Wednesday 30 July 2014

Guinea concert stampede kills 24


At least 24 people have died in a stampede at a beach concert in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The president's office has declared a week of national mourning after what it called a "tragic drama" at a concert by the Guinean rap group Instinct Killers.

Dozens of people were injured, said police sources quoted by AFP.

The concert took place on Tuesday evening on a beach in Ratoma, a northern suburb of Conakry.

The authorities were "shocked by the tragic drama caused by mass movements at a cultural event," said a statement from the president's office.

Hospital sources said there were 13 girls among the dead.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28558081

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Boat capsize in padma: 12 missing victims


Rescuers have failed to locate the bodies of 12 people who went missing in a boat capsize in Padma river in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia yesterday.

The missing people include five chilrden, reports our Kushtia correspondent.

“Among the 12 missing people, nobody was recovered till 10:30am,” Syed Belal Hossain, deputy commissioner of Kushtia told journalists on the spot.

The boat sank near a shoal that emerged recently into the middle of the river from Bairagir Char to celebrate Eid day around 3:15pm, said Ashraful Islam Sentu, boatman of the capsized boat.

Hearing hue and cry, locals rushed to the spot and rescued eight people so far while the rest were missing.

Later the divers from Khulna rushed to the spot to rescue the missing 11 people.

The five-member diver team started to search them around 9:30pm in the river near Bairagir Char where the boat capsized.

Local administration, Fire Service and Civil Defence and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Kushtia sectors are giving the logistic support to the rescue team.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

http://www.thedailystar.net/no-whereabouts-of-12-missing-victims-35235

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At least 20 migrants dead, dozens missing in shipwreck off Libya


More than 20 migrants have died and dozens are missing after their makeshift boat sank off the Libyan coast, the navy has said.

"A navy patrol on Monday rescued 22 clandestine migrants who were clinging to debris from their boat," spokesman Colonel Ayoub Kassem told AFP yesterday, adding that more than 20 bodies were retrieved from the water.

Survivors said some 150 people had been aboard the vessel, which sank some 100 kilometres east of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Search operations for other possible survivors continued today.

The migrants from south of the Sahara desert had sought to reach the Italian coast or nearby Malta after crossing restive and lawless Libya.

Hundreds of would-be immigrants die in the process every year, while others are detained by Italian police once they reach the southern EU member-state's territorial waters or the islands of Sicily or Lampedusa.

This year nearly 80,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far, many more than the 2011 record of a total of 63,000, according to authorities in Rome.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/At-Least-20-Dead-Dozens-Missing-in-Shipwreck-Off-Libya/852173

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Monday 28 July 2014

Costa Concordia: Divers begin search for missing Indian waiter


The search is on for the missing body of an Indian waiter who died while helping passengers escape from a sinking cruise liner near an Italian island in January 2012.

Russell Rebello, 33, had been ushering passengers off the doomed Costa Concordia and never made it off the ship alive.

Thirty-two people died after the Costa Concordia capsized and sank after smashing into rocks off the Italian island of Giglio on the night of Jan. 13, 2012. Two-and-a-half years since the disaster, all of the bodies have been recovered except Rebello’s.

The wrecked vessel pulled into the Italian port of Genoa on July 27 to be scrapped after a four-day journey from the disaster site, according to the Times of India.

The top priority of officials will be to begin the search for Rebello’s body, which may have been trapped in a previously inaccessible part of the ship.

Investigators are hopeful of finding his remains as the ship salvage operation has now begun in full force, added the report.

The Concordia was one of the most luxurious cruise ships to sail the ocean and had many restaurants, bars, a spa and a casino onboard. At 290 meters, it was longer than the Titanic.

Divers are now beginning the search for Rebello’s remains, which have become entombed in the ship.

According to the Daily Mail, Rebello was last seen ushering passengers to safety in rescue boats.

The ship had 4,229 passengers and crew from 70 countries, many of whom jumped into the sea as lifeboat pulleys failed.

Monday 28 July 2014

http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/divers-begin-search-for-missing-indian-waiter/article_ddcb0110-1685-11e4-8b31-0019bb2963f4.html

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Air Algérie crash bodies to be brought to France


All the bodies of passengers on Air Algérie flight AH5017 are to be brought to France, President François Hollande announced after meeting families of the 54 French victims on Saturday. Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré met families of Burkinabé families in Ouagadougou.

Flags throughout France will be at half-mast for three days starting Monday in a gesture of mourning for those killed when the plane crashed near Gossi in northern Mali shortly after leaving Ouagadougou for Algiers.

"As soon as possible all the bodies will be brought to France," Hollande said. "I mean all the bodies of passengers on this flight."

The families are owed solidarity, compassion and support but also the truth, the president said as French and UN investigators started examining the site of the accident.

Families in Ouagadougou told RFI they wanted to bury their loved ones.

"Each family that you see in this room desperately hopes to have the remains of their relatives to begin to mourn them," Traoré Alima said.

But that might be difficult, according to Burkina Faso General Gilbert Diendéré.

"I don't think we can reconstitute the bodies," he said. "They have been scattered, dispersed ... let's hope we can at least have the ashes."

Representatives of Burkinabé, Lebanese and French families who have visited the site agreed.

"There's not much to see," one of them, Eugène Somda told RFI. "The wreckage of the plane, small pieces, not much to recognise an airplane. Now I know where my brothers. It's pretty hard. We won't to go and find out but can we live with what we've seen. It's going to be very hard."

The rainy season in the region may also add to the investigators' problems in establishing the cause of the crash.

Monday 28 July 2014

http://allafrica.com/stories/201407280481.html

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Fighting blocks MH17 site mission


Australian Federal Police officers were forced last night by fierce fighting to delay their search of the MH17 crash site for the still-missing remains of some of those who died aboard the Malaysia Airlines jet.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said last night the operation was too risky to go ahead, with the Agence France Presse news agency reporting that the fighting was only 1km away from the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

“There is fighting going on. We can’t take the risk,” said ­Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE special mission in Ukraine.

Earlier complex negotiations had cleared a temporary path through the war zone.

Tony Abbott had announced earlier that the unarmed police would be deployed as part of a Dutch-led international human­itarian mission.

The first team of 49 police that was to be sent to the site included 11 Australians, the Prime Minister said.

“I expect there will be considerably more on-site in coming days,’’ he said. “This is a risky mission, no doubt about that.

“But all the professional advice I have is that the safest way to conduct it is unarmed, as part of a police-led humanitarian mission. Our objective is to get in, to get cracking and to get out.”

The Australian government has also sent a group of unarmed defence force personnel to ­Europe to help with logistics and medical care.

Bill Shorten has assured the Prime Minister of Labor’s full support for the Ukraine mission.

Mr Abbott said the agreement to allow the police to carry out the search ordered by the UN had been carefully negotiated ­directly with the Ukrainian government and with the Russia-backed rebels who controlled the site, through the OSCE.

“That is absolutely critical,’’ Mr Abbott said. “Our objective is principally to recover the bodies. Our intention, under the auspic­es of local people, is to take over the site to ensure that recovery of remains can go ahead as swiftly and as ­effectively as possible.”

He said the police would stay as long as necessary to do a professional job, and that should take no longer than two to three weeks. “This is contested ground and we don’t want to be there any longer than is absolutely necessary,” he said. “Frankly, we need to be prepared to take some risks in order to do the right thing by our dead and by their grieving families.”

It is understood that debris from MH17 — believed to have been brought down on July 17 by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile with the loss of 298 lives — is scattered in five major sites covering more than 35sq km. It is about 11km long and fans out to 5km across at its widest point.

AFP Commissioner Tony Negus said there were now 190 AFP members in Europe, with all but 20 in Ukraine. Others were in The Netherlands, helping identify the bodies already flown there. The officers would be sent to the site as required, Mr Negus said.

Mr Abbott said some unarmed Defence personnel were in Europe helping with logistics. It is also believed that some Australian Defence Force medical staff are available as a standard precaution.

In Kiev, it appeared that one issue preventing the immediate full deployment of investigators has been the difficulty of finding the right people to sign off on the foreign presence. The Ukrainian government is in a dysfunctional caretaker state after its parliament was dissolved last week.

It appeared to have sent hundreds of military vehicles south to the outskirts of the eastern city of Donetsk, close to the crash site that is in the hands of the rebels, to prepare for a full-blown assault to blast the Russian-backed separatists out of the area.

Mr Abbott said the goal was to bring back the bodies of those who died, to help investigate what happened and to obtain justice as far as was humanly possible.

He said he had been advised by former ADF chief Angus Houston, who is in Ukraine, that “this is eminently doable’’.

And the Office of National Assessments security agency had told him that, while there were risks, they could be managed.

“This is a police mission. It is not a military mission,” the Prime Minister said.

Speaking to The Australian, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that the security of Australian police in Ukraine was her only priority.

She said the mission to recover the remaining bodies from the Boeing aircraft downed on July 17 had no immediate time limit, although Prime Minister Tony Abbott wanted as quick a resolution as possible.

Ms Bishop said: “We have to remember our objective and our objective is to ensure that we have thoroughly inspected the site for any remains. And experts can tell us whether there is a point beyond which there is no point, but they haven’t told us that, so we will continue to seek to undertake this mission for as long as we have to.”

Ms Bishop has flown to Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, with the Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans to ratify a formal agreement with the Ukrainian government to allow a small contingent of Australians to bear arms to provide protection for the much larger team of international forensic experts.

The Netherlands, Australia and a small team from Malaysia are charged with sweeping the extensive crash site to collect body remains and personal possessions to return to bereaved families.

Monday 28 July 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/mh17/fighting-blocks-afp-mh17-site-mission/story-fno88it0-1227003574323

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Better management of dead and missing migrants needed in Europe


As the number of migrants and asylum seekers reaching southern Europe’s shores this year continues to climb - to about 75,000 at last count - so too does the death toll from attempts to cross the Mediterranean in over-crowded, unseaworthy boats.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that more than 800 migrants have died trying to make the treacherous crossing from North Africa since the beginning of the year.

Last week alone, the bodies of 29 migrants were found in the packed hold of a fishing boat where they are thought to have been overcome by engine fumes. According to survivor accounts, 60 others who tried to escape from the suffocating hold were stabbed and thrown overboard by five fellow passengers. A day earlier, the Italian navy rescued 12 people after their rubber dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya. Another 109 who were on the boat are missing.

An unknown number of other migrants who attempt the journey disappear without a trace, their bodies presumably claimed by the sea, leaving families back home desperate for news of their loved ones that never comes.

Yafet Gibe, an Eritrean refugee living in Sudan, last heard from his wife, Brikti, who was trying to reach Europe with their 20-month-old daughter, over a month ago. She called him from Libya, the departure point for most migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, on 20 June and told him that she would be boarding a boat on 28 June. Both a friend of Gibe’s based in Libya and the smuggler who had charged US$1,600 for the journey from Sudan to Libya and another $1,700 for the Mediterranean crossing, confirmed that Brikti and her child left on the boat as planned.

But Gibe, who had planned to join his wife in Europe with their other child at a later stage, has not heard from her since and he learned that about 250 other migrants and asylum seekers travelling on the same boat have also failed to make contact with their families. The smuggler insists that they are all in an Italian prison, but as the weeks pass with no word from any of them, this seems increasingly unlikely.

“Now I’m in Sudan and there’s no one that can help me,” Gibe told IRIN over the phone from Khartoum. “Some of my friends in Europe have contacted the Red Cross and they’re checking the names of those arriving in Italy, but there’s no news.”

No system for identifying dead migrants

Currently, Europe has no centralized system for identifying the bodies of migrants, who often travel without documentation, nor for informing their families in origin countries. Where there is no dead body available to collect DNA samples and other identifying data, the task of helping families to trace missing relatives is even harder. Now there is mounting pressure from migrant and human rights advocates who argue that migrants’ families have a right to know the fate of missing relatives and European governments should be doing more to help them.

“There’s an inability to grieve when you don’t have closure; entire lives become focused on the return of a loved one and family relations can disintegrate,” said Simon Robins, a researcher with the University of York’s Centre for Applied Human Rights, who recently co-authored a briefing paper on how Europe could better deal with the migrants who die or go missing on its southern frontier.

He and his co-authors argue that “there is a humanitarian imperative and a moral and legal responsibility” to attempt to identify the bodies of dead migrants, inform their relatives and treat their bodies with dignity. However, based on research they conducted on the Greek island of Lesbos, this rarely happens. The researchers found “a gray zone where no authority assumed responsibility” for dealing with the bodies of migrants retrieved by the island’s coast guard. Nor is there any national or EU budget allocated for their burial. The result is that “unidentified migrants are hastily buried in unmarked graves” making it impossible for families to locate their remains.

“Gathering data from bodies is crucial where there is a body, but clearly a significant fraction of bodies are at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and will never be found,” said Robins, adding that there are still ways of reconstructing who was on a boat.

Interviewing shipwreck survivors

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) interviews survivors of shipwrecks and other disasters at sea who are brought to Italian ports in an effort to compile a list of migrants whose bodies were lost or dumped at sea. The list is then passed on to the Italian authorities.

“What happens in practice is that as soon as a new shipwreck is reported, we’re immediately called by the families. We would then put them in touch with someone who was on the boat to determine if their relative was there,” explained Simona Moscarelli, a migration law expert with IOM in Rome. “In some cases, we’ve also accompanied migrants’ relatives to the police so they can report the missing.”

The shipwreck that claimed the lives of more than 350 mainly Eritrean asylum seekers off the coast of Lampedusa in October 2013 shocked the world and provided the impetus for the Italian navy’s search-and-rescue mission, Mare Nostrum, which has rescued tens of thousands of migrants since it launched. The incident was unusual in that it occurred so close to shore that divers were able to retrieve the bodies. However nine months later, more than half of those bodies remain unidentified and the families of those that have been identified are yet to be officially notified, according to the Italian Red Cross.

Local authorities have taken DNA samples from all of the bodies, but without comparison samples from close relatives (known as ante-mortem data) that would allow a match to be made, the samples have little value. The 50 percent of the bodies that have been identified were mainly as a result of linking up relatives (who called organizations like the Red Cross and IOM in the days following the tragedy) with survivors who could confirm whether or not their family members were on the boat.

Both the Red Cross and IOM have a presence in Eritrea and potentially could collect DNA samples from relatives, but according to Lourdes Penados, regional forensic advisor with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), not many of the immediate family in Eritrea have made contact and asking them to present themselves for DNA collection presents considerable diplomatic and security challenges in a country where emigrating without the permission of the state is forbidden and severely punished.

Lack of centralized databases

ICRC hosted a conference in November 2013 on the issue of how Europe’s Mediterranean countries could better manage and identify dead migrants.

“We found that the problems are similar in most of these countries,” Penados told IRIN. “There’s a lack of databases for unidentified bodies and a lack of communication between institutions at the national and regional levels.”

A number of recommendations came out of the conference, including that there be standardized practices for collecting and managing information on dead migrants and that the data be recorded in centralized databases accessible to all relevant institutions. However, Penados said progress on implementing the recommendations had so far been very slow despite the ICRC’s efforts to lobby the European Union (EU) on the issue.

“It’s a regional issue so the EU has to get involved and also allocate resources for this centralization to happen,” she said.

One of the major impediments remains the lack of any mechanism to link post-mortem data from European countries where dead migrants are found with ante-mortem data from their countries of origin all over the world.

“It’s potentially a hugely complicated logistical problem,” admitted Robins, who nevertheless argued that with sufficient political will, the obstacles could be overcome.

Andreas Kleiser of the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) agreed that tracing dead migrants back to their families in various origin countries would take “a sizeable effort” but that similarly complex efforts to identify the dead in the wake of natural disasters and conflicts had yielded results.

“If you go back to the [2004] tsunami in Thailand, you had about 8,500 victims, among them many tourists from all over the globe. So you had to find the family members and get the DNA references and that was done. Interpol and national police forces cooperated to ask family members for DNA samples.

“So it can be done, but it takes a mechanism to coordinate these things and you need money.”

Last year, ICMP and IOM signed a cooperation agreement that aims to draw on ICMP’s long experience in using DNA testing to trace the missing and its sizeable database of reference and victim profiles and align this with IOM’s presence in origin countries where it could collect missing person information and DNA samples. However, concrete programmes have yet to be put in place and there is widespread agreement that leadership and funding needs to come from the EU.

“It involves EU member states and EU border protection systems,” pointed out Klesier. “It needs to be addressed at an EU-wide level and in the external relations of the EU as well.”

Monday 28 July 2014

http://www.irinnews.org/report/100403/better-management-of-dead-and-missing-migrants-needed-in-europe

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Saturday 26 July 2014

2nd 'black box' found from Air Algerie crash in Mali, French forensic experts on site


France has declared a three-day mourning period to commemorate the victims of the Air Algerie Flight 5017, French President Holland declared on Saturday.

Following a meeting with families of the victims of Air Algerie President Holland said flags across France will fly at half-mast on government buildings from Monday thru Wednesday next week, in solidarity to pay tribute to the passengers and crew who were killed on Thursday's crash. Fifty-four of the 118 victims were French nationals.

The second flight data recorder from an Air Algerie flight that crashed in Mali has been found, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Mali said Saturday.

A team from the U.N. mission to Mali, known as MINUSMA, is assisting the Malian authorities, at the request of that country's government, spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said.

There were no survivors of the crash early Thursday, which took off from Burkina Faso bound for Algeria.

Accounts of the number of people on board continue to differ. Air Algerie says 117 passengers and six crew were on the plane, but France says there were 118 victims in total. The Algerian government said there were 116 passengers and six crew.

French officials say 54 of those on board were French nationals.

French President Francoise Hollande and other ministers are meeting with the families of French victims Saturday in Paris. They will brief the grieving relatives on what has been discovered so far.

The wreckage was found in what Hollande said Friday was a "disintegrated state" in Mali's Gossi region, not far from the border with Burkina Faso.

The first data recorder, or black box, was found at the crash site on Friday. The cause of the crash is not yet confirmed but weather may have been a factor.

Less than an hour into the flight, the aircraft, an MD-83, disappeared from radar after changing its flight path because of bad weather, officials said.

The U.N. mission's support includes logistics, transportation, technical and scientific expertise, as well as help securing the crash site, which is in a remote and inaccessible location.

"Our experts assists the Malians and the French in the search of the site, collecting bodies, providing body bags and in securing the site aiming to speed up the work," said Achouri.

As part of French efforts to assist, 33 French forensic experts arrived at the crash site Saturday.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/26/world/africa/air-algerie-crash/

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UAE DVI team sent to Ukraine to aid in the identification of MH17 plane victims


At the request of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the UAE Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team set out on Tuesday to Ukraine to take part in identifying the remains of victims killed in last Thursday’s downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 plane over Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

According to Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations and Chairman of the Victims Affairs Committee, the UAE Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team led by Major Raed Al Muhairi, Director of the Victims Affairs Office includes several experts and two emergency doctors from the Emergency and Public Safety Department. The team has immediately responded to the request received from the Interpol, in keeping with the humanitarian approach pursued by the UAE leadership to help peoples and countries worldwide suffering from crises and disasters. Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi added that this international request reflects prestigious good reputation enjoyed by the UAE, and the efficiency of its police and public safety teams specialized in search and rescue, in dealing with emergency incidents’ scenes with high professionalism

For his part, Major Raed Al Muhairi, noted that the UAE is the only Arab member in the organization on Disaster Victim Identification under the umbrella of Interpol, thanks to the unwavering support from the country’s leadership, which provided the necessary financial and advanced technical resources, as well as continuous training opportunities for human cadres. “All of these measures have contributed to making our police organization one of the most modern and efficient police institution in the world,” he added.

Major Al Muhairi pointed out that a number of advanced countries have already dispatched their experts to participate in this delicate and critical mission, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom among others. In conclusion, he noted that the UAE Ministry of Interior has outranked other well-established countries on the international scene, in terms of security technology and public safety.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://www.spyghana.com/uae-dvi-identified-remains-mh17-plane-victims/

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First MH17 Crash Victims Identified


Forensic experts have identified the first of 298 people killed when flight MH17 which was shot down over Ukraine last week, the Dutch government said on Saturday.

"Today the first victim of the flight MH17 disaster was identified," the justice ministry said in a statement.

"It's a Dutch citizen and the victim's family and mayor of where they lived have been informed."

The Dutch are in charge of identifying all the victims from the July 17 disaster over rebel-held Ukraine, 193 of whom were Dutch.

"The team of 200 specialists is busy with the identification process, but warns that it can take months for all the victims to be identified," the statement said.

Some bodies remain at the crash site but 227 coffins with the remains of people of 17 nationalities have already been flown back to the Netherlands for identification.

All remains have yet to be recovered from the crash site, with the Netherlands and Australia seeking a mandate to send troops to secure the area amid ongoing fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrianian forces.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/140683-first-mh17-crash-victims-identified

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Case of mistaken identity after bus disaster: Mix-up brings joy to one family, devastation for another


It was a day of boundless joy for Swamy Goud on Friday. This farmer of Kistapur village, who was mourning the loss of his 'son' in Thursday's bus accident at Masaipet village in Medak district, suddenly erupted in joy on knowing that his five-year-old son Dhanush was very much alive and recovering in a private hospital.

Due to a mix-up, Goud had taken the body of four-year-old Dattu, who had died in the accident, and buried it. "He was so devastated that he didn't even bother to check the face of the boy and took the body away late on Thursday," said a Yashodha Hospital official.

The blunder was detected after Dhanush regained consciousness on Friday and blurted out his parents and village names at around 9 am. "We were completely shocked and immediately called Swamy Goud," said a hospital official.

"Under confusion, a parent (Swamy Goud) took away body of another child thinking that it was his son. Swamy Goud (father of Darshan Goud) could not make out his son's body and took another instead. The mistake has been rectified now. Swamy Goud, who was in a state of shock yesterday, after signing the papers took away the body of one Dattu who had actually died in the mishap," a minister told reporters.

Both Dattu and his elder sister had died in the accident and their father Veera Babu took away the body of his daughter, presuming that his son was alive and was being treated in a hospital.

"Later in the night, Veera Babu came to the hospital and verified. He realised that his son was no more and his body was also not there. Both the fathers were asked to contact the district administration and set right the records.

Swamy Goud said "My son's name is Darshan Goud and we fondly call him Dhanush. I had sent him to school yesterday at 8.30 AM. Later, I received a phone call about the accident. I was told my son had died and after that I went to different hospitals searching for my son. I reached a private hospital and saw some bodies of school children."

"I fainted and could not recognise a body that was shown to me as the face of the body was disfigured. Assuming that it was my son's body, I took it and performed the last rites. As I was in a state of shock, I got confused between Dhanush and Dattu. I regret for what has happened," he said.

However, the parents of Dattu are in a state of shock and crest-fallen.

Dattu belonged to Islampur village, while Darshan is from Kishtapur village in Medak district.

It was a twin-tragedy for Veerababu, who lost his 11-year-old daughter Bhuvaneshwari too in the train-bus collision. Dattu, who suffered grievous injuries, was shifted to a private hospital in Secunderabad on Thursday itself. However, he died late in the night.

District authorities swung into action and revenue officials called both parents and informed them about the mix-up. Later, Dattu's body was exhumed and handed over to Veerababu for conducting last rites.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/case-of-mistaken-identity-dead-boy-comes-alive-on-birthday-in-telangana/15478173

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/Telangana-bus-mishap-Mix-up-brings-joy-to-one-family-devastation-for-another/articleshow/39016459.cms

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Air Algerie wreckage found in Mali


The wreck of an Air Algerie plane that went missing with 110 passengers on board has been found in Mali near the Burkina Faso border, according to a coordinator for the crisis unit in Ouagadougou.

"We have found the Algerian plane. The wreck has been located ... 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Burkina Faso border" in the Malian region of Gossi, said General Gilbert Diendiere from the Burkina Faso army.

Mr Diendere said the team found the burned out carcass of the plane where the informers had said it might be. They had not found any survivors at the crash site but that, as darkness was falling, they were unable to investigate whether or not there were any who may have been rescued locally.

"The mission found, on the site, pieces of the plane, this team found on the site, sadly, remains of dead bodies. We were not able to evaluate exactly what is the situation as night began to fall and this team has confirmed that it has seen the remains of the plane, totally burned out and scattered on the ground," he said.

There were few clear indications of what might have happened to the aircraft.

Burkino Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said it asked to change route at 2.38am Irish time because of a storm in the area.

"I can confirm that it has crashed," the Algerian official told Reuters, declining to be identified or give any details about what had happened to the aircraft on its way north.

Almost half of the passengers were French citizens, an airline official said.

Niger security sources said planes were flying over the border region with Mali to search for the flight.

France's aviation watchdog said this afternoon that the jet was checked "two or three days ago" and was "in good condition", France's aviation watchdog said.

Patrick Gandil, head of the French civil aviation authority, said the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 "passed through France in Marseille two or three days ago.

"We examined it and we found almost nothing, it was really in good condition," Mr Gandil said.



Algeria's state news agency APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso, but other officials gave differing accounts of the times of contact, adding to confusion about the plane's fate.

Mr Hollande said French troops stationed in Mali as part of France’s operations against Islamist militants in the region had secured the crash site in the Gossi region, close to the Burkina Faso border, southwest of the northern Malian town of Gao.

He said the wreckage was “concentrated in a limited space” and one of the aircraft’s “black box” flight recorders had already been found and was being sent to Gao. Pictures from the crash site showed debris scattered in mainly small pieces over desert-like scrubland. A few larger pieces of twisted debris were also visible.

Swiftair, the private Spanish company that owns the plane, confirmed it had lost contact with the MD-83 operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.

An official for Mali's prime minister's office said contact was lost over the north of the country, around the city of Gao.

Northern Mali was seized by jihadist groups for several months in 2012, and the region has remained unstable despite the Islamists being driven out in a French-led offensive.

A diplomat in the Malian capital Bamako said that the north of the country - which lies on the plane's likely flight path - was struck by a powerful sandstorm overnight.

An Air Algerie representative in Burkina Faso told a news conference that all the passengers on the plane were in transit, either for Europe, the Middle East or Canada.

He said the passenger list included 51 French, 26 Burkinabe, 20 Lebanese, four Algerians, two from Luxembourg, one Belgian, one Swiss, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian, one Ukrainian and one Romanian.

Lebanese officials said there were at least ten Lebanese citizens on the flight.



A spokeswoman for SEPLA, Spain's pilots union, said the six crew were from Spain. She could not give any further details.

Swiftair said on its website the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 2.17am Irish time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 6.10am Irish but never reached its destination.

Burkinabe authorities have set up a crisis unit in Ouagadougou airport to provide information to families.

Issa Saly Maiga, head of Mali's National Civil Aviation Agency, said that a search was under way for the missing flight.

"We do not know if the plane is Malian territory," he told Reuters. "Aviation authorities are mobilised in all the countries concerned - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Algeria and even Spain."

Aviation websites said the missing aircraft, one of four MD-83s owned by Swiftair, was 18-years-old. The aircraft's two engines are made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies.

US plane maker McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing, stopped producing the MD-80 airliner family in 1999 but it remains in widespread use.

According to British consultancy Flightglobal Ascend, there are 482 MD-80 aircraft in operation, many of them in the United States.

"Boeing is aware of the report (on the missing aircraft). We are awaiting additional information," a spokesman for the planemaker said.

Swiftair has a relatively clean safety record, with five accidents since 1977, two of which caused a total of eight deaths, according to the Washington-based Flight Safety Foundation.

Air Algerie's last major accident was in 2003 when one of its planes crashed shortly after take-off from the southern city of Tamanrasset, killing 102 people.

In February this year, 77 people died when an Algerian military transport plane crashed into a mountain in eastern Algeria.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0724/632783-air-algerie/

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NAMUS offers way to share missing persons data


An estimated 40,000 unidentified dead bodies 10 years ago in the offices of medical examiners and coroners nationwide — many of those officials with limited access to information about missing person cases from across the country — prompted the creation of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a federally funded national repository of people who have vanished. It may be the most comprehensive database available to the public; the FBI refuses to release its own list.

“I think NAMUS is the response to that,” Todd Matthews, a spokesman for the organization, said about the FBI’s decision. “ ‘What can we share with the public?’ We have to find a way to share this information or it’s being lost.”

FBI officials insist their data on missing persons belongs to the individual agencies that submit it, and the FBI is “not at liberty to release it.”

The Chicago Sun-Times also sought from the Illinois State Police information about missing persons reported to the agency since 2003. More than three weeks later, no data has been provided.

However, members of the public can search missing persons cases in NAMUS by name or state at findthemissing.org. The database contained 180 open cases last week in Illinois out of more than 10,200 across the country.

Anyone, including family members and police, can enter a case into the database. But all cases are verified with law enforcement before they appear publicly.

Matthews said coroners and medical examiners trying to identify John and Jane Does could find the national reach of the database particularly helpful.

“If you’re not comparing the missing and unidentified outside your local area, you’re really not going to accomplish a lot,” Matthews said.

Saturday 26 July 2014

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/28679491-418/namus-offers-way-to-share-missing-persons-data.html

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Friday 25 July 2014

32 bodies identified in TransAsia crash


Thirty-two people among the 48 killed in a TransAsia Airways plane crash Wednesday in the island county of Penghu have been identified, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Thursday.

The bodies identified included a couple surnamed Chen, their son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons. The couple's daughter, who was not onboard, had gotten married last week, according to their relatives.

Four members of another family were also identified - a couple surnamed Yan and their two children, who were all going to Penghu to visit the man's parents.

Among the bodies, three were identified as military servicemen, who were on their way to Penghu to report for duty.

All four crew members on the TransAsia flight were killed in the crash. The CAA said the crew included a flight attendant who had been on the job for just seven months.

The CAA said that of the 10 survivors who were taken to hospital, one was pronounced dead on arrival, while the other nine sustained various injuries.

CAA deputy head Lee Wan-li said seven of the injured people have been transported back to Taiwan's main island -- five to Kaohsiung and two to Taipei.

Meanwhile, the aircraft's black boxes are being carried to Taiwan by aviation safety officials, he said.

A total of 58 people were aboard flight GE222, which crashed on approach to Penghu's airport in heavy weather in the wake of Typhoon Matmo.

Friday 25 July 2014

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201407240038.aspx

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Thursday 24 July 2014

47 killed after TransAsia plane crashes in typhoon-hit Taiwan - Update


A TRANSASIA Airways plane has crashed during an attempted emergency landing - killing 47 of the 58 people aboard.

Flight GE222 has crashed in the Penghu Islands, off the coast of Taiwan, after deteriorating weather conditions from Typhoon Matmo forced the jet to attempt an emergency landing.

The small TransAsia flight set-off from south Taiwan and was scheduled to land in Magong, the biggest city on China's Penghu Islands. There were 54 passengers onboard the doomed flight - four of them children - and four crew members. It was scheduled to be in the air for a total of 35 minutes.

Reports from the area suggest that the pilot's first attempt at an emergency landing failed - and that a loss of contact with air traffic control made the second attempt fatal.

The plane was found at Penghu island's Xixi village in flames, local media reported, with initial news reports claiming that the jet had crashed through a residential building during its fatal landing

The Taiwan News reports that the aircraft took off more than 90 minutes late because of the poor weather, and the pilot reportedly asked to wait until 7:06 p.m. before being allowed to land.

The plane slammed into the ground in the village, setting fire to at least two houses. Photos in the local media from the crash site showed a handful of firefighters using flashlights to look at wreckage in the darkness.

Taiwan's Transport Minister Yeh Kuang-shih put the figure at 47 missing, feared dead. So far only 10 bodies have been removed from the rubble.

"It was thunderstorm conditions during the crash," said Hsi Wen-guang, a spokesman for the Penghu County Government Fire Bureau.

"From the crash site we sent 11 people to hospital with injuries. A few empty apartment buildings adjacent to the runway caught fire, but no one was inside at the time and the fire was extinguished."

According to an official at the Civil Aeronautics Administration, air traffic control reported that the inclement weather at the time of the crash did not exceed international regulations for landing.

Visibility was 1,600 meters and the cloud cover was as low as 600 meters, added the official, who declined to be identified.

Local media are broadcasting images from the scene - including a picture of a torn fuselage, lit only by the torches of the rescue workers.

Civil aviation director Jean Shen said: "It's chaotic"

Flight GE222 was initially delayed on the runway by the adverse weather from Typhoon Matmo, which has already injured nine people with its fierce winds and downpours.

Magong, where the aircraft crashed, is the biggest city on the Penghu Islands, which lies halfway between Taiwan and mainland China.

Typhoon Matmo slammed into Taiwan on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, shutting financial markets and schools. It passed the island and headed into China, downgraded from typhoon to tropical storm.

TransAsia Airways is a Taiwan-based airline with a fleet of around 23 Airbus and ATR aircraft, operating chiefly short-haul flights on domestic routes as well as to mainland China, Japan, Thailand and Cambodia, among its Asian destinations.

Thursday 24 July 2014

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/491034/Flight-GE222-Taiwan-Taiwanese-Plane-Crash-Fatal-Emergency-Landing-Island

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Telangana: 20 children killed as school bus and train collide


A passenger train rammed into a school bus at an unmanned railway crossing in Telangana's Medak district on Thursday killing at least 20 children and injuring 15 with fears the death toll could rise further, officials said.

South Central Railway officials said the accident occurred between Masayipet and Wadiaram railway stations on Secunderabad-Nizamabad section of Hyderabad division at 9.10am.

Masayipet is in Veldurti mandal of Medak district, about 70 km from Hyderabad.

The bus was ferrying at least 40 children to a private school - Kakatiya Techno School - located at Tupran. Three of the children travelling on the bus are safe.

The bus driver was also killed on the spot. The bus was dragged several hundred metres down the tracks.

Mangled remains of the bus and the bodies of the children could be seen near the tracks.

The Nanded-Secunderabad Passenger train was travelling from Nanded in Maharashtra to Hyderabad.

No one on the train was killed, officials said.

The injured were moved to nearby hospitals in Kompally.

"We are moving the kids to Hyderabad. We are making every effort to save the lives of the injured kids," said Telangana education minister Jagadeeswar Reddy at a local hospital.

Tense scenes prevailed at the accident site as the locals demanding justice – compensation and action against officials - blocked the authorities from taking away the bodies in ambulances.

Police had to resort to a mild baton-charge to control the stone pelting mob.

Locals alleged that the crossing was left unmanned despite their requests in the past.

Some of the parents who arrived at the accident site fainted after seeing their little ones.

Reports said a father of two kids, who were killed in the accident, died of heart attack after the news of the accident came in.

Telangana chief minister K Chadrasekhara Rao expressed shock over the accident and reviewed the situation with chief secretary Rajiv Sharma and director general of police Anurag Sharma.

Rao will visit Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad where some of the injured children have been admitted.

He ordered the officials to take necessary steps to extend all medical assistance to the injured.

Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao and transport minister P Mahender Reddy visited a hospital where the injured were admitted and also rushed to the accident spot.

State home minister Naini Narsimha Reddy expressed his condolences.

"It is a sad incident. A thorough inquiry will be conducted and action will be taken against those responsible," he said.

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and leader of opposition Jaganmohan Reddy expressed shock and paid their condolences over the unfortunate incident.

Reddy also visited the accident spot.

Unmanned crossings

Accidents at unmanned railway crossings are common and the Indian Railways says they happen because of negligence of road users.

There are about 14,000 unmanned crossings across the country.

Railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda had put greater emphasis on passenger safety and security in his maiden budget earlier this month.

To ensure passenger safety, funds to the tune of Rs. 40,000 crore would be required to be invested in track renewals, elimination of unmanned level crossings and construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges.

For 2014-15, Gowda has allocated Rs. 1,785 crore for the construction of road underbridges and overbridges.

Railway officials say this would go a long way in bringing down casualties at level crossings; 40% of all rail casualties occur at unmanned crossings.

The railway minister had also announced the government's decision to eliminate unmanned level crossings altogether.

Thursday 24 July 2014

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/20-kids-killed-as-train-rams-into-school-bus-in-telangana/article1-1243955.aspx

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Air Algerie plane goes missing an hour after leaving Burkina Faso


Air Algerie said it lost contact with one of its aircraft nearly an hour after takeoff from Burkina Faso on Thursday bound for Algiers.

"Air navigation services have lost contact with an Air Algerie plane Thursday flying from Ouagadougou to Algiers, 50 minutes after takeoff," the airline said, cited by national news agency APS.

APS gave no details on the number of passengers aboard flight AH 5017.

It said the company initiated an "emergency plan" in the search for flight AH5017, which flies the four-hour passenger route four times a week.

A company source told AFP that the missing aircraft was a DC-9, which can seat up to some 135 passengers, chartered from a Portuguese firm.

According to a source within Air Algerie, some 110 people are listed as being on board the flight. Spain's Swift Air said that 110 passengers and 6 crew members were on board the missing plane. Swift Air was operating the plane for Air Algerie.

Ougadougou is in a nearly straight line south of Algiers, passing over Mali where unrest continues in the north.

Thursday 24 July 2014

http://www.firstpost.com/world/air-algerie-plane-goes-missing-hour-leaving-burkina-faso-1632667.html

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Search for missing MH370 plane 'to continue uninterrupted' despite new Ukrainian disaster


Angus Houston heads Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which oversees the search for the ill-fated airliner that is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean on March 8 after veering far off course during a flight from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The former Australian defence chief was in the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv today as the Prime Minister's special envoy to receive the bodies of Australian victims from the MH17 plane disaster.

The Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down last week by a suspected surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed rebels, killing 298 people.

However, despite the new aviation disaster, the country's Transport Minister Warren Truss vowed the search for Flight MH370 "continues uninterrupted".

He said: "We remain fully committed to conducting a thorough undersea search of the likely impact zone in the Indian Ocean."

Mr Houston's deputy, Judith Zielke will oversee the co-ordination centre and keep the families of the 239 victims updated on the search's progress.

In a crucial final step before a sonar search for the missing Boeing 777's wreckage begins in September, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will conduct seabed mapping using two survey ships covering a 60,000-square kilometre (23,000-square mile) expanse.

Officials concluded an initial search of 850 square kilometres (330 square miles) of seabed to the north was focussed in the wrong place.

The Australian government has search responsibility under international conventions for the area 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) off Australia's west coast, where Flight MH370 is thought to have run out of fuel and crashed.

On Monday, officials also demanded that rebels who hold the MH17 crash site in south-eastern Ukraine co-operate with an independent investigation and allow for victim's remains to be recovered in the latest tragedy.

Experts in accident investigation and victim identification have also been sent to Ukraine as well as a Boeing C-17 Globemaster military transport jet, which will transport bodies to the Netherlands for identification.

Thursday 24 July 2014

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/490898/Search-for-missing-MH370-plane-to-continue-uninterrupted-despite-new-Ukrainian-disaster

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MH17: fears that dozens of bodies remain across crash site


Dutch police investigators said on Wednesday it could be months before they know how many sets of human remains have been recovered from the MH17 crash site.

As the first body bags of victims from the Malaysia Airlines crash were loaded into plain wooden coffins and flown back to the Dutch city of Eindhoven, investigators said they had not yet opened the bags collected by rebels.

Confusion still surrounds how many bodies of the 298 victims of the Boeing 777 have been recovered. Separatist rebels claimed to have recovered and handed over 282 bodies and more than 80 body parts, but Dutch officials estimate the tally to be far lower.

The discrepancy comes as the crash site has been deserted, even though body parts are still reported to litter the area.

Esther Naber, a spokeswoman with Dutch officers in Ukraine, said: "We don't know, that's the bottom line. We think we have approximately, 200 bodies, but it could be more."

"We will not know until we have finished the identification process and that could take months. The bags have not been opened. In certain body bags, they can be body parts from more than one person. We are talking about human remains really, not bodies."

Ms Naber said Dutch police had no idea how the separatists arrived at their earlier figure of 282 bodies. She suggested reports that bodies had "gone missing" after collection were "nonsense".

The airliner disintegrated over an area at least six miles long and covered with fields of tall crops and woodland, further hampering the task of finding remains.

On arrival in Eindhoven the bodies will then be transferred by road to the secluded Kaporaal van Oudheusden military barracks in Hilversum, around 80 miles north, for identification.

The Dutch prime minister has warned the process of identifying the remains they have could take weeks "or months" and it will only be then that they know how many sets of remains have been found.

Relatives from the Dutch victims of the flight have already been asked to provide DNA samples to aid the task.

Dutch forensic investigators are hoping to visit the crash site again later in the week to resume the search for remains. A Dutch team said they were unable to visit the site yesterday because their safety could not be guaranteed.

As of Wednesday night though, the fields of wheat and sunflowers where the plane went down were deserted of rebel fighters and the Ukrainian emergency workers who have spent days trying to find victims. A strong smell of putrefaction hung over the site, suggesting the site still held remains.

While suitcases, personal belongings and charred fragments of aircraft still littered the vast site, almost none of the wreckage has gone undisturbed in the six days since the plane went down.

Other than a single red-and-white tape stretching the length of the roadside, no effort seemed to be in place to secure the site from further disruption.

The International Committee of the Red Cross volunteered to step in to aid the search for bodies.

Dominik Stillhart, the agency's director of operations, said: "The parties to the conflict must ensure the highest possible standards are met as regards search, recovery, handling and identification of the remains, and must keep the bereaved informed throughout the process."

The British Government has also suggested that involving the Red Cross "would be a positive step".

The aid agency said it had contacted both the Ukrainian government and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic to offer its help in managing the bodies.

Mr Stillhart said: "The ICRC is prepared to facilitate the movements and activities of the specialists until their work is complete and the remains of all victims have been recovered and identified."

Dutch investigators are also leading the international investigation into what downed the jet.

The Dutch Safety Board, leading an international team of 24 investigators, said unhindered access to the crash site is critical.

Spokesman Tjibbe Joustra said that around 25 investigators already are in Kiev analysing information including photos, satellite images and radar information, but have not yet gained access to the crash site.

He said: "We haven't yet gotten guarantees about security for our way of working. If we go we have to be able to move freely," he said. "We hope to be able to get to the site soon."

The Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will continue to dedicate all available resources towards efforts to recover all human remains of the MH17 crash victims.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said while the process of identification of bodies could at last begin for those who had been brought to the Netherlands on Wednesday, those whose remains had not been found should not be forgotten.

“Our goal now is to unite those who have perished with their families and loved ones as fast as possible while allowing investigators to continue their work at the crash site.

“We urge the search to continue for those who are still missing and pledge to exhaust all efforts to recover all human remains,” he said in a statement last night.

He said Malaysia would join the international community to discover the truth behind the incident, not only out of respect for those who lost their lives and their grieving families and loved ones, but also to prevent such atrocities from happening again and to bring those responsible to justice.

“In the meantime our priority is to support those who share a common grief while working closely with all governments, international organisations and responsible parties to help guarantee a full and thorough investigation is undertaken,” he said.

Thursday 24 July 2014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10986569/MH17-fears-that-dozens-of-bodies-remain-across-crash-site.html

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Wednesday 23 July 2014

At least 51 feared dead as Taiwan passenger plane crash lands in Penghu


As many as 51 passengers of a TransAsia Airways flight died as it made an emergency landing in Penghu Wednesday evening, officials said.

Over the course of the evening, the number of casualties repeatedly changed, varying also from cable station to cable station. The Penghu Fire Department chief was quoted as saying 51 people died, but later news station TVBS said only one passenger had been confirmed as dead, with eleven saved and the fate of 46 still unclear.

Flight GE 222 was carrying 54 passengers and four crew members on a flight from Kaohsiung to Makung during stormy weather in the wake of Typhoon Matmo.

The ATR-72 aircraft had been scheduled to leave Kaohsiung at 4 p.m. but departed at 5:43 p.m. because of the poor weather. The pilot was reportedly asked to wait until 7:06 p.m. before being allowed to land.

A first attempt at landing reportedly failed, and the pilot then made a request to make a second try, reports said. Shortly later, the control tower lost contact with the flight, reports said.

The plane reportedly smashed hard into the ground in the township of Huhsi, causing a fire involving two homes. Online pictures showed a heavily damaged house and wreckage from the plane.

There was no immediate information about what caused the pilot’s change of plans and how the passengers were injured, though media reports spoke of a fire and of the injured suffering burns. They were taken to the military Tri-Service General Hospital in Makung, reports said, with cable stations reporting that one person showed no signs of life upon arrival.

The pilot was identified by the media as 60-year-old Lee Yi-liang and his co-pilot as Chiang Kuan-hsing, 39, but their fate was not immediately known.

First suspicions hinted that the accident might be linked to Typhoon Matmo, which passed over Taiwan and Penghu earlier in the day, bringing strong winds and heavy rains in its wake.

Online messages posted by residents spoke of a house on fire, with the blaze raging so hard that the rain failed to extinguish it.

Makung Airport was closed down after the incident, while in Taipei, Premier Jiang Yi-huah was preparing a visit to the Civil Aeronautics Administration, reports said.

Over the past 13 years, TransAsia Airways recorded eight accidents, including six with the French-Italian ATR-72, the Chinese-language Apple Daily wrote.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2533674

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Forensic experts carry out 29 autopsies in three days after migrant tragedy


Mater Dei Hospital’s mortuary has seen the largest mass autopsy conducted since starting its operations in 2007, with 29 autopsies conducted on the bodies of 28 men and one woman recovered from the sea in the new migrant tragedy that took place outside Lampedusa this week.

The largest ever number of autopsies performed on one case was that of the EygptAir hijacking way back in 1985, on 60 bodies.

The 29 victims were those brought in by the Armed Forces’ maritime squadron on Sunday.

Forensic expert Dr Mario Scerri declined comment on Italian media reports that some of those who died in the tragic incident had been hit with hard objects and killed on board, saying that the official results of the autopsies would be given to the inquiring magistrate.

But Scerri said he could safely concluded that the 29 migrants died from drowning and that some of them might have been killed in a stampede to climb abord a rescue patrol boat.

Italian police on Tuesday said that migrants rescued by the Danish petrol tanker Torm Lotte in waters between Libya and Malta and taken to the Sicilian port of Messina, told investigators that around 60 people had been stabbed by traffickers, and their bodies thrown into the sea.

These deaths come on top of the 29 people known to have died by asphyxiation after the traffickers allegedly prevented dozens of migrants from leaving the hold.

Dozens of migrants are feared to have drowned during transfer to the Danish freighter from the rickety fishing boat that is thought to have been carrying between 700 and 750 people.

A child aged two was also found dead on arrival in Messina and a woman died while being transferred to hospital for treatment.

Earlier in the day migrants told Repubblica.it that 181 people had died in the tragedy but investigators put a closer estimate at 141.

On Tuesday five men presumed to be the traffickers were arrested on charges of multiple homicide.

They were Mhamed Morad Al Fallah, 21, from Syria, Youssef Dahman, 21, and Abdrzakc Asbaoui Asbaoui, 25, from Morocco, Saddam Abuhddayed, 25, from the Palestinian territories, and Jamal Rajeb, 32, from Saudi Arabia.

Investigators have also established that a double tariff system applied to the sea voyage, with migrants of Arab origin paying 1,000-2,000 dollars for a place on deck and Africans paying 250-500 dollars for a passage in the hold.

Since no documents were found on board the boat that can identify any of the victims, each of the victims will be given a referral number. Once all results of the autopsies and a sample of the DNA is taken from all the 29 victims, it will be up to the magistrate to release all bodies for burial.

The bodies are kept for a period of time and if no next of kin or anyone else can make a positive identification, then the burial will be done in a common part of the Addolorata Cemetery in Paola. Each body is separated just in case in the future somebody claims the remains.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/41498/forensic_experts_carry_out_29_autopsies_in_three_days_after_migrant_tragedy

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Body of the final missing Washington mudslide victim has been found


Four months after a mudslide ravaged a portion of Washington state, authorities announced Tuesday that they had located its final victim.

Rescue workers in Snohomish County found the body of Molly “Kris” Regelbrugge on Tuesday morning, offering an unexpected bit of closure to a search that seemed, in many ways, like it would never fully end.

“I’m humbled and honored that we are able return Kris to her family,” Sheriff Ty Trenary said in a statement. ““I’m also extremely grateful to the communities of Oso, Darrington and Arlington who stood beside us these past four months in our efforts to recover all of the missing victims.”

The search through the mudslide had, at one point, included hundreds of people scouring a wide and treacherous area. The slide area was incredibly difficult to search, since it was both unusually large and particularly gnarly (with debris, mud, wreckage and dangerous liquids).

Although no survivors had been found since the day of the slide, workers continued to dig through the debris and search for bodies.

The active search through the mudslide debris was called off in late April, more than a month after the slide that killed 43 people and left a trail of devastation. When the search was called off, the bodies of two victims — Regelbrugge and Steve Hadaway — were still missing, so the official death toll remained at 41.

But even though active search operations were called off, workers continued to try and look through the debris field and seek clues. In May, workers found a body that the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed several days later was that of Steve Hadaway.

Relatives had been worried that Hadaway would never be found as weeks of searching turned up nothing. “We were thinking worst case scenario the whole time, you know?” John Hadaway told KIRO-TV about the discovery of his brother’s body. “And here he is complete. We even got his wedding ring!”

At one point after the slide, the list of people reported to be missing had ballooned to 176. Even though that number was revised as emergency workers located people and figured out what names were duplicated, the immediate days after the slide were characterized with a distinct lack of what we knew. We saw the destruction, we knew dozens of people were potentially dead, but the toll remained unclear as workers spent days navigating the challenging environment. The list of missing people shrunk and the death toll began to rise, but this process required days of searching, waiting and not knowing.

On Tuesday at about 8 a.m., four months after the slide first struck and in an area where things belonging to the Regelbrugge family had been found, search personnel finally located Regelbrugge’s body. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner has to officially identify her to bring the death toll to 43, but officials said that after four months of searching, waiting and not knowing, they believe they have found the final person they were seeking.

The body of her husband, Navy Cmdr. L. John Regelbrugge III, was found days after the slide.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/07/22/body-of-the-final-missing-washington-mudslide-victim-has-been-found/

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MH17: Investigators concerned at missing bodies


International monitors said body parts still lay scattered at eastern Ukraine's unsecured crash site of downed flight MH17, as Dutch experts said they were given 80 fewer corpses than promised by the rebels.

"There were human remains that had not been picked up," said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observer mission after visiting the scene, amid reports of the wreckage being rearranged.

"What struck us is that we did not monitor any recovery activity in place," he said, pointing out that OSCE observers saw human remains in at least two areas at the sprawling crash site in rebel-held territory.

Pro-Russian insurgents said on Monday they had released the bodies of 282 victims after they were sent by refrigerated train to the government-controlled town of Kharkiv, some 300 kilometres to the northwest.

But Dutch experts now in possession of the corpses said earlier today they had only counted 200 on the morgue train.

"We are sure of having 200 bodies and body parts, that is all that I know," said Jan Tuinder, the head of the Dutch delegation told journalists.

Flight MH17 was apparently brought down by a missile on Thursday with 298 people on board, including 193 Dutch citizens.


Five days after the incident, OSCE monitors said they noticed "changes" in the arrangement of the wreckage.

"We did observe changes at the site. The fuselage has been moved. It appears that the cone section is split in two and it appears that the tail fin has been moved," Bociurkiw said.

Western leaders have complained that rebels have been tampering with vital evidence at the site.

But Bociurkiw said there should be no "rush to conclusions" and the changes "could have been part of the effort to recover remains".

Fifteen monitors from the European security body visited the site for a fifth day on Tuesday, accompanied for the first time by a senior official from Malaysian Airlines and by two Malaysian civil aviation experts.

"There was no security perimeter. We also noticed that the vast amount of personal belongings of passengers has been removed from the scene," he added.

"The Malaysian experts observed that the heat from the impact was so intense that it melted the wings," which were made of aluminium, he said.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11297729

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Tuesday 22 July 2014

Interpol team begins identifying victims of flight MH17 crash


International police agency Interpol said on Tuesday one of its teams had started identifying victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH 17 flight that crashed over Ukraine last week.

"The remains of victims recovered so far were labelled and numbered before being transported in refrigerated freight wagons from Donetsk to the designated centre of operations in Kharkiv where the Interpol Incident Response Team, along with other international disaster victim identification teams in place, will carry out preliminary examinations," the Lyon, France-based agency said in a statement.

"Members of INTERPOL’s Incident Response Team (IRT) in Kharkiv, Ukraine have started the disaster victim identification (DVI) process following the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17.

The remains of victims recovered so far were labelled and numbered before being transported in refrigerated freight wagons from Donetsk to the designated centre of operations in Kharkiv where the INTERPOL IRT, along with other international DVI teams in place, will carry out preliminary examinations.

The 10-strong IRT is currently comprised of three Dutch DVI specialists, one of whom is the IRT leader, four INTERPOL officials, a Brazilian forensics expert and current chair of the INTERPOL DVI Steering Group and representatives from Europol and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

Once the preliminary examinations are completed, is it expected that the victims will be transported to the Netherlands where the full DVI process will be carried out in accordance with INTERPOL standards.

The IRT is also liaising closely with a dedicated crisis cell within INTERPOL’s Command and Coordination Centre (CCC) at the General Secretariat headquarters to coordinate with other member countries with DVI expertise for further specialist deployment as required.

Offers of assistance to deploy additional DVI experts have currently been received from 13 INTERPOL member countries. Member countries which lost citizens in the MH 17 crash will also be requested to gather and send ante-mortem data to the CCC in order for the victims to be identified as quickly as possible in order for them to be returned to their families"


Russia said it was also ready to join ICAO-led international experts who are investigating the plane crash.

The remains, which were earlier moved out of territory held by pro-Russian rebels, are due to be flown from the city of Kharkiv to the Netherlands.

The head of the Dutch forensics team, Jain Tuinder, has revealed that the train which arrived in Kharkiv earlier on Tuesday contained 200 bodies - significantly less than that claimed by separatist leader Alexander Borodai.

Mr Tuinder said investigators would have to go back to the crash site to carry out another search.

"We will not leave until every remain has left this country so we will have to go on and bargain again with the people over there," he told journalists in Kharkiv on Tuesday evening.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe examining the wreckage found that major pieces of the plane had been cut into and that large parts now looked different.

Countries directly affected by the disaster, such as the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK, have been concerned that the crash site was not properly sealed off, with the risk that valuable evidence could be put at risk.

Earlier on Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain has agreed to a Dutch request for air accident investigators to retrieve data from the black boxes of the Malaysia Airlines plane that was downed over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives.

The two boxes may shed light on Western claims that flight MH17 was shot down with a Russian surface-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from MH17 black boxes for international analysis," Cameron said on Twitter.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), based in Farnborough, southern England, is part of the Department for Transport and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents.

Earlier on Tuesday, bodies of those killed in the Malaysia Airlines crash reached Ukrainian government-controlled territory.

As Western leaders increasingly pointed the finger of blame at pro-Russian separatists, and Moscow itself, over the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine, the government in Kuala Lumpur said little.

The reasons for that reticence - which had drawn criticism at home - became clear on Tuesday, when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced shortly after midnight that his government had negotiated the release of the remains of nearly 300 victims of Flight MH17 from separatist-held territory.

Najib, working through intermediaries to reach rebel leader Alexander Borodai, was a key figure in brokering the deal, according to two sources in Malaysia with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/mh17/malaysia-quietly-worked-back-channels-to-secure-bodies-black-boxes/article1-1243374.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28429161

http://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-135

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MH17: Australian experts to join body identification team


An Australian expert about to join an international MH17 disaster victim identification team expects the task will resemble his work after the Black Saturday bushfires.

Forensic pathologist David Ranson left Melbourne for Amsterdam on Tuesday to join the international team in the grim task of identifying the 298 people killed in the MH17 disaster.

Professor Ranson, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) deputy director, has identified victims of the Boxing Day tsunami, the Bali bombing and the Kosovo war, and sees similarities between MH17 and the 2009 Black Saturday fires.

"I think the process is very similar to the work we did in the Victorian bushfires," he told AAP.

"I imagine that there will be a number of bodies - some of those will be intact and some will be non-intact, and we will be using similar methods."

Prof Ranson said he is unsure how the heavily-criticised handling of the crash zone by Russian-backed rebels will affect the identifications.

"I don't have exact knowledge of what has happened. I have seen the news reports like everyone else," he said.

"It's very important to ensure the proper collection of that material so that we do not lose items that are useful in the identification process, but I have no detailed information."

A mortuary technician and two odontologists (specialists in identifying victims from dental records) from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and a Victoria Police fingerprint expert will join Prof Ranson and the remainder of the Australian contingent.

He said the team will gather dental and pathology specimens, examine jewellery, personal effects and photograph tattoos and other marks, collect medical records and comparable DNA from the victims' home countries based on the MH17 passenger manifest and combine the lab and external records to make formal identifications.

The international forensic team will take care to manage the physical and psychological health of its members, he said.

"We are used to death and we are trained to deal with the families, deal with the medical practitioners, and the other people we gather information from," he said.

"Clearly with a situation like this, the stress will be escalated, so it's very important that staff are not over-stretched and that they are given time to rest so that the quality of their work and their health is not affected."

Overnight a refrigerated train carrying the remains of Australian and other victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight left a rebel-controlled town in eastern Ukraine bound for the country's second biggest city Kharkiv where it will be met by senior Australian officials.

The bodies are then to be flown almost immediately to the Netherlands where an international team, including forensic experts from Australia, will identify the dead.

Up to 39 Australian citizens and residents were among the nearly 300 people killed when MH17 was downed, likely by a missile fired by Russian-backed separatists.

A ceasefire has been declared within a 10km radius of the crash site. Ukraine's deputy prime minister Volodymyr Groysman said all 298 deceased passengers had been loaded onto the train bound for government-controlled Kharkiv.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24521460/five-victorians-join-mh17-disaster-id-team/

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11297335

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Death toll from Typhoon Rammasun reaches 33 in China, at least 97 deaths in the Philippines

The death toll from Super Typhoon Rammasun has risen to at least 33 after seven more bodies were recovered, state-run media reported on Monday. The powerful storm made landfall in China on Friday after killing nearly 100 people in the Philippines.

Thirteen deaths were reported in south China's Hainan island province, nine in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and eleven in neighboring Yunnan province. The death toll figures are based on tallies gathered from both central and local government agencies, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.

Rammasun, the strongest typhoon to hit south China in four decades, caused gales, downpours and floods in many provinces across southern China, affecting more than 8 million people in the provinces of Hainan, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Additionally, Rammasun severely damaged power and water facilities, ports and roads, as well as telecommunication networks, hampering transportation and rescue work.

Early Monday morning, a mudslide triggered by the remnants of the typhoon hit a village in Yunnan province, killing at least 10 people and leaving 10 others missing. Teams from the provincial disaster relief bureau and civil affairs department have been sent to assess the damage and begin rescue work, Xinhua reported.

A total of 608,000 people have been displaced by the storm and over 240,000 are in urgent need of basic necessities, according to government figures.

Direct economic losses in Guangxi and Hainan are each estimated at more than 6 billion yuan (965.9 million U.S. dollars), according to Xinhua. However, despite zero deaths thus far, Guangdong has suffered the worst economic losses, with an estimated loss of more than 12.7 billion yuan (2 billion U.S. dollars), and 7,800 houses and 110,000 hectares (271,800 acres) of crops demolished.

Reflecting on the disaster, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told authorities to make people's safety a top priority when fighting floods and droughts. As China enters its peak season for natural disasters, Wang said that efforts in flood control and drought relief should be increased, calling attention to inadequate flood control facilities in some places and weak links in emergency response.

Wang also said authorities should ensure that disaster control and relief measures are implemented efficiently, as well as forecasts and early warnings being improved, according to Xinhua. In response to losses caused by Rammasun, Wang said the central government will set aside funds for rescue and relief.

Rammasun made landfall in the Philippines on Tuesday afternoon and exited on Thursday, leaving at least 97 people dead, 460 injured and 6 missing, according to the latest report issued by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday. More than 330,000 people were affected in the country and, of that number, more than 97,000 people were displaced and served at evacuation centers.

After leaving the Philippines, Typhoon Rammasun headed for China, making landfall in northern Hainan Island early Friday morning. Next, the deadly typhoon headed for a final landfall near the northeastern border of Vietnam and China, where it dissipated over the Chinese province of Yunnan on Sunday.

Rammasun, which is known in the Philippines as Typhoon Glenda, was part of the 2014 Pacific typhoon season which runs throughout the year, with most tropical cyclones forming between May and November.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

http://wireupdate.com/death-toll-from-typhoon-rammasun-reaches-33-in-china.html

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Italy rescues 1,800 migrants over weekend, five bodies recovered

Italy's navy said it rescued nearly 1,800 migrants in overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean over the weekend, and a merchant ship recovered five bodies from a sinking rubber raft off the coast of Libya.

Calmer summer seas have led to a surge in people trying to reach Italy from North Africa. Italy has picked up more than 70,000 migrants so far this year in its search-and-rescue mission, called "Mare Nostrum" or "Our Sea".

The number of dead is also rising. At the start of July, the UNHCR estimated 500 migrants had died in the Mediterranean in the past six months, compared to 700 during the whole of last year.

A merchant ship rescued 61 migrants and collected five bodies from a sinking rubber raft late on Sunday after its position was signaled by the navy, said the force. Survivors said 15 others probably drowned.

Italy is struggling to keep up with the increase in migrant boats this year and has asked the European Union for more help in rescuing and housing them.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said Maltese authorities on Saturday recovered the bodies of 29 people believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the hold of a boat.

On Friday, as many as 40 people went missing after a migrant boat capsized near the Libyan coast, according to media reports that the Italian navy could not confirm. A merchant ship recovered hundreds of survivors.

Most migrants have fled Syria's civil war and Eritrea's harsh military service, according to the UNHCR. Many of them set off for their journey to Europe from the coast of strife-torn Libya.

Italy's navy has been patrolling the waters between Africa and Sicily since October, when 366 people drowned after their boat capsized just a mile from the Italian coast.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-rescues-1-800-migrants-over-weekend-five-113706362.html

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Victims' bodies, plane debris could hold vital clues to who shot down airliner over Ukraine


"What exactly are they trying to hide?" President Barack Obama asked Monday as he demanded that Ukrainian rebels give investigators access to the wreckage of the downed jetliner.

The answer is: potentially a lot.

Aviation and defense experts say the victims' bodies could contain missile shrapnel. Chemical residue on the plane could confirm the type of weapon that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. And the location of the wreckage could yield information on how the attack unfolded.

The black boxes could offer vital clues as well. The cockpit voice recorder would record the bang of a missile. The data recorders, which register altitude and position, would be able to tie that information to the timing of a known missile launch in the area.

"You can effectively backtrack and give a relatively high degree of confidence in the location where that missile took off from," said a Manchester, England-based aviation industry consultant, Chris Yates. "If that location happens to be in rebel-held territory, which we all suspect it is, that would be the first point where you could point the finger of blame."

But while anguished families waited to take possession of their loved ones' remains, and investigators waited for the rebels to hand over the black boxes, independent observers warned that the pro-Moscow separatists had tampered with the debris and failed to secure the crash site. And the U.S. and its allies fumed that the rebels are trying to cover up evidence they shot down the plane.

Yates warned that the rebels may have already compromised the probe.

"What is gained, of course, is the possibility that whatever evidence remains of a missile strike can be obliterated," he said. "That's the bottom line, I suppose."

In this still mysterious tragedy, for example, the bodies themselves could offer precious clues. A missile from a Russian-made SA-11 mobile launcher, also known as a Buk, would explode outside the target aircraft, hurling shrapnel into the plane. Some bodies might bear the telltale wounds.

"While the stated reasons for removing some of the bodies to a refrigerated train — to protect them from wild animals and slow their decomposition — may be genuine, the bodies, too, are evidence," said Keir Giles, an expert on security at the Chatham House think tank.

Lyubov Kudryavets, a worker at the Torez morgue, told The Associated Press that last Thursday, after the plane went down over eastern Ukraine, a resident brought in the bloody body of a child, about 7 or 8 years old. On Saturday, she said, pro-Russian militiamen came to claim it.

"They began to question me: 'Where are the fragments of rocket? Where are the fragments from the plane?'" Kudryavets said. "But I didn't have any wreckage. ... I swear."

Rebel leader Alexander Borodai has denied he and his comrades-in-arms were trying to tamper with evidence, saying the bodies would be turned over to Malaysian experts.

As of Monday, the remains of 282 people had been reported recovered. A total of 298 people were killed in the downing of the Boeing wide-body jet; some bodies may have been all but obliterated.

A team of international observers suggested that some of the evidence may have been tampered with.

At the biggest site on Monday, "we did not see any perimeter security in the place," Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters in Donetsk. The monitors observed that one of the largest pieces of debris — apparently a large cone section — "had somewhat been split or moved apart."

On an earlier visit to one of the smaller impact sites, where the cockpit and beginning of the first-class section lay, the observers also witnessed apparent tampering.

"We observed workers there hacking into the fuselage with gas-powered equipment," Bociurkiw said.

The alternative explanation for the slow pace of examination and restricted access to the site is simply that a war is going on, said Michael Desch, an expert on international security at the University of Notre Dame.

"I think that what people are missing is that this tragedy has taken place in an active war zone — the Ukrainian Army is today operating against Donetsk — and given that, it is not surprising that the rebels are not being as cooperative as they might otherwise be," he said in an email.

Besides that, eastern Ukraine wasn't known as a model of organization even before the conflict began. The rebel groups that have seized control haven't installed civil institutions that could cordon off the site or organize the orderly removal of bodies.

Russia experts like Andrew Weiss at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington said that sheer incompetence, rather than criminal intent, cannot be ruled out as an explanation for the way the rebels are handling the disaster.

"There's just a lot of chaos on the ground," Weiss said. "Everything being messed up is part of daily life. It's not a highly ordered society the way Switzerland is. It's one thing to say it is part of a big conspiracy ... but it's not clear."

Whether by accident or design, the lack of swift access to the crash site may make it harder to determine who and what doomed the jet. And persistent doubts could benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin and undermine the push in the West to impose further sanctions against Moscow.

"It's really a mess," Weiss said. "The question is: Does that mess have some political benefits for Russia?"

Tuesday 22 July 2014

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/21/victims-bodies-plane-debris-could-hold-vital-clues-to-who-shot-down-airliner/

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Monday 21 July 2014

Indonesian National Police help identify MH-17 victims


National Police chief Gen.Sutarman says the police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team will help identify victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down in eastern Ukraine.

“We have prepared seven DVI members who will join with the Foreign Ministry’s team to help Malaysia identify the victims,” Sutarman said as quoted by Antara on Monday.

He was speaking after a force deployment ceremony ahead of a security operation called Operasi Ketupat (Ketupat Operation) 2014 at the Jakarta Police headquarters.

Sutarman said the police’s DVI team had received global acknowledgement for its experience and expertise in identifying decaying bodies, such as victims of the ill-fated Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed near Mount Salak in Sukabumi, West Java, in 2012.

The DVI team had members who were trained and tested well in revealing identities of victims of plane crashes.

The DVI team and forensics officials from several provincial polices have collected antemortem data, including dental records, finger prints, or special marks on bodies such as piercings, tattoos or small moles, of family members of 12 Indonesians who died in the MH-17 incident.

Dutch experts are calling for a full forensic sweep of the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down.

Members of the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team toured farm fields Monday near the eastern Ukrainian village of Hrabove, where they observed some of the victims' remains that had not yet been removed.

Investigations at the site have been hampered by the armed pro-Russia separatists who control the area.

The arrival of the Dutch forensics experts came as the United Nations Security Council was preparing to vote on a resolution demanding international access to the site where Flight 17 went down Thursday after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.

The investigators led by Peter Van Vilet of the Dutch LTFO forensic office climbed aboard to inspect the wagons, surrounded by armed rebels, that had been parked parked in the rebel-held town of Torez.

"We got the promise the train is going," he said, adding he did not know when.

The experts from the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team -- which specializes in victim recovery and identification -- also pressed for rebels to seal the train cars.

Associated Press journalists at the site said the smell of decay was overwhelming Monday and many with the inspectors wore masks or pressed cloths to the faces on the warm summer day.

A train engineer told the AP that a power outage had hit the cars' refrigeration system overnight and it was not immediately clear why. The cooling system was back up and running early Monday, he said.

Dutch banks respond to looting claims

Following news reports that the credit cards of passengers killed on downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 had been looted, the Dutch Banking Association on Saturday said it would take "preventative measures" to protect Dutch victims' accounts.

"International media report that victims' bank cards may have been stolen. … Banks are taking preventative measures when necessary," the statement said.

Several international media outlets have reported looting at the crash site, although direct evidence of theft is scarce — in part because international observers were denied access to the scene by the pro-Russian separatists who control the area.

Banks will compensate the victims' next of kin for any losses resulting from abuse of their bank cards, the Dutch Banking Association said in their statement.

Monday 21 July 2014

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/21/national-police-help-identify-mh-17-victims.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140721-dutch-investigators-tell-rebels-that-train-full-of-bodies-from-mh17-crash-must-leave.ece

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/21/malaysia-russia

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/dutch-banks-respond-to-reported-theft-of-mh17-crash-victims-credit-cards/503760.html-ukraine-putin-united-nations/12930557/

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