Friday 31 January 2014

Passengers' kin seek police help to identify bodies


Four families from Pune looking for their relatives have approached the Manor police following the Wednesday's bus accident. Eight bodies, including that of the bus driver, were charred beyond recognition. These were brought to the JJ Hospital in Byculla for collection of samples that will sent for DNA test. The bodies of bus driver Shaukat Maulani (47) and passenger Suraj Chavan (40) from Chiplun, Ratnagiri, were partially identified by their families later on Wednesday.

Relatives of passengers Sunil Rane, Sangram Talekar and Subhash Jogdenkar have approached the Manor police after they failed to contact their near and dear ones. They were among those who had taken the bus. They are feared to be among those dead. The family of Rahul Gaekwad (25), the cleaner of the bus, has also approached the police for identification of the body.

Doctors at the JJ Hospital, however, are unhappy about bodies from peripheral hospitals being regularly sent for post-mortem to their hospital. The hospital currently has 11 unidentified bodies in its mortuary, seven victims of the Manor bus accident and four of the Dehradun Express fire. "The blood samples required to be drawn from the deceased as well as their relatives for DNA testing can be done in any government facility. The authorities, however, are putting the relatives through great hardship by sending them all the way to JJ Hospital every time," said a senior doctor.

The 35-seater sleeper coach met with an accident at Manor when it collided with a diesel tanker early Wednesday. The police have yet to get a list of bona fide passengers who travelled on the bus. They claim there was political pressure to go slow on the number of bona fide passengers. It is believed that many a passengers have boarded without proper tickets. The tanker driver Shafique Siddiqui has been arrested. He will be produced before the Palghar sessions court on Friday. The police, who had earlier booked Siddiqui for causing death by negligence under section 304 (a) of the IPC, will now seek his arrest under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The police said that Siddiqui had risked the lives of many by parking the tanker in the middle of the highway. He had failed to inform the police after the tanker was allegedly hit by an unidentified vehicle, causing its malfunction.

Friday 31 January 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Passengers-kin-seek-police-help-to-identify-bodies/articleshow/29623303.cms

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Official death toll in Quebec fire rises to 21


Quebec provincial police say 21 people have been confirmed dead in a fire that ripped through a seniors' home last week.

Another 11 people were still listed as officially missing on Thursday following the early morning blaze at the Residence du Havre in L'Isle-Verte on Jan. 23.

Thursday's updated death toll came as Pope Francis reached out from the Vatican to offer spiritual support to the grieving community.

Vatican Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, wrote that Pope Francis was immediately touched by the tragedy upon learning of it.

He said the Pope imparted a special apostolic blessing to those affected by the tragedy.

The Pope's sympathies followed those of the Queen, who offered her condolences in a message released a day after the fire.

The archbishop said the pontiff "united himself in prayer in the grief of the bereaved families and entrusted the victims to the mercy of God, that they might be accepted into his light."

The pontiff also "expressed his spiritual closeness to the injured and their families, as well as the firefighters and rescue workers who have performed a great work of solidarity."

Emergency crews have worked in sub-zero temperatures to recover bodies and evidence from the rubble of the seniors' home.

Special machines to melt thick sheets of ice coating the structure have been used to help them gain access.

The residence had 52 units and many of its occupants had limited mobility, needing wheelchairs or walkers to get around.

Friday 31 January 2014

http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/national/details.asp?c=57649

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Thursday 30 January 2014

Damage control: Coordinated response key to reducing disaster risk


There is a need to train rescue teams and establish a central command system to enable the government and humanitarian agencies to coordinate and minimise destruction during any disaster, said fellows from the Institute for International Emergency Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health, on Tuesday.

“There is a lack of coordination among different stakeholders, including the government and rescue agencies,” said the fellows – Dr Shawn D’Andrea, Dr Usha Periyamayagam and Dr Payal Modi.

“The top leadership and heads of the organisations have to understand that, without coordination, rehabilitation cannot be carried out effectively,” they said.

The Harvard team members were holding training workshops on ‘Preparing emergency department for disaster’ and ‘Training paramedics in pre-hospital mass casualty management.’ The participants from the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF), Pakistan Red Crescent Society and Aman Foundation were trained in modern techniques for disaster-risk management.

“We want to train the rescue teams about the humanitarian element during any disaster,” briefed Dr Modi. “In this manner, the skilled persons will be able to tackle the situations confidently,” she added.

“There is a need for different ambulance services to coordinate amongst themselves,” said Dr Periyanayangam. The plan is to meet the heads of different organisations and government officials, she added.

“The heads of Chhipa and Edhi are interested in having their rescue staff trained. We’ll meet them soon. They are the major stakeholders in the city. Edhi is even working in other parts of the country,” informed Dr Andrea.

The team said that they had held several meetings with officials of Sindh health department, Provincial Disaster Management Authority and others regarding the training of their respective staff members.

“The top leadership should show interest. These trainings would be more beneficial for field officers,” they added.

“We lack proper management. We need to train our staff,” commented Dr Ali Warsi of Red Crescent. He said that though he was already trained but the knowledge he received from the Harvard team was good for him and his staff. “It was designed in accordance with the prevailing situation,” he maintained.

KKF ambulance driver Syed Nazim Hussain seemed satisfied and excited. “It was my first such training,” he said. Hussain complained that without the resources, it is not possible for rescue workers to save lives effectively. “There is also a lack of awareness among people who abruptly show up at a blast location,” he added.

“One well-equipped ambulance will not be enough,” commented Ghulam Raza, a staff member of Aman Foundation. “All rescue workers should be trained and work in complete harmony. The accident site is always a mess. Every rescue worker wants to recover bodies and injured persons without thinking they could harm those who could be saved,” he said.

Concluding the session, Dr Periyanayagam stressed that the participants needed to share knowledge with their colleagues. “You should put disaster training into practice on the field,” she encouraged.

The team informed that not only rescue teams but law enforcement agencies needed to be trained. “I was part of the Boston blast rescue team. There was central command coordination during the rescue. It really made everything easy,” informed Dr Andrea.

The Harvard teams said that it is the need of the hour for all teams involved in disaster management to work together. “Whatever it is – floods, earthquakes, road accidents or blasts – you can’t manage things easily without coordination,” they said.

Thursday 30 January 2014

http://tribune.com.pk/story/665009/damage-control-coordinated-response-key-to-reducing-disaster-risk-argues-harvard-team/

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Official death toll climbs to 19 after Quebec seniors' home fire; 13 still missing


Firefighters and police officers, some on their hands and knees, braved bitter cold for yet another day to find more bodies in the rubble of a seniors' home that was engulfed in flames last week.

Surete du Quebec confirmed Wednesday that 19 people are now confirmed dead and 13 remain missing after the blaze that ravaged Residence du Havre in L'Isle-Verte in eastern Quebec early last Thursday.

"We will keep going until all 32 people have been found," said Surete du Quebec Lt. Michel Brunet the day before.

A police investigator slips on the ice as they search through the frozen rubble of a seniors residence in L'Isle-Verte, Que. Friday, Jan. 24, 2014. (Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Four people have been formally identified by the coroner's office so far. They are Angéline Guichard, 88, Marie-Lauréat Dubé, 82, Louis-Philippe Roy, 89 and Juliette Saindon, 95.

Authorities say they are satisfied with the progress of their work during the last six days.

Weather has been a major hurdle, forcing crews to take regular breaks to warm up from the bone-chilling cold.

Special machines also had to be brought in to melt thick ice that coated the ruins after the fire. Police have had to approach the rubble carefully, not just to avoid harming any bodies within the structure but also to preserve evidence that may allow investigators to determine a cause for the blaze.

About 65 per cent of the site has been examined. Brunet said it is difficult to say how long it will take to complete the effort because large hunks of debris have to be removed carefully.

The delicacy of the effort was reflected in the large construction shovels that have been brought in which carefully scratched at the ground to remove rubble.

Smaller tools such as rakes, brooms and spades were also being used by the workers, who also include pathologists from the Quebec coroner's office.

Surete du Quebec spokesperson Ann Mathieu says the searches are progressing well and about 50 people are combing the rubble of the building in teams.

On Tuesday, media were granted increased access to the remnants of the Residence du Havre to see the efforts in the community about 240 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

Health and social services officials also said six people remain in hospital. Nine others have found new homes and five people are expected to be relocated on Wednesday.

Surete du Quebec also said the public has responded to their requests for any photos or videos taken of the fire and they will begin sifting through them in the coming days.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is among those who are expected to attend a commemorative ceremony in L'Isle-Verte this coming Saturday.

Thursday 30 January 2014

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/official-death-toll-climbs-to-19-after-quebec-seniors-home-fire-13-still-missing-1.1661754

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Wednesday 29 January 2014

Boat capsizes in India's Bihar


At least three people have drowned and six others are missing after a boat capsized in the Ganges river in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

The victims were all women, who were on their way to work on farms in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.

"Bodies of the three women have been recovered," Buxar District Magistrate Raman Kumar said.

Kumar said 22 women, mostly labourers, were in the boat when the accident took place late Tuesday.

Thirteen women were rescued when the boat, also laden with vegetables, sunk in Buxar district late on Tuesday.

Boats in India are often overloaded, and lax safety standards mean accidents are common on the river.

Three bodies were recovered by divers and 13 passengers were recued, he said and added that six women were still missing.

On Sunday, 21 people were killed when a tourist boat capsized off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Last July, 11 people drowned after a boat capsized in the flooded Kosi river in Bihar. Twenty-four others swam to safety.

In 2012, 108 people died after a ferry capsized during a storm in Assam.

In October 2010, at least 36 people died after an overloaded boat sank in the Ganges river in Bihar.

In 2009, a tourist boat carrying 76 people capsized in a lake in Kerala, killing at least 37.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/overcrowded-boat-capsizes-3-drown-hunt-on-for-11/448658-3-232.html

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7 passengers dead and 15 injured in Luxury bus and container collision at Thane


In the wee hours of Wednesday, a luxury bus rammed into a Petroleum container killing at least 7 passengers including the driver of the bus while a four wheeler behind the bus too rammed into it leading to oil spill and severe fire on the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway near Varai phata.

The Bharat Petroleum container (MH 43 U 9201) was moving towards Gujarat and the driver halted the bus due to breakdown when the luxury double decker bus rammed into it killing the driver of the bus and other 6 persons on the spot. While, a four wheeler behind the bus too caught fire and the mangled remains of the bus and the car were shifted with the help of fire brigade and the Thane Rural police.

"The luxury bus driver did not notice the stationary bus and rammed into it the bus and car has beeb completely charred and the numbers of both the vehicles still haven't been ascertained" said a police official.

The driver of the Petroleum company is missing and we are trying to contact the family members of the deceased and have shifted the injured at Rural Hospital near Charoti, said Meghana Burande, Incharge, Manor police station.

After the accident heavy traffic jam led to major problems as the vehicles were diverted from the Wada-Bhiwandi road after the Thane rural police shut the road towards Gujarat.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-7-passengers-dead-and-15-injured-in-luxury-bus-and-container-collision-at-thane-1958084

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Andaman ferry disaster: Search for body of last victim still on


While the families of those who died in the Andamans boat tragedy have found a semblance of closure by receiving the bodies on Monday morning, one family is still at odds with the sea. Authorities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are yet to find the body of Suresh Sha of Kancheepuram.

Suresh Sha's brother Chandru is waiting in Port Blair, hoping for the body to wash ashore. "Locals tell me that the tide is high and the area is very windy. This will, hopefully, push the body to the coast," Chandru to TOI over the phone.

Local authorities and the ministry of shipping are searching for the body. "Five small boats and five ships have been patrolling the sea from Monday. Two helicopters have joined the search. Ministry officials have been giving me the hope that the body will be found by Wednesday morning," said Chandru.

On Monday night, Chandru saw what looked like a body floating near the shore. "As soon as I called the Andamans collector, helicopters rushed in," he said. Chandru's biggest fear is the crocodiles he spotted on the island. He is staying in the government quarters in Andamans.

Chandru was the first one in Kancheepuram to hear about the tragedy when his sister-in-law Gangabai called from the Andamans. She and her daughter Vinodhini were the only survivors among the six of his family members who went on a holiday there. Chandru lost his brother Suresh, his parents and niece in the accident.

Meanwhile in Kancheepuram, all the bodies have been cremated. "All the bodies have been handed over to the families. We provided assistance in the cremation," said Kancheepuram collectorate PRO Stanislaus. "We also distributed the compensation announced by the chief minister." He said the collectorate had bought large amounts of dried cow dung and firewood as they expected a number of cremations on the same day.

Survivors were welcomed back to Kancheepuram by hundreds of people on Monday. Of the 32 residents of Kancheepuram who left for the Andamans in a tour group, only 15 returned.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Search-for-body-of-last-victim-still-on/articleshow/29514481.cms

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Sri Lanka mass grave toll reaches 50


Skeletal remains of at least 50 people have been dug out from a mass grave discovered in northeastern Sri Lanka, amid speculation that the remains were of Tamil civilians who had disappeared during the war with the LTTE.

Police spokesman and Senior Superintendent Ajith Rohana said further digging will be continued with the deployment of a team from the crime investigation department to assist in investigations.

Three more skulls were found today, Rohana said. With this, the total skeletal remains discovered stand at 50.

A team of forensic experts led by Judicial Medical Officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne earlier stated that bodies had been buried in several layers at the site.

The state water entity's workers had stumbled upon the grave as they dug the ground to lay water supply connections late December last year in Thirukatheeswaram area in Mannar district.

The main Tamil party TNA-controlled Northern Provincial Council yesterday adopted a resolution to call for UN assistance at forensic excavations at the site.

The Tamil groups believe that the remains were those of the Tamil civilians who had disappeared during the three-decade conflict.

The resolution was moved by Tamil National Alliance's woman councillor Ananthy Saseetharan, whose husband Elilan was an LTTE political wing leader and is among those believed to have disappeared during the final battle in 2009.

This was the first discovery of a mass grave in the former conflict zone since the war ended. Digging of the site took place in the presence of magisterial and judicial medical officials after the discovery of the first four skeletal remains on December 21.

The police in an initial reaction said the area of the site had been under LTTE control for well over 15 years.

Since the end of the war, Sri Lanka has been facing international accusations of rights abuses.

Sri Lanka denies that its troops committed any war crimes whilst combating the LTTE. It has resisted calls to probe claims that over 40,000 ethnic minority Tamils were killed by the military during the final phase of the civil war that ended in 2009.

The UN Human Rights Council has passed two rights resolutions against Sri Lanka and a third one is expected in March.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/sri-lanka-mass-grave-toll-reaches-50_907489.html

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Mass grave recovered after El Salvador's gang 'truce'


In a room set apart from the scrubbed surfaces and autopsy tables of this city’s medical examiner’s office, two technicians in white coveralls are sifting through sacks of mud and death.

One technician carefully extracts a human vertebra. He brushes off the bone with what looks like a toothbrush, and then places the bone into a water basin.

The technicians “leave nothing untouched,” says Saul Quijada, the forensic anthropologist in charge. “Even the smallest item can be important.”

The sacks were trucked in from a mass grave discovered last December in the fields of Lourdes, a working-class district on this city’s outskirts. Authorities accuse the Barrio 18 street gang of digging the burial site in the remote and rugged fields to hide the remains of 44 people who’d been killed and dismembered elsewhere.

A March 2012 truce between Barrio 18 and its powerful rival, the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, has been credited with slashing El Salvador’s homicides from more than 4,000 in 2011 to about 2,500 over the past two years.

But the discovery of the mass grave — the largest found since this country's 12-year civil war — has given ammunition to truce skeptics. They’ve noted that while murders were supposedly declining, disappearances were rising, to more than 1,000 last year. Crimes and killings, critics say, continued clandestinely all along.

And with only days to go before El Salvador’s presidential election on Sunday, politicians have seized on the truce as a potent wedge issue in a nation terrorized by violence.

“All these people were murdered during the so-called truce,” says Miguel Fortin Magana, director of the medical examiner’s office in San Salvador.

And these gang issues matter well beyond Salvadoran borders.

Both Barrio 18 and MS-13 formed in Latino migrant communities in Southern California. Mass deportations by the United States pushed them into Central America in the 1990s. The "maras," as the gangs are called, found fertile ground in postwar El Salvador, where displaced and broken families crowded into cities, making for easy recruiting, and where police were ill equipped to handle the spike in crime.

The gangs spread to neighboring Honduras and Guatemala, and their foot soldiers now number in the tens of thousands — helping make this the world's most violent region outside a war zone.

Offshoots of the maras continue to thrive in immigrant enclaves of the US and Canada, but with gang leaders giving the orders from squalid tropical prisons.

El Salvador’s gang truce was an unorthodox response to years of hard-line policies that failed to stem the bloodshed. Gang leaders, a bishop, a human rights activist and — from a careful distance — government officials brokered the cease-fire in secret negotiations. The agreement allowed key gang leaders to be moved to lower security prisons.

The government has never acknowledged an active role, and outgoing President Mauricio Funes continues to deny that it took part, even after a recent leak of audiotapes made it clear that negotiators had the backing of Funes' top security official at that time.

Gang leaders, who met recently for the first time in seven months, claim that the truce remains in place. But murders have risen sharply in recent weeks, with about eight killings daily and a surprising number of massacres. Neighborhood walls that had been symbolically scrubbed of gang graffiti at the truce’s onset are now littered with tags.

In a recent poll conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion at the Central American University in San Salvador, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they had little or no confidence in the truce.

“What has been consistent over the last year and a half is the rejection of [the truce] by the public,” says Jeannette Aguilar, the institute’s director.

The truce has become the central campaign issue of the conservative opposition, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Its presidential candidate, Norman Quijano, has said the government made a “pact with criminals.”

In solemn television ads, Quijano claims he's the only candidate able to defeat the gangs. “I know what has to be done, and you do too,” he deadpans, without saying what that is.

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the candidate for the governing left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), has been vague about whether he supports the truce, though he was vice president when the negotiations took place. In debates he’s been loath to even mention it, and when pressed denies his government’s involvement.

Steven Dudley, co-director of InSight Crime, a website that tracks organized crime in the Americas, says the FMLN’s vacillating and lack of transparency on the truce has hurt the process and made it difficult for other organizations, such as churches and NGOs, to provide the support needed for the truce to succeed.

“Own it or don’t,” he said of the ruling party’s stance. “This game they have played has been very counterproductive.”

Little is known about the gangs themselves, which are estimated to have about 60,000 members in El Salvador and are often portrayed as “a massive and faceless enemy,” Dudley says. The truce, he said, served as a rare opportunity to understand “who these guys are and how much reach they have,” and to engage them in ongoing conversations.

“By mishandling this," he says, the Salvadoran government "could shut the doors for a very long time.”

San Salvador’s medical examiners have so far processed the remains of 25 people from the mass grave in Lourdes. Of the six bodies identified, Dr. Fortin says, not all were gang members. A fruit vendor from the area was among them.

What’s more, authorities know of two other suspected mass graves. One, Fortin says, lies within the district of Soyapango, an area where gang territories are fought over constantly, and the other is in the heart of San Salvador’s downtown.

In the medical examiner’s office, the violence that gangs can unleash appears in stark relief.

In one room, the skeletal remains of three people are laid out on long tables.

Quijada, the forensic anthropologist, fits together three neck vertebrae and points out sharp irregular angles on the uppermost one. The splintering, he explains, most likely occurred as the person was hacked at with a machete.

“They cut here and they cut here until it was completely decapitated,” he says.

Investigators are leaving 19 bodies in the ground at Lourdes until they can start excavating again next month. Completing work on this mass grave “could take us until the middle of the year,” Quijada says.

“That's if there are not others, and it appears there are.”

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/140128/el-salvador-mass-grave-maras-gangs-election

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Regional co-operation necessary to identify missing persons


With thousands of people still missing from the 1990s conflicts in the region, countries in Southeast Europe must be diligent in their co-operation to solve the issue, experts said.

According to the International Commission for Missing Persons, there are still more than 14,000 people unaccounted for from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

Of the approximately 40,000 total missing in the region after the conflicts, an estimated 30,000 were from BiH, 5,500 from Croatia, 4,400 from Kosovo and 23 from Macedonia. Of those still missing, approximately 10,000 are from BiH, 2,000 from Croatia, 1,900 from Kosovo and 13 from Macedonia.

Kathryne Bomberger, the director general of the International Commission for Missing Persons, said that finding and identifying those still missing is complicated because the conflicts took place when there were no borders in the region.

"We have often had cases where the remains of people from Bosnia and Herzegovina were in the territory of Serbia, Croatians disappeared from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbians on Croatian territory and the like. One of the ways to solve these issues is a good regional co-operation and that is at a very high level," Bomberger said.

The governments in the region must remain vigilant in their efforts to account for the missing regardless of their ethnic, religious or national origin in a transparent and accountable manner, she added.

Co-operation efforts include following a joint road map on proceedings, information sharing, a mutual DNA database and common methodology and transparency in exhuming mass graves.

Kosovo and Serbia have also been co-operating on the issue.

A gravesite in Raska, Serbia, was opened last month, in which the bodies of 250 Albanians are believed to be buried.

The investigation leading to the discovery was a joint effort by Kosovo, Serbia and EULEX.

Officials from Kosovo and Serbia are expected to meet soon to discuss how to proceed with further excavations.

"We have had cases of direct co-operation in order to accelerate the procedures, but due to the political circumstances, this co-operation remains within a non-formal format," Kushtrim Gara, who leads the administrative unit of the Kosovo Commission for Missing Persons, told SETimes.

Serbia Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said his government is committed to solving the issue.
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"The search for the missing will continue until light is shed on each and every crime," he said.

However, some say more action needs to be taken.

"Great progress has been made, but it still not enough to bring peace to the families of the missing," Lejla Cengic, a spokesperson for the Institute for Missing Persons in BiH, told SETimes.

She said that a central register of missing persons would help accelerate the process.

"A regional list of missing persons is one of the most important issues for the future. This year has been declared the year of missing persons in all countries of the region in order to speed up the process of finding those who are still missing," Cengic said.

The co-operation agreement that was presented at a December 2011 meeting between the Missing Persons Institute of BiH, the Directorate for Detained and Missing in Croatia and the Commission for Missing Persons in Serbia, has yet to be signed.

"We are missing co-operation on a political level. Signing the co-operation agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia would mean supporting the engagement of police and military records of all countries. This will enhance the joint exhumation process and lead to the resolution of an even greater number of missing persons in the region," Amor Masovic, a member of the Institute for Missing Persons in BiH board of directors, told SETimes.

"Globally, this is an unprecedented achievement. Nowhere in the world after a conflict have so many missing persons been located and identified. This is a joint success for the families of missing, local authorities and the international community," said Peter Sorensen, EU special representative in BiH.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2014/01/28/feature-01

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Landslides kill 19 villagers, 10 missing on Indonesia’s Java island


Two landslides triggered by torrential rain killed at least 19 people and left 10 others missing on Indonesia’s main island of Java, a government official said Tuesday.

Five houses were buried when mud rolled down from surrounding hills just after midnight in Mekarsari village of East Java’s Jombang district, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

He said rescuers pulled seven bodies from mounds of mud and were still searching for 10 others reportedly missing under tons of debris.

“Lack of equipment hampered our rescue efforts for those who are still missing and feared dead,” said Nugroho.

Authorities struggled to get tractors and bulldozers over washed-out roads. Television footage showed hundreds of police, soldiers and residents digging through debris with their hands, shovels and hoes.

Tuesday’s fatal landslides were the second in several days on densely populated Java island.

Mud and rocks cascaded down hills in Central Java’s Kudos district late Friday, leaving at least 12 villagers dead.

Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains near rivers.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://globalnews.ca/news/1112160/landslides-kill-19-villagers-10-missing-on-indonesias-java-island/

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Remains of 55 found at former Florida reform school


For decades, relatives of some boys dispatched to the notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys have struggled to find out what became of them after they went missing amid reports of beatings, torture and sexual assaults at the reform school in Marianna, Fla.

On Tuesday, researchers and forensic anthropologists moved a step closer to providing answers. The remains of 55 people have been uncovered on school grounds, University of South Florida researchers announced – five more than previous field work had indicated and 24 more than listed in school records.

"Locating 55 burials is a significant finding, which opens up a whole new set of questions for our team,’’ said Erin Kimmerle, a University of South Florida associate professor and forensic anthropologist who has led researchers on a nearly two-year project aimed at uncovering lingering mysteries at the school, which operated from 1900 to 2011.

From September to December of last year, researchers led excavations at or near Boot Hill, an unmarked cemetery on school grounds. Using ground-penetrating radar, DNA samples and search dogs, they probed for unmarked graves of boys reported missing over the years.

Bones, teeth and other artifacts were recovered for all 55 bodies, Kimmerle said Tuesday. Bone and teeth samples will be submitted for DNA testing. Meanwhile, researchers are attempting to collect DNA from survivors of boys sent to the school as "incorrigible,’’ or for truancy or petty crimes.

So far, DNA has been collected from 11 surviving family members of former Dozier residents. Researchers are seeking DNA from 42 more. Anyone with information may call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at (813) 247-8678.

The grave sites are not marked; some remains have been found in woods nearby. Thirty-one white crosses that dot the burial ground were erected in the 1990s to commemorate the unnamed boys buried there.

Kimmerle said researchers would attempt to verify the identities, ages and histories of the remains, as well as the timing and circumstances of their deaths. Excavations will resume in the coming months, she said.

"All of the analysis needed to answer these important questions are yet to be done. But it is our intention to answer as many of these questions as possible,’’ she said.

Survivors who attended the school have described beatings, torture sessions, rapes and the disappearances of boys, many of them after they were taken from dormitories or other school buildings for punishment.

Roger Dean Kiser, now 67, of Brunswick, Ga., told The Times in October that he was sent to Dozier at age 12 in 1959 and stayed for two years. He wrote a book about the school, "The White House Boys,’’ named for a house on school grounds where he said boys were beaten.

Kiser said he was twice beaten bloody with a leather whip reinforced by a slab of sheet metal. Other boys were beaten so badly that their underwear was pounded into their bare skin. Many were sodomized or forced to perform oral sex on staff members, he said.

Boys were beaten for such infractions as spitting, cursing or talking back. Staff members placed bets on who could draw blood first.

The bodies of some boys were burned in the school incinerator, Kiser said. He said another boy, Johnny Gaddy, told him he had seen a severed human hand in the "hog bath’’ where leftover food was dumped to feed pigs. Boys were rented out to work without pay for neighboring farmers and timber companies.

"They’re going to find a lot of bodies out there, and there are a lot more bodies they’ll never find,’’ Kiser predicted in the October interview.

Records at Dozier say some students died of influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, knife wounds or in a devastating 1914 fire.

Historical documents suggest that more than 100 boys died at the school, Kimmerle said in October.

An investigation by the U.S. Justice Department documented some of the abuse and led to the closure of the school. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded in 2010 that, although it found dozens of graves, there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-dozier-reform-school-bodies-20140128,0,4502419.story

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Official death toll climbs to 17 after Quebec seniors' home fire; 15 still missing


Firefighters and police officers, some on their hands and knees, braved bitter cold for yet another day to find more bodies in the rubble of a seniors’ home that was engulfed in flames last week.

Quebec provincial police said Tuesday that 17 people are now confirmed dead and 15 remain missing after the blaze that ravaged Residence du Havre in L’Isle-Verte in eastern Quebec early last Thursday.

“We will keep going until all 32 people have been found,” said Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet.

Four people have been formally identified by the coroner’s office so far.

Authorities say they are satisfied with the progress of their work during the last six days.

Weather has been a major hurdle, forcing crews to take regular breaks to warm up from the bone-chilling cold.

Special machines also had to be brought in to melt thick ice that coated the ruins after the fire. Police have had to approach the rubble carefully, not just to avoid harming any bodies within the structure but also to preserve evidence that may allow investigators to determine a cause for the blaze.

About 65 per cent of the site has been examined. Brunet said it is difficult to say how long it will take to complete the effort because large hunks of debris have to be removed carefully.

The delicacy of the effort was reflected in the large construction shovels that have been brought in which carefully scratched at the ground to remove rubble.

Smaller tools such as rakes, brooms and spades were also being used by the workers, who also include pathologists from the Quebec coroner’s office.

Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Ann Mathieu says the searches are progressing well and about 50 people are combing the rubble of the building in teams.

Earlier Tuesday, media were granted increased access to the remnants of the Residence du Havre to see the efforts in the community about 240 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

Health and social services officials also said six people remain in hospital. Nine others have found new homes and five people are expected to be relocated on Wednesday.

Provincial police also said the public has responded to their requests for any photos or videos taken of the fire and they will begin sifting through them in the coming days.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is among those who are expected to attend a commemorative ceremony in L’Isle-Verte this coming Saturday.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

http://www.citynews.ca/2014/01/29/17-dead-15-missing-in-fire-at-quebec-seniors-home/

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Tuesday 28 January 2014

Quebec fire: Four more bodies pulled from destroyed seniors' home


Recovery crews pulled four more bodies from the rubble of a fire-ravaged seniors' home, bringing the death toll to 14 with 18 missing.

Provincial police made the announcement Monday afternoon.

Fire destroyed a wing of the Residence du Havre on Thursday in this small town two hours northeast of Quebec City.

The search resumed Monday morning after blizzard conditions and bitter cold halted recovery efforts Sunday.

Search teams are using de-icing equipment to penetrate the foot-thick ice that coats the rubble.

The results are "encouraging," provincial police spokesman Guy Lapointe said. Large tarps are draped over the site to block wind and prevent more ice from forming.

Authorities have also brought in a special device typically used to heat up icebreaking ships.

The tarps have withstood -30 C windchills and powerful gusts that approached 90 km/h.

"We were still able to proceed because it was still warm under the tarps," Lapointe said. "Morale on the ground is good. People are working hard."

The municipality has formally requested emergency provincial aid. Coroner's spokeswoman Genevieve Guilbault said the department's forensic lab is "stretched to the limit."

So far only three bodies have been identified.

Also on Monday, families began to prepare funerals.

The memorials will be organized by the same Catholic authorities who planned funerals in the community of Lac-Megantic, Que., where 47 people died in a runaway train explosion last July.

Parish officials have advised families in L'Isle-Verte that mass funerals are available.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/01/27/21427526.html

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Five dead, 14 missing in Indonesian landslide


A landslide triggered by days of rain buried a village on Indonesia's main island of Java on Tuesday, leaving at last five people dead and another A landslide triggered by days of rain buried a village on Indonesia's main island of Java on Tuesday, leaving at last five people dead and another 14 missing, an official said.

The landslide happened in mountainous Jombang district in eastern Java at 1:30 am (1830 GMT Monday) after a particularly heavy downpour, said local disaster agency official Putra Anugerah.

“We pulled five bodies from the rubble this morning and are still searching for the other 14. Sixty people have also been displaced.”

Five homes were completely crushed by the landslide and members of the rescue agency, army personnel and community members were helping search for the missing, officials said.

Indonesia has been pounded with rain in recent weeks, the start of the country's months-long wet season, causing widespread flooding and landslides across the vast archipelago.

Environmentalists blame logging and a failure to reforest denuded land for exacerbating the floods and causing landslides, which hit Java's mountainous regions every wet season.14 missing, an official said.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

http://www.dawn.com/news/1083294/five-dead-14-missing-in-indonesian-landslide

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Monday 27 January 2014

The everyday tableau of Delhi’s nameless dead


The morning before the roll of the Republic Day tableau, a middle-aged man wrapped in a flimsy red rug was found dead on a pavement at Paharganj, a 10-minute drive from Rajpath, with no one and nothing to identify him. His emaciated body was lifted into a police jeep, taken to the mortuary at Maulana Azad Medical College, and fitted into a rack. His picture has since been uploaded on the police database.

In the first 26 days of 2014, 197 thumbnail images have gone up in the gallery of nameless dead.

Everyday, an average of seven people are dying unidentified and unclaimed in Delhi's winter. But what may be even more heart-rending is that such deaths are not limited to this season. As police data shows, they are an all-weather phenomenon. Around 2,900 died unidentified in Delhi last year. 241 perished in January; 225 in April; 279 in July; and, 238 in October. The highest deaths, 323, took place in May. Data for last three years shows that unidentified deaths peaked in summer and monsoon. A majority of such deaths were of able-bodied men.

"All seasons are life threatening for the homeless," says activist Harsh Mander. "These are very destitute people slipping through the cracks."

"Lack of shelter is only part of the problem," says Kirti Mishra of IGSSS, which sets up winter shelters and kitchens. "The bigger question is the uncertainty of livelihood, the strenuous nature of work, and poor nutrition."

Since police database doesn't disclose reasons for death as recorded in postmortem reports of unidentified bodies, it's hard to disaggregate data for murders and suicides, as opposed to those who died due to hunger, illness and bad weather. However, officials at Delhi's mortuaries confirmed most cases weren't "unnatural deaths", supporting the view they were linked to poverty and homelessness.

Altogether, 37,838 people died unidentified across the country in 2012 — more than a hundred deaths a day. While cities like Mumbai and Chennai too report high number of unidentified bodies, Delhi's numbers remain the highest among cities and nearly as high as the whole of Uttar Pradesh.

This could be partly due to the city's extreme climate, but also because it's a catchment area for migrants from some of India's poorest states, which could be additional proof for the link between urban poverty and street deaths. "Those relatively better-off, like rickshawpullers, have social bonds. They know each others' names and addresses and take charge when one of them dies. Only bodies of the very poor come to us," said Bijender Singh, SHO, Kashmere Gate, where six unidentified bodies were found last Saturday.

The bearded man with sunken cheeks found dead under the railway bridge at Paharganj was perhaps at the bottom of the street's social ladder. Even the beggars of the area did not know him.

Four hours after police took away his body, a dog took over the red rug in which he had possibly shivered to death.

Monday 27 January 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/The-everyday-tableau-of-Delhis-nameless-dead/articleshow/29430667.cms

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Brazil no safer a year after deadly club fire


Never again, officials vowed a year ago, would Brazil see a horror like the nightclub fire that killed 242 young men and women, all suffocated by toxic smoke that filled a windowless bunker of a building with no emergency exits.

Yet as Brazil marks the anniversary Monday of the deadly blaze at the Kiss nightclub, almost nothing concrete has been done at any level of government to improve fire safety. That’s stoking fears that another tragedy awaits, especially as tourists and locals pack clubs during the World Cup football tournament starting across the country in June.

“What killed those kids at that nightclub was our culture, a culture of not liking to obey laws,” said Luciano Favero, a fire prevention specialist based in Rio Grande do Sul state, where the Kiss fire occurred. “Brazil is a country that reacts; it does not prevent.”

It was about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2013, when soundproofing foam on the ceiling caught fire in the overcrowded nightclub in the university town of Santa Maria. The lead singer of a country band onstage had lit a flare as part of a pyrotechnics show, sparking the blaze.

Investigators said the burning foam released cyanide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide that quickly killed. Dozens of bodies were piled in twisted knots inside the club as hundreds stampeded through darkness, trying to reach a single row of four doors that served as both entry and exit. Aside from the dead, 630 people were injured, and about 90 of them still face grave health problems from smoke inhalation.

A day after the fire, President Dilma Rousseff presided over a previously scheduled meeting of new mayors from across Brazil, where she told them about the “indescribable pain” she witnessed upon visiting with victims’ families just hours after the blaze.

“I speak of that pain to remind all of us with executive powers of the responsibilities we have toward our population,” Rousseff said. “In the face of this tragedy, we have the duty to make the commitment, to ensure that this will never happen again.”

Those promises came to nothing, said Rodrigo Tavares, a private engineer and fire-safety consultant in Brazil.

“At first, we had this national uproar and many plans to make changes,” Tavares said. “However, in practical terms, the situation of security and fire protection remains the same.”

Monday 27 January 2014

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/27/brazil_no_safer_a_year_after_deadly_club_fire/

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Lac-Mégantic and L’Îsle-Verte: contrasts and similarities


Major disasters that have struck at the heart of two small Quebec communities in the space of about seven months have some striking similarities.

There are also some equally glaring differences.

Lac-Mégantic and L'Îsle-Verte will be forever remembered as unsuspecting communities left reeling after devastating tragedies that have generated debate on different safety issues.

Last summer's train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, near the U.S. border, killed 47 people and triggered a heated discussion on rail safety and the transportation of dangerous materials.

The official death toll, as of Sunday, in the fire at the Résidence du Havre in L'Îsle-Verte stood at 10, although another 22 people are missing and presumed dead.

The blaze has sparked debate on the issue of sprinklers in seniors' residences after it was revealed that only part of the facility was equipped with them.

There is also a common theme in the way information has been provided in the aftermath of the respective disasters.

In both cases, authorities have tended to hold two or three daily media briefings to update the number of fatalities and those missing and to reveal the identities of the deceased.

Even some of the people providing those details are the same.

Lieutenant Guy Lapointe of Quebec provincial police was a constant figure in Lac-Mégantic and has resumed that role in L'Îsle-Verte, skilfully answering questions in French and English and urging reporters not to get too carried away with various theories.

Then there's Geneviève Guilbault, an official with the coroner's office whose duties include officially releasing the names of the deceased. She became a daily staple in Lac-Mégantic and seems likely to be just as prominent in L'Îsle-Verte.

Another player in both communities has been provincial police Lieutenant Michel Brunet, who spelled Lapointe on news-conference duty in Lac-Mégantic and surfaced again on Saturday.

Asked about the two events, Brunet mentioned one of the most obvious differences — the weather.

"In Lac-Mégantic, the bodies were completely burned and that was in the summer time and the weather was approximately 40 degrees," he said Saturday.

"And here (in L'Îsle-Verte), with the wind factor, it's minus 40."

Another difference is the geographical area affected.

A large swath of downtown Lac-Mégantic was wiped out after the explosions that followed the train derailment. Rebuilding will likely take years.

In contrast, the destruction in L'Îsle-Verte was generally contained to in and around the location of the seniors' residence.

"It's a lot smaller," Brunet said. "That's the difference — and the number of people who died."

Brunet had been a police officer for 36 years before Lac-Mégantic and said it was the worst scene he, law-enforcement colleagues and firefighters had ever seen.

"We weren't expecting another one like this, but seven months later we are here and again many people died in a scene a little bit like Mégantic.

"It's something we don't like to see."

Monday 27 January 2014

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4335915-lac-m-gantic-and-l-sle-verte-contrasts-and-similarities/

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Andaman ferry tragedy: one still missing, all bodies identified


One person was still missing after a tourist boat capsized in the Bay of Bengal off Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Sunday.

All the bodies have been identified and sent back to Chennai and other places where the victims hailed from, sources said.

There were no life jackets and divers on board the ill-fated boat that capsized in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Union Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday said.

Eyewitnesses to the boat tragedy also claimed that there was a blast before the boat capsized and that there was an hour’s delay before the marine rescue team could reach the spot.

“The boat capsized and they (tourists) died. In fact I came to know from reports that there were no life jackets in the boat and no divers to rescue the people. There was no guard in the boat,” the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office said, terming the incident as “sad” and “unfortunate“.

He also demanded a thorough inquiry into the tragedy.

Twenty-one persons died and 29 were rescued in the boat tragedy.

Of the dead, three hailed from Maharashtra, 16 from Tamil Nadu and one each from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

The survivors included seven from Maharashtra, 15 from Tamil Nadu, two from New Delhi, one each from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and three from the Andaman Islands.

Monday 27 January 2014

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/three-detained-in-connection-with-andaman-ferry-tragedy/article5622485.ece

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Canadian fire bodies search resumes


Crews have resumed searching for the remains of 22 people presumed killed in a fire at a Quebec retirement home after temporarily suspending their activities due to the frigid temperatures and swirling snow.

Officials so far have confirmed 10 dead from the massive fire.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois cut short a trip to Europe to visit the town of L'Isle-Verte on Sunday, where she met with the mayor and went to the scene of Thursday's fire at the Residence du Havre.

The premier told a news conference that everything is being done to provide support for those who survived the fire and to give closure to those still awaiting word on their loved ones.

She called the blaze 'unacceptable' and said the provincial government is prepared to bring about any changes that are necessary to increase safety in senior residences.

'First of all, we will wait for the inquiry because now, we don't have the results of this evaluation and examination,' Marois said.

'After that, we will see if there are some new rules to adopt.'

Marois said a working committee has been in place for one year studying a number of issues, including whether mandatory sprinklers are necessary in these types of buildings.

Quebec's Department of Social Services said the Residence du Havre was up to code and had a proper evacuation plan.

A Quebec Health Department document indicates the home, which has operated since 1997, had only a partial sprinkler system.

The home expanded around 2002, and the sprinklers in the new part of the building triggered the alarm.

'If they recommend to us to change the rules, to change the laws and implement (mandatory) sprinklers, we will do that,' Marois said.

The cause of Thursday's blaze remains under investigation. There were media reports that the fire began in the room of a resident who was smoking a cigarette, but police said Saturday that was just one possibility among many.

'It could be a cigarette, it could be a small heater, it could be an electrical problem,' Police Lt Michel Brunet said at a news conference.

'We have to be sure at 100 per cent.'

'We're going to take the time we need.'

Harsh weather conditions continued to hamper the search with Quebec Provincial Police spokeswoman Ann Mathieu saying poor visibility, blowing snow and frigid conditions forced authorities to temporarily suspend searches early Sunday.

Quebec police said later Sunday that they were gradually resuming the search for more victims, a day after the remains of only two more people were pulled from the rubble.

On Saturday, search teams brought in equipment normally used to de-ice ships that pushes out very hot air to melt down ice that police said is as thick as 60 centimetres in certain places.

'You can imagine how difficult it is to go through the ice, melt it, and do it in a way that we preserve the integrity of potential victims,' Quebec Police Lt Guy Lapointe said Saturday.

A total of 10 bodies have been recovered as of midday Sunday. Quebec Provincial Police lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 22 based on more detailed information.

'I think we can all agree here today that the ... people who are still missing, I think we can assume the worst,' Lapointe said.

Monday 27 January 2014

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=945216

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Sunday 26 January 2014

21 killed as tourist boat sinks in India


A boat carrying local tourists capsized Sunday in India's Andaman Sea in the Bay of Bengal, killing 21 people, officials said.

The boat was carrying 43 people when it sank between Ross Island and North Bay near Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Some 13 survivors were pulled from the water after a search and rescue operation was launched.

Rescuers were looking for another 11 people believed to be missing, she said.

The boat sank off the eastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and police official Shahji said the tourists were all Indians.

Initial reports said the ferry developed a crack in the hull and sank, according to Shahji, who uses one name. Authorities ordered an inquiry.

Accidents are common in India as many ferries are poorly built and often overcrowded, with little regard for safety regulations.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are more than 600 miles (1,000km) from the Indian mainland and are flanked by the Andaman Sea to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west.

Saturday 26 January 2014

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/21-die-tourist-boat-sinks-india-21996794

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Mumbai: In anonymity even after death


Every third person dying on railway tracks in city is unidentified.

Nearly one third of the people dying on railway premises in the city remain unidentified, according to statistics provided the government railway police. In 2013, the GRP disposed of bodies of 1,119 of the 3,506 people who died in areas under their jurisdiction.

Considering that nearly 75 lakh commuters use the suburban network daily, the figures are a grim reminder of the number of people living in Mumbai without an identity. While most of them take up low-wage jobs, which provide little or no security, many end up being beggars and junkies.

The latest data shows that Kalyan, Kurla, CST, Borivli and Thane registered the highest number of unclaimed bodies last year. While 156 unclaimed bodies were found in Kalyan, there were 101 people who remained anonymous even after death at CST.

Mumbai, the city of opportunities, attracts thousands of migrants from various parts of the country every year. Struggling to find a roof over the head, most of these newcomers settle in slum pockets and far-flung areas, before becoming users of Mumbai's rail network.

From time to time, media and the police have been exposing how these migrants take up the jobs of security guards and labourers at construction sites without their credentials being examined.

The situation may also pose a problem on security front, say cops.

“When we come across the body of a body of an unidentified person, we take a photograph of the deceased, and along with his/her description, circulate it to all police stations, control rooms across the state. We also telecast it via Doordarshan and publish it in newspapers to trace the person's relatives,” said an officer of Mumbai Railway Police.

The officer added that while they wait for a claimant to turn up, the body is kept in the morgue of a government-run hospital for eight days. If it remains unclaimed for long, railway cops dispose of it. Saying it is always challenge to trace the relatives of a beggar or a drug addict, Rajendra Pal, inspector at Mumbai Railway Police Headquarters said, “Thanks to railway police's sincere efforts, the number of unclaimed bodies has dropped from 1,392 in 2008 to 1,119 in 2013.”

He said that the Mumbai GRP commissioner Prabhat Kumar launched a website http://shodh.gov.in in June 2012 to help people trace the identity of victims found on railway tracks.

The public can do a search on missing people by giving their physical description on the website.

Sunday 26 January 2014

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mumbai-in-anonymity-even-after-death-1957239

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Quebec fire crews find more bodies, many still missing


Crews recovered two more bodies on the third day of search efforts at a retirement home in Quebec that was destroyed by fire.

Ten people are confirmed dead after Thursday’s blaze in L’Isle Verte, north-east of Canada’s Quebec City. Twenty-two are missing.

Search teams brought in new equipment – designed mainly for de-icing ships – as temperatures hovered around -10C (14F).

Police are examining the theory the fire was started by a cigarette.

However, spokesman Lt Guy Lapointe told a news conference on Saturday that it was one possibility among many.

The ruins of the Residence du Havre have collapsed and are frozen over with a thick layer of ice from fire hoses.

“The conditions are very, very difficult,” Lt Guy said on Saturday. “Our people are exhausted.”

He said the ice was as thick as 60cm (2ft) in places.

About 20 elderly residents survived the fire, officials say.

The Red Cross said it had raised about 200,000 Canadian dollars/$US180,000 to provide them with clothes, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and other urgent supplies.

Police said the process of clearing the ice would continue into Saturday night and the search efforts would resume on Sunday.

Sunday 26 January 2014

http://www.updatednews.ca/2014/01/26/quebec-fire-crews-find-more-bodies-many-still-missing/

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Saturday 25 January 2014

Many dead in DR Congo blast caused by lightning


An explosion at an arms depot in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 20 people, UN officials say.

The explosion happened on Friday after a bolt of lightning caused a fire at an army base in the city of Mbuji-Mayi.

More than 50 people were also injured and houses were destroyed, said the statement by the Monusco UN mission.

The aim of the Monusco is to neutralise armed groups in DR Congo, which is struggling to recover from a war that killed millions between 1998 and 2003.

Friday's blast, which occurred near the main market in Mbuji-Mayi, caused "desolation" in the central city, according to Monusco.

"I have instructed our office in Mbuji-Mayi to stand by and support local authorities in dealing with the situation," said Martin Kobler, head of the peacekeeping mission.

Mbuji-Mayi is DR Congo's third-largest city and is at the heart of the county's diamond mining industry.

DR Congo has massive mineral resources but most of its people live in poverty.

Saturday 26 January 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25900120

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4 Russian Coast Guard officers die, 6 missing in boat wreck


As many as 10 people drowned after a Russian border patrol vessel capsized off the coast of Kunashir, a Russia—controlled island north of Japan, officials confirmed on Saturday.

Russian officials say that four Coast Guard officers died and six others are missing after their boat overturned in rough seas near Japan.

The 10 passengers, among them members of Russia’s Federal Security Service — responsible for the country’s border control — and several maritime experts, were on their way to a larger ship off the coast of Japan when a wave caused the vessel to capsize.

The Investigative Committee, the nation's main investigative agency, said the incident happened Saturday when a group of Coast Guard officers went to inspect a fishing vessel detained in the Yuzhno-Kurilskaya Bay off Kunashir Island on allegations of poaching in Russia's territorial waters.

Officials say the Coast Guard boat overturned in stormy weather. Rescuers have found the bodies of four victims, and a search was underway for the missing.

The remaining six passengers are very unlikely to have survived the icy water temperatures, officials said.

Kunashir, just off the northeastern tip of Japan's Hokkaido Island, is one of the four islands controlled by Russia since WW II but claimed by Japan.

Saturday 25 January 2014

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-coast-guards-die-boat-wreck-21788199

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/ten-drown-in-russian-border-patrol-boat-capsize/article5617579.ece

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3 bodies a day still being found in Tacloban


More than two months after a super typhoon devastated Tacloban City, authorities continued to find an average of three bodies a day, Mayor Alfred Romualdez said on Thursday.

After earlier tangling over the government’s handling of Super Typhoon Yolanda’s aftermath, Romualdez shook hands with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas at the hearing on the law creating the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

As the government moved to carry out a massive rehabilitation plan, Romualdez said that city officials continued to retrieve bodies and ferry them to the National Bureau of Investigation for processing.

“In Tacloban, we’re retrieving an average of three bodies a day,” he told the oversight committee chaired by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon.

In the city of 250,000, there were 2,000 fatalities and 700 missing, he said.

Romualdez, however, said he was puzzled why Tacloban appeared to be the only local government unit that was bringing bodies to the NBI for DNA processing for the sake of their loved ones.

Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), packing sustained winds of 315 kilometers per hour, tore through Eastern Visayas last Nov. 8, leveling mostly seaside villages and leaving more than 6,000 dead.

Moving forward, Romualdez proposed that the government build disaster-proof NDRRMC headquarters in every region.

He said he pitied Roxas and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin because they had to move from City Hall whose roof had been blown away and seek shelter in a police station in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

“We should have NDRRMC headquarters in every region that is storm-proof,” he said.

No sparks flew between Romualdez and Roxas in their face-off at the hearing in the Senate and a news conference later. “Yes,” Romualdez said when asked if all was well between them.

In the hearing, Roxas clarified that the letter he demanded from Romualdez had to do with the city council’s failure to muster quorum to impose curfew.

Roxas said that when incidents of looting became widespread after the storm, policemen raised the concern of whether they could impose curfew without a city ordinance.

When he raised the matter with Romualdez, the mayor said the city council could not muster a quorum to pass the ordinance imposing the curfew.

“When they said they could not muster a quorum, I said let’s put in writing so that the police will have something in black and white, and avoid being charged in case they arrested people,” he said.

Roxas also clarified that he did not tell Tacloban city officials that they should fend for themselves.

“The help from the national government arrived nonstop not only for Tacloban, but for the entire Leyte and Samar provinces, and other areas ravaged by Yolanda,” he said.

Emergency measures

Roxas also confirmed telling Romualdez to be “careful” but in the sense that if an LGU stopped functioning, the President’s “residual general welfare powers and authorities” would come into play.

“The President didn’t want this to be misconstrued,” he said.

In earlier hearing, Romualdez said the national government sought the immediate passage of an ordinance imposing a city-wide curfew to check looting.

He expressed reservations because the prosecutor’s office and courts were still closed to entertain any violator who would post bail. He said checkpoints were effective.

Days later, Roxas called city officials to a meeting, and told Romualdez: “We have to legalize everything here.” “I asked him: What is to legalize here?” the mayor said. “He replied: Well, this is a gray area and the national government is coming in, and doing all this.”

“And then I told him: ‘Why is it illegal? As far as I know the President is the President of the Philippines and he’s also the President of Tacloban City. I don’t see anywhere in the law that you need a letter, an ordinance from me for you to come in, and do what you’re doing,’” he said then.

He recalled Roxas as telling him: “You have to be very careful because you are a Romualdez, and the President is an Aquino.” Who’s in charge?

On Thursday, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who temporarily presided over the hearing, advised Roxas to be flexible when it came to determining who should be in charge in a disaster-stricken locality.

“Perhaps you should study the possibility of being more flexible. We should not be saying, ‘You’re the first responder, you back them up’… If the police, military are there, and a problem crops up like looting, then they should come in. We keep hearing first responders not being able to respond,” Marcos said.

The senator said the standard operating procedure should be amended so that people or agencies that are capable should be the first to respond to disasters.

Romualdez had lamented that while Roxas and Gazmin were in the city when the storm struck, the police and military were not mobilized soon enough to maintain law and order.

Roxas explained that the augmentation of 1,260 policemen took time because they had to be airlifted and then brought to the disaster areas by land.

“I don’t’ want to leave the impression that bureaucracy prevailed here,” he said. “Whoever responded, responded.” In the first days, Roxas said they used bicycles to scour the areas, and admitted they had no satellite phones.

“There was no load, eh,” he chuckled. Then turning serious, he said it was “an oversight on our part.”

Saturday 25 January 2014

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/568561/3-bodies-a-day-still-being-found-in-tacloban

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11 killed, four injured as jeep plunges into ravine in Chitral


At least 11 people were killed and four others injured when a Chitral-bound jeep fell into a ravine in the Marwai area of the district here on Saturday.

According to District Police Officer (DPO), Ghulam Hussain, the ill-fated passenger jeep was en route to Chitral from Shogram when it fell into a deep ravine at Marwai due to the dilapidated condition of the road and over-speeding. Subsequently, 11 people were killed whereas four others sustained injuries.

On receiving information, local police and volunteers rushed to the scene and retrieved the bodies and injured after hectic efforts.

The bodies and injured persons were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Chitral.

Three of the deceased persons were identified.

Rescue work was underway.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

Saturday 25 January 2014

http://www.dawn.com/news/1082605/11-killed-four-injured-as-jeep-plunges-into-ravine-in-chitral

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Rumors about zeolite miracles spark after Fukushima disaster


Rumors that zeolites allegedly can work miracles in fighting against radiation do not die off in Russia. Some people are saying fantastic things that, allegedly, zeolites were used to “egest radiation” from dead people’s bodies after the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Some zeolites really can lower the level of radiation of some isotopes – for example, of cesium-137. There even exist several food supplements that contain zeolites and – at least, theoretically – eliminate the consequences of radiation.

15 years have already passed since the day when I, for the first time, ascended a cathedra in the Moscow Institute of Physics and Engineering and addressed the students, “Hi, I am reading the course called “Radioactive technologies”.”

Much has changed within these 15 years. Some of the technologies that seemed to be progressive at that time are now viewed as anachronistic, if not useless or even harmful. However, the interest in how to save oneself from radiation is not weakening in Russia.

This interest may look strange if we take into account the fact that in reality, for a resident of Russia, a chance of being exposed to radiation is next to impossible. The interest of Russians in physics may probably be explained as an echo of disputes between “physicists” and “lyrists” of the 1960s that has not yet fully died off till now.

However, once, the Soviet Union did experience a serious radiation catastrophe, when an explosion took place at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986. This catastrophe made many Russians fear radiation, and this fear has not totally died till now.

This fear is making many Russians be interested in medicines that may limit the consequences of radiation – although many people who are afraid of radiation probably do not fully understand what consequences radiation may have and how medicines may save from these consequences. This lack of knowledge brings to life many legends about some wonder-working medicines.

To say the truth, in my opinion, the best means against the consequences of radiation is… dry red wine. Wine spirits egest free radicals, that form in a human’s organism as a result of radiation, very well. Besides, red wine in small amounts is healthy for the organism. However, people are not always satisfied with simple solutions.

There is a natural substance called zeolite. Its crystalline structure has a strong chemical activity. Various types of zeolite are often used as catalytic agents – for example, in chemical industry. Some zeolites really can lower the level of radiation of some isotopes – for example, of cesium-137. There even exist several food supplements that contain zeolites and – at least, theoretically – eliminate the consequences of radiation.

There were plans to drop bags with zeolites from planes in the region of the Fukushima accident. However, from all appearances, it looks like those plans were later rejected, because some more effective ways of fighting against radiation were found.

However, rumors that zeolites allegedly can work miracles in fighting against radiation do not die off in Russia. Some people are saying fantastic things that, allegedly, zeolites were used to “egest radiation” from dead people’s bodies after the Chernobyl catastrophe.

As an expert in physics, I should say that people who spread these rumors seem not to know or to understand that “egesting radiation” from any object has any sense only if this object emits radiation in dangerous amounts.

However, even in such a case, it would be more effective not to “egest radiation” from this object but to cover the object with a radiation-proof shell.

Besides, it would be wrong to say that many people were killed or died immediately after the Chernobyl catastrophe. In fact, within the first three months after the catastrophe, only 31 people died as a result of it.

The majority of the Chernobyl catastrophe’s victims died much later because of diseases developed as a result of the radiation. As for the Fukushima catastrophe, as far as I know, nobody has died yet as a result of it.

True, zeolite was really used in liquidating the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, and there is data that proves it effectiveness. However, what all these rumors are saying about zeolite’s miracle-working properties is undoubtedly an exaggeration.

In reality, zeolite is effective against radiation – but not much more effective than any other similar substance. However, there is one more aspect that should be mentioned.

If the rumors about the miraculous properties of zeolite were spread by common people who know little about physics, this would have been only half the trouble. However, the trouble is that these rumors are being spread by producers and sellers of zeolite, who have one aim – to earn more money.

Saturday 25 January 2014

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_01_25/Rumors-about-zeolite-miracles-spark-after-Fukushima-disaster-9720/

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Mudslide sweeps through Argentina


A mudslide that swept through parts of northwestern Argentina has killed three people and left eight others missing, authorities said today.

It happened last night in the Catamarca region, nearly 1200 kilometres from Buenos Aires, when heavy rains triggered a landslide and caused a river to burst its banks.

The soil and water rushed through the villages of El Rodeo and Sijan.

The slide pushed huge boulders into roads, vehicles and houses.

The governor of Catamarca Lucia Corpacci told local media that rescue crews have found three bodies and eight people have been reported missing.

Corpacci said she expects the death roll to rise.

Authorities evacuated about 600 people from their homes.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez ordered her government to assist with local rescue and reconstruction efforts.

Saturday 25 January 2014

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/deadly-mudslide-sweeps-through-argentina-5807752

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8 confirmed dead in Quebec fire, about 30 missing as rescuers battle through ice in search for bodies


The painstaking search through the iced-over remains of a burned-out Quebec retirement home resumes Saturday morning, with friends and relatives of some 30 missing people awaiting word. Eight people have been confirmed dead.

As crews used steam Friday to melt thick sheets of ice coating the rubble, Marc-Henri Saindon waited for his mother's body to be recovered. Marie-Jeanne Gagnon, five months shy of her 100th birthday, had just moved to the home on New Year's Eve, her son said.

"She really liked it there. She was well treated and she had friends there. Her neighbor of many years was living at the residence," Saindon said. "Lucid. A memory that was still really good."

The cause of the massive blaze that swept through the three-story building early Thursday was under investigation, and police asked the public for any videos or photos that might yield clues.

Search teams of police, firefighters and coroners slowly and methodically picked their way through, working in shifts in the extreme cold about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Quebec City. The afternoon temperature was around 3 degrees F (minus 16 Celsius.)

The confirmed number of dead climbed to eight with the discovery of three more bodies.

Quebec Provincial Police Lt. Guy Lapointe said exhausted investigators would suspend the search overnight and resume Saturday morning. He said authorities decided to give the search crew a break from the brutal cold and the difficult work.

The work is specialized, and there is a limited number of people who can be assigned to the task, he said.



"The decision was taken that it was better for the safety, for the well-being of our crew, to let them rest," Lapointe said. "Meanwhile, we're looking at bringing in more equipment for the steam."

The spray from firefighters' hoses left the senior citizens home resembling a macabre snow palace, the ruins encased in thick white ice dripping with icicles.

The tragedy cast such a pall over the village of 1,500 that psychologists were sent door to door.

"It's absolute desolation," Mayor Ursule Theriault said.

Witnesses told horrific tales of people trapped and killed by the flames. Many of the 50 or so residents were over 85 and used wheelchairs or walkers. Some had Alzheimer's.

Pascal Fillion, who lives nearby, said he saw someone use a ladder to try to rescue a man cornered on his third-floor balcony. The man was crying out for help before he fell to the ground, engulfed in flames, Fillion said.

Agnes Fraser's 82-year-old brother, Claude, was among the missing. She said she knew she would never see him again because he lived in the section of the building destroyed by the flames.



Quebec Minister of Social Services Veronique Hivon said many of the village's volunteer firefighters had relatives at the retirement home.

"People are in a state of shock," she said. "We want them to know the services are there by going door to door. It's an important building that's a part of their community that just disappeared."

Hivon said the home was up to code and had a proper evacuation plan. A Quebec Health Department document indicates the home which has operated since 1997, had only a partial sprinkler system. The home expanded around 2002, and the sprinklers in the new part of the building triggered the alarm.

Roch Bernier and Irene Plante, the owners of the home, said in a statement that they are cooperating with authorities and offered their condolences to the victims' families.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois, in Switzerland this week for a world economic summit, said she will cut her trip short by 24 hours to return home and visit L'Isle-Verte on Sunday, when a religious service is planned in the village.

The fire came six months after 47 people were killed in the small town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying oil derailed and exploded.

In 1969, a nursing home fire in the community of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec, claimed 54 lives.

Rescuers battle through ice

Canadian police and firefighters have been forced to use steam machines to melt thick ice encasing the bodies of elderly people who died in a fire at a retirement home.

Police said eight people died and about 30 were unaccounted for after the blaze ripped through the Residence du Havre in the small community of L'Isle-Verte, about 230 km (140 miles) northeast of Quebec City, early on Thursday morning.



Teams of police, firefighters and coroner's office officials – dealing with conditions so cold they could only work 45-minute shifts – used steam machines to melt thick ice that had formed after the blaze was doused.

Police spokesman Guy Lapointe said the teams planned to take a break at 7pmEST (midnight GMT) and would resume early on Saturday morning.

"Our people are exhausted ... the conditions are very, very difficult," he told a televised briefing, saying police might bring in more equipment. Temperatures in the area hovered around -4F (-20C).



Police said the number thought to be missing might not all be casualties, as it was still unclear how many of the home's residents were in the building when the fire started.

Saturday 25 January 2014

http://www.ctpost.com/news/world/article/8-confirmed-dead-in-Quebec-fire-30-missing-5171497.php

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/25/rescuers-battle-ice-elderly-missing-quebec-fire

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Wednesday 22 January 2014

Two migrants die, 12 missing under tow in Greece


The UN has called for an inquiry after a boat carrying migrants capsized while being towed by a Greek coastguard vessel, leaving up to twelve dead.

Two bodies were found but a further 10 people were missing after the incident near the island of Farmakonisi on Monday. Sixteen people were rescued.

The coastguard says it judged it safer to keep migrants on their own boat than to take them aboard in bad weather.

Greek officials say panicking migrants caused the boat to capsize themselves.

According to reports, two migrants fell or dived overboard and others rushed to one side of the boat to rescue them, causing the boat to tip.

The deaths of a woman and a child have been confirmed.

One non-government organisation, Pro Asyl, accused the Greek authorities of trying illegally to prevent the migrants, believed to be 26 Afghans and two Syrians, landing in Greece.

"It is highly likely that this action by the Greek coastguard was an illegal push-back operation rather than a rescue at sea," said Karl Kopp, the NGO's director of European affairs.

Another NGO, Ecre, said: "Survivors tell that they were crying out for help, given that a large number of children and babies were on board."

Greece is one of the main destinations for clandestine migrants and refugees seeking to enter the EU, through its land or sea borders.

Correspondents say there has been a sharp increase in sea-borne refugee traffic over the past year because of stricter controls on the Greek-Turkish land border to the north and the ongoing war in Syria.

'More bodies'

In a statement on Tuesday, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was "dismayed" at the events off Farmakonisi.

It quoted survivors on the island of Leros as saying the Greek coastguard had tried to tow the boat towards the Turkish coast at high speed when it capsized.

"UNHCR is urging the authorities to investigate this incident and how lives were lost on a boat that was under tow," said Laurens Jolles, its southern Europe regional representative.

"In addition survivors need to be quickly moved to the mainland so that their needs can be better looked after."

Responding to the UN on Wednesday, the Greek coastguard insisted it had been trying to tow the boat, which had broken down, to Farmakonisi - and not to Turkey - after receiving a distress signal.

It put out a fire on the stricken boat and rescued 16 people from the water, it said.

Following the disaster, a Greek helicopter searched the area, which is near the Turkish coast, for survivors.

According to a report in Greek newspaper Kathimerini, two more bodies have been found by the Turkish authorities - those of an 11-year-old child and a 38-year-old woman.

There have been persistent reports of Greek officials forcing migrants back into Turkish waters.

Pro Asyl and Ecre called for an "independent and effective investigation of the circumstances that caused such loss of life".

"The NGOs reiterate that push-backs are illegal, endanger people's lives and have to end immediately," they said in a press release.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25843559

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2 dead, at least 12 missing after Indonesia bridge collapse


At least two people died and many were missing after a bridge collapsed in Serang on Tuesday afternoon as dozens of people, many of them children, were watching the high water level in the Cibanten River.

“We’re still searching [for victims],” head of the Banten Disaster and Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Ino Rawita said on Tuesday, as quoted by state run Antara news agency.

Scores of people were watching the river, which was experiencing high water levels as the rainy season continued to peak, when one of the supports broke and the bridge collapsed. National Disaster and Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho identified the two dead children as Firdaus, 14 and Rahman, 9.

Around 30 people were rescued. It was not clear on Wednesday how many people may had been killed.

“We’re trying to get the exact data on the number of missing people, because at the moment it’s not clear,” Ino said.

Sutopo said 12 people were still missing, although this figure could well change, and that the search would be resumed on Wednesday.

Banten Legislative Council (DPRD Banten) member Ayib Najib said the DPRD had told both the Serang and Banten governments to build a permanent bridge in place of the suspension structure, but that the request had fallen on deaf ears.

Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at the end of 2013 and has been charged by the anti-graft authority with appropriating the provincial budget for her own ends.

“Almost every recess, I told the government about it,” Ayib said. “As for us, it is not a problem who builds the bridge, whether it is the Banten or Serang government. But none of them responded.

“Why is it so difficult to build this kind of facility for residents?” he said. “I know that Banten government can afford the bridge, but they don’t care.”

Wednesday 22 January 2014

http://www.irrawaddy.org/latest-news/2-dead-16-missing-indonesia-bridge-collapse.html

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Tuesday 21 January 2014

Plane crash victims to be buried in Namibia


Some families of the 33 victims who died in Mozambique Airlines Flight TM 470 that crashed in Kavango-East in November last year have opted to have the remains buried in Namibia.

That was one of the options given to the families by the Namibian government after the National Forensic Science Institute (NFSI) had identified the remains.

On Friday, the NFSI, through Namibian Police Major-General James Tjivikua, announced at a press briefing that they have managed to positively identify the remains of 16 of the 33 crash victims.

Tjivikua said the families of nine of the victims identified so far have asked for the remains to be repatriated.

NFSI Director Dr Paul Ludik said the victims’ families were given the option to have the partial or full remains sent back to their countries of origin for burial.

The remains of five victims have been repatriated for burial.

Ludik would not make public their names, age, sex or nationality, saying only their families and governments could do so.

“In some instances the bodies have been handed over, and in some instances the families have preferred not to have them back. These families will now guide us as to how and when they will be ready to receive the remains,” said Ludik.

He said the 42-member forensic team, which included foreign experts doing DNA analysis to identify the crash victims, has been reduced.

Ludik said the process of identification is likely to be completed only after all reference samples given by relatives are compared with the body parts collected at the crash site.

“Considering all factors involved, we anticipate we are in the final stages of the overall process,” Ludik said.

Tjivikua added that the wreckage recovery teams, including the airline-appointed Kenyon insurance, surveyed the crash site on January 16. The teams will now draft a plan to remove the wreckage by next month.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

http://sun.com.na/accidents/crash-victims-be-buried-in-namibia.61573

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21 missing in Omaha plant fire


Firefighters are searching an accident site at a Nebraska industrial plant for bodies, the interim Omaha fire chief said Monday.

Bernard Kanger said there were 17 survivors and some deaths at the plant after a fire and partial building collapse.

"There are fatalities, we're not going to release the number of those fatalities at this time simply because we have not had the opportunity to clear the entire structure," Kranger said.

There were 38 people in the building at the time of the incident, Kanger said, but it was unclear how many of the missing had died because emergency workers were still going through the building looking for bodies.

"I just heard a crack pop and big ball of fire, and I just took off running when I heard the first crack," worker Jamar White told CNN affiliate KETV. "That's all I could do was get out of the way and make sure I was OK."

Of the 17 survivors, four were sent to hospitals with critical wounds while six other people had non-life-threatening injuries but were sent for treatment. Seven people at the International Nutrition plant refused treatment, leaving 21 people either dead or unaccounted for, Kranger said.

Another employee told KETV that the ceiling collapsed.

"I heard the explosion and stuff started falling, so I ducked for cover," Nate Lawis said. "It was pitch black in there. All I could see was fire. I had to feel my way out of the place. I couldn't see anything."

At least one firefighter also was injured when he cut his hand.

"Because of the significant collapse and potential risk to our individuals, we had to pull everybody out of the structure and we have to call in specialized teams that can secure and shore up the building in order to allow us to completely clear the structure and declare that we've found all of the individuals that may have been in the building at the time of this incident," Kranger said.

An urban search-and-rescue task force was activated by Nebraska Emergency Management.

The incident happened at a company that produces feed and other products for livestock and poultry about 10 a.m. CT.

Rescuers first had to to shore up the building to make it safe to begin their search, Kanger said.

Tuesday 21 Jsnuary 2014

http://www.kpax.com/news/21-missing-or-dead-in-omaha-plant-fire/

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