Friday 11 October 2013

More than 60 feared dead as two more boats sink in the Mediterranean, 27 bodies recovered so far (update)


More than 60 people are feared dead tonight after two boats packed with migrants being smuggled across the Mediterranean into Europe sank.

One of the boats capsized off Lampedusa, the Italian island where 339 people drowned last week in one of the worst migrant shipping disasters in the Mediterranean which prompted demands in Europe for action against the smugglers.

In today’s tragedies more than 220 people were pitched into the water when their boat got into trouble off Lampedusa while more than 120 swam for their lives when a vessel capsized close to the port of Alexandria in Egypt.

A dozen people died off the Egyptian coast, with 116 people being rescued and taken to a nearby naval base. The coast guard said the survivors comprised 72 Palestinians, 40 Syrians, and four Egyptians.

But the scale of the tonight’s sinking off Lampedusa, in a chilling echo of last week’s disaster, was even worse, with early reports suggesting a death toll of 50. The Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said at least 27 bodies had already been recovered, of which three are children.

The vessel was 65 miles south east of the island and a rescue mission was launched after a distress call was made from the boat on a satellite phone. The satellite coordinates pinpointed its position, said coast guard spokesman Marco Di Milla.

A Maltese aircraft spotted the upturned boat and reported that scores of people were in the water. It dropped a life raft, and a patrol boat soon reached the area to start picking up survivors.

Mr Di Milla said "a good number" of the estimated 200 people had been rescued, but a Maltese government spokesman said rescue crews also reported seeing corpses in the water,.

The capsizing occurred a week after a migrant ship from Libya capsized and sank with some 500 people on board near and island off Lampedusa's coast. Only 155 survived. Recovery efforts continued Friday, bringing the toll up to 339, including a newborn with its umbilical cord still attached, Di Milla said.

In recent months increasing numbers of Syrian migrants have been fleeing Egypt – in large part due to the rising levels of discrimination and xenophobia which followed the popular coup against former President Mohamed Morsi.

A six day voyage to Sicily from north Africa can cost more than £2,000 per person, with many being forced to sell nearly everything they own to secure a spot on the cramped and over-crowded boats.

According to the UN’s refugee agency, more than 3,400 refugees have attempted to make the crossing from Egypt to Europe since August this year.

Following the Lampedusa disaster last week, Italian divers were yesterday still trying to recover bodies from the wreckage of the sunken smugglers’ ship. The death toll is now at least 339, though some bodies are still thought to be missing. Survivors said there were around 500 people on board, while only 155 escaped alive.

Once in Italy, the migrants are screened for asylum and often sent back home if they don't qualify. During the 1990s and early 2000s, many of the arrivals were considered "economic migrants." But many of the latest arrivals are fleeing persecution and conflict in places such as Syria and Egypt, and qualify for refugee status, UN officials say.

Many eventually end up in northern Europe's larger and more organized immigrant communities.

During a visit to Lampedusa this week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso promised Italy some 30 million euro in EU funds to better care for newly arrived migrants, and Italian officials pledged to put the issue on the agenda of an upcoming European Union summit and on the EU agenda next year, when Italy and Greece hold the EU presidencies.

Some 30,100 migrants arrived in Italy and Malta in the first nine months of 2013, compared with 15,000 in all of 2012, according to the UN refugee agency.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/more-than-60-feared-dead-as-two-more-boats-sink-in-the-mediterranean-8874995.html

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Another migrant boat capsizes off Lampedusa, rescue under way


A boat with more than 200 migrants on board has capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa and a rescue operation is under way, officials say.

Italian and Maltese ships - backed by helicopters - are assisting at the scene.

At least 120 people are said to have been saved, but bodies have also been reportedly spotted in the water.

Last week more than 300 people drowned when a boat carrying African migrants sank off Lampedusa.

Key destination

Italy's coast guard and Maltese officials said the boat capsized about 120km (70 miles) off Lampedusa on Friday.

The vessel was reportedly first spotted by the Maltese air force who then requested Italy's help.



The Maltese authorities are co-ordinating the operation in the country's territorial waters.

Italy's Ansa news agency reports that bodies were seen in the water - but this has not been officially confirmed.

The nationalities of those on board the boat were not immediately known.

Lampedusa, which lies 290km (180 miles) off the coast of Africa, is a key destination for migrant vessels bound for Europe.

Last Thursday, more than 300 people - mostly Somalis and Eritreans - died when their boat sank near the island.

Only 155 people were rescued of more than 500 migrants.

Many of the island's residents have long complained that EU and Italian authorities are not doing enough to deal with the thousands who come ashore.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24499890

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Japan hospital fire kills 10 patients and staff

A fire at a hospital in southern Japan has killed ten people and left eight others injured.

The blaze broke out at an orthopaedic hospital in the city of Fukuoka while patients were asleep.

Officials said that eight of those who died were patients and two were staff at the hospital.

Witnesses described seeing emergency crews attempting to revive several of the patients outside the hospital.

Media reports say a total of 18 people were at the hospital at the time of the fire, which has since been extinguished.

Police said the fire started from the first floor of the four-storey building, but the cause is still under investigation.

Most of the building was destroyed in the blaze.



Many of the patients admitted to the hospital, which is in a quiet residential area in the city, are believed to be elderly.

The fire started at around 2.20am and took fire crews around two and a half hours to put out.

There was no sign of an initial fire extinguishing effort at the hospital and fireproof doors on the second and third floors were not properly used, according to an unidentified fire department official

An eyewitness told local media that the ground floor of the hospital "was red with flames and was filled with smoke. The part where beds were located seemed to be burning".

During a press conference, a fire station official told reporters: "We did our best in fire-fighting to save lives... but it was a difficult situation."

"We received news of the fire at a very late stage, and there had been no attempt [by staff] to tackle the fire in its early stages."

"Patients... were exposed to a lot of smoke because fire doors that would have stemmed the flow had been left open," he added.

"We will start an investigation [into the source of the fire]."

At least five other people were injured by the fire, officials said, with several reportedly in a critical condition.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2453875/10-dead-hospital-breaks-Japan.html

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10 killed in Peru bus crash


At least 10 people were killed and 25 injured Thursday when a bus crashed into a hillside in southeastern Peru, the police said.

The crash on a road linking the provinces of Arequipa and Puno came just four days after 19 people were killed when their bus went off a precipice in the southern Huancavelica province.

The cause of the latest crash was not known.

Arequipa's chief of traffic police said many of the injured were in serious condition.

In Peru, deadly crashes are common due to poorly maintained roads which zigzag through the Andes. The country’s bus drivers also have a reputation of driving dangerously, often with very little sleep.

There were 781 traffic deaths in the Andean nation in the first quarter of 2013 alone. According to official statistics, more than 4,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2012.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/131010/10-killed-peru-bus-crash

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Gang war in Brazil's Pedrinhas jail kills 13


Thirteen inmates have been killed and at least 30 injured in a fight between rival gangs in a prison in Brazil.

Riot police say they have regained control of Pedrinhas prison in Sao Luis, in the state of Maranhao, and are searching the jail for illegal weapons.

Prison guards said fighting had broken out after they discovered inmates digging an escape tunnel.

Brazilian prisons suffer from extreme overcrowding and riots and gang warfare are not unusual.

Crowded jails

The riot started after guards received a tip-off that 60 inmates were digging a tunnel through which they were planning to escape at dawn, Maranhao state security secretary Aluisio Mendes said.

"When the guards tried to access the cell in which the entrance to the tunnel was located, the prisoners tried to fight them off," he added.

Prisoners started a fire and members of rival gangs took advantage of the confusion to settle scores, officials said.

Relatives of inmates gathered outside the prison complex demanding information and threw stones at the guards.

Several buses were also set alight by the relatives, local media reported.

Pedrinhas is notorious for its gang warfare. Earlier this month, three inmates were killed, one of them decapitated.

Another was electrocuted when he got entangled in cables used to light an escape tunnel last month.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24472528

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Lampedusa toll at 311 as Italy divers finish boat search


Italian divers say they have finished searching a boat that sank carrying migrants from Africa, as the death toll from the accident reached 311.

An Italian coast guard official said the hunt for victims would go on beyond the wreck near the island of Lampedusa.

Nine more bodies were recovered on Thursday, a week after the overcrowded boat caught fire, capsized and sank.

Only 155 people were rescued of more than 500 migrants, mostly Somalis and Eritreans, on the boat from Libya.

At least 50 passengers were still missing, according to those on board.

"There are no more bodies inside the wreckage. The search will continue in areas outside the wreckage," a coast guard official said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Divers from Italy's coast guard, military and emergency services have all taken part in the operation to recover victims from a depth of about 50m (164ft). Robotic devices

Aircraft and underwater robotic devices would be used to search beyond the wreckage, the official said.

Italy said Wednesday it would hold a state funeral for the migrants who died in the accident, but no date has been set.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta made the announcement during a visit to Lampedusa with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Mr Barroso pledged 30m euros ($40m; £25m) of EU funds to help refugees in Italy.

The sinking is one of Italy's worst disasters involving a boat carrying Europe-bound migrants from Africa.

Lampedusa, which lies 290km (180 miles) off the coast of Africa, is a key destination for migrant vessels bound for Europe.

Friday 11 October 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24485104

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