Gunmen have kidnapped more than 50 children from three schools in the same town in north-eastern Nigeria, teachers and parents have told the BBC.

Most of those missing are aged between two and five years old.

Eyewitnesses who saw the attacks on Friday morning in Mussa, Borno state, say the suspects used the children as human shields while fleeing on motorbikes, preventing security forces from opening fire.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Government officials have not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment, but a press statement issued on Saturday by Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South said at least 42 children had been abducted from two schools.

The kidnappings took place at the town’s Government Day Secondary School, Mussa Central Primary School, and State Universal Basis Education Board (SUBEB) Secondary School.

Some reports suggest the attacks bore the hallmark of Boko Haram – the Islamist group vying for control over the region against its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

Nigeria is currently grappling with a spate of mass abductions by a range of culprits.

Locals in Borno state have endured decades of insecurity. These latest attacks have prompted some resident of Mussa to flee the area.

Yet traumatised parents have told the BBC they feel they have no choice but to wait in anguish for news about their children.

One man, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said his wife was inconsolable after their six-year-old daughter was snatched away by the gunmen.

Abdu Dunama, headmaster of Mussa Central Primary School, described hearing gunfire before armed men stormed the school and rounded up children.

He said 34 children – mostly nursery pupils aged five and under – were seized by the attackers from their classrooms.

The suspected militants arrived at the schools on motorcycles soon after troops on patrol left the town, according to residents.

“[It was] immediately after they left, it was not up to 30 minutes after,” said Bukar Buba, whose daughter was taken.

Witnesses said the gunmen fired sporadically, forcing residents to run for cover. Many parents watched helplessly from a nearby hill as their children were loaded onto motorcycles and taken away.

Some older students managed to flee into nearby bushes during the chaos, according to residents.

The largely farming community – already struggling economically – is now appealing urgently to the government to help secure the safe return of the children.

Dunama, who is in touch with security forces, says troops are currently on the ground and continuing efforts to track the abductors.

myjoyonline.com

An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries, having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, have tested positive, authorities say.

In total, seven cases of hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius have been confirmed, with two other cases suspected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The US health department said a second American national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution”.

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French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contacts traced.

Three passengers have died after travelling on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have had the virus.

The WHO said the person who is believed to have been the first to be infected in the outbreak died before he could be tested.

Two other British nationals with confirmed cases are currently being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain – which the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the Dutch ship’s passengers while in South America – is possible.

Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low.

More than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius ship, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated.

In its latest update from Tenerife on Monday, Spanish officials said 54 passengers and crew were still on board the ship. Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said six of those were passengers: four Australians, one Briton and one New Zealander.

Some 22 people would disembark the ship to fly to the Netherlands on Monday, she said – including the Australians who had been expected to be flown home directly but whose plane could not be guaranteed to arrive on time.

The MV Hondius was then expected to leave for the Netherlands later on Monday, she said.

Four Canadian passengers, meanwhile, landed in Victoria, British Columbia, on Sunday evening after taking a chartered flight from Tenerife to Bagotville, Quebec. Authorities said they would be self-isolating and monitored for at least three weeks.

In its statement early on Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services said all 17 US citizens on Sunday’s flight would undergo “clinical assessment” at a medical facility in Nebraska. A British national living in the US was also repatriated alongside them.

Seven other US passengers had already returned home and were being monitored in their home states.

Before the American case was confirmed, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision by the US not to follow his organisation’s guidelines over the hantavirus outbreak “may have risks”.

The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for those leaving the MV Hondius.

But Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said he did not want to cause public panic, insisting that human-to-human transmission was rare and it should not be treated like the Covid virus.

Cruise ship passengers were pictured wearing blue gowns, bouffant caps, and medical face masks as they disembarked on Sunday at the port of Grandilla de Abona in Tenerife.

bbc.com

Three people hiking on Indonesia’s Mount Dukono have died after the volcano erupted on Friday morning.

Videos and pictures of the eruption show the volcano, located on the North Maluku island, spewing a column of ash stretching 10 km (six miles) into the sky.

The three victims were part of a group of 20 Singaporeans and Indonesians hiking on the mountain despite restrictions. The rest of the group was eventually located by rescuers and evacuated from the mountain.

The volcano has erupted more than 200 times since last March. Officials had previously issued warnings against climbing the mountain due to safety concerns.

The latest eruption took place at 07:41 local time (22:41 GMT Thursday), when there were several people on the mountain on early morning hikes.

Indonesian officials said two Singaporeans and one local resident from the nearby city of Ternate had died. Both of the foreign victims are believed to be male, with one aged 30 and the other 27. The local victim is said to be a female, but no more details were given.

The bodies of the three deceased are still on the mountain, according to North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu – though most of the hiking group have been safely evacuated and sent to hospital.

Two members of the group, who are porters, stayed behind on the mountain to help rescue workers locate the bodies.

On Friday afternoon, Mount Dukono was still emitting volcanic material from its crater, according to one local resident assisting rescuers.

Aldy Salabia told BBC Indonesian that they were at a local shelter on the mountain preparing for the rescue operation.

“From the shelter, we can see ash and rock material continuously being ejected,” he said.

Erlichson said that retrieval of the bodies had been hampered by repeated eruptions, difficult terrain and strong blasts from the volcano.

The operation to reach the volcano’s crater – where the bodies of the victims are though to be located – was paused as night fell on Friday evening, with Erlichson saying it would resume on Saturday.

Besides the 20-member hiking group, eyewitness accounts indicate there were other hikers on the mountain as well.

One guide who was on Mount Dukono with two clients at the time of the eruption told BBC Indonesian that he believed high pressure had been building up inside the volcano for several days.

“When Dukono hasn’t erupted for a few days, you have to be careful,” he said, describing the eruption as “major” and “very strong”.

As they were hiking up, he saw one group of people at the edge of the crater, as well as another group about 50m from the crater who were filming drone videos.

Then, “I heard deep tremors. So I decided to immediately descend with the guests. And in the end, the three of us were safe.”

As they were descending, he saw many hikers were still at the summit, he added.

Indonesian officials said they had issued warnings against climbing Mount Dukono, which were widely disseminated through social media as well as on banners at trail entrances, but some hikers had ignored them.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, Barsanas, said that initial discussions among authorities found there may have been “possible negligence by tourism operators or individuals” who proceeded with climbing Mount Dukono despite the warnings.

“The government is continuing to gather information to establish a complete account of the incident,” it said.

Mount Dukono is currently listed at level two out of the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia’s four-tier volcano alert system, which indicates increased activity and a need for caution.

The agency said that since December 2024, it has recommended tourists and climbers to refrain from activities within a 4km radius of Mount Dukono’s main crater, where there are threats of ejected rocks, ash and lava.

Still, that has not deterred hikers from heading up the 1,335m-tall mountain.

“Dukono is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia,” said Siti Sumilah Rita Susilawati, Head of Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).

Speaking to reporters, Susilawati said the no-go zone was a “recommendation” that the agency made to local governments, adding that they had “communicated it with the local community.”

Dr Daryono, from the Indonesian Association of Disaster Experts, said that the incident “once again demonstrated that active volcanoes can never be treated as ordinary tourist destinations.”

“Dukono is a mountain with almost continuous eruptive activity, so any violation of the danger zone carries a fatal risk,” he told the BBC.

“On social media, the public often sees videos of climbers or influencers who successfully ascend and return safely. Such content slowly creates a distorted risk perception.

“The public only sees those who successfully descend and post dramatic content, while potential threats that did not occur at the time become invisible. The real danger remains and could emerge at any time in the form of ejections of incandescent material, thick ashfall, volcanic gas, or sudden explosive eruptions.”

Additional reporting by Koh Ewe