New Orleans Mayor, Helena Moreno, has described as a miracle the successful rescue of passengers from the Mississippi River following a collision between a tanker ship and a cruise boat.

The mayor said all passengers were accounted for after the incident, which occurred when the tanker reportedly lost control and crashed into the cruise ship.

However, more than 30 of the 180 passengers rescued were taken to hospital for treatment. They are reportedly responding to medical care.

American Cruise Lines also confirmed that its riverboat, American Heritage, was involved in a collision while docked in New Orleans on Friday.

Emergency services were immediately deployed to the scene, where they carried out a major rescue operation that ended successfully.

Melanie Montroll, Chief Public Safety and Emergency Management Officer at the Port of New Orleans, said the boat began taking on water while passengers were being evacuated.

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Nigeria has maintained its highest level of Ebola preparedness despite confirming that all 62 people linked to an imported Bundibugyo Virus Disease case have completed 21 days of monitoring without secondary transmission.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this on Friday during a news conference in Abuja.

Idris said the last person identified as a contact of the infected individual had completed the mandatory monitoring period, bringing the exercise to an end for all 62 contacts.

He explained that 13 of the individuals developed fever or other symptoms while under observation but were confirmed negative for the disease after laboratory tests.

The NCDC chief also revealed that seven additional suspected cases reported in Adamawa, Rivers, Borno, Lagos and Ekiti states within three weeks were investigated, with laboratory results ruling out the infection in all instances.

However, he cautioned that the successful completion of contact monitoring did not mean Nigeria could be officially declared free of the disease.

He said such a declaration would depend on established public health criteria and findings from continued surveillance, particularly amid ongoing Ebola transmission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Idris said the country had consequently sustained heightened surveillance, with the National Emergency Operations Centre activated and the Incident Management System operating at Level Three, the highest response level for Ebola.

He explained that the response measures were aimed at ensuring effective clinical care, identifying and monitoring exposed individuals, preventing further transmission, protecting healthcare workers and strengthening disease surveillance across the country.

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Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, has faulted Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, over his handling of a controversy surrounding the livestream of his presentation of letters of credence.

Magwenya, in a statement, accused Fani-Kayode of misrepresenting Ramaphosa’s involvement in the incident, insisting that the South African President had no role in the operational affairs of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC.

Fani-Kayode had earlier alleged that the South African Presidency deliberately excluded him and the Nigerian delegation from the livestream of a ceremony where 15 ambassadors presented their letters of credence to Ramaphosa in Pretoria.

He claimed that Nigeria was the only country whose ambassador’s introduction and speech were omitted from the broadcast. He also said he raised the issue directly with Ramaphosa, who subsequently summoned relevant officials and directed them to address the matter.

The Nigerian ambassador further disclosed that he declined an interview offered by SABC News in protest over what he described as the poor treatment of the Nigerian delegation.

However, hours after the controversy, the South African Presidency released the full video of the ceremony on its YouTube page, with Fani-Kayode’s speech included. This came after the initial livestream had omitted his introduction and address before resuming after his speech.

Reacting to the incident, Magwenya said Ramaphosa merely referred Fani-Kayode to Sophie Mokoena, whom he described as the appropriate person to address his grievance.

“Your Excellency, you refused to speak to Sophie Mokoena, who would have cleared the misunderstanding with you,” Magwenya stated.

He maintained that the President had no authority to interfere in the broadcaster’s operations or editorial decisions.

“The President carries no legal or political mandate to interfere with its operations or intervene in its editorial processes,” he said.

Magwenya also described Fani-Kayode’s handling of the matter as “grossly inappropriate” and urged him to meet with SABC officials to establish a “mutually beneficial, respectful and professional relationship” as he begins his diplomatic assignment in South Africa.

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