Friday 30 November 2012

Cargo plane crashes in the Republic of Congo; number of people killed still unclear

A cargo plane owned by a private company crashed Friday near the airport in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, killing at least three people, officials said.

There are conflicting reports as to the number of people killed ranging from at least 3 up to 30.

The Soviet-made Ilyushin-76 belonged to Trans Air Congo and appeared to be transporting merchandise, not people, said an aviation official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The plane was coming from Congo's second-largest city, Pointe Noire, and tried to land during heavy rain, he said.

Ambulances rushed to the scene in the Makazou neighbourhood, located near the airport, but emergency workers were hampered by the lack of light in this capital, which like so many in Africa has a chronic shortage of electricity.

"At the moment, my team is having a hard time searching for survivors in order to find the victims of the crash because there is no light and also because of the rain," Congolese Red Cross head Albert Mberi said.

He said that realistically, they will only be able to launch a proper search Saturday, when the sun comes up.

Reporters at the scene fought through a wall of smoke. Despite the darkness, they could make out the smouldering remains of the plane, including what looked like the left wing of the aircraft. A little bit further on, emergency workers identified the body of the plane's Ukrainian pilot, and covered the corpse in a blanket.

Firefighters were trying to extinguish the blaze of a part of the plane that had fallen into a ravine. They were using their truck lights to try to illuminate the scene of the crash. Although the plane was carrying merchandise, emergency workers fear that there could be more people on board.

Because of the state of the road connecting Pointe Noire to Brazzaville, many traders prefer to fly the roughly 400 kilometres (250 miles).

Witnesses said rain was coming down hard at the time of the accident, according to news site G1. The plane appeared to be unable to brake and ran off the runway, destroying around 15 houses and a bar before hitting a ravine and catching on fire. Firefighters continued to search for victims two hours after the crash.

Africa has one of the worst air safety records in the world, note the AP. In June, a Boeing 727 cargo plane in Ghana slammed into a bus while attempting to land, killing all 10 people inside. A commercial jetliner crashed in Lagos, Nigeria, only days later, killing 153 people.

Friday 30 November 2012

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Official+Sovietmade+cargo+plane+crashes+Republic+Congo/7634350/story.html

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The whole valley smells of death

For the inhabitants of the Ejido Jesus Carranza, the discovery of 20 skeletal remains buried in clandestine graves on private property came as no surprise. Years back, they witnessed suspicious activities, but for them denunciation (reporting to authorities) was never an option because they feared retaliation.

"Here, we would see new cars...we also saw a lot of military and police in that place," said several neighbors when they were interviewed, asking for their identities not to be revealed and for them not to be photographed.

From the start, the ejidatarios (local communal landowners) dismiss the idea that there are any townspeople among the victims; they affirm that there are no disappeared persons. At least, not there.

"We don't have anybody missing here. We were born here and we've known each other all our lives. Up there (he points towards the ranch) is where people from the outside bought (properties)," said one of the ejidatarios.

All the structures adjacent to the clandestine cemetery are abandoned. It was quiet last week for the residents of the Ejido Jesus Carranza.

"Everything was very peaceful, nothing ever happens here, the truth is that the the village had been peaceful for several months," they assured us, although they did not dismiss the idea that the relative tranquility was due to the fact that the people who were using at least two properties for safe houses and illegal graveyards had left the town.

"The military also left. We only see them on the highway," they said.

It was only last weekend that a helicopter flying over and dozens of municipal prosecutor's vehicles arriving broke the peace and told them something bad was happening.

"Then (the investigators) told us that they were looking for bodies," they stated.

The official report from state authorities states that "investigation and intelligence (work) developed during the past year" led to the discovery of the skeletal remains, all belonging to males.

Prosecutor Jorge Gonzalez Nicolas specified in a press conference that it was thanks to support of U.S. authorities that the exact location where the cadavers were buried.

Unofficial sources say that the support came from the anti-narcotics section of the U.S. Consulate General in Mexico, the same (unit) that provided information on the exact location of Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, "El Diego", which allowed them to make a "clean" arrest.

The information from U.S. authorities led the investigators to Ejido Jesus Carranza. On the Juarez-Porvenir highway, at kilometer marker 35, you take a right turn on an unpaved street that goes to the ranch.

Two kilometers (1.2 miles) ahead, one can see several uninhabited structures on the desert terrain. And there, among the sand dunes and the brush, can be seen the open pits dug by personnel from the office of the medical examiner (SEMEFO; Servicio Medico Forense).

A foul odor is everywhere, and also enormous piles of trash left behind by employees from the State Attorney General's Office during their three-day stay, which is how long the search and the excavations took.

This ranch, located east of Ciudad Juarez and adjacent to the San Agustin Ejido, also part of the municipality, is less than three miles from the metal fence that divides Mexico and the United States.

The excavations were conducted in a 100 yard radius, and there were graves side by side. The closest one was less than 30 yards from the swimming pool built in front of the main house.

As of yesterday, the investigating authorities had not yet fully identified the owner of the ranch.

Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for State Prosecutor's Office (FGE; Fiscalia General del Estado) , explains that they were working on identifying the owner through the Public Property Register.

The house was still under construction. There's broken ceiling material and insulation on the floor, and also a bar that takes up a large part of the room.

Notably, the property is situated less than nine miles from the military checkpoint that the Mexican Army operated in San Agustin for several years, and it is also near the surveillance cameras installed by the Federal Police on the Juarez-Porvenir highway.

"Here, the ones who have circulated freely are the criminals, the police, the military; for us, who live here, they would ask us for identification just to go in and out of the town," say the ejidatarios.

The FGE states that are no identified bodies at this time. There is a very extensive data bank developed by the office of medical examiner. The last time a similar project was undertaken was in 2010, when 20 skeletal remains were locates in the town of Palomas de Villa, also very close to a military base.

Friday 30 november 2012

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/11/the-whole-valley-smells-of-death.html?showComment=1354228182675

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Identifying bodies only consolation now

Mohammad Raju has been racked with guilt at losing the grip on her mother's hand while trying to escape Saturday night's blaze at Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia.

They were walking downstairs from the fifth floor of the eight-storey building. At one stage the two got separated.

A sewing operator, Raju managed to escape the inferno, but his mother Rehana Begum could not.

He had thought his mother would be able to escape. "But that was my biggest mistake,” he told The Daily Star. “I at least want to see my mother's grave. If it is identified, I will go there occasionally to offer prayers and do penance."

From the burnt factory to hospitals in Ashulia, Savar and Dhaka, Raju made a long search for his mother.

He finally went to National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory at Dhaka Medical College yesterday to give his blood sample in the hope that his mother's grave will be found at Jurain where 53 unidentified victims of the fire were buried.

Also, a class-II schoolgirl Rumi gave her blood at the lab to check if her DNA profiles matched that of any unidentified victims. Her mother Nazma Begum has been missing since Saturday.

"She is the only child of Nazma," said Rumi's aunt Beauty Begum. "If her mother's grave can be identified, she can get compensation from the authorities."

The number of people who gave blood at the laboratory stands at three. Bakul Miah, a Kishoreganj farmer whose daughter worked at the factory, went to the lab on Wednesday.

An officer at the laboratory said it would take at least two to three months to get results of DNA tests on samples collected from the 53 bodies.

The Tazreen incident left at least 111 workers dead and more than hundred injured.

Friday 30 november 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=259407

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Death Toll in China Fishing Boat Accident Climbs to 11

Eleven people have died and five remain missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of the northeastern Chinese seaport of Dalian, maritime authorities said Thursday.

Following the latest rescue efforts, the number of people reported dead in the accident rose from nine to 11. Their identities have already been confirmed but have not been released by the authorities.

The boat with 17 people on board sank in the wee hours of Wednesday amid strong waves during an attempt to hook the boat to a larger vessel.

The bodies of nine of the fishermen were recovered Wednesday afternoon, while the other two were found Thursday.

The only survivor rescued from the boat is listed is good condition at a hospital in Liaoning province, where Dalian is located.

Authorities said the rescue operation involving a helicopter, seven maritime patrol vessels and 120 other boats was still ongoing.

Friday 30 november 2012

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=652268&CategoryId=12395

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'Voodoo link' as graves desecrated in Porto-Novo

More than 100 graves have been desecrated in a cemetery near Benin's capital, Porto-Novo, police say.

The grave robbers cut the heads off the bodies and also stole some internal organs.

The BBC's Vincent Nnanna in Benin says there is a suspicion the crime is linked to extreme Voodoo practices of using body parts in charms.

It is the first such incident in the West African nation, where Voodoo is an official religion, he says.

Our reporter says the desecrated graves were discovered by a mason who had forgotten his tools at the 20-acre (eight-hectare) cemetery in Dangbo near Porto-Novo.

The mason alerted the police who found that up to 100 graves had been tampered with overnight.

Relatives have been traumatised by the mutilations as most people believe in reincarnation, our reporter says. They fear their loved ones will be reincarnated with body parts missing.

Crowds who gathered outside the cemetery believe the body parts were taken by people planning to sell them for use as lucky charms, our correspondent says.

A high priest told the BBC such practices were not recognised by the mainstream Voodoo religion - and condemned the grave desecrations.

Voodoo followers - who make up some 40% of Benin's population - believe that all life is driven by spiritual forces of natural phenomena such as water, fire, earth and air, and that these should be honoured through rituals like animal sacrifices.

Friday 30 November 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20550303

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Giving new life to vultures to restore a human ritual of death

Fifteen years after vultures disappeared from Mumbai's skies, the Parsi community here intends to build two aviaries at one of its most sacred sites so that the giant scavengers can once again devour human corpses.

Construction is scheduled to begin as soon as April, said Dinshaw Rus Mehta, chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. If all goes as planned, he said, vultures may again consume the Parsi dead by January 2014.

"Without the vultures, more and more Parsis are choosing to be cremated," Mr. Mehta said. "I have to bring back the vultures so the system is working again, especially during the monsoon."

The plan is the result of six years of negotiations between Parsi leaders and the Indian government to revive a centuries-old practice that seeks to protect the ancient elements — air, earth, fire and water — from being polluted by either burial or cremation. And along the way, both sides hope the effort will contribute to the revival of two species of vulture that are nearing extinction. The government would provide the initial population of birds.

The cost of building the aviaries and maintaining the vultures is estimated at $5 million spread over 15 years, much less expensive than it would have been without the ready supply of food.

"Most vulture aviaries have to spend huge sums to buy meat, but for us that's free because the vultures will be feeding on human bodies — on us," Mr. Mehta said.

Like the vultures on which they once relied, Parsis are disappearing. Their religion, Zoroastrianism, once dominated Iran but was largely displaced by Islam. In the 10th century, a large group of Zoroastrians fled persecution in Iran and settled in India. Fewer than 70,000 remain, most of them concentrated in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, where they collectively own prime real estate that was purchased centuries ago.

Among the most valuable of these holdings are 54 acres of trees and winding pathways on Malabar Hill, one of Mumbai's most exclusive neighborhoods. Tucked into these acres are three Towers of Silence where Parsis have for centuries disposed of their dead.

The stone towers are open-air auditoriums containing three concentric rings of marble slabs — an outer ring for dead men, middle ring for deceased women and inner ring for dead children. For centuries, bodies left on the slabs were consumed within hours by neighborhood vultures, with the bones left in a central catchment to leach into the soil.

Modernity has impinged on this ancient practice in many ways. That includes the construction of nearby skyscrapers where non-Parsis could watch the grisly scenes unfold. But by far the greatest threat has been the ecological disaster visited in recent years on vultures.

India once had as many as 400 million vultures, a vast population that thrived because the nation has one of the largest livestock populations in the world but forbids cattle slaughter. When cows died, they were immediately set upon by flocks of vultures that left behind skin for leather merchants and bones for bone collectors. As recently as the 1980s, even the smallest villages often had thousands of vulture residents.

But then came diclofenac, a common painkiller widely used in hospitals to lessen the pain of the dying. Marketed under names like Voltaren, it is similar to the medicines found in Advil and Aleve; in 1993 its use in India was approved in cattle. Soon after, vultures began dying in huge numbers because the drug causes them to suffer irreversible kidney failure.

Diclofenac's veterinarian use has since been banned, which may finally be having an effect. A recent study found that for the first time since the drug's introduction, India's vulture population did not decline over the past year.

Still, the numbers for three species have shrunk to only a few thousand, a tiny fraction of their former levels. With so few vultures left, the Parsi community set up mirrors around the Towers of Silence to create something akin to solar ovens to accelerate decomposition. But the mirrors are ineffective during monsoon months. So an increasing number of Parsis are opting for cremation, a practice many Parsi priests believe is an abomination since fire is sacred and corpses unclean.

Desperate to maintain one of their most important rituals, Parsi leaders have created detailed plans to build the aviaries near the Towers of Silence, each housing 76 vultures. Parsi leaders say they are waiting for formal approval from community members, doctors and priests before beginning construction, approvals they expect to receive over the next several weeks.

But Homi B. Dhalla, president of the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, has promised to fight the plans. He helped to develop the tower solar collectors and said they were working well. And he is worried that once the government provides vultures for Parsi aviaries, bureaucrats will try to seize the land.

"Why endanger our property?" Dr. Dhalla asked. "Who is going to fight the government?"

Another concern is whether Parsis can be persuaded to stop using diclofenac. Nearly all of the roughly 800 bodies brought annually to the towers come from two Parsi hospitals, and doctors and family would have to certify that the deceased had not been given diclofenac in the three days before death. There is no simple test to detect the drug, and if vultures in the aviaries die from diclofenac poisoning after eating Parsi corpses the government has promised to end the effort.

Parsi medical leaders were cautious in their comments about the vulture program. "As a hospital," said Dr. SK Dhingra, superintendent of BD Petit Parsee General Hospital, "we cannot tell our patients, 'You can do this, or you can do that.'"

Khurshed Dastoor, one of five Parsi high priests, said that he was not sure members would adhere to a diclofenac ban.

"For 10 years, I have been trying to educate the community to turn off their cellphones before they go inside our most sacred fire temples, and I have failed," he said. "And now we think the community will give up diclofenac in a couple of months?"

Other Parsi leaders, however, said they were pushing ahead because of the importance of restoring the tradition.

"We must hope for the best," Mr. Mehta said.

Friday 30 November 2012

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Giving-new-life-to-vultures-to-restore-a-human-ritual-of-death/articleshow/17430441.cms

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Thursday 29 November 2012

11 dead, 5 missing in boat tragedy

At least 11 people are dead and five remain missing after a fishing boat sank in coastal waters early on Wednesday near Dalian, Liaoning province, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The boat with 17 fishermen and women on board, was overturned by huge waves at about 2 am and sank 2 nautical miles from the Houershi village port at the Jinzhou New Area in Dalian.

One person was rescued and the bodies of 11 people were recovered on Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.

Rescuers were still searching for the five missing people on Wednesday afternoon.

The only person rescued was in stable condition and being held for observation at a local hospital.

The boat set out from Houershi Port at around 1 am and those aboard were about to transfer to a bigger fishing vessel before huge waves overturned it.

One fisherman used his satellite mobile phone to call for help.

Ten of the fishermen and women were migrant workers, and seven people, including the owner of the boat, were from the local fishing village.

The wooden boat was 10 meters long and powered by a 10 horsepower engine.

Sun Caihui, a local fishing boat owner who took part in the rescue, said that strong winds and rough seas made the rescue effort very difficult.

"We received a call from the village head at around 5 am and started our boat immediately.

But their boat had sunk beneath the water and the fishermen cannot be found in muddy seawater," he said.

The rescue was made easier in the afternoon when the tide was low.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in our village," said Sun, who knew some of the people aboard the boat personally.

Sun said that hiring non-local fishing workers is common practice in the village because of a labor shortage.

Gale winds as strong as force 8 on the Beaufort scale swept the coastal waters near Dalian city early on Wednesday, China News Service reported.

The search and rescue operation involved a helicopter, seven maritime patrol ships and 120 other boats.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

Thursday 29 november 2012

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-11/29/content_15969372.htm

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Wreckage of missing MI-8 discovered; 8 crew members found dead

All 8 members of MI-8 crew that has been discovered several hours ago today, November 29, in Almaty oblast were found dead near the wreckage of the missing helicopter, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the press-service of Almaty oblast administration Ilyas Biyakhmetov.

“Head of Almaty oblast Emergency Situations Department Sabit Bitayev has confirmed that all 8 people who were onboard of the helicopter have been found dead. The helicopter had significant damages with only the aft remaining intact. All bodies were outside of the helicopter,” he said.

The helicopter that went missing in Kazakhstan on November 24 in the area of Koktuma-Dostyk next to Kazakhstan-Chinese border has been discovered only today, November 29. According to Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry, the wreckage of the helicopter was found in the area of the 16th railroad junction.

“The wreckage of the missing helicopter was found 90-95 km from Usharal in Almaty oblast towards Dostyk station, 5-7km east of Dostyk-Usharal road, 15-20 km from Alakol lake. During the fall the helicopter was significantly damaged and only its aft was intact. According to the preliminary information, all the crew members have died as a result of the accident. Two bodies were lifted from under the wreckage. Investigators are working on site. The situation is under control. An investigation has been initiated,” the Ministry said. Law-enforcement authorities and personnel of Druzhbinskaya transport prosecutor’s office has left for the accident site.

"At 6:30 p.m. 6 dead bodies were found at the accident site. The search is being continued," the Department said.

According to the Transport Prosecutors of Kazakhstan, the chronology is as follows:

- The wreckage of the helicopter were discovered at 4.03 p.m.
- A response force of Almaty oblast Emergency Situations Department arrived to the site at 5:15 p.m.
- Six bodies were discovered at 6:30 p.m.
- Two more bodies were discovered a little later.
The MI-8 helicopter with board number 823 owned by Kazakhstan's Euro-Asia Air went missing on November 24 while making a routine flyover of Atassu-Alashankow oil pipeline. The following crew members were onboard:

Captain – Raul Khabibullin;
Pilot – Nurlan Yessenaliyev
Flight mechanic – Vladimir Kim
Engineers – Konstantin Maksayev and Viktor Radomskiy
Accompanying persons - T. Shokparov, A. Sarsembayev, K. Sabirov.

Thursday 29 November 2012

For more information see: http://en.tengrinews.kz/emergencies/Wreckage-of-missing-MI-8-discovered-8-crew-members-found-dead-14914/

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There Are Over 200 Bodies on Mount Everest, And They’re Used as Landmarks

More than 200 people have died in their attempt to scale Mount Everest. The mountain offers seemingly endless options for kicking the bucket, from falling into the abyss to suffocating from lack of oxygen to being smashed by raining boulders. Yet climbers continue to try their skills – and luck – in tackling Everest, despite the obvious dangers. Indeed, the living pass the frozen, preserved dead along Everest’s routes so often that many bodies have earned nicknames and serve as trail markers. Here are a few of the more colofrul tales, adapted from Altered Dimensions:

The body of “Green Boots,” an Indian climber who died in 1996 and is believed to be Tsewang Paljor, lies near a cave that all climbers must pass on their way to the peak. Green Boots now serves as a waypoint marker that climbers use to gauge how near they are to the summit. Green Boots met his end after becoming separated from his party. He sought refuge in a mountain overhang, but to no avail. He sat there shivering in the cold until he died.

In 2006, English climber David Sharp joined Green Boots. He stopped in the now-infamous cave to rest. His body eventually froze in place, rendering him unable to move but still alive. Over 40 climbers passed by him as he sat freezing to death. His plight might have been overlooked as passers-by assumed Sharp was the already-dead Green Boots. Eventually, some heard faint moans, realized he was still alive, and, too late, attempted to give him oxygen or help him stand.

Francys Arsentiev was the first American woman to reach Everest’s summit without the aid of bottled oxygen, in 1998. But climbers do not recognize this as a successful ascent since she never made it down the mountain. Following a rough night time trek to camp, her husband, a fellow climber, noticed she was missing. Despite the dangers, he chose to turn back to find his wife anyway. On his way back, he encountered a team of Uzbek climbers, who said they had tried to help Francys but had to abandon her when their own oxygen became depleted. The next day, two other climbers found Francys, who was still alive but in too poor of a condition to be moved. Her husband’s ice axe and rope were nearby, but he was nowhere to be found. Francys died where the two climbers left her, and climbers solved her husband’s disappearance the following year when they found his body lower down on the mountain face where he fell to his death.

Thursday 29 November 2012

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/11/there-are-over-200-bodies-on-mount-everest-and-theyre-used-as-landmarks/

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Six killed as three wheeler crashes into Yal Devi train

Six persons including two children were killed when an overloaded three wheeler they were travelling in collided with the Yal Devi Express train bound for Vavuniya from Colombo, at an unprotected railway crossing in Ambanpola, Kirimetiyawa yesterday morning.

There were seven persons in the vehicle, three males and four females.

A woman who was in a serious condition was admitted to the Kurunegala hospital. She succumbed to her injuries.

Eye witnesses said that the bodies of the victims were beyond recognition. The driver’s identity was established after tracing his identity card. He was identified as Udaya Asiri Wijeratne.

The victims were returning after visiting a relative and were on their way to a ‘Devalaya’

Thursday 29 november 2012

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=67108

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Trial over junta's `death flights' starts in Argentina

A major trial for crimes, including the so-called "death flights," during Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship started Wednesday in Buenos Aires.

Several pilots involved in the death flights - in which illegal detainees were thrown alive from planes to their death in the sea - are among the 68 people standing trial for crimes committed in the Navy Officers School of Mechanics, or ESMA, which is believed to have held about 5,000 illegal detainees during the junta.

The regime is believed to have killed about 30,000 people, although they technically are still regarded as "desaparecidos" (missing), because most of the bodies have never been found.

In this case, the courts are dealing with 789 crimes against humanity and are set to hear 900 witnesses. Most of the defendants were Navy officers and petty officers during the dictatorship, although there are also civilians, including former finance secretary Juan Alemann. Some of these people are already serving sentences for other crimes committed in the ESMA.

The opening of the trial was broadcast live at an auditorium in the Room for Memory Institute, which has been created at the facilities of the former ESMA in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Nunez.

The existence of the death flights has been reported by survivors of the ESMA illegal detention camp and also by former Capt. Adolfo Scilingo, who is serving a jail sentence in Spain after confessing to courts there that he had thrown into the sea 30 detainees who were anesthetized at the time.

The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team identified in 2005 several bodies found in the country's Atlantic coast in 1977. It also certified that they showed fractures that probably were caused by a fall from great altitude and the subsequent impact on the water.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/11/28/2783134/trial-over-juntas-death-flights.html#storylink=cpy

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Kishoreganj farmer first to try DNA test

A farmer from Kishoreganj, who lost his daughter in the Tazreen Fashions disaster, went to the National DNA Profiling Laboratory at Dhaka Medical College yesterday to give his blood sample in the hope of locating her grave.

Suma Akhter, 16, daughter of Bakul Miah, 38, was on duty at Tazreen Fashions in Nischintapur of Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital when the fire broke out on Saturday night.

She is missing and presumed dead.

Bakul Miah, the father, yesterday filled up a form with his contact information at the lab.

Bakul told The Daily Star his only wish was to find the grave of his daughter so that he could visit it occasionally and pray for the eternal peace of her soul.

Work on DNA profiling from samples collected from the bodies of 59 unidentified victims started yesterday.

Fifty-three of the unidentified victims were buried at Jurain Graveyard on Tuesday. The bodies of six victims were handed over to their relatives after they identified their dear ones at the DMC morgue.

The DNA samples from all 59 bodies were collected on Monday and kept at the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory.

Ahmad Ferdous, scientific officer at the laboratory, told The Daily Star that the lab had collected samples and had tagged the bodies with numbers before they were buried in tagged graves.

He said the laboratory would make a database of DNA samples collected and match those with the parents or children of the victims.

He said teeth, tissues and bones of the victims had been collected as samples for DNA profiling.

However, one to three months could be required to make DNA profiling of the samples collected. DNA profiling of relatives of the victims would take less time, he said.

Ferdous added that the lab authorities were keeping contact information of the victims' relatives. If their DNA profiles matched with that of a body, they would inform the authorities concerned and the relatives of the matter.

Relatives of many Tazreen employees, who are missing and are believed to be dead, are at a loss as to how and where to go for DNA sampling.

Nilufar Begum, who lost her parents, brother and brother's wife in the blaze, was trying to get to the laboratory yesterday but could not as she did not have proper information.

Thursday 29 November 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=259217

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Update: Five women, four children among 15 drown in Kirthar Canal

As many as 15 people, including five women and four children, were drowned in Kirthar Canal near Amrote Shareef after a passenger van fell into canal on Wednesday.

According to detail, the passenger van was on its way to Golo Daro from Gharhi Yasin in District Khairpur, when reached at Kirthar Canal its fell into it, subsequently at least 16 people were drowned.

According to witnesses, around 30 passengers were in the van.

On receiving information, the administration reached on the spot and started rescue and recovered 15 bodies including of six women and four children while nine people were fished out alive and shifted them to Gharihi Yasin and Shikarpur hospitals.

Some among the dead identified as Bachul Manganhar, Sangaar Jaffery, Umedan Jaffery, child Arshad Jafery (6), Wahid Ali, Jafery (5) and Rashid Ali (9). The Shikarpur deputy commissioner confirmed death of 15 people.

Sindh Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani confirmed the death of 14 people and told that as many as seven other people are still missing and district administration is searching their bodies and he was directed the administration for help and EDO health, DC, and other officials are present on the spot.

Thursday 29 November 2012 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C11%5C29%5Cstory_29-11-2012_pg7_12

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Workplaces that are death traps

One of the most disposable items in our country is human life. Abroad we read about loss of hundreds of lives from sinking of overloaded motor launches in rivers, from runaway buses driven by half-trained operators that fall into ditches and, as added measures, deaths from fires in factories in premises that never have been inspected for safety. We are used to watching on TV horrific and heart-rending video images of bodies being recovered from sunken vehicles, scorched buildings, and road side ditches.

We have seen and read about righteous indignation of our public officials at these incidents, dire threats of punishment to those responsible for such disasters that are never carried out, and empty promises that the nation will never face such disasters again.

But while the families of the countless victims wail and lament their losses, the people who are primarily responsible for these deaths and disasters, and their facilitators such as our public officials, are quick to point fingers elsewhere and try to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing. It is as though the people who perished in these disasters ended their lives voluntarily.

When will we learn to take ownership for these completely avoidable disasters? When will we learn to treat each human life as an asset that is more valuable than the product it makes? The recent Ashulia disaster is just another addition to the countless incidents of total callousness that prevails in the country over safety and protection of workers from workplace hazards.

We have had fires in garment factories several times before where workers lost their lives. Only a few days ago we had fires in a low income housing area surrounded by unsafe factories where lives were lost.

Close on the heels of the recent Ashulia fire we also had this lightning-like accident where girders fell off a fly over construction project that killed eleven people in Chittagong.

After none of these accidents or disasters in the past did we hear the people who owned the factories or the buildings come out and take ownership for the tragedies or take measures that would prevent repetition of such incidents. We also did not hear of any punitive action against the defaulting owners by the government. Instead, if I recall correctly, there was plenty of talk of deep conspiracies against the garment industry by persons unknown that were labelled as the causes of frequent fires. No one talked about setting up standards of safety for the factories and workers, or their rigid implementation and monitoring by government. Each incident was allowed to pass into oblivion until another happened.

As in all disasters or accidents in the past a host of reasons has been cited in the press for the Ashulia and Bahaddar Hat misfortunes.

These include failure to operate fire extinguishers in the building, blocking of exit routes of workers and, in the case of the Chittagong incident, a faulty crane that lifted the girders.

Absent from these reports is any indication or statement whether the factory owner or the flyover construction company had any mechanism in place that would ensure safety of workers or equipment.

It is also not clear what role the owners played during and after the incident besides announcing some gratuities to the victims after the fact.

The Ashulia incident and the incident in Bahaddar Hat in Chittagong would not have happened if we had taken lessons from the past. These would not have not happened had we employed a minimum standard of workplace safety, and held the people who engage workers in factories and construction projects, responsible for providing safe workplace.

The garment factories in Bangladesh today are situated on opposite ends of the safety spectrum.

On one end are those modern facilities that are located in different export processing zones and have rather rigid safety standards.

On the other end we have a series of garment factories that line up the Airport Road, Uttara, and other roads, all with cage-like appearances where it seems accidents are waiting to happen.

Workplace safety is a prime consideration for a government before a business is allowed to operate. In western countries a small departure from the safety codes and standards is cause for suspension of the business. Along with strict building codes and safety standards a practice that is regularly in vogue in most industrial countries is training workers in handling emergencies such as fire through drills.

No amount of fire extinguishers will be of use if the people who work in these buildings do not know how to operate them. Along with that also essential is training in emergency response through mock drills. Many of the buildings that I have seen on the Airport Road and Uttara were perhaps not originally intended to be factories, yet we have hundreds of people sweating their way in these accident prone buildings day after day, without a care either from the owners or from the government.

The accidents of this week would not have happened if the employers and our public officials had learnt to take preventive measures from the beginning. The accidents would not have happened if our public officials had strictly enforced the safety rules and taken punitive action against the offenders instead of smelling conspiracies in disasters.

The lives that have been lost at Ashulia or in Chittagong cannot be brought back; nor can the livelihood the victims provided to their families be restored. What can be done is to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.

This can be done by regular inspection of the buildings and the equipment that are used, ensuring that they all meet the minimum standards for safety and operation.

Finding scapegoats for these accidents and finger-pointing will do us no good. I hope and pray that we will not watch and read about such avoidable disasters in the future. I hope and pray that we all learn that human lives are not disposable items.

Wednesday 29 November 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=259150

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Wednesday 28 November 2012

Migrant deaths highlight rural tension in Italy

Even dead migrant workers are exploitable. Or so it would seem from the hardly edifying scenes that followed the deaths last Saturday of six Romanian farm workers killed in a horrific train accident near Rossano in Calabria, southern Italy.

The workers were killed when the Fiat Multipla car in which they were travelling home was struck by a train at a countryside level crossing, late in the afternoon.

The impact of the crash reduced the car to mangled steel, instantly killing the six passengers, three men and three women. It took rescue workers and firemen hours to extract the bodies.

The pain and distress of the Romanian workers’ families did not end there. When relatives arrived at the scene late on Saturday night, they were horrified to find rival undertaker companies arguing about who had the right to collect the bodies. As the undertakers squabbled, one of the bodies was knocked off the rescue service stretcher and onto the ground.

In a short clip ( today.it/citta/rossano) that has been frequently viewed, relatives of the dead workers are heard to shout angrily at the undertakers: “Shame on you. Shame on the Italian people.” In the clip, the police appear to stand back, unsure what to do.

The tragedy once again serves to highlight the precarious working conditions of seasonal farm workers in southern Italy. The six dead had been harvesting clementines, probably for a daily wage packet of €20 euro.

In a homily on Sunday, the bishop of Rossano, Santo Marciano, called on local farmers to reject the “logic of dishonesty and exploitation which reduces human beings to conditions of modern slavery”.

Two years ago, police had to bus 1,300 mainly African seasonal farm workers out of another Calabrian town, Rosarno, following three days of riots and scuffles involving the workers and local people. The riots started after shots were fired, almost certainly by ’Ndrangheta Mafiosi, at some of the Africans in an attempt to enforce territorial control.

The level crossing at which the six died is one which the Italian state train authority (FSI) leases to private citizens, most often farmers. They are usually closed off by a padlocked gate.

Investigators have yet to establish the full dynamics of the tragedy, although it is known that two Romanian workers survived the crash because they had got out of the car to open the crossing gate.

Wednesday 28 november 2012

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/1128/1224327207594.html

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9 Dead, 7 missing after fishing boat sinks off northeast China

Nine people have died and seven remain missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of the northeastern Chinese seaport of Dalian, maritime authorities said.

The boat with 17 people on board sank in the wee hours of Wednesday amid strong waves during an attempt to hook the boat to a larger vessel, the authorities said.

The bodies of nine of the fishermen were recovered at around 3:30 p.m., while another seven people are still missing.

The only person rescued from the sinking boat is listed is good condition at a hospital in Liaoning province, where Dalian is located.

Authorities said a rescue operation involving a helicopter, seven maritime patrol vessels and 120 other boats was still ongoing.

Wednesday 28 november 2012

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/28/dead-7-missing-after-fishing-boat-sinks-off-northeast-china/#ixzz2DXMIgEBj

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15 killed as van falls into canal in S. Pakistan

At least 15 people were killed and eight others went missing on Wednesday evening when a passenger van fell into a canal in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, local media reported.

According to local Urdu TV channel ARY News, the passenger vehicle carrying 23 people plunged into the Kair Thar canal in the Shikarpur district due to overspeed and brake failure.

Majority of the killed included women and children who drowned in the water after the van fell into the canal.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Azhar Shah confirmed the death of the 15 people, adding that the death toll could rise as at least eight people were still missing.

Initially, local people retrieved bodies of four women and two children from the canal before the rescue teams arrived at the site. Rescue workers were searching the missing people with the help of heavy machinery.

The ill-fated passenger van was heading towards Shikarpur district from Dadu city of the same province when the accident occurred.

All the dead bodies were shifted to civil hospital Shikarpur as rescue teams continued their efforts to recover more bodies.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.nzweek.com/world/15-killed-as-van-falls-into-canal-in-s-pakistan-30391/

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52 unclaimed fire victims buried after DNA tests

No-one showed up over the past two days to claim them. Their bodies charred beyond recognition.

And so, unidentified bodies of 53 workers who had died from the fire at Tazreeen Fashions Ltd were buried at the Jurain Graveyard in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.

Anjuman-e-Mufidul Islam, a charity, received the bodies and conducted the burial as the nation observed a day of mourning on Tuesday.

After concluding the DNA tests at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the district administration handed over the bodies to the voluntary organisation.

The graves were prepared on Monday night and the serial numbers of the DNA were tagged with the coffins as well as on the boards erected there in the hope that, some day, their families can identify them.

Bangladesh's deadliest factory fire in the multi-storied Tazreen Fashions Limited of Tuba Group burned alive at least 110 workers, according to government estimates.

Sixty bodies were initially handed over to the Anjuman for burial. Later, the district administration decided to wait until Tuesday for relatives of the dead to claim them.

They claimed seven more bodies and the administration handed over the rest around 11:30am on on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Abul Fazal Meer told reporters that they had 55 bodies last night. Husbands of 'Jaheda' and 'Mariam' identified their bodies in the morning. "We've handed over 53 bodies to Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial."

The Additional District Commissioner of Dhaka Abul Fazal could not say how many of the dead were female.

"The bodies are burnt so badly that identifying them was almost impossible," he said.

After the first Namaz-e-Janaza at the DMCH, the bodies were taken to Jurain graveyard and buried after a second Janaza there.

Mohammad Abdul Halim, Assistant Director of Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, said that all the bodies were buried as per Islamic rituals.

Four vehicles carried the bodies to the graveyard. Those who did not find their loved ones yet thronged the graveyard to give it a last try — all in vain.

The tombstone of the dead will carry the number waiting to be identified by their families, said Assistant Director of Anjumane Mofidul Islam Halim.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=237087&cid=2

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Decomposing bodies of five men found in Korean-marked boat off Japan’s coast

Police revealed Wednesday that a boat with Korean (Hangul) language writing on the side washed ashore on Sado Island with five rotting bodies inside. The island is located just off Niigata Prefecture on Japan’s western coast, and while police say nationalities are still unknown, they confirm all the bodies were adult males. The only other things in the 13 meter (43 feet) long boat were small belongings and garbage.

Five bodies were found on Wednesday morning in the boat washed up on rocks by a beach on the island, roughly over 10 meters (32.8 feet) long and weighing about 5 tons, on Sado island, northern Japan, Kyodo news reported.

It is still unknown how the passengers died, likewise the Korean writing on the boat is said to be unreadable. Police have said the only thing that is clear is that boat was adrift at sea for a long period of time. In the last few years, there have been several cases of North Koreans turning up in that area off Japan’s coast after fleeing the isolated communist country. Nine refugees, consisting of three men, three women, and three children, were found by the Japan Coast Guard in September 2011 after being at sea for 5 days. The group later resettled in South Korea.

The police and the Japan Coast Guard are seeking to identify the bodies of what appear to be adults and are probing how the boat drifted onto the beach.

In January of this year, three more North Koreans were found at sea, along with the body of another passenger who had died of hypothermia. They were also thought to be defectors trying to escape North Korea’s food shortages and poverty, but they turned out to be fishermen whose boat engine died and drifted out to sea. They were eventually repatriated at their own request.

Monday 28 November 2012

http://japandailypress.com/decomposing-bodies-of-five-men-found-in-korean-marked-boat-off-japans-coast-2819036

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Unclaimed bodies buried

There was none to claim them.

Fifty-three unidentified bodies from the fire at Tazreeen Fashions Ltd were buried at the Jurain Graveyard in the capital on Tuesday afternoon after two days of wait for their families, reports bdnews24.com

But the bodies were beyond recognition.

Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, a charity, received the bodies and conducted the burials when the nation observed a day of mourning on Tuesday.

After concluding the DNA tests at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the district administration handed over the bodies to the welfare body.

The graves were prepared on Monday night and the serial numbers of the DNA were tagged with the coffins as well as on the boards erected there so that their families can identify the dead bodies later.

The deadliest factory fire broke out on the ground floor of the multi-storey Tazreen Fashions Limited of Tuba Group killing at least 110 workers, according to government estimates.

Sixty bodies were initially handed over to the Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial. Later, the district administration decided to wait until Tuesday for relatives of the dead to claim them.

As relatives claimed seven more bodies, the administration handed over the rest around 11:30am on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Abul Fazal Meer told reporters that they had 55 bodies last night. Husbands of 'Zaheda' and 'Mariam' identified their bodies in the morning. "We've handed over 53 bodies to Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial."

The ADC, however, could not say how many of the bodies were male and female.

"The bodies are burnt so badly that identifying them was almost impossible," he said. After the first namaz-e-janaza at the DMCH, the bodies were taken to Jurain graveyard and buried after a second Janaza there.

Mohammad Abdul Halim, Assistant Director of Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, said that all the bodies were buried as per Islamic rituals.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2330083&date=2012-11-28

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Tuesday 27 November 2012

5 killed in expressway crash near Slim River

Five people were killed and six injured in a crash involving an MPV and a lorry at the Km372 of the North-South Expressway near Slim River early today.

The dead and injured in the 7.30am incident have not been identified yet, according to a report in The Star Online today. The injured have been sent to the Slim River Hospital.

A 12-year-old girl was among the five who died. They were travelling from Nibong Tebal to Muar when accident occurred.

The victims were trapped in the wreck and firemen had to extricate their bodies, a Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said.

According to the report, the accident was believed to have been caused by a punctured tyre to the MPV, causing it to go out of control and crashing into the lorry.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/5-killed-in-expressway-crash-near-slim-river

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An agonising wait outside

“I am going to die… Please pray for me!”

These are Lipi's last words to her husband from the burning factory in Ashulia, where fire killed at least 111 workers Saturday night.

As far as Akram, 30-year-old husband of Lipi, got from the phone conversation that evening, she was trapped on the 5th floor of eight-storey Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Since the call, Akram ceaselessly tried Lipi on her mobile phone until it went dead around 9:00am.

He also ran to the factory soon as he could, but only to find horrible screams and clouds of smoke coming out of the burning building.

Started on the ground floor, which was used for storing goods, the flame lasted till dawn.

The whole night Akram ran from one hospital to another with a hope to find his wife among the wounded and rescued. But Lipi was nowhere.

Akram finally got to get into the factory Sunday afternoon. He found ashes, charred flesh, broken tiles, burnt sewing machines, electric wires and unused fire extinguishers, but no trace of his wife.

Still determined to find her, he looked for his wife among scattered sandals, scarves, shirts and lunch boxes uttering, “Oh God, where do I look for her now.”

Akram, however, found an attendance card of one Ms Zaida near a broken window on the third floor. Panicked workers had broken the grills of the window trying to escape the fire.

A total of 59 bodies, which could not be identified and remained unclaimed, were handed over to voluntary organisation Anjuman-E-Mafiudul Islam for funeral.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) announced Tk 1 lakh as compensation for each deceased's family.

But that was no news to Akram. “It is not possible for me to claim a random body as my wife only for money. What good is money if I don't get her back,” he said.

Like Akram, Saidur Rahman, Mohammad Hanif and many others returned home disappointed after a bitter search in the burnt facility.

“There is no dead body, no one's here,” Mohammad Hanif told the waiting crowd at the main entrance of the factory. He had also come looking for his two relatives who used to work there.

Hanif's wife is one of the fortunate workers who had escaped the inferno by jumping from the third floor window and survived. She broke a leg and a few ribs, and injured the head. She is now resting at home after medical attention.

Another worker Mamata escaped the fire with the help of one male colleague. “When the fire alarm went crazy, our manager told that nothing had happened,” she said.

Although the building had three staircases inside, it had no fire or emergency exit. So rushing down the stairs had not helped the panicked workers as flame was dancing up from the ground floor, added Mamata.

The workers on the first four floors were the worst victims of the fire, said Md Obaidul, a survivor who escaped through a window.

Soon as the fire alarm rang the power went off, said Shiria, another survivor of the fire. “In no time the room got filled with hot smoke and we started scrambling to find a way in the dark,” she said, adding that most of the victims died of suffocation.

Shiria is now worried if the workers would get their salary this month. Like many she had also joined the factory for a wage of around $ 40 per month.

“How about those who lost their identity cards in the incident, would they be paid?” she asked on Sunday evening standing in front of the burnt building.

Meanwhile, expressing solidarity with Tazreen employees workers of other factories in Ashulia and Savar areas brought out a procession in Nischintapur village. The procession ended at the gate of Tazreen Fashions.

Wednesday 29 November 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=258933

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'Impossible' Tsunami Film Will Bring Memories and Tears

Eight years on from the tsunami, resorts in and around Khao Lak, north of Phuket, are enjoying the benefits of achieving what some people thought might be impossible.

By coincidence, the film, 'The Impossible,' perhaps the most accurate depiction so far of Thailand's biggest natural disaster, is screening for the first time later this week.

Expect tears from many on Phuket and in the surrounding region, tears from those who will never forget Boxing Day 2004.

As Phuket and the Andaman coast learned with not one but two tsunami alerts earlier this year, the 2004 tsunami must always be remembered.

Andrew and Kate Kemp, owners of the muti-award winning Sarojin in Khao Lak, say their resort has been ''oscillationg around 100 percent occupancy'' for the past six weeks.

The next few weeks should improve on that. ''We are looking for a very good high season,'' Mr Kemp said today.

Back in 2004, the Sarojin was destroyed before it opened. Fortunately, the whole staff had been given the day off.

Andrew Kemp, though, found himself at the local hospital in the Andaman township of Takuapa that day, helping out with translations amid the chaos as hundreds of injured and dead were brought in.

'The Impossible' tells the story of one British family of tourists who were separated by the tsunami, and much of their emotional journey unfolds at Takuapa Hospital.

Thousands of visitors and residents were killed.

Popular myth has Phuket as being at the heart of the disaster, but 10 times more people were killed and injured around Khao Lak.

In the days that followed, Kate and Andrew Kemp decided to rebuild the Sarojin as fast as possible, despite the bleak salt-browned landscape. Khao Lak rebuilt along with them.

Today, says Mr Kemp, Khao Lak is flourishing with ''encouraging signs for the wider area.''

There has always been a togetherness about Khao Lak that sprang from the darkness and despair of that December day. Today it gives the region a common purpose, a sense of identity and serenity that is totally lacking on Phuket.

To visit the village of Nam Khem (salt water) for the annual memorial service each December 26 is to understand how this fishing village has regenerated despite 800 deaths there.

We will never forget the year when families brought out framed photographs of the dead to place on a table near the spot where the service was to take place.

Afterwards, some people picked up one photograph. Others picked up one, two, three . . . sometimes many more . . . ''I lost 12 members of my family,'' a woman told us.

And not far away from the village, in a graveyard that is usually overgrown, the bodies of about 280 nameless victims of the tsunami act as a reminder of that day.

Yes, the tears will flow on Phuket and along the Andaman coast during screenings of 'The Impossible.' But the mood will be of impossible hope. The good work continues.

''The Sarojin Khao Lak Community Fund is still very much in existence,'' Mr Kemp said. ''And this weekend Kate will be running a marathon for a local cause.'

Tuesday 27 November 2012

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/impossible-tsunami-film-bring-memories-tears-17128/

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16 killed in bus accident in Udhampur

At least 16 people were killed and 44 others injured when a bus carrying a marriage party rolled down into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district Saturday evening, police said.

The bus was carrying 60 people to Dudu Basantgarh, about 110 km north of Jammu, when it skidded off the road and rolled down into the gorge.

"The bus rolled down about 300 feet into a deep gorge," said a police officer.

Twelve people were killed on the spot, while four others died of injuries, and 44 others, including the bridegroom, were injured. The police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units immediately started the rescue operation.

"There are chances of the toll rising," said the officer.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives.

Mountainous roads in Jammu region are notorious for road accidents. These are mostly attributed to over-loading of passenger buses, poor maintenance of vehicles, and shabby road conditions coupled with lack of skills to drive in mountainous conditions.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/-killed-in-bus-accident-in-udhampur-18772.html

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Train slams into vehicle in southern Italy, killing 6

Six people died after a train slammed into a vehicle early Saturday evening in southern Italy, the nation's official news agency reported, citing investigative and other sources.

Photos taken in Rossano showed the Fiat Multipla impaled against the front of the train -- mangled and largely unrecognizable -- as firefighters walked along the track.

A rescuer described the scene as "appalling," according to the official ANSA news agency.

The crash occurred around 5:15 p.m. (11:15 a.m. ET) near Rossano, which is about 300 kilometers (185 miles) southeast of Naples and 280 kilometers northeast of Reggio Calabria.

The Fiat was struck and dragged 600 meters before it and the train finally came to a stop, ANSA reported.

All those killed had been inside the vehicle, with ANSA citing reports that at least some of them were Romanian migrant workers who had been picking clementine oranges in the region.

The area near the crash scene has been cordoned off, as the investigation continues to determine what happened.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/24/world/europe/italy-train-deaths/

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Bus-Truck Crash Kills 8, Injures 25 in Venezuela

Eight people were killed and 25 others injured in a crash involving a cargo truck and a bus carrying about 50 people on a highway in northeastern Venezuela, emergency services officials said Sunday.

The accident occurred Saturday night at kilometer 90 of the Anaco-Barcelona highway, Anzoategui state fire department chief Benjamin Apaez told the official AVN news agency.

The cause of the accident has not been determined, Apaez said.

The bus was carrying members of an evangelical church from Anaco who were returning home after taking part in a “baptism of new believers” in the nearby city of Puerto La Cruz, the private Globovision network reported.

Monday 26 November 2013

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=648325&CategoryId=10717

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Monday 26 November 2012

Why fires in south Asia kill more than blazes elsewhere

Blazes like the one in Dhaka on Saturday, which killed at least 120 in a garment factory, are sadly all too frequent occurrences around south Asia.

In September, in one of the worst incidents of its kind, 289 died in Karachi, Pakistan. The same month, 40 were killed in a blaze at a fireworks factory in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.

Several factors combine to make death traps of factories across south Asia. Often exits are padlocked, basements used as store rooms for highly flammable raw materials and fire escapes missing. Smoke alarms and sprinkler systems are rarely heard of.

Survivors often describe the desperate crush as hundreds rush into narrow corridors filled with clouds of toxic smoke.

Fire is a constant hazard in the grossly overcrowded poor neighbourhoods of emerging world cities.

At least 11 women and children died in a blaze in one of Dhaka's biggest slums last week, thought to have started in a rickshaw workshop.

There is little proper zoning so industry is sited in the middle of residential areas, often slums which house the factory workers. More than 120 died in June 2010 when a fire destroyed six buildings – including a factory – in Dhaka. A possible cause was cooking for a wedding.

Then there is the ill-preparedness. Fire services in south Asia are poorly equipped and trained, and public awareness is low. "The workers are not trained to use extinguishers. The fire drills performed at the factories are limited to attaining only the benchmark of compliance and audits," said Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Centre for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS).

Wafer-thin profit margins exacerbate the problem. After the Karachi fire, Pakistani manufacturers blamed overseas competition, including from Bangladesh, for unsafe cost-cutting.

Babul Akhter, president of the Bangladesh garments and industrial workers' federation, said mid-level managers were mostly concerned with how many clothes could be produced and forgot safety.

Then there is corruption, endemic in all south Asian nations, which means government inspectors are easily paid off. The ease of hiring and firing, and mobility of the workforce, means "no employee-employer relationship", according to Subhash Bhatnagar of the Delhi-based Unorganised Workers Association. "There is no sense of safeguarding their wellbeing," he said. Construction sites present another major problem. Bhatnagar estimates that hundreds die every year in Delhi alone, and thousands across the rest of India and Bangladesh in building site accidents.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/25/fires-south-asia-kill-analysis

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Tragedy of errors

With 1,760 beds, the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) is Bihar's biggest hospital. And it arguably produces the best doctors in the state. But when it came to a real crisis test, all claims fell flat.

Disaster management was at its nadir, as at least 16 people—mostly women and children—were killed and more than 100 were injured in a stampede on the first day of the Chhath Puja in Patna on November 19. The PMCH, which is close to the puja venue, Adalatganj Ghat, could not even provide basic treatment to the injured. Why was the hospital not on alert when thousands of people had gathered on the banks of the Ganga to offer their prayers at sunset? And what was the state administration doing?

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had returned after his Pakistan visit the day before the puja. On the same day, he personally oversaw the arrangements for the puja. Cruising on a steamer with his cabinet colleagues, he waved to the devotees on the banks, and apparently quipped to his secretary that his next cabinet meeting could be held at the venue.

Chaos erupted after one of the two temporary bamboo bridges built for the festival collapsed. The police present on the site guided the petrified people to use a nearby pontoon bridge.

The mad rush was triggered when someone shouted that the metal structure was in contact with an electric live wire. Most deaths occurred while people crammed into a narrow lane linking the venue to the main road.

And when people took the injured to PMCH, mayhem welcomed them. Witnesses alleged that the medical staff on duty were throwing victims beside a staircase, declaring them dead. But around eight 'dead bodies' turned out to be alive!

“There was no one to treat my wife,” said Roshan Kumar, who lost his wife and two children. “The doctors ran away seeing the rush.”

Even DGP Abhayanand was reportedly seen scurrying around the hospital corridors, shouting, “Any doctor here?”

Principal Secretary (health) Vyas Ji said the doctors fled “fearing for their well-being”, as people were turning violent. By the time the doctors were persuaded to return, it was too late.

“It was a complete administration failure,” said RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav. “How could the government believe that the bamboo bridge would take the load of such a huge crowd?”

Politics, obviously, has taken the front seat after the incident. And it has come at a bad time for Nitish, whose popularity has been fluctuating of late. RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav wasted no time to declare: “This is the beginning of the end for Nitish's government.”

He sought the chief minister's resignation and slammed him for not visiting the accident site. The government stuck to the routine drill: it announced ∃2 lakh compensation for the 
families of the dead, and ordered a probe by home secretary Amir Subhani. The health department, too, has ordered a probe into 
allegations of “absentee doctors” at PMCH.

Monday 26 november 2012

http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?programId=1073755754&contentId=12907055

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Removal of last Tasikmalaya landslide victim halted

The process of removing the remains of the last victim of a landslide in Curug Cipalasari village in Tasikmalaya, West Java, has been halted due to technical difficulties.

“We got out the bodies of four victims [on Sunday]. There is still one more body left, but it is buried under a big rock,” West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency head Sigit Udjwalaprana said on Monday.

Sigit said that the rescuers needed special tools to break the rock, which was 6 meters long with a diameter of 6 meters. However, they could not get the heavy equipment through because of the condition of the road.

Five locals were buried by the landslide while bathing near Cipalasari waterfall on Sunday.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/26/removal-last-tasikmalaya-landslide-victim-halted.html

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Bodies found in northern Mexico

Eight bodies and the remains of others were found in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua over the weekend, sources and state news said.

The eight bodies showed signs of torture, according to sources from the state prosecutor's office. The victims were likely killed where they were found -- along a road in the municipality of Satevo. Their identities were not known.

The 11 corpses buried two years ago were found the same weekend eight other bodies were found of men who had recently been tortured and killed, authorities said Sunday.

The state prosecutor's office for missing people said 11 bodies were found in Ejido Jesus Carranza, near the U.S. border about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Ciudad Juarez. The area of sand dunes is a popular spot for picnickers from Juarez, which is just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Also in Chihuahua, authorities discovered the remains of an indeterminate number of victims in secret graves in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's state-run Notimex news agency said. The remains reportedly date from 2010.

The 11 corpses buried two years ago were found the same weekend eight other bodies were found of men who had recently been tortured and killed, authorities said Sunday.

The state prosecutor's office for missing people said 11 bodies were found in Ejido Jesus Carranza, near the U.S. border about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Ciudad Juarez. The area of sand dunes is a popular spot for picnickers from Juarez, which is just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Chihuahua, which borders the United States, has been hard-hit by drug-related violence.

More than 47,500 people have died across Mexico in such violence since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office and announced plans to deploy federal troops to help the government's fight against organized crime.

According to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, more than 5,300 people have disappeared throughout the country in that same time period, and the bodies of 9,000 dead have not been identified.

Calderon is set to wrap up his term as president this week. He will be replaced by Enrique Pena Nieto, who was elected in July and will be sworn in Saturday.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/26/mass-graves-tortured-bodies-found-in-mexico/

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Seven killed as bus falls into 100-ft gorge near Pollachi, narrow escape for 50

Seven people were killed and 50 injured when a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus swerved off the road and fell into a 100-feet gorge near Aliyar dam in Pollachi late on Saturday.

While bodies of three passengers were recovered soon after the accident, four more were retrieved on Sunday. The injured had a miraculous escape when the bus hit a tree on its way down and lay precariously perched on the tree trunk. The bus, carrying 54 passengers and three staff, was heading to Palani from Valparai when the accident took place.

According to police, the bus driver, Sivakumar, was driving rashly when he lost control while negotiating a hairpin bend and the bus plunged into the gorge.

The deceased were identified as N Pappathi alias Sarojini (58), K Chandrakanth (19), A Saravanakumar alias Sathish (7), all hailing from Injiparai, V Nagaraj (54), R Panneerselvam (46), hailing from Oosimalai estate, K Chandrabose (55) from Periyakallar and K Vellaisamy (50) from Vellaimalai estate in Valparai.

The injured have been admitted to the government hospitals at Pollachi and Coimbatore. According to the doctors at the hospitals, most of the injured had suffered multiple fractures but their condition was stable.

Kadamparai police have registered a case against the bus driver under Section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of Indian Penal Code.

Monday 26 november 2012

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Seven-killed-as-bus-falls-into-100-ft-gorge-near-Pollachi-narrow-escape-for-50/articleshow/17367814.cms

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Road crash in Dormaa claims eleven lives

A fatal motor accident which involved three vehicles near Dormaa Ahenkro last Saturday has claimed eleven lives and injured sixteen others.

Drivers of two of the vehicles and eight other passengers on board their cars died on the spot while another passenger was pronounced dead by doctors at the Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital after strenuous efforts to save her have proved futile.

The sixteen wounded passengers, two of them critical, have been admitted to the Emergency Unit of the Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital at Dormaa Ahenkro for intensive care.

Ten out of the eleven deceased passengers whose mutilated bodies have since been deposited at the Dormaa mortuary have been identified by their families.

The Dormaa District Police Commander, DSP Mahmud Yussif told the GNA that he received information about the road crash on Saturday whiles in the office.

He said he led a team of police officers to the scene where eye-witness accounts revealed that the gory accident took place when an articulated truck driver attempted to avoid a stationary water tanker and in the process veered into the lane of the on-coming traffic and collided head-on with a TOYOTA Hiace which was heading towards Dormaa Ahenkro with some Pentecost Church mourners who had gone to bury their deceased colleague earlier in the morning.

He said the eye-witness said that soon after the collision, a FORD Transit bus which followed the TOYOTA at top speed also crushed into the collided vehicles killing the driver instantly and injuring passengers on board.

The Police Commander however said soon after the gruesome incidence the water tanker which caused the articulated truck to veer off its lane as well as the articulated truck driver and his mate have disappeared from the accident scene and are being sought by the police to assist in their investigations.

Meanwhile the Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Gordon Kwaku Asubonteng and his Dormaa-West counterpart, MrVincent Oppong Asamoah have visited the sixteen injured victims at the hospital to wish them speedy recovery while expressing their condolences to the bereaved families.

The Dormaa Central MCE has also presented assorted provision worth GHȼ 2,000 to the hospitalized victims and pledged to work hand in hand with the hospital’s management to ensure their speedy recovery.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://www.ghananewsagency.org/details/Social/Road-crash-in-Dormaa-claims-eleven-lives/?ci=4&ai=52858#.ULOoAdf3RF8

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Kin of 'Kuber' crew members still awaiting aid from Maharashtra

The kin of the four fishermen of the boat, which was hijacked by 26/11 attackers to reach the Mumbai coast, have expressed anguish over the 'missing' crew members not being counted as victims entitled to aid on a technical ground by Maharashtra government.

"We have made a number of requests to Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to sympathetically consider the plea of the family members of the four fishermen for providing them financial assistance," Vice President of Gujarat Fishermen Association (GFA) Veljibhai Masani saidI on the occasion of the anniversary of the terror attacks.

Kuber, a fishing trawler, had been hijacked by the ten Pakistani terrorists off Jhakau coast in Gujarat to reach Mumbai for carrying out the strike. While nine of the perpetrators were killed during the three-day siege, the lone captured terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Aamir Kasab was executed last week.

The four fishermen, who are "missing" as per the official records since 2008, were identified as Ramesh Nagji Bamaniya from Junagadh and Balwant Prabhu, Mukesh Rathod and Nathu Nanu from Navsari district.

Bhavesh, son of one of the missing anglers Ramesh Bamaniya, said Maharashtra government "discriminated" while granting financial relief to the 26/11 victims.

"Non-receipt of financial aid has made it difficult for me to support my family consisting of my mother, three sisters and grandparents," Bhavesh said.

Maharashtra government paid a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of Amarsinh Solanki, the captain of Kuber whose body was later recovered by the Indian Navy.

However, bodies of the four fishermen, believed to have been dumped by the terrorists in the sea, were never found.

"There should be no doubt that four missing fishermen were killed. Even Kasab had, during his trial in a Mumbai court, said all the five crew members of Kuber boat were killed by the terrorists on their way to Mumbai," Masani said.

"We have been raising this demand repeatedly on every anniversary of the terror attack. However, Maharashtra government continues to ignore our demands," Masani said, adding the "attitude" of the state government has "hurt" the feelings of the kin of the fishermen.

Similar views were expressed by family members of three other fishermen.

"The GPS system used by terrorists proved that this ill-fated boat was used to cross the international maritime water boundary to reach Mumbai," Masani said.

If Maharashtra government can pay a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh each to other victims, including foreigners, of the terror attacks, then why is it depriving the kin of the four fishermen from the financial assistance, questioned Masani.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/26-11-kin-of-kuber-crew-members-still-awaiting-aid-from-maharashtra-297559

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Ashulia tragedy: DNA tests underway

Forensic officials on Monday collected sample for DNA test of 59 workers who were charred beyond recognition in Ashulia garment factory fire on Saturday.

Hospital sources said officials of forensic laboratory of Criminal Investigation Department; and Forensic and DNA departments of Dhaka Medical College collected the samples from the remains of the bodies.

The bodies are now kept at Dhaka Medical Hospital Morgue.

The bodies will be buried at Jurain Graveyard after completion of sample collection, the morgue sources said.

The forensic officials will later collect samples from the relatives, who will come to the hospital to identification of the bodies.

The death toll from Ashulia readymade garment factory fire rose to 111 on Monday, two days after the incident.

Of the deceased, the relatives and family members identified and took away the bodies of 52 workers.

Monday 26 November 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=42724

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Desperate search for Ashulia fire victims

Akram Hossain searched every corner of the fire-devastated factory of Tazreen Fashions Ltd in Ashulia for his wife Lipi Begum.

"Oh, god where do I search for her, now," said a helpless Akram.

It was the third time since Sunday morning that 30-year-old Akram had come to the factory to find out the body of his beloved wife who was also a victim of the Saturday’s fire.

The fire, which broke out at the ground floor of the factory Saturday evening and continued till Sunday dawn, costs the lives of at least 109 workers and left over hundred injured-- worst ever in the history of $20 billion export-earner clothing industry.

Of the dead, 54 bodies, which could not be identified and remained unclaimed, were handed over to the voluntary organisation Anjuman Mofidul Islam.

Akram moved around through the ashes of fabrics, burned flesh, debris of ceramic tiles, sewing machines, charred electric wires and examined everything repeatedly in the hope of finding his wife, whom he had married two and half years ago.

He got nothing but scattered sandals of terrified workers, scarfs, shirts, tiffin-box and shattered windows of the factory, sited at Nischintapur, half a kilometre north off Dhaka-Ashulia highway.

One attendance card of one Ms Zaida was found lying at the third floor near a window which iron grills were broken by the desperate workers to escape the blaze.

To help the families of the deceased, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announced Tk 1 lakh as compensation.

"It is not possible for me to claim an unknown body as my wife only for money. What's the meaning of money if I do not get her," said Akram giving a blank look.

Then Akram recalled the last conversation with his spouse as if it would give him a clue to find Lipi.

He remembered that last time Lipi phoned him when she along with her fellow workers had got trapped inside the building.

Over phone, Lipi informed him that she found no exit staircase to escape the fire, he remembered.

"I am going to die. I am at the 5th floor and could not come out as I am yet to get an escape from the building," said Akram recalling Lipi as saying.

Soon after the phone, Akram, a construction worker, came to the spot and heard terrified screams of trapped workers coming out from the inside of the building that was full of blaze and curling smoke.

He tried to reach Lipi calling her repeatedly over phone after arriving the scene, which seemed as a hell to him.

The cell phone rang till 9:00pm Saturday although he was not lucky enough to hear his wife’s voice any more.

By then he only wished Lipi, just for a single time, to receive his call. After a while the cell phone stopped ringing leaving Akram in whirling despair.

Akram ran to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and other major public hospitals throughout the night but could not find Lipi.

At dawn when fire fighters were trying to bring the blaze under control, he climbed the roof scaling the bamboo stair used for painting and other construction works.

But he could not go to the 5th floor as the fire fighters did not allow him. Later, around 10:00am, he managed to enter the factory but this time heat barred him.

Akram had a hope at a corner of his heart that he would at least find the body of his beloved wife. But the hope also fled like a truant schoolboy when he searched through each floor Sunday afternoon.

"She is a very good and polite girl and never quarreled with anyone. If she told me in which corner she was I would have tried my best to rescue her," said Akram adding that his wife usually came to work with one of their neighbours.

The phone of her fellow worker is also found switched off since last night, he said.

Not only Akram, Saidur Rahman, Hanif and many others were seen searching through the ruins of the factory to find out the bodies of their near and dear ones.

"No dead body, no dead body," Mohammad Hanif told the gathering at the main gate of the factory. He came to find bodies of his two relatives who were worked in the factory on the fateful night.

Hanif said his wife managed to escape the fire by jumping from the third floor. She lost her leg and her chest bones were broken. She has been undergoing treatment now.

A lucky worker who could escape the death is Mamata, a young girl, who joined the factory early this month.

“A male fellow worker helped me to escape the fire. Otherwise, I would have died," said Mamata.

"When the fire broke out and fire alarm rang, manager suggested us not to be worried saying that nothing had happened," said the worker, recalling the horror episode.

The fire broke at the ground floor which was used as a warehouse. Those who were working at the first, second and third floors were the worst victims, said Md Obaidul a survivor who also escaped the fire through the window.

"Hot smoke filled the air within minutes as soon as fire alarm rang and electricity supply became off. We were running to escape death through the dark. Many died inhaling smoke," said Shiria, another woman survivor.

A procession of thousand co-workers, who work at the adjacent factories in Ashulia and Savar, marched through the narrow road of Nischintapur amid the bleak atmosphere.

The procession ends at the factory gate of Tazreen Fashions Ltd as if they were expressing sympathy to the departed mates who only a single day ago were the part of nearly 35 lakh workers whose contribution help Bangladesh to earn 80 percent of exports receipts of $24 billion.

Monday 26 november 2012

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=42709

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Unclaimed body burial pushed to Tuesday

The Dhaka district administration on Monday decided to wait one more day to bury the 58 unclaimed bodies of garment workers burned alive in the worst-ever factory fire at Ashulia.

The bodies were set to be buried at Jurain graveyard once their DNA samples were preserved at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on Monday.

But Dhaka district's Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun said they would wait another day for relatives to identify the bodies.

"The bodies will be kept at the morgue (DMHC) until 10am on Tuesday on humanitarian grounds following a government order. Bodies will be shown to those coming in search of their loved ones," said Mamun.

He said a man named Abdus Sattar identified his wife's body after DNA sample was taken around 4pm. Sattar was then handed the body of 'Morzina'.

Of the 60 bodies kept at DMCH on being retrieved from Tazreen Fashions on Sunday, relatives took the body of another worker named 'Munni' on Sunday night, said Dhaka district's Additional District Commissioner Abul Fazal Meer.

DNA sampling of the rest 59 bodies began at 1pm on Monday.

The body of Masuma Akter was identified by her husband Humayun Kabir around 6 pm.

Currently, there are 57 bodies at the DMCH morgue. At least 110 workers of Tazreen Fashions were burnt alive after a fire swept through the factory on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, the administration decided to task Anjuman Mofidul Islam with the burial of 58 unclaimed bodies immediately after their recovery.

But the decision was changed and the administration decided to wait until Monday.

ADC Meer said unclaimed bodies will be buried at Jurain graveyard under numbers corresponding to their DNA samples.

The DNA samples and the grave identification number will be used to let relatives of the victims know where their loved ones are buried.

On Monday, six families thronged DMCH looking for their dear ones and bodies were being showed to them for identification.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=237018&cid=2

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14 killed in fire at German workshop

Fourteen people have been killed after a fire broke out at a workshop for disabled people in Germany, according to local news reports.

Seven people were also injured in the fire, which occurred in the small town of Titisee-Neustadt in the Black Forest area of southwestern Germany.

Karl-Heinz Schmid, a spokesman for police in the nearby city of Freiburg, told rolling news channel N24: "We can tell you that we have 14 dead. The process of identification is ongoing."

The fire broke out around 2:00pm (1300 GMT), according to media reports and had still not been extinguished nearly two hours later.

Police were unable to determine the cause of the fire which broke out in a workshop housing. It provides employment in metal and wood processing and electrical assembly.

DPA quoted a source as saying there had been an explosion in a storage room.

It was still unclear whether chemicals were stored in the room, but the workshop activities include the treatment of wood.

Around 120 people with intellectual or multiple disabilities work at the center.

The center, which is run by the Catholic Church’s Caritas organization, was developed 30 years ago and was renovated in 2002.

Markus Straub, a spokesman for local firefighters, said there was no immediate information on why the building in Titisee-Neustadt, a town in the Black Forest near the city of Freiburg, caught fire early Monday afternoon.

"It will take days to investigate what caused the fire," he said.

The town's mayor, Armin Hinterseh, said the center's buildings were quite new. "It is devastating. We now have to find out how it happened," he was quoted as saying by local daily Badische Zeitung.

Baden-Wuerttemberg state governor Winfried Kretschmann rushed to the scene, his office said.

Sunday 26 November 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9703421/14-killed-in-fire-at-German-workshop.html

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