Monday 4 March 2013

DR Congo 'plane crash' in Goma, many passengers killed


A plane has crashed in Goma, the main city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, witnesses say.

A Fokker airplane of the private airline CAA was carrying 40 people and only four people survived, said Goma's mayor Naasson Kubuya.

The plane was flying from Lodja in East Kasai Province in the center of the country. The aircraft crashed in the center of Goma, near the electoral commission's building, but it did not hit any people on the ground, he said.

"The pilot managed to avoid houses," said Kubuya. "It's a horrifying accident. The city of Goma has become a field of disasters. We sympathize with the families of the deceased."

Last year, a plane crash in the city of Bukavu killed President Joseph Kabila's personal adviser, Augustin Katumba

DR Congo has a poor air safety record, with 74 people killed in a crash at the airport in the central city of Kisangani two years ago.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21660308

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6th body found in Leyte landslide area


Searchers on Sunday night recovered a sixth body from the landslide-hit area inside the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) complex in Kananga town in Leyte.

The decomposing body of worker Marlon Boanghog was dug out manually at 8:10 p.m. amid bad weather several hours after it was located, Kananga Mayor Elmer Codilla said in an interview on Monday. It was buried by debris at least four meters deep with one foot pinned down by a rock.

Boanghog, a native of Barangay Aguiting in Kananga, was one of the nine workers of JE Arradaza, a subcontractor of EDC project contractor First Balfour, who were declared missing after a landslide occurred in Upper Mahiao, Barangay Lim-ao, 10 kilometers away from the town proper, on March 1.

Still missing were Abelardo Permanghel, Uldarico Taboranza, Salvador Yabana, Jorden Salcedo, Romeo Yazar, Salvador Lascañas, Jr., Alfredo Arabis and Danilo Mabatis.

Rescuers earlier found the bodies of five workers—Bonifacio Polinio, Edgardo Cabarsi Sr., Belly Abella, Joel Milay and Etchield de la Austria.

Codilla said the body of Boanghog was brought to Kananga Municipal Hospital where it was identified by his wife.

“She was able to identify him through his belt and the casing of his mobile phone,” the mayor said.

The body was brought to Saint Peter’s Funeral Home in Ormoc City and later to the worker’s house in Aguiting.

Codilla said members of the safety and rescue group of EDC, the city government of Ormoc and the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion would continue retrieval operations until all the missing workers are found.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/368503/6th-body-found-in-leyte-landslide-area

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12 children, school bus driver killed in Jalandhar accident


Twelve children were among 13 killed and eight other students injured when a truck collided with their school bus on the Jalandhar-Nakodar road this morning.

The condition of three children is serious.

The children were on their way to school when the mishap occurred near Jaheera village in Lambhra, close to Nakodar, Jalandhar Range's Inspector General of Police, Gurpreet Deo said.

The driver of the school mini bus, which was carrying 24 students, all in the age group of 8-10 years, was also killed in the mishap, she said.

A case of rash and negligent driving was registered against the truck driver, who fled after the accident.

"The mishap took place at 8:AM in Jaheera village when the bus of Akal Academy was taking students to the school," Jalandhar Rural SP (D) Rajinder Singh said.

While seven succumbed at the accident spot, others died on way to the hospital. Three students are serious and are admitted in a hospital while others are out of danger, he said.

The area where the mishap occurred is said to be prone to accidents.

The impact of the accident was so bad that the roof of the school mini bus was torn off and the vehicle was virtually reduced to a heap of metal.

School bags, tiffin boxes and colourful pencil boxes lay strewn at the site.

Most of the victims belonged to nearby villages. The bodies were taken to the Nakodar hospital and later handed over to their parents.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal expressed grief over the loss of lives and directed the district authorities to provide immediate medical aid to the injured.

Jalandhar deputy Commissioner Shruti Singh announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of those who died and free medical aid to the injured.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/316356/12-children-school-bus-driver.html

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15 killed in Palpa bus accident


A bus carrying a wedding party fell some 300 meters down from the road along the Siddartha Highway late on Sunday evening in Palpa, killing at least 15 people aboard.

The bus (Lu 1 Kha 2795) carrying wedding guests from Amdanda, Khanichhap-7 to Budhikot, Chidipani, met with the accident at Dhaireni, Chidipani-2 here in the district at around 9:30 pm.

Around 45 people were on the bus when the mishap happened. The bus driver Milan BK had consumed alcohol at a hotel while waiting for the guests at Ramdi before driving the bus to the destination. “The bus seemed to have lost control in several places,” Bishal Saru, who got injured in the accident, told Republica at around 2 am in Mission Hospital, Tansen where is undergoing treatment.

“Four of us were on the top of the bus. Our bus went from left to the right side of the road and crashed into a parapet. Losing control, it hit three or four more parapets before finally falling some 300 meters down from the road”, the victim said.

The bride was hurled out of the bus as it began rolling over down the hillside. The bridgegroom was still inside. “Just when the bus was about to leave the road, he (the bridegroom) embraced me tightly. We both screamed,” the bride Bishnu Charti, who has also been admitted at the same hospital, said. She recalled: “When I got stuck on the cliff, I called his name aloud. He screamed back from down the cliff. We managed to find each other and then stayed holding each other there only."

Police, who reached the site soon after the incident, carried out rescue works. Nepal Army personnel reached the site at around 1 am today. All injured were rescued and the dead bodies were collected by Monday morning. 34 people were killed in a road accident at the same place some five years ago.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=50937

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Athletic field used as burial site after Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami returned to former status


An athletic field here that served as a temporary burial site for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami has been returned to its former status.

Miyagi Prefecture was the only prefecture unable to immediately cremate all its victims after the disaster, and 2,108 bodies were temporarily buried.

The Kamikama Fureai Hiroba athletic field, where 200 people were buried from April 2011, was one of the largest burial grounds. However, with help from inland regions and other prefectures, all the bodies were dug up and cremated by August 2011.

At the end of February 2012, the city government began working to make the fields useable again, as per an agreement with the local neighborhood association. In October that year, the soccer, futsal and baseball fields were reopened with new artificial turf in place, and the shouts of children now once again fill the area.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130304p2a00m0na014000c.html

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China grave-robbers sold dead brides for 'ghost marriages'


Four people have been jailed in China for digging up corpses to sell as brides for traditional "ghost marriages" — where dead single men are buried with a wife for the afterlife — local reports said.

The grave robbers snatched the bodies of ten women and sold them in the traditional practice where dead women are united with bachelors to stop them wandering the afterlife alone.

It is not clear whether the bodies of the women were recovered.

Marriage is an important part of Chinese society and, while the practice is increasingly rare, it is still kept up by some families whose young adult sons pass away before having a chance to wed.

Normally it is agreed between the families of the dead, but the Xian Evening News said the group "stole female corpses and after cleaning them, fabricated medical files for the deceased and sold them for a high price".

A court in the northern province of Shaanxi sentenced the four to terms between 28 and 32 months, it said, adding they "took advantage" of the "bad tradition" of ghost marriages in parts of Shaanxi and neighbouring Shanxi province.

Citing the court, the report said the gang made a total of ¥240,000 (Dh143,000) from the sales of 10 corpses.

China's Communists attempted to stamp out some traditions such as 'ghost marriages' after taking control in 1949.

Although rare, the practice has regained popularity in recent years in some parts of China.

The practice is normally agreed between two families, but this group 'stole female corpses and after cleaning them, fabricated medical files for the deceased and sold them for a high price', according to The National.

The gang made a total £25,000 (240,000 Yuan) from the sales, according to the reports.

The court in the northern province of Shaanxi said the gang abused the 'bad tradition' of ghost marriages.

Officials have failed to eradicate the tradition and a thriving underground industry now exists in some parts of the country.

Last year, another gang of grave robbers were caught trying to sell a dead woman days after her family had already tried to use her as a ghost bride.

The woman's body was snatched and the gang of five offered the woman to another family for £3,000 before being caught.

In 2007, a man was arrested after killing and then selling six women.

He claimed that 'killing people and selling their bodies is less work than stealing them from graves.'

The ancient tradition of ghost marriages is performed for many reasons including uniting a couple who were previously engaged before one member died or to ensure a family line in continued.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/asia-pacific/china-grave-robbers-sold-dead-brides-for-ghost-marriages

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287821/Grave-robbers-dug-female-CORPSES-China-sell-ghost-brides-jailed--women-stole.html

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6 charred to death in cracker unit blast


The state has been shaken yet again by a catastrophic cracker unit blast. Six persons were charred to death and one was seriously injured when a cracker manufacturing unit caught fire at Panniyankurissy near Cherpalassery on Saturday. Four persons died on the spot and two on way to hospital.

The accident occurred at 12.15 pm when a makeshift tent caught fire and exploded with a loud bang.

The deceased were identified as Katampazhipuram Sadasivan, Palathingal Sukumaran of Cherpalassery, Thazhathethil Musthafa of Nellaya, Cherikottil Suresh, 36, son of Chandran of Panniyankurissy, Raman of Puthenkurisshu and Puthenpidiykiyil Musthafa. Sadasivan, 46, died on way to the Kozhikode Medical College.

The seriously injured Mani of Kongad has been admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College.

The tent went up in flames and the tarpaulin was seen hanging from atop a nearby coconut tree. Grass and trees in an area of around 300 metres were blackened in the impact of the fire which blazed for more than an hour.

District fire officer K K Shiju said that four units from the fire stations of Shoranur, Mannarkad and Perinthalamanna battled for one hour to douse the fire.

The bodies were lying scattered in pieces and the locals could not go near the site as the fires were blazing and there were three more sheds with ingredients stored in them. It was only after the fire unit came from Shoranur that the people came near the site, said station officer of the Shoranur fire station S L Dileep.

Around 20 workers had taken permission to go for a marriage around 12 noon, just 15 minutes before the blasts, said M Madhu, the leading fireman. Or else, the casualties would have been higher.

The site of the accident was a plateau and there were three more sheds at the site on the higher and the lower reaches which did not catch fire.

Shiju said that one of the sheds was used for storing ingredients, one for casing and the other to fix the wicks to the crackers. In one shed, there were three categories of sacks. While one contained sulphur, the second was of charcoal and the third a white powder which resembled potassium nitrate.

Shiju said that it could also be potassium chlorate which was ten times more powerful than potassium nitrate. Only after examination at the laboratory, the ingredients could be identified. He said that the upper reaches were used to fix the wicks.

The personnel of the bomb detection and disposal squad and forensic expert Unnikrishnan were also at the site. Unnikrishnan said that finger prints could be collected even after the place was watered with hose pipes.

The site belonged to Kalakunnath Mohammed, who is the licensee. The licence was reported to be valid till the end of the current financial year.

Sunday 3 March 2013

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1486351.ece

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Descendants of Flight 410 victim visit Blue Ridge Mountain site


With a light snow blowing under overcast skies, brothers Marshall and A.B. Reid clambered over car-sized boulders and between snagging mountain laurel branches trying to find every piece that remained of a Douglas DC-4 that crashed on Blue Ridge Mountain in 1947.

"It's amazing there's so much wreckage after these years," Marshall observed. "We'll be able to describe this for our mother. She never got to come up here."

"It will be an epilogue for our mother," A.B. added. "I'm glad to have seen it."

Marshall Reid, left, and A.B. Reid stand between the landing struts of a DC-4 that crashed on Blue Ridge Mountain in 1947. The brothers’ great-uncle, Cecil Eaton, was killed in the crash.

Their mother is Marjorie "Mickey" Reid, 83 years old, but in 1947, she was 18 years old and the man who had raised her as his own, Cecil L. Eaton, died in what was, at the time, one of the most deadly airplane crashes in the United States.

Eaton was her uncle, who, along with his wife and Mickey's aunt, Laura, took her in when she was orphaned at 9 years old. They lived in High Point, N.C.

The Reid brothers grew up in Raleigh, N.C., and drove to the Eastern Panhandle Saturday morning by way of Charlottesville, Va., where they stayed with friends.

"I heard the stories all my life," Marshall said. "I began searching for more information about a year ago."

His Internet search took him to the Shannondale & Beyond website, which is maintained by Willis Nowell. The website features a detailed history of the plane crash, which happened a little after 6 p.m. Friday, June 13.

Through the Shannondale & Beyond website, the brothers were able to connect with Nat Hughes, who lives not far from the crash site. He and his wife, Diana, hosted the Reids Saturday. Hughes, Nowell and local resident Carey Ingram took the Reid brothers on a tour of the site, which is on private property.

Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Flight 410 had left Chicago a little before 2 p.m. headed for Norfolk, Va., with stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Eaton, 53, boarded the plane in Pittsburgh. He was headed home to High Point at the end of the workweek.

A graduate of Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., he was a consulting industrial engineer specializing in time and motion studies - he increased the efficiency of factories.

He was going to then-National Airport in Washington to catch a flight to North Carolina.

The weather was not good. It was raining with low-lying clouds, obscuring the crest of the Blue Ridge.

The plane was circling, waiting for air traffic control to clear it before descending to National.

When the pilot, Horace Stark, of Alexandria, Va., got the OK from air traffic control at National, he began his descent.

The airliner, with its 47 passengers and three crew, apparently flew directly into the side of the Blue Ridge near Lookout Rock. It disintegrated upon impact and burst into flames.

Everyone on board was killed.

"According to some reports, the pilot thought he was circling on the east side of the mountain, but he was on the west side and when he began his descent, he crashed into the mountain," Hughes said.

Lookout Rock is about 1,680 feet high. The surrounding mountain ridge is between 1,500 and 1,600 feet high. The plane crashed about 175 feet below the crest of the mountain.

Other reports conjecture that the pilot was trying to get below the cloud cover to find landmarks for his descent to National and did not realize he was as low as he was and as close to the mountain as he was.

Planes in those days were not equipped with the high-tech flight and safety equipment that are standard on today's aircraft.

According to the official report by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration, "The Board finds that the probable cause of this accident was the action of the pilot in descending below the minimum en route altitude under conditions of weather which prevented adequate visual reference to the ground. A contributing cause was the faulty clearance given by Airway Traffic Control, tacitly approved by the company dispatcher, and accepted by Flight 410."

When Flight 410 did not arrive in Washington, the authorities throughout the region were notified.

The then-Martinsburg Journal reported the next day, June 14, 1947, "The local officials were alerted because the last word from the plane had been its routine report to Washington that it had passed just south of Martinsburg at an altitude of 5,000 feet with Washington only 20 minutes flying time away."

West Virginia State Police, Loudoun County, Va., sheriff's deputies and planes from Martinsburg scoured the countryside, but could not find the wreckage.

"The wreckage was finally located by James Franklin, of Washington, (Pennsylvania-Central Airlines) maintenance official, from a chartered plane which flew there and simulated what would have been normal flying practice for the airline," The Journal reported.

The debris from the plane was spotted by Franklin at about 8 a.m. the day after the crash. Parts were spread over a 100-yard area on the side of the mountain, reports said.

Reportedly, the search party was not able to reach the crash site until Sunday, June 15, 1947.

"Uncle Cecil was thrown free of the wreck - he was one of the few who wasn't burned," Marshall Reid said. "He was returned home to be buried in Greensboro (N.C.). He's with Aunt Laura now."

Included in Eaton's personal effects was his pocket watch, which was returned to his wife.

"Items that were recovered from his pockets were returned about two weeks later," Mickey Reid writes in a posting on Shannondale & Beyond. "There was a handkerchief which had minute tears all through it, currency and coins and his pocket watch. The watch crystal was broken and the watch had stopped at the exact time of the crash (6:16 p.m.). We wound the watch and it began working immediately. I have the watch and it works perfectly today."

Marshall said she keeps it in a glass case.

"Mom still works," he said. "She's still sharp. She does crossword puzzles to keep her mind sharp."

She was the first woman to graduate from Duke University with a degree in geology, Marshall said. She worked for the U.S. Geological Service for 30 years, he said.

She got $8,000 from the airline in a settlement agreement.

"I wonder how would my life have been if the plane hadn't crashed," Marshall said. "Would my mom have met my dad? In a split second, things can happen."

Strewn among the boulders and mountain laurel are several pieces of the plane's body still bearing green paint, the pistons from a couple of its four engines and engine cowlings with exhaust pipes as well as the front struts for the landing gears apparently all lying where they came to rest that evening in 1947.

The DC-4 was widely used by civilian airlines and armed forces around the world. It was a little over 93 feet long with a wingspan of 117 feet and 6 inches. It could carry up to 86 passengers.

The passenger list of Flight 410 included J.M. McIntosh, 29, who had graduated from Pittsburgh University the Wednesday before the crash; Mary Bryan and her 10-month-old baby from Indianapolis; Dr. Courtney Smith, Silver Spring, Md., the national medical director of the American Red Cross; David P. Godwin, Washington, chief of fire control for the U.S. Forest Service; and 17-year-old Margaret Kueppers of St. Paul, Minn.

Eight of the bodies could not be identified and were buried in a mass grave in Leesburg, Va. Two bodies were never recovered.

"It's important to get the individual stories out," Marshall said. "They all have stories. There are 50 stories there."

Sunday 3 March 2013

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/591643/Descendants-of-Flight-410-victim-visit-Blue-Ridge-Mountain-site.html?nav=5006

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Hopes dim for missing landslide victims


Rescuers will continue looking for nine workers buried alive in a landslide inside the geothermal complex of Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in Kananga town, Leyte, company officials said.

If no survivor will be found by Tuesday, operations will be downgraded to retrieval of bodies, said Alberto Ignacio, senior vice president of First Balfour, EDC contractor.

“We don’t want to prolong the agony of anyone. I cannot tell them (families of the missing workers) that it would be indefinite. So, there must be a timetable as to when we complete the rescue and retrieval operations,” Ignacio said.

“I am also a Christian and I’m hoping for the best,” he added.

A landslide hit EDC’s Pad 403 in Upper Mahiao, Barangay Lim-ao, while 45 workers were constructing a concrete shelter to protect steam pipes from cascading soil and rocks. Five workers were killed, while 21 others were hurt.

9 missing

Nine remained missing. They were identified as Abelardo Permanghel, Marlon Buanghog, Uldarico Taboranza, Salvador Yabana, Jorden Salcedo, Romeo Yazar, Salvador Lascañas Jr., Alfredo Arabis and Danilo Mabatis.

Rains and unstable ground had hampered efforts to locate the missing by 50 rescuers belonging to the safety and rescue teams of EDC, city government and the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion based in Kananga. The group is led by Ross Taguiam, EDC chief of the health, environment, security and safety unit.

Ignacio said the company would provide financial assistance to the families of the victims.

Promise of work

The wife of Bonifacio Polinio, 33, one of the five workers killed in the landslide, was given burial and financial assistance, as well as a job at the EDC complex.

“They promised to give me work at EDC. I hope they will make good their promise,” said Ruffa Polinio, 21.

She said her husband’s death was painful, especially since they had planned to finally get married in March after living together for six years. They have a 4-year-old son.

Sunday 3 March 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/368015/hopes-dim-for-missing-landslide-victims

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