Thursday 16 August 2012

NATO helicopter crash kills 11 in Afghanistan

The NATO-led international military coalition says a helicopter crash in Afghanistan has killed 11 people including seven international service members.

The crash took place in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, the Afghan authorities said.

The military alliance says in a statement that at least three of those killed were American troops. The nationalities of the other four coalition service members were not immediately identified.

The statement says four Afghans were also killed — three members of the security forces and one Afghan civilian interpreter.

The coalition says it is investigating the cause of the crash.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, although the insurgents often exaggerate their victories and are quick to claim responsibility for any incident involving the death of foreign troops.

The area where the helicopter went down is an insurgent hotbed and supply route, lying north of Kandahar city near Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

The Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter in August 2011, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 U.S. special operations soldiers.

Thursday 16 August 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10394716

continue reading

Landslide Fatalities Are Greater Than Previously Thought

ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2012) — Landslides kill ten times more people across the world than was previously thought, according to research by Durham University, UK.

A new database of hazards shows that 32,300 people died in landslides between 2004 and 2010. Previous estimates ranged from 3,000 to 7,000 fatalities.

The database, which provides the first detailed analysis of fatal landslides across the world, maps hotspots including China, Central and South America, and India.

The researchers say that the new database, the Durham Fatal Landslide Database (DFLD), can help policymakers to prioritise areas for action to manage hazards and to lessen the risks to human populations living in hotspot regions.

The findings are published in the journal Geology.

Lead researcher, Professor David Petley, a Geographer at the International Landslide Centre, and Co-Director of The Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, Durham University, said: "The environmental effects of landslides are often devastating for nearby human populations.

"We need to recognise the extent of the problem and take steps to manage what is a major environmental risk to people across the world. Our database will enable us to do this by identifying areas most at risk and could help to save thousands of lives."

The DFLD includes only fatal landslides and is compiled using a number of search tools and analysis of government statistics, aid agency reports, and research papers.

It is still likely that the database underestimates the number of landslides and deaths. The database excludes data from landslides caused by earthquakes due to the high level of uncertainty associated with these events. Following an earthquake, where there is a fatal landslide, the deaths are attributed to the earthquake trigger itself, rather than the landslide.

The researchers say that weather patterns, deforestation, melting permafrost in high mountainous areas, and high and increasing human population densities are important factors in the cause, distribution, number, extent and effects of landslides.

More fatal landslide events are recorded in May to October and the dominant global trigger is rain from the monsoon. Tropical cyclones also generate extreme rainfall events that trigger landslides in Asia, and hurricanes have the same effect on regions in the Caribbean and Central America.

In some areas with a history of fatal landslides, such as Hong Kong, programmes to mitigate the risks of landslides have been successful.

Professor David Petley said: "Areas with a combination of high relief, intense rainfall, and a high population density are most likely to experience high numbers of fatal landslides. Landslides are a global hazard requiring a major change in perception and policy.

"There are things that we can do to manage and mitigate landslide risks such as controlling land use, proactive forest management, and guiding development away from vulnerable areas."

Global landslide hotspots: •Southern edge of the Himalayan Arc •South west coast of India •Sri Lanka •Southern and eastern coasts of China •Central China, notably the mountains around the Sichuan Basin •Western edge of the Philippine Sea plate (Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines) •Central Caribbean islands including Haiti •Indonesia, especially in Java •Along the mountainous chain from Mexico, Central America, to Chile, South America, but especially in Colombia

Thursday 16 august 2012

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120815202224.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fearth_climate%2Fearthquakes+(ScienceDaily%3A+Earth+%26+Climate+News+--+Earthquakes)

continue reading

Landslides, cloudbursts kill 10 in Uttarakhand

Ten people were killed and 38 others went missing as incessant rain battered north Indian state of Uttarakhand on Saturday triggering landslides, cloudbursts and flash floods which flattened homes and stranded hundreds of people.

The Garhwal region bore the brunt of the natural calamity.

The state government has sounded a high alert and has sought the help of the army.

Nineteen labourers of the state-run UJVN Ltd’s Assi Ganga hydel project went missing following a cloud burst in the upper hills of Uttarkashi district. Similarly, 19 people also went missing from Gangori, Dunda, Uttarkashi town and Barkot areas in the district. Elsewhere in the state, 10 people were killed in different incidents following heavy rains during the past 24 hours, said sources in the Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre.

In the disaster-prone Uttarkashi district, flash floods hit several low-lying areas creating havoc there.

At least three men of the fire brigade department and two others were killed at Gangori area even as Chardham yatra to Gangotri and Yamunotri remained suspended.

In Gangori area of Uttarkashi, Bhagirathi is flowing above the danger level with people being evacuated to safer areas.

Nearly 30 homes were washed away in the floods with the Gangori bridge also collapsing.

Two more people were killed in Dunda area of Uttarkashi district.

While two children were killed in a house collapse at Kararnprayag area of Chamoli district early on Saturday, another child was washed away in flash floods at Pokhri area of the district where landslides continue to block highways leading to Badrinath.

Meanwhile, continuing heavy rains in the mountains of Uttarakhand and Nepal have flooded the major rivers of eastern Uttar Pradesh Ghaghra, Rapti and Saryu, threatening to submerge hundreds of villages.

Thursday 16 August 2012

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=125124&heading=India

continue reading

60 killed in quarry collapse in Congo

An official in northeast Congo says at least 60 people are dead following a landslide at a gold mine in a remote area.

More than 60 people died this week when a quarry collapsed in an abandoned mine in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Radio Okapi reported late on Wednesday.

The UN-sponsored radio said the accident happened on Monday at Pangoy, 120 kilometres from Manbasa, as illegal miners rushed to be the first in the bottom of the pit. The sides collapsed, burying them all.

Local administrator Faustin Drakana Kananga told The Associated Press on Thursday that it took crews four days to get to the mine following Monday's accident in Pangoyi. The area is controlled by members of a militia and located in a dense jungle.

The local government chief confirmed the number of dead, the radio said. He added that the mine had been abandoned after clashes between the regular army and a militia headed up by Paul Sadala, alias Morgan.

Kananga said the miners were in an area about 100 meters (yards) below the surface at the time of the accident.

Congo, a vast nation in central Africa, is mired in poverty despite enormous mineral riches following decades of dictatorship and war. Many Congolese try to eke out a living through small-scale mining though the practice remains dangerous and unregulated.

Similar accidents are all too common in the east of this enormous nation, which is rich in minerals such as coltan, used in the making of electronic gadgets, and cassiterite, or tin ore.

Thursday 16 August 2012

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10827466

continue reading