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Oxford-Cambridge boat racers warned of “alarmingly high” E. coli levels in London’s sewage-infused Thames
The famous Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, which takes place every year on the River Thames, was expected to go ahead this weekend despite warnings about “alarmingly high” levels of E. coli bacteria in the water.
The environmental group River Action said Wednesday that it had regularly tested the section of the Thames where the race takes place between February 28 and March 26 and found E. coli levels up to 10 times higher than what U.K. environmental authorities consider the worst category for public bathing. Even at the worst rating, far lower than what was found in the Thames, authorities warn against exposure.
“The testing locations suggest that the source of pollution is from Thames Water discharging sewage directly into the river and its tributaries,” River Action said in a statement.
Bloomberg
The group said it had worked with the organizers of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race to create guidelines for rowing in polluted waters, which include tips such as covering cuts and blisters with waterproof dressings and making sure not to swallow river water that may splash close to the mouth.
“We are in a tragic situation when elite athletes are issued with health guidance ahead of a historic race on the capital’s river,” River Action CEO James Wallace said in a statement. “Our water quality results show what happens after decades of neglect by an unregulated water company, Thames Water.”
Thames Water, a regional U.K. utility company, is embroiled in controversy over environmental pollution and its business tactics. It has blamed exceptionally high rainfall for the high pollution readings, the Financial Times newspaper reported.
But earlier this week, the U.K.’s Environmental Agency said the number of discharges of raw sewage into rivers in England and Wales had rocketed 54% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with a record-breaking 464,056 spills, according to the FT.
The Oxford-Cambridge boat race began in 1829 and attracts around 250,000 spectators to the banks of the Thames each year.
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A 15-year-old boy was charged Thursday with murder in the shooting deaths of his parents and three of his siblings at a home in Fall City, Washington, according to court documents obtained by CBS News.
The teen, whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile, was charged with five counts of aggravated murder in the slayings of his parents, Mark and Sarah Humiston, two brothers, ages 9 and 13, and his 7-year-old sister, per King County court records.
He was also charged with one count of attempted murder for shooting and wounding his 11-year-old sister, the documents read.
That girl was in “satisfactory condition” at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg told the Associated Press Tuesday.
Autopsies performed by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that all five victims died of gunshot wounds. The handgun used in the shooting was believed to belong to the victim’s father, the court records state.
According to the charging documents, just before 5 a.m. Monday, the suspect called 911 with a false story in which he claimed that his 13-year-old brother “just shot my whole family and committed suicide too” at the family’s home in Fall City, which is a community located near Seattle.
However, at about the same time as that call, 911 dispatchers received a second call from a neighbor who lives about a quarter-mile away. That neighbor said the suspect’s 11-year-old sister had ran to his house and was bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound, the documents said.
The girl said her entire family had been fatally shot and identified her 15-year-old brother as the shooter. The girl told dispatchers she was also shot by her brother and “then described holding her breath and playing dead,” the documents read. The girl later told detectives that she had escaped through a bedroom window.
Deputies responded to the Humiston home, where they found the suspect in the driveway and took him into custody, court records show. The five victims were found dead inside the home.
In a hospital interview with detectives later that day, the suspect’s surviving sister said that she identified the firearm used in the shooting as “her father’s silver Glock handgun,” court documents state.
She said that her father kept the pistol in a small lockbox that “he would sometimes put by the front door so he could bring it to work,” the documents read. She told detectives that the suspect was “the only one who knew the combination to the Glock lockbox.”
Investigators determined that the suspect “systematically murdered” his parents and siblings and “then staged the scene prior to the arrival of first responders to make it appear” that the murders had been committed by his 11-year-old brother, documents read.
The court documents did not speculate on a motive.
The suspect is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a news release Thursday that the suspect is in custody at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center, which is a juvenile facility.
The teen is currently being charged as a juvenile, and prosecutors said a judge will determine whether his case “will be moved to adult court.”
In a statement Tuesday, public defenders representing the suspect said that “our client is a 15-year-old boy who enjoys mountain biking and fishing and has no criminal history.”
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