BREAKING NEWS: Explosion at Burger King - New Kingston, 6 Injured | Body of Man Found

good afternoon and welcome to the midday news here's what we have in the bulletin explosion at a fast food restaurant in New Kingston it's nomination day in Northeast an and later in sports coach hail's resilient regy boys after win over Honduras thank you for joining us I'm K and Simpson here are the details we begin with news of an explosion at at a fast food restaurant in New Kingston TVJ News understands that a gas leak may have been the cause at the Burger King location it's further understood that six employe employes have been hospitalized however it is unclear the extent of the injuries the incident happened sometime after 10:00 a.m. currently police and firefighters are on the scene we'll have more on this developing story in subsequent newscasts the search for 18-year-old Rajan Melbourne has ended his body was found this morning after being Swept Away during heavy rainfall yesterday in a gully in walam Park St Andrew rubbish rubbish move Flo so somebody see him it's understood that Melbourne was assisting a woman to remove pigs from the Gully when they were washed away the woman was subsequently rescued but Mr melbour was not located to news now on the political scene it's nomination day in Northeast St an and as you'll hear in this report from Dwayne Anderson despite the People's National Party not contending the September by El the September 30 by elction the jlp's Matthew sumud will not be the only one on the ballot Health Minister Dr Christopher toon views as poor taste and wrong the response provided by mbj airports limited on its handling of the most recent medical emergency at the Sangster International Airport more details in this report stop attempting to shift responsibility that reaction from Health Minister Dr Christopher tufton after mbj reports limited gave its version of events which led to the death of a passenger in a release Tuesday mbj said mere minutes after 71-year-old Leroy Smith collapsed for 13 minutes the Emergency Medical Service arm of the fire brigade and subsequently the cornal regional hospital were both called without success it said contact was then made with hospit Ambulance Service which arrived within 12 minutes but Dr tufton insists mbj should take responsibility I think it's a very poor taste that the management and operators of the Donald saaka Airport have chosen to uh send a release out which is attempting to shift responsibility that they have for their clients their customers um because of this very unfortunate and tragic incident it's in portaste because they're attempting it seems to absolve themsel from responsibility to have an effective emergency response facility uh it's inor because it is insensitive to The Grieving and the suffering that the deceased family members would be encountering at this point in time he says MBG should take the appropriate steps to correct the situation as any International Airport must have emergency Health Services to attend to any eventuality the truth is any International Airport needs to have onsite and emergency response Service uh this particular case there was a private um facility health facility that was contracted to provide that service and I think if that is the case then all the elements of that service should have been there including Frankly Speaking an ambulance at the location it is why he says his ministry will continue to dialogue with the Ministry of Transport to prevent any further occurrences as a government uh myself as a minister of health and the minister with responsibility for transport um Don darl vas um have been talking and need to continue the dialogue to uh respectfully particularly to The Grieving family members try to bring some resolution to this issue um in a way that does not see a reoccurrence where uh um the issues around emergency response seems to have had gaps Raquel Porto TVJ News after HS of protests by customers who reported receiving unusually high electricity bills last month the Jamaica public service has confirmed that a reduction confirmed a reduction this billing cycle according to the JPS September bills will show a 34% reduction in fuel charge moving from $327 to $21.19 the JPS says the fuel charge is a significant part of the electricity bill but it varies each month based on factors such as the type of fuel used to gener at electricity and the overall demand for electricity during a billing cycle labor and social security minister pernel Charles Jr says over 13,000 families have benefited from the over1 billion allocated for distribution to victims of hurricane Barrel he was speaking at Tuesday's post cabinet press briefing more in this report following the passage of hurricane Barrel the ministry of labor and social security established the $1 billion rebuild of Jamaica program the government of Jamaica allocated more than 1 billion dollars to the ministry of labor and social security for the distribution of Grant support to beneficiaries whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the hurricane um and we have been assessing across the country when I stood here first uh the number at that time was 8,700 the number of assessments done now is beyond 13,500 labor and social security minister perel Charles junor explained that over 100 checks have already been distributed 100% of those checks have been distributed either to the parish offices or to the areas where they're to be check um collected and of that amount more than 50% have either been delivered or collected by a beneficiary already he's urging residents to verify their documents in order to receive their grants on time we have been going through a process now of rific reaching out to persons by phone calling members of the community on their street talking to the MPS to the counselors going back into the community and so far uh we have been able to at least validate of the 13,500 a little more than 7,000 additionally some residents will receive a first the support from the United Nations world food program in the next 2 weeks this is an ongoing effort to support those affected by the recent hurricane and to Aid in the recovery and rebuilding process Linsky Robinson TVJ News it's time for a break stay with us more local stories when we return welcome back to the midday news president of the Jamaica Association of principles of secondary schools lindern Wright is urging the government to broaden its focus Beyond stem programs to include music and art he emphasized that given the high quality music and art produced in Jamaica it is crucial to prioritize teachers in the respective fields we keep talking about St I really believe that one of the things that we're going to suffer from a whole lot I mean I give you another perspective we talk about stem shortage but we Jamaica has a competitive Advantage is in music we have a competive advantage in music right our artists are good and our artists are good but we have a shortage of art teachers we have a shortage of music teachers and look at the kind of bang for the book we get with music in Jama iar very few people talking about the short of music teachers many most can't find that Mr Wright also highlighted the importance of improving not just Teachers Pay but their all but their overall conditions of service treat teachers well not just with pay but with the conditions of the service right and the conditions of service include so many things a condition of service yes it include money because a teacher wants to live but that's not the number one thing I think the camarad people have when they go to work what's happening between you and your your colleague what's happening between you and parents what's happening between you and principal is it that we're abusing teachers too much as a country is it that we are diminish diminishing our sense of what Authority should mean on behalf of a child who is growing up teachers are frustrated with that kind of thing it's now time for the business minute tourist attraction Dolphin Cove realized a lower profit of $746,000 for its second quarter ended June 2024 that's 35% less than the $1.15 million Us in post tax earnings for the similar period ended June 2023 Dolphin Cove also posted lower revenues of 3.87 million for the 3 months compared with $ 4.42 Million last year this was linked to reduced inflows from the cruise segment of the business after what the company has described as an early end to the April peak season there were also few arrivals in OAS due to the closure of the port which was damaged in February during an incident involving a cruise vessel further a field top Executives at the 155 yearold Campbell Soup company planed to change the iconic firm's name to the Campbell's company chief executive Mark clouse said the move aims to better reflect Campbell's growing product line which currently also includes sauces snacks and B beverages investors are set to vote on the name change at the company's annual meeting in November and that's it for the business minute I'm house Shane [Music] Burke and here's a preview of what's coming up in this evening's Health Report in this evening's Health Report we look at spinal cord injuries so if you have otherwise healthy 30-year-old um you know um you know construction worker slowly becoming weaker and weaker in the legs to where they are having difficulties walking that's a strong indication that there might be a problem with the spinal cord could be a spinal tumor uh more commonly we do see things like disc carnations and things compressing the spine uh but spinal tumors um uh often times can be slow growing and very Insidious very very subtle that's the health report in Prime Time news at 7 and now for today's Healthy Living tip wear protective gear in high-risk activities practice safe Sports and recreational activities maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid risky behaviors such as driving Under the Influence time now for the top Regional and international stories in the region the UK government is rolling out a new electronic travel authorization ation scheme starting November 27 2024 for eligible non-europeans and extending to Europeans for March 5 2025 Travelers will need an ETA or an e visa to enter the UK with etas costing €1 and valid for multiple trips over 2 years the move aims to enhance border security and streamline immigration those with physical immigration documents like biometric residence permits brps must transition to e visas by the end of 2024 on the international scene Tuesday night's debate between vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump quickly became contentious Harris criticized Trump for lacking a plan while Trump attacked Harris for being associated with President Biden's record they clashed on immigration Reproductive Rights and their deferring Visions for the United States and those were the top Regional and international stories I'm Linsky Robinson we head to a quick break with we come back we'll have your midday sports report