Wednesday 18 September 2013

Sixth body found in cars pulled from Foss Lake, one victim identified


The Sheriff says the remains of a sixth body has been found found in the two cars found in Foss Lake Tuesday.

Officials have confirmed the identity of at least one of the victims in the 1969 Camaro found in Foss Lake, according to the Elk City Daily News. The identities are not being released until all family members are notified. Details about the remains in the 1950′s Chevy are not being released.

Custer County authorities were practicing with a new sonar device when they found the vehicles in Foss Lake Tuesday afternoon near the marina, according to the Elk City Daily News.

Investigators said one of the vehicles is connected to a cold case more than 40-years-old where three teenagers went missing Nov. 20, 1970.

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro crews pulled from Foss Lake may have belonged to 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams, who was last seen driving in Sayre with two friends, 18-year-old Thomas Rios and 18-year-old Leah Johnson.

The three teens never returned home and have not been heard from since.

The second vehicle, a 1957 Chevy, may be linked to an older cold case from the 1950s or 1960s where two people went missing from Canute.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

http://kfor.com/2013/09/17/officials-crews-pull-cars-from-foss-lake-possibly-connected-to-1970-cold-case/

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684 bodies recovered in Uttarakhand

At least 684 bodies have been recovered after flash floods ravaged Uttarakhand.

DIG G S Martolia who led the search operations told TOI that 628 bodies have been recovered so far of which 529 bodies were recovered from Kedarnath valley and Rudraprayag district. The other bodies were recovered from Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Haridwar and Tehri districts.

He said an additional 56 bodies were recovered from the Ganga from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad and Bijnore districts.

Efforts have been intensified to retrieve an estimated 100 more bodies that may be still be stuck under debris in Kedarnath and nearby areas in Rudraprayag district.

"Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of people who were buried alive in the natural catastrophe, the magnitude of tragedy has indicated that over 100 more bodies may still be lying trapped under the heaps of debris," said a senior IPS officer who was part of search team in Kedarnath.

Members of search team said that efforts should continue to retrieve remaining number of bodies under the debris. "We will be able to uncover remaining bodies if the debris is cleared," Martolia said.

A senior scientist in Dehradun-based Wadia Institute on Himalayan Geology said debris will need to be cleared scientifically in a highly ecologically sensitive zone like Kedarnath to prevent the possibility of a major landslide. "Those who will clear the debris in Kedarnath will have to take into consideration this specific factor before doing the job," he said.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/684-bodies-recovered-in-Uttarakhand/articleshow/22673466.cms

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Tropical storms in Mexico update: death toll rises as landslides and flooding block roads


As rescuers rush to get help to stranded tourists and others cutoff after two tropical storms hit separate coasts of Mexico, the death toll rose to 47.

With roads blocked by landslides, rockslides, floods and collapsed bridges, Acapulco was cut off from road transport after Tropical Storm Manuel made landfall on Sunday. The terminal at the city's international was flooded, but not the landing strips.

Commercial carriers and the Mexican military responded by setting up flights ferrying tourists to a nearby concert hall instead of the terminal. Emergency flights began arriving in Acapulco to evacuate at least 40,000 mainly Mexican tourists stranded in the resort city where some streets were transformed into raging brown rivers.

Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told the Radio Formula that 27 people had died because of the storm in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located. Osorio Chong said 20 more people died nationwide, many as a result of former hurricane Ingrid, which struck the Gulf coast on Monday. Mexican meteorologists said it was the first time since 1958 that two tropical storms or hurricanes had hit both the country's coasts within 24 hours.

While most Acapulco hotels seemed to be operating normally on Tuesday, many outlying neighborhoods were without water or electricity, and floodwaters were knee-deep at the city airport's check-in counters.

Federal officials said it could take at least another day to open the main highway to Acapulco, which was hit by more than 13 landslides from surrounding hills, and to bring food and relief supplies into the city of more than 800,000 people.

Two of Mexico's largest airlines, Aeromexico and Interjet, began running flights to and from the still-swamped international airport.

Those with tickets got first priority, then families with small children or elderly members, officials said. Interjet's director Luis Jose Garza told Milenio TV that his airline's first flight was taking 150 passengers back to Mexico City and it hoped to run four to six such flights Tuesday.

The Guerrero state government said 40,000 tourists were stuck in the city, while the head of the local chamber of business owners said reports from hotels indicated the number could be as high as 60,000.

Many tourists finally emerged from their hotels Tuesday morning after days of pelting rain.

"We realized the extent of the disaster for the first time because we were closed in and only saw rain and flooding," said Alejandra Vadillo Martinez, a 24-year-old from Mexico City staying with seven relatives in the Crowne Plaza Hotel overlooking Acapulco's bay.

The main coastal boulevard was open Tuesday and most hotels appeared to have power, water and food. But that was little consolation to those unable to leave.

"We've realized that it was a mistake to come to Acapulco because all we saw was rain, rain, rain," said Guadalupe Hernandez, a 55-year-old housewife from the Mexican capital.

The situation was far more serious in the city's low-income periphery, where steep hills funneled rainwater into neighborhoods of cinderblock houses.

City officials said about 23,000 homes, mostly on Acapulco's outskirts, were without electricity and water. Stores were nearly emptied by residents who rushed to stock up on basic goods. Landslides and flooding damaged an unknown number of homes.

Natividad Gallegos said she returned Monday from shopping to find her house in a poor Acapulco neighborhood buried by a landslide that killed six members of her family, including her two children. "I saw a lot of strangers with picks and shovels, digging where my house used to be," she said, weeping.

The coastal town of Coyuca de Benitez and beach resorts further west of Acapulco, including Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo, were cut off after a river washed out a bridge on the main coastal highway.

Marcela Higuera, who runs a bread stall in the Coyuca market, said the only aid that had arrived so far was a helicopter that rescued stranded flood victims.

"Flour's already run out. There isn't any in Coyuca," she said, adding that the Coyuca River had swept away the bridge and riverside restaurants, and flooded low-lying neighborhoods. "This is the worst storm that I've seen."

"There are hundreds of people in shelters and they're begging for clothes and blankets because everything they have is wet," Higuera said. "They had to leave without taking anything."

Remnants of Manuel continued to drench Mexico further up the Pacific coast and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it could regain force near resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

One of the biggest single death tolls was reported in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, where 12 people died when a landslide smashed into a bus traveling through the town of Altotonga, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of the state capital.

More than 23,000 people fled their homes in Veracruz state due to heavy rains spawned by Ingrid, and 9,000 went to emergency shelters. At least 20 highways and 12 bridges were damaged, the state's civil protection authority said.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-storms-ingrid-and-manuel-hit-mexico-20130917

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SimCity's Red Cross charity pack aids real-world disaster victims


SimCity fans know nothing feels better than saving their other family from pollution and sickness -- except, you know, helping out some fellow human beings. A new collaboration with the Red Cross combines players' digital altruism with humanitarian aid for real-world disaster victims. Starting today, you'll be able to purchase a $9.99 "charity pack" created specifically for the game, with a relief center, tents and two emergency response vehicles. In the event of a meteor strike, earthquake or tornado, the Red Cross tents will automatically appear to provide aid for injured Sims, and a fleet of ambulances and fire trucks will be on call as well.

SimCity creator EA Games has pledged to contribute at least 80 percent of profits (a minimum of $100,000) from the charity pack to the Red Cross National Societies. The set will be available for a year, and you'll be able to keep it through the life of your current game. Currently, the pack is only available for players in 10 countries, including Denmark, France, the US and the UK.

Wednesday 18 september 2013

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/simcity-red-cross-charity-pack/

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Five bodies found in two cars that were at bottom of lake for decades


Six bodies within two separate cars have been raised from the bottom of a lake, creating fresh hopes that missing persons cases from decades ago could finally be solved.

One of the vehicles may have been submerged in the reservoir since the 1960s and the other since 1970s.

Police believe that the vehicles are unrelated and may date back to cold missing persons cases.

The cars recovered from Foss Lake in western Oklahoma may solve cold cases from the late 1950s and 1970. The Daily Elk Citian reported that the vehicles appear to match a Camaro missing with three Sayre teenagers since 1970 and an older Chevrolet with two Canute residents missing since the late 1950s or early 1960s.

The cars were recovered from the 1,628ft-deep Foss Lake, in western Oklahoma in the US, after divers were training with sonar equipment near the marina and happened across the wreckages by accident.

The second car, a Chevrolet, could be the vehicle belonging to two local residents from the town of Canute, who went missing in the early 1960s.

‘It’s just been under water for 40 years. It’s a mucky mess,’ Custer County sheriff Bruce Peoples told KWEY radio.

The bodies have yet to be publicly identified while next of kin are notified.

In addition to the Custer County Sheriff's Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, and the state medical examiner's office were on scene Tuesday.

Authorities discovered the cars on accident. Betsy Randolph, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said dive teams were at Foss Lake conducting training with sonar when they came upon the vehicles last week.

"So they went back and did a scheduled dive today and were going to recover the cars. When they pulled the cars out of the water, the first one that came out they found bones in the car," she said.

When they pulled the second car out, another set of bones was discovered. The divers then went back in the water and searched around and found a skull, she said.

The remains were turned over to the medical examiner's office.

"We thought it was just going to be stolen vehicles and that's not what it turned out to be, obviously," Randolph said.

She said the Highway Patrol is hoping the discovery will offer some relief to families who may have gone decades wondering where a missing loved one was.

"We're hoping these individuals, that this is going to bring some sort of closure to some families out there who have been waiting to hear about missing people," she said. "If that's the case, then we're thrilled we were able to bring some sort of closure to those families."

Wednesday 18 September 2013

http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/18/six-bodies-found-in-two-cars-that-were-at-bottom-of-lake-for-decades-4045127/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/foss-lake-discovery_n_3945028.html

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