At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, officials have said.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009, and Chinese President Xi Jinping said no effort must be spared in the search and rescue operation.

Early on Sunday morning, rescuers deployed mine inspection robots underground, equipped with gas sensors and infrared cameras, state media reported.

The BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonell is at the scene of the blast in Shanxi province.

Police were called to Ayton Crescent at about 11pm on Saturday (May 23) where the victim was found with significant injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 39-year-old woman was arrested after the police helicopter was launched. She remains in police custody while police say they attempt to locate a second suspect.

Police say they are treating it as an isolated incident and there is no risk to the public.

A cordon is in place on Ayton Crescent and Mansfield Road with crime scene investigators working at the scene.

Officers are expected to remain there for some time.

Superintendent Daryll Tomlinson, who has led the investigation overnight, said: “This is a fast-moving investigation, and we have quickly made an arrest. I would like to thank members of the public who have come forward with information, as well as the National Police Air Service for their support through the night.

“I would like to reassure the community that this is an isolated incident, with no wider risk to the public. Officers will remain at the scene in Ayton Crescent, and there will be an increased presence in the area.”

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Multiple police vehicles are parked along Ayton Crescent and Mansfield Road.

Officers have been seen carrying out searches in an alleyway between the two roads, which appears to be a focal point of the investigation.

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Uniformed officers are standing guard at several points around the cordon, including outside a property on Ayton Crescent and at entrances to the alleyway.

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Police and CSI on the scene of the incident on Ayton Crescent/Mansfield Road, Eston (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

The North East Ambulance Service confirmed it attended on Saturday night.

A spokesperson said: “We received a call at 11.22pm on Saturday to an incident at a private address on Ayton Crescent in Eston.

“Police attended the scene and we dispatched two emergency ambulance crews, a duty officer, a doctor and the Medicar.”

Anyone with information that could assist this police is asked to call 101 quoting reference SE26098497 or report anonymously via Crimestoppers

Some 40,000 people in Southern California have been evacuated after a storage tank began leaking hazardous chemicals.

The chemical tank, used to make plastic parts, could rupture or explode, officials warned.

The tank holds between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate and overheated on Thursday, pumping toxic substances into the air at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove.

Officials ordered residents in Garden Grove to leave and expanded evacuations orders on Friday to five other Orange County cities.

Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster residents have all been urged to leave after the leak couldn’t be stopped overnight.

The tank is run by GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.

Officials lifted the order later on Friday, but the problem worsened due to ‘damage to a valve on the tank that created additional operational challenges, preventing complete mitigation’.

Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said: ‘We have a tank that is actively in crisis.

‘There are literally two options left. One: the tank fails and spills a total of about 6-7,000 gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area.

‘Or two: the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks that are around them that have fuel or the chemicals in them as well.

‘This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when. We’re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it.’

Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county health officer, said the chemical could cause health issues if a vapour is released.

Methyl methacrylate can cause respiratory issues, itching and burning eyes, nausea and headaches.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Our search found sun‑bleached prints from 1976 when the city sweltered in the heat that following the long dry spell that began the previous year.

1976 – Crowds on the slopes of Clifford’s Tower during the hot summer of 1976. (Image: Newquest)

The heatwave lasted for months – by the end of June, water supplies were becoming a cause for concern as North Yorkshire residents were asked to cut down on watering their parched gardens, or face a hosepipe ban.

York was relatively unaffected as the city’s supplies came from the River Ouse which had dropped ten inches in eight weeks.

By July 1976, temperatures were invariably in the 80s, and sometimes in the 90s.

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The fine weather was a gift for organisers of the York Festival as bumper crowds watched the outdoor theatre, music and parades.

Shirtless children baked in the heat and crowds gathered on the slopes of Clifford’s Tower for the festival where signs now ask people to stay off the grass.

Racegoers flocked to the Knavesmire, and few minded losing their shirts on the horses in that sunshine.

Older readers may remember that the North York Moors Railway withdrew steam engines on the Goathland to Pickering line as the slightest spark from the trains could start a fire on the tinder-dry moorland.

Grass fires were a very real threat, with hundreds of acres on Danby High, Glaisdale, Wheeldale and Rosedale Moors ablaze at different times. By mid-August, tax-payers had spent £9,000 on the cost of fighting the fires.

Business was booming to ice cream vendors and pubs with outdoor spaces were enjoying bumper trade.

A boat-worker keeps cool in 1984.

There were obviously memorable warm spells after that too. Who remembers the summer of ’84? These two youngsters cooled off on the Ouse in a scene not often seen or encouraged today, while a boat-worker was captured splashing her feet in the water.

These youngsters play a dangerous game on the Ouse in 1984.

Forward to 1989 and the Museum Gardens remained a popular place to be, with youngsters quenching their thirst from carton drinks while adults sipped something stronger as they caught the rays beside the Ouse.

Museum Gardens in 1989.

We hope you enjoyed these old York photos that capture some of the city’s hottest moments.

We’d love to hear your memories and see photos of your experience of past heatwaves in York.

Share your stories and photos by email to nadia.jeffersonbrown@newsquest.co.uk

George Spencer is looking forward to celebrating his landmark birthday with his family but warned: “There are some nasty people around.”

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A veteran who lived through the D-Day landings has urged people not to be shy and enjoy their lives, but pick their friends wisely, ahead of his 100th birthday.

George Spencer, who served around the globe with the Royal Navy and is looking forward to celebrating his landmark birthday with his family in Ballymena, Co Antrim, warned: “There are some nasty people around.”

But he noted there are also some “very good ones”, describing himself as being lucky.

“I’m very fortunate with my daughters. I’ve been very fortunate, they look after me well,” he told Press Association. “Apart from that, I say enjoy all sorts of things.”

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Mr Spencer served with the Royal Navy and described having a “bird’s eye view” of the D-Day landings, credited as the turning point in the Second World War, from the mast of the HMS Nelson.

“I was on board the Nelson, and when we got to the landings I was given a position on top of the mast, so I had a bird’s eye view of everything that went on,” he said.

“I had binoculars, Japanese I think, the lens was as big as a plate. I watched the landings going on. I remember the Nelson, the Rodney and an aircraft carrier.”

He said the trio were also involved in the Sicily landings in the Mediterranean the year before, which he said is not talked about as much.

Mr Spencer was born in Nottinghamshire, and recalled when he was at school thinking that mining was the “last place he wanted to go”, and instead went to the then naval academy the TS Mercury training ship.

This service was under the former record-breaking long jumper and cricketer CB Fry as the captain superintendent of the Mercury.

“There was also manufacturing but I didn’t want that either, so I went and saw the headmaster who was a bit surprised as no one had ever done this before, and he was delighted so I got full support from him and then I was called for an interview on the Mercury,” he said.

“The Mercury was a hulk of a ship, I remembered sleeping in hammocks and scrubbing the floor.

“People said they always knew the Mercury boys from the smell of the soap they gave us, it was pretty strong stuff.

“It somehow or other suits me quite well.”

Mr Spencer later settled in Northern Ireland following his Navy career with his wife who he had met after being sent to Derry, and their family.

He also served with the Australian Navy for a time, and one of his daughters was even born there while his family had travelled with him.

Mr Spencer’s daughter Sally Ann Johnston said her father spoke about his war time experiences “very little” as she grew up.

“We definitely heard a lot of stories recently,” she said.

“When things have come up, and they’ve been commemorations of D-Day, and sometimes when people have asked, because then it became known that dad had been at D-Day, there was more interest, and there were more questions asked.

“I suppose we’d heard a little bit, but generally, probably like most of the older generation, they didn’t talk a lot about it.

“I’d heard a little bit about the early days, because sometimes he’d talk about the training ship, Mercury, that he was on, and it always fascinated us.

“Also my sons were totally amazed by the fact he went away to the training ship at the age of 12, he got a scholarship which he’d done on his own initiative, so we always threatened, ‘Oh, we’ll send you away at 12’.

“It’s a very different life nowadays.”

She said she had been “amazed” when she first heard of her father’s experiences on D-Day, saying he had been so young.

“I got the impression then that everybody just got on with it, and they didn’t complain, they just did what was required, and probably didn’t think so much of the fact that they may have been in danger themselves,” she said.

“I remember more recently one of the stories he had said was about having to pull the ships back in his convoy to be further away because they were actually in range of the German guns.”

She said it was only through her own research that she found out the ship her father had been on had been hit by a mine, and had been damaged.

“I said to him, ‘Dad, you never told me about this, the ship being hit by a mine’, and he said: ‘Oh yes, we sat on a mine’, as if that was part of daily life.

“It blew my mind because he was so nonchalant, obviously we might not have been here if it had been a bit worse, but they managed to go back, get repaired and go on.”

She joked she was envious of her sister having been born in Australia, saying by the time she was born, her family were back in the UK, and her father had taken a land-based job in Scotland.

“I was actually born in Johnstone in Scotland, and was always very envious that my sister had been born somewhere exciting like Australia,” she said.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here.

Police are pursuing the arrest of man suspected to have a weapon, ChronicleLive reports.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Shortly before 7.45am today (Sunday), officers attended an address on Grange Crescent in Leam Lane, Gateshead, to carry out an arrest of a man.

“The man – who is contained inside an address on the street – is suspected to be in possession of a weapon and is currently refusing to comply with officers.”

The film is being released by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which will also release the only known surviving footage of the competition’s first-ever winner, offering fans a rare glimpse into Eurovision history.

The contest, which began on May 24, 1956, has grown into the world’s largest live music event.

To mark the occasion, organisers will release a tribute film featuring some of the most moving moments from seven decades of the competition.

Eurovision Song Contest to release film marking 70th anniversary

The film will be set to Uber Die Brücke Geh’n by Ingrid Peters, Germany’s 1986 entry, and will include footage from the 1950s through to this year’s contest, including Bulgaria’s first-ever win last Saturday.

It will premiere on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel on May 24.

The EBU has also teamed up with Swiss broadcaster RSI to restore the only known surviving footage of the contest’s first-ever winner, Lys Assia, singing Refrain.

The video, filmed by Vincenzo Vicari, shows the singer on stage at Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland.

Chris Fox, a senior producer on Eurovision’s digital team who worked on the restoration, said: “Preserving the history of the Eurovision Song Contest is something very close to my heart.

“I’m proud that the EBU was able to commission this restoration so that fans can enjoy Lys Assia’s winning reprise in the best possible quality for years to come.”

The EBU has also launched the Eurofan Voice initiative, a survey inviting Eurovision fans to share feedback and help shape the future of the contest.

Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, said: “For 70 years, the Eurovision Song Contest has shown what’s possible when public service broadcasters come together with a shared purpose: to create moments of joy, emotion and connection that transcend borders.

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“From a small theatre in Lugano in 1956 to stadiums and screens across the globe today, the Eurovision Song Contest continues to evolve while remaining true to its founding spirit – bringing audiences together through music.”

Fans can watch the 70th anniversary tribute film on Eurovision’s official YouTube channel from May 24.

Will you be watching the special Eurovision Song Contest film? Let us know in the comments.

Drivers are being warned to expect delays with problems on two major routes as drivers head out to enjoy the sunny weather.

With temperatures in the high 20s today, thousands of people are expected to take to the roads to head for beaches and countryside spots and attractions as Wales prepares for soaring temperatures.

There are two incidents on major routes right now. One has part blocked the M4 near J25 for Caerleon. The other has shut the A40 both ways through Nantgaredig. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here

Latest updates below:

Pictures show a missing fence panel and tyre tracks in the grass next at the Portland Hub, on Gardener Avenue in Willington.

Debris can be seen next to the broken fence panel and a stretch of grass churned up.

The car involved has since been removed.

Durham Police and the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) have been contacted for a statement about this incident.

Damage to the fence at Portland Hub, Willington (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)

Damage to the fence at Portland Hub, Willington (Image: CHRIS BOOTH/NORTHERN ECHO)