(NEW YORK) — Two people died and at least 19 others were injured following a chemical leak at a West Virginia refinery plant that was scheduled to be shut down Wednesday morning, officials said.

Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango told reporters that workers were cleaning and decontaminating the Catalyst Refiners plant in Nitro, West Virginia, which is in the process of shutting down, when the incident took place around 9:30 a.m.

Kanawha County Emergency Manager CW Sigman said that as the workers were decommissioning a tank, nitric acid and M2000A were mixed, creating hydrogen sulfide.

“We could smell it downwind,” Sigman told reporters at a news conference.

A total of 21 people were taken to the hospital, two of whom died, according to Salango. Frank Barber, the president of Ames Goldsmith Corp, which owns the plant, said in a statement that the unidentified deceased victims were employees of the company.

One victim was listed in critical condition as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Salango. Barber said that the victim was also an employee of Ames Goldsmith.

Seven of the hospitalized victims were EMS crews who rushed to respond to the scene, Sigman said.

“They put themselves in harm’s way to try and save a life,” he said.

The plant was used to refine silver, according to Salango.

Sigman said that some of the employees immediately put on respirators and helped to get the people inside the plant out of harm’s way.

Sigman said the investigation is ongoing and will involve state and federal agencies as they try to get more answers as to how the incident took place.

He said that according to the plant manager, it was not uncommon for decontamination crews to mix the nitric acid and M2000A.

“But there was something going on that was different. That will [be] for the investigators to determine,” Sigman said of the decommission procedures.

A shelter-in-place was ordered for the surrounding area as investigators determine the extent of the leak.

Sigman said that fire officials have visited and toured the plant “in the last few months,” and met with plant managers about emergency response.

Barber said Ames Goldsmith is working with investigators in their probe.

“This is an unfathomably difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families,” he said.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he was monitoring the situation.

“We are working around the clock with local officials to ensure this incident is contained and that all necessary state resources are on the ground to protect the community,” he said in a statement.

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(LOS ANGELES) — The 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains authorities say were found decomposing in the singer D4vd’s towed Tesla last year died by “multiple penetrating injuries,” according to the newly unsealed medical examiner’s report.

D4vd — a 21-year-old Los Angeles resident whose legal name is David Burke — has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of the teen, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, officials said. The “Romantic Homicide” singer was arrested last week following a monthslong investigation.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner found she had two penetrating wounds of her torso, including injury to her liver, and reported evidence of traumatic injury. There were presumptive positives for benzodiazepines and meth/MDMA in her system, the report stated.

There was severe postmortem change to her body based on how long she had been dead.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga.) — Dry conditions from a persistent drought and gusty winds were fueling wildfires on Wednesday in the Southeast, including a blaze in Southeast Georgia that has destroyed dozens of homes and prompted evacuations.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for 91 counties in South Georgia.

The wildfire in Brantley County, Georgia, grew from about 700 acres at 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday to 5,000 acres at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, County Manager Joey Carson said at a news conference on Wednesday.

“Obviously, this fire became a lot larger than we thought it would be on Monday. We’ve got resources that have come in from all over South Georgia and now from the state,” said Carson, adding that he expects more resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to arrive later Wednesday.

The fire, burning northwest of Brunswick, Georgia, was 10% contained on Wednesday morning, Chuck White, director of Emergency Management in neighboring Camden County, said at the news conference.

At least 47 homes have been destroyed by the blaze, which started on Monday off of U.S. Highway 82 near the Brantley County-Glynn County line, authorities noted.

Schools in Brantley County canceled classes on Wednesday due to the fire threat and smoke, officials said.

“This decision has been made to ensure the safety of our students, families, and employees, and to allow our Brantley County families time and space to navigate the impacts of the fire,” the local school system said in a statement.

On Tuesday, students and staff at two schools in the Brantley County town of Waynesville were forced to evacuate during the school day, officials said.

The Georgia Forestry Commission also issued its first mandatory burn ban in state history on Wednesday. The ban on outdoor burning, which will remain in effect for at least 30 days, is for 91 counties in the lower half of the state due to worsening drought conditions and rising wildfire activity, the agency said.

Carson noted that firefighters nearly had the Brantley County fire under control on Tuesday until afternoon wind gusts escalated the fire danger.

“Within 30 minutes, the winds picked up pretty significantly, and it went from being almost in control to a major wildfire,” Cason said. “Yesterday morning, we had 700 acres burned. It burned over 4,000 acres in a matter of hours as soon as the wind picked up.”

Persistent dry conditions have led to one of the worst droughts on record for parts of Georgia, fueling wildfires in the state.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 48% of Brantley County is under an “Exceptional Drought” — the highest level of drought it has experienced in more than 25 years.

Across Georgia, more than 69% of the state is under an “Extreme Drought.” At the start of the year, only 1% of the state was under an “Extreme Drought” or higher.

Georgia needs between 12 and 18 inches of rainfall to end its current drought, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Another major wildfire, the Pinelands Road Fire in nearby Clinch County, Georgia, started on Monday on mostly private forest land, officials said. It grew to 9,000 acres by Wednesday and was spreading toward Echols County, they noted.

In Florida, near the Georgia-Florida line, the Railroad Fire was burning in Clay and Putnam Counties, which are also under drought conditions. As of Wednesday morning, the Railroad Fire had grown to more than 4,000 acres and was more than 50% contained on Wednesday morning, according to the Florida Forest Service.

Across the Southeast — including Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina and Virginia — more than 97% of the region is under a “moderate drought” or higher.

Florida is experiencing its worst drought in 25 years. At least 71% of the state is under an “extreme” or “exceptional drought,” the two highest levels.

Fire alerts issued from Texas to Montana and Minnesota

Meanwhile, pockets of fire weather continue to linger in parts of the Rockies and Great Plains on Wednesday.

More than a dozen states across the Rockies and Plains from Texas to Montana and Minnesota are under fire weather alerts on Wednesday due to hot, dry and windy conditions.

Relative humidity in parts of the Rockies and Plains on Wednesday is expected to fall to as low as 5%, and wind gusts up to 30 to 45 mph are also forecast, allowing any wildfires to rapidly start and spread.

The wildfire threat is expected to continue Thursday in the Rockies and Plains as wind gusts are forecast to reach 60 mph and relative humidity is expected to be down to the single digits.

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(NEW YORK) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is again asking a federal judge in New York to vacate her sex trafficking conviction and release her from prison.

Maxwell submitted her new request, which she wrote herself, to federal prosecutors in New York, who said they received “a FedEx envelope — marked with a ‘ship date’ of April 16, 2026 — that contained a USB drive with the defendant’s amended motion and exhibits,” according to a letter to the district court that was posted online early Monday morning.

Prosecutors did not disclose details of Maxwell’s argument, which has not yet been filed on the public docket, but said it “seems to have some overlap” with her original motion to dismiss that district and appellate courts rejected in 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined to hear her appeal.

Having exhausted all of her direct appeals, Maxwell filed a habeas petition this past December in which she contended that “substantial new evidence has emerged” regarding her case. Maxwell’s submission this week comes after the district court judge, in February, allowed Maxwell to submit an amendment to that petition following the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.

Maxwell previously argued, unsuccessfully, that her conviction and her 20-year sentence should be tossed because she did not receive a fair trial and was covered by the non-prosecution agreement that Epstein’s attorneys had negotiated for him as part of the wealthy financier’s 2028 plea deal.

She also argued her conviction was based on vague allegations of “grooming” victims that did not amount to a crime.

Maxwell is currently serving her sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14.

In an interview with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month, Ghislaine Maxwell said nothing during the interview that would be harmful to President Donald Trump, telling Blanche that Trump had never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern, according to sources familiar with what Maxwell said.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.

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