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 GHศผ 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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