Tuesday 24 July 2012

Thirteen people killed in overloaded motorcycle crash

Thirteen people were killed and seven others injured when an overloaded three-wheel motorcycle crashed off a bridge in south-east China, state media said today.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the vehicle was travelling along a rural road in Fujian province when it fell off a stone bridge.

A man who works for the Shouning county news office, who would give only his family name Zhong, said the vehicle was overloaded with passengers - a common occurrence in rural areas where villagers have no other way to travel.

No other details were known on the crash. Serious road accidents are common in China where vehicles are not properly maintained and laws are often ignored.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thirteen-people-killed-in-overloaded-motorcycle-crash-7972480.html

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Clues sought in IDs of Texas pickup crash victims

Investigators continue the difficult task of trying to identify 14 suspected illegal immigrants who were killed when a pickup truck packed with nearly two dozen people crashed in South Texas during an apparent smuggling run.

They're also looking for clues about who else might have been involved in the operations. The men, women and children were carrying toothbrushes, toothpaste and changes of socks and underwear but no identifying documents.

Authorities said the white Ford F-250 was carrying 23 immigrants from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala when it veered off a highway and crashed into trees Sunday night.

The crash happened on a highway about 90 miles southeast of San Antonio and about 150 miles northeast of the Mexican border.

Officials said at least 23 passengers were crammed inside the truck's cab and bed, including at least two young children.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/national/article_ac419954-0046-5aa4-980b-122329502d8a.html#ixzz21Wlg85US

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Rain storms kill at least 37 in Beijing

BEIJING: Officials have raised the death toll to at least 37 in the heaviest rainstorm to hit Beijing in six decades, and dozens of other storm deaths have been reported elsewhere in China.

The rain Saturday night knocked down trees in Beijing and trapped cars and buses in waist-deep water in some areas.

A statement from the city government late Sunday said 25 people drowned, six were killed when houses collapsed, one was hit by lightning and five were electrocuted by fallen power lines.

The official China Daily newspaper reported Monday that rain and flooding caused damages of at least 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), with 60,000 people evacuated from their homes.

The official Globe Times said Monday that it was the heaviest rainstorm in the capital in 61 years. It was the heaviest on record in Fangshan district in the southwest of the city, which received 460 millimeters (18.4 inches) of rain Saturday, according to the weather bureau.

The agency also said suburban Pinggu district got 100.3 millimeters (4 inches) of rain in one hour. A flash flood in Fangshan stranded 104 primary school students and nine teachers at a military training site, Xinhua said.

They were taken to safety. Elsewhere, six people were killed by rain-triggered landslides in Sichuan province in the west, Xinhua News Agency said, citing disaster officials.

Four people died in Shanxi province in the north when their truck was swept away by a rain-swollen river.

In neighboring Shaanxi province, state media said at least eight people died and 17 were missing after heavy rains hit.

China suffers flooding and dozens of storm-related deaths every summer during its rainy season, but such a heavy downpour in relatively dry Beijing is unusual.

The capital's skies were clear Monday, with traffic back to normal. The city's main airport was operating normally after hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed over the weekend.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Rain+storms+kill+at+least+37+in+Beijing&NewsID=340614

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Flooding in central Nigeria's Jos kills at least 35

Heavy rainfall in central Nigeria forced a dam to overflow, causing flooding that left at least 35 people dead and destroyed or damaged some 200 homes, the Red Cross said Monday.

"We have recovered the bodies of 35 people that drowned in the overnight flooding," said Manasie Phampe, head of the Red Cross in Plateau state, where Jos is the capital. "About 200 homes have either been submerged or destroyed."

The confirmed victims so far included a 90-year-old woman and a three-month-old baby, adding that the toll could rise, he said. "Rainwater and water from the Lamingo dam which overflowed swept across several neighbourhoods in the city," he explained. "We are still searching for more bodies as many people have been declared missing."

The downpour in Jos began at roughly 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) Sunday when many of the city's residents were at home for the night. "I have lost seven of my children in this disaster," said Alhaji Abdulhamid Useini, who described heavy rain pounding his neighbourhood for nearly three hours, which also swept away some of his livestock.

The area coordinator for the National Emergency Agency (NEMA), Alhassan Danjuma Aliyu, called the flood "devastating" and said police and other rescue bodies were searching the affected areas in hopes of finding survivors.

NEMA was also trying to quickly bring in added relief materials to care for those who lost their homes, Aliyu explained. "We hope to get these materials to them before the end of today," he said.

The head of search and rescue committee of the Muslim community in Jos, Sani Shuaibu, said the search was still on for 25 bodies still missing. "We are still looking for 25 other bodies that are still missing and the figure of the missing may rise as families come forward to register their missing family members," he said. "Most of the dead were children between three months and 13 years that were swept away by the flooding in their sleep. We picked the drowned along the river bank... We have two camps where around 700 displaced people are sheltering with little food and water supplies."

Much of the country has been affected by heavy seasonal rainfall, including Jos in the centre of the country and the economic capital Lagos in the south, where flooding has caused several road closures and other damage.

The rainy season typically runs from March to September. Last week, at least three people were killed by flood waters some 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Lagos in Ibadan, an area where 102 people died following torrential rains last year.

At least 20 people died from flooding in Lagos last year, while 24 were killed after rains inundated a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano.

Nigerian papers have in recent weeks been filled with commentary criticising officials for failing to put in place measures to mitigate the impact of the annual, often severe floods.

The largest cities in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, are overcrowded, with many residents living in haphazardly constructed slums. Drainage systems are also often poorly maintained and contribute to the problem of floods.

In 2010, flooding affected roughly half a million people in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/633318-flooding-in-central-nigeria-s-jos-kills-at-least-35.html

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