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Last month, the German Cabinet approved legislation that would impose tougher penalties on people who break through airport perimeters.
The bill, which still requires approval by lawmakers, foresees punishment ranging up to a two-year prison sentence for people who intentionally intrude on airside areas of airports such as taxiways or runways, endanger civil aviation, or enable someone else to. Currently such intrusions only draw a fine.
Climate activists sit on a tarmac at Leipzig-Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Several activists are demonstrating for more climate protection at the airport. (Julius-Christian Schreiner/dpa via AP)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Investigators appointed by Pakistan's prime minister were making a visit Thursday to the hospital nursery where a fast-moving fire killed 14 newborns, as grieving families and the public sought answers about the cause of the blaze and the safety measures at the major government facility.
The fire early Wednesday was confined to the third-floor nursery and did not affect the rest of the facility. Hospital officials said the fire spread so quickly the two doctors, two nurses and other staff present were able to rescue only one baby among the 15 in the nursery.
The scene at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad was somber Thursday as doctors, staff, patients and relatives mourned the newborns. Access was restricted to the third-floor area where the fire occurred.
Witnesses, including relatives of other patients, said they saw the family of the only baby to survive the fire leave the hospital with him after the blaze broke out.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed the investigating committee, led by retired federal secretary Shahid Khan. They are expected to take statements from hospital staff, witnesses and families. The committee is expected to make urgent recommendations to Sharif within 48 hours and deliver a comprehensive report within five days.
Hospital and district officials initially said an exploding air-conditioning unit caused the fire. In its preliminary report, however, the hospital said a blast involving a nebulizer sparked the blaze, which spread within minutes because of the high concentration of oxygen in the nursery. The committee has not reached its own conclusion and will independently determine the cause, the city administration said.
Officials said authorities handed over the bodies of all 14 newborns to their families for burial Wednesday night. Witnesses saw the families leaving the hospital with them in ambulances which were arranged by the government.
The Pakistani Taliban, a militant group also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, expressed grief over the newborns’ deaths and offered condolences to their families. The group has been behind numerous deadly attacks on security forces and civilians across the country in recent years.
The deaths prompted authorities to order broader reviews of fire-safety measures and firefighting equipment at hospitals. In Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, the government instructed the Health Department to immediately review fire-safety systems and emergency-response facilities, according to a government statement.
Sharif dismissed Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, the Health Ministry’s highest-ranking civil servant, after the fire. Grieving parents and members of civil society have demanded answers about how the fire began and whether the nursery had adequate firefighting equipment.
The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said it was saddened by the deaths and called for an urgent review and strengthening of fire-prevention and safety standards at health facilities.
The fire was among Pakistan’s deadliest recent tragedies involving children. In June, 14 schoolchildren were killed when the roof of a tutoring center under construction collapsed in the eastern city of Lahore.
Police officers stand guard outside a nursery following a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/M.A. Sheikh)
A woman carries her newborn baby out from a nursery in the gynecology ward of a hospital following a fire in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo)
A woman, who lost her baby in a hospital fire, reacts at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo)
A man carries the body of a newborn for burial after the child died in a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ehsan Shahzad)
