Heroes to the rescue

The first three months of 2011 were an acid test for the Australian Capital Territory's 16-year-old urban search and rescue capability.

In early January two USAR 2-trained ACT Fire and Rescue members, Mark Johansen and Peter Fitzgerald, were sent to Queensland's Lockyer Valley as part of the joint NSW/ACT response to that emergency.

A little more than a month later, nine Canberra search and rescue volunteers were sent to New Zealand in response to the earthquake that rocked Christchurch on February 22. Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/heroes-to-the-rescue-20130222-2exc5.html#ixzz2LdsVi4Yc

Part of the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.

Then, on March 11, 2011, while rescuers were still on the ground in Christchurch, a magnitude 9 earthquake devastated the north-east of Japan, causing a tsunami that peaked at 40.5 metres in some areas.

Canberra's first Urban Search and Rescue course was conducted in 1995, just two years before the Thredbo landslide disaster that killed 18 people and, miraculously, left Stuart Diver alive.

ACT Fire and Rescue's superintendent Pat Jones, the territory's top urban search and rescue expert, a veteran of Thredbo and a member of the third taskforce that was sent to Christchurch in March 2011, says the capability that has since evolved is world-class and that training modules developed in the ACT had become the gold standard adopted across the world.

He said urban search and rescue workers were classified by skill level and fell into one of three categories.

The first category, for which almost all police, SES, paramedics and firefighters have done mandatory training, qualifies a rescuer to be on top of the rubble pile in the event of an earthquake or other catastrophe.

Requirements include a knowledge of situational awareness, safe working practices and search and first-aid techniques.

To become a USAR 2 volunteer is a big step up and involves specialist and demanding training, which is usually carried out in Queensland or Adelaide.

Rescuers can be trained to this level only in specially built environments which simulate disaster zones and give them hands-on experience of working ''in the rubble pile'', one of the most dangerous rescue environments. Jones said that after an earthquake, landslide or building collapse, the rubble formed voids, cavities, tunnels and gaps into which survivors might crawl in search of safety. It was a highly unstable and topsy-turvy world, particularly after an earthquake where aftershocks almost always follow the main event.

''Once you are in the pile, it is surreal,'' he said. ''You don't know what is up and what is down; walls have become ceilings, ceilings floors and you don't know where you are. You are working with police whose job is to gather intelligence and pass it on to you.''

Thredbo was an example of this and police were able to pass on facts such as ''the third floor bathroom has brown tiles''. ''That type of information helps you orient yourself,'' Jones said. ''Thredbo was a very scary situation; I was cutting up [from the hole] and others were cutting down. I'm not a brave person but there would be something wrong if you weren't scared.''

There are currently more than 40 Category 2 qualified urban search and rescuers in the ACT Fire and Rescue Service, a disproportionately high number given the size of the force overall and one that recognises its role as a potential first responder across the alpine villages as well as in Canberra proper.

Veterans of the USAR 2 training told Fairfax it was intended to push participants hard mentally as well as physically. Claustrophobic tendencies are weeded out early and volunteers have to master vertical rescue, confined space and trench rescue techniques.

The training environment is loaded with urban waste, unpleasant fluids and rubble. It is considered the pinnacle of rescue training and participants have to qualify just to do the course.

''For us to have this number of people with such a demanding qualification takes a major commitment,'' Jones said.

The 48-year-old superintendent, who has been with ACT Fire and Rescue for a quarter of a century, is one of a handful of USAR 3 qualified rescuers in the territory. This means he is qualified to carry out the command and control function in a post-disaster environment in addition to having the same skills as the USAR 2 volunteers.

''These are the on-the-spot decision-makers, the people making life-and-death calls that affect their own team members as well as potential survivors,'' an ACT-based USAR 2 volunteer said. ''The only real comparison would be a command role in a battlefield environment.''

Jones was at Kambah for the naming of two new fire trucks on February 22, 2011, when he took the call alerting him to the Christchurch earthquake.

He was part of the third Australian taskforce, which brought together members from all over the country, that arrived in Christchurch on March 5, 2011.

''Over the 13-day deployment, team members worked 178 hours, the equivalent of 22 working days,'' he said. ''I learnt more in that 13 days than I ever would in my career here.''

Unlike taskforces one and two, which had been deployed for rescue and then body recovery, taskforce three was part of a program called ''beyond the rubble pile''.

This meant members went out beyond the devastated Christchurch CBD and worked with residents in the suburbs and areas that had not been so badly affected. Because the sewerage system had been cut, some jobs were as basic as digging toilet holes.

''Taskforce one completed 58 tasks in the rubble pile, recovering seven bodies and carrying out one live rescue,'' Jones said. ''Taskforce two, from Queensland, carried out 94 tasks, recovering 43 bodies and assisting in the recovery of many more.

''What these teams had to do was horrific; the only Australian comparisons you could make in terms of the physical trauma to victims are the Granville train smash, the Thredbo landslide and the Newcastle earthquake - but this was on a much larger scale.''

Jones, who had a good idea of what disaster looked like after the Thredbo landslide and the 2003 Canberra fires, said he was still unprepared for what he saw in Christchurch.

''I had been in Christchurch on holidays just three months previously,'' he said. ''I had walked around the city with my family and places I remembered as happy places had all been destroyed.''

The work of the third taskforce often bridged the gap between ''normal life'' and the disaster in ways members of the first two deployments would have found hard to believe. ''A lot of what we did was humanitarian work,'' Jones said. ''I remember a couple of jobs as very significant.

In one case we went into the ruins of a collapsed doctor's surgery and recovery the records of 1500 patients. This meant [the doctor] was able to set up a temporary surgery, with all her records, outside the CBD.

''We also had a crew access the safe at a restaurant that had been destroyed. The owner was desperate to get his cash out so he could pay his staff. The family, who lost their son in the earthquake, were so grateful they stayed on and cooked for the rescue teams on a volunteer basis.

''Christchurch has built on the Anzac spirit. That bond has been strengthened by what we did and I know that if something bad happened in Australia I'd love to have the New Zealanders here.''

Shocks still being felt

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch at 12.51pm on February 22, 2011, was much more devastating than the 7.1-magnitude quake that had struck New Zealand’s second largest city six months before, on September 4, 2010.

While technically weaker, the epicentre of the ‘‘aftershock’’ was much closer to the surface and only 10 kilometres from the centre of the city.

Christchurch is still recovering two years later and the population has fallen from 360,000 to about 355,000. Aftershocks are still being felt.

Five major aftershocks hit Christchurch between 1.04pm and 7.43pm on February 22, 2011. They ranged in Richter magnitude from five to 5.9. These hampered initial efforts to search for survivors and to evacuate the central city.

The Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people, levelled or devastated much of the CBD, and injured between 1500 and 2000 people, 164 seriously.

The first team of Australian urban search and rescue (USAR) workers (72 members, NSW) arrived within 12hours. The second team, from Queensland, arrived on February 24. It had 70 members and sniffer dogs.

A third Australian USAR team was dispatched on March 4 and 5. This team focused on humanitarian work as part of a program called ‘‘beyond the rubble pile’’.

Nine volunteers from ACT Fire & Rescue and ACT Ambulance were among the hundreds of Australians who crossed the Tasman to help.

Craig Perks, Matt Spackman, Chris Lind and Sam Evans were members of the first taskforce. Kaye Bradtke, Col O’Rourke and Superintendent Pat Jones were members of the third taskforce, as were paramedics Darren Neville and Robert Wiggins.

Friday 22 February 2013

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/heroes-to-the-rescue-20130222-2exc5.html#ixzz2LdrBhO84

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After 7 years, Mexico may renew search for missing miners' bodies

Mexico's new government is considering relaunching an abandoned rescue effort to reach the bodies of 63 miners in a coal mine in northern Mexico since 2006, one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history.

The Pasta de Conchos tragedy left 65 dead and exposed poor and dangerous working conditions for miners in one of Mexico's largest but also most under-regulated industries. Relatives of the victims have insisted in protests that the recovery operation be resumed and in recent days sought support from members of the new federal Cabinet.

A methane explosion trapped the miners on Feb. 19, 2006. The recovery effort was abandoned in April 2007 after only two bodies had been brought out.

The Pasta de Conchos disaster deepened rifts between representatives of the victims -- their families and unions -- and Grupo Mexico, the mining conglomerate that owns the coal mine in the municipality of San Juan Sabinas, Coahuila state.

This week, after a fresh push by relatives of the victims before the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, the attorney general's office indicated it was open to examining the investigation and possibly reopening the recovery effort.

Speaking Wednesday at Mexico's Senate, the deputy attorney general for human rights, Ricardo Garcia Cervantes, said the Pasta de Conchos case is a reminder that poorly regulated mines known as pozitos should be closed.

"We should prohibit pozitos, because since Pasta de Conchos they've generated an unjustified number of dead," Garcia said. "They're an avoidable human pain."

By one count of victims' relatives, at least 67 more miners have died since Pasta de Conchos in accidents or explosions in Mexico through early 2012.

No dates or guidelines have been been set yet for a reexamination of the case, said Armando Seguro, a spokesman in the attorney general's office.

Juan Rebolledo, vice president for international relations at Grupo Mexico, told The Times that the company has not received any formal petition to reenter the mine and would not comment further.

The explosion occurred during the mine's overnight shift. Some basic figures about the incident, such as at what depth it occurred, remain in dispute. In 2008, widows of the miners and volunteers from other mining regions of northern Mexico converged at Pasta de Conchos and attempted to storm the mine and launch their own effort to reach the bodies.

Friday 22 February 2013

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-win-mexico-renew-search-for-miners-20130221,0,5873845.story

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Discoveries of crossers' bodies now at lowest level in 10 years

The number of illegal immigrants' bodies found last year in the Arizona desert was the lowest in a decade.

During federal fiscal year 2012, 172 bodies were found in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, the Arizona Daily Star's border death database shows. That's down from the record in 2010, when 252 bodies were found.

The federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

For about 70 percent of the bodies found in the Tucson Sector in fiscal 2012, the cause of death was undetermined, mostly because they were badly decomposed. In the Tucson area, the Pima County medical examiner is responsible for conducting autopsies on and trying to identify the bodies found.

So far this fiscal year, there have been 42 bodies of illegal border crossers found in the Tucson Sector.

One was that of Gerardo López de León, a 41-year-old Mexican national traveling with some relatives through an area near Peña Blanca Lake and Arivaca, said Sheriff Tony Estrada of Santa Cruz County.

He died of hypothermia, the most common cause of death after "undetermined." His body was found Feb. 12.

Estrada said his office has found three remains this calendar year compared with about eight or nine last year.

"The numbers went down tremendously from 20 or so, give or take on average we used to have," he said. "It's been declining, and it has a lot to do with numbers coming through."

The number of Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector has decreased from nearly 500,000 in 2001 to 120,000 last fiscal year.

The number of apprehensions is generally used as an indicator of the illegal immigrant flow.

Since 2001, more than 2,200, men, women and children have been found dead trying to cross illegally into the United States through Arizona's desert.

"Who is Dayani Cristal?"

The death toll in the border desert has for years caught the attention of journalists, filmmakers and photographers.

It is now the topic of a new film titled "Who is Dayani Cristal?" by Mexican actor Gael García Bernal and director Marc Silver, about a decomposing body found in the Arizona desert in August 2010. It screened at this year's Sundance Film Festival and is scheduled to be shown in Tucson later this year.

The film unravels the mystery about the dead man, who had "Dayani Cristal" tattooed across his chest.

He was found by two ranchers, who called the Pima County Sheriff's Department, said Dr. Greg Hess, the county medical examiner. The man was identified two months later as Dilcy Sanders Martinez, 29.

The film blends interviews and conventional documentary segments with Bernal's travels through Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico to reveal the circumstances that led Sanders Martinez on a 2,000-mile trek that ended in the desert, The Associated Press reported.

The film crew had the rare opportunity to follow the process of identifying the man to completion while it was in Tucson, said Robin Reineke, a University of Arizona graduate student who coordinates the Pima County Missing and Unidentified Persons Project and appears in the film.

Bernal and Silver said the intent was to put a face on one of the thousands - many anonymous - who have died in the Arizona desert, according to the AP.

"It allows you to understand the force that leads him to cross the border and shows you how it's not an individual choice," Reineke said.

BORDER DEATHS

Humane Borders, a local organization that provides water to illegal immigrants crossing through the Arizona desert, collaborates with the the Pima County medical examiner to develop detailed maps of the region that mark the location of every body discovered.

Thursday 21 February 2013

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/discoveries-of-crossers-bodies-now-at-lowest-level-in-years/article_203b9754-ecde-5bd9-a98c-c63f61b0a8d1.html

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Last rites: Court allows Baldia fire bodies to be buried

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday finally allowed the burial of 18 unidentified bodies of the Baldia factory fire victims, but ordered the national forensic science laboratory’s project director to complete DNA matching process within 20 days.

Nearly 259 workers were burnt in the country’s worst industrial disaster, when a huge fire reduced the Ali Enterprises to ashes on September 11, 2012. Many bodies were charred beyond recognition.

As the repeated DNA tests failed to determine the identities of all the victims, the bereaved families went to court seeking permission for mass burial.

“Six months have passed, but the officials have failed to establish the identities of our loved ones despite the fact that DNA samples have been obtained at least thrice,” they told the judges on Wednesday.

The relatives of 21 workers, who are believed to have been killed in the fire, had approached the SHC last week seeking permission for burial. “The bodies have been rotting for nearly seven months. What else is there left to do,” asked a parent of one of the victims.

On January 29, the court had directed the additional DIG, Iqbal Mehmood, to look after the identification process, as the matter had not been resolved despite earlier orders of the court.

The court had also directed the national forensics science agency to depute some competent officer or doctor along with technicians and equipments to examine these bodies within four days.

Taking strong exception to the delays, the irate judges on February 15 had personally summoned the additional DIG Karachi and the forensic laboratory’s chief.

On Wednesday both the officers appeared. The laboratory’s project director informed that fresh DNA samples of the families would be obtained within two days in another attempt to identify the victims. He sought time to complete the DNA matching process and submit a report.

With the consent of all the relevant parties, the bench, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, allowed the burial of the unidentified bodies within two days.

The deputy commissioner of district West and the police superintendent of SITE town were directed to supervise the burial process. The judges directed them to bury each body separately and mark it differently. The national forensic science laboratory’s project director has been asked to submit his report by March 12.

Thursday 21 February 2013

http://tribune.com.pk/story/510106/last-rites-court-allows-baldia-fire-bodies-to-be-buried/

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Missing identified in SW China landslide

Rescuers have identified the five people who went missing after a landslide in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The disaster struck on Monday morning in Longchang Township in the city of Kaili, burying six work sheds.

About 100 meters away from the landslide, there is a coal mine, called Ping Di. When the landslide happened, about 20 coal miners were doing preparation work inside for the restart of work after Chinese New Year. Hearing the loud sound, all of them rushed out safely.

Coal miner of Longchang, Guizhou Province, said, "I didn't know what happened. I followed the other coal miners and ran out. I just heard some noises."

But at least six sheds of the coal mine have been buried.

Pan Mei, survivor of Longchang, Guizhou Province, said, "I was watching TV at home. I was thinking about going to the market and heard a loud noise. It lasted for about five minutes. I ran out. There was a lot of dust. When I got out, I saw the landslide."

More than one hundred fire fighters have been sent to the scene for rescue work. Traffic control has been carried out day and night. At about eight o'clock in the evening, a huge amount of stones and sands rushed down from the mountain again. This has caused a lot of difficulties in the rescue work.

The landslide is still going on. All the rescue workers and cars have to transfer to safe places.

About 80 residents living around the area have also been evacuated. Although the local government has prepared well for rescue work, experts say it is not a good time for the frequent occurrence of landslides.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2013-02/19/content_27997995.htm

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Sri Lanka: The need for the preservation and proper inquiries into the remains of about 200 bodies found in the mass grave at Matale

A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status

1. The ALRC and its sister organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), have documented numerous cases of enforced disappearances to the state of Sri Lanka and to the UN Working Group.

2. The question of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka has been a matter of concern for the Working Group for a long period now. The particular issue that the ALRC wishes to highlight in this submission is the finding of the remains of around 200 bodies at Matale, which is under investigation by the Sri Lankan authorities. According to forensic experts who have so far done the preliminary work, the remains of the bodies indicate injuries and therefore the experts now regard the site containing these remains as a crime scene.

3. The assumption so far is that these remains are of persons who were arrested as suspects of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna during the period of its second uprising, known usually as the second insurrection. The period was between 1987 and 1991. According to the reports of the commissions of inquiry into involuntary disappearances there were complaints to these commissions of disappearances of persons numbering around 30,000.

4. Now that it has come to the notice of the authorities of the discovery of these remains in what may be called a mass grave it is the duty of the state to conduct thorough inquiries into the circumstances under which these persons have suffered the injuries which are evidenced by their remains and to ensure a credible course of action leading to the discovery of all the details relating to the alleged crimes.

5. An inquiry must be able to ascertain the identity of the persons whose remains have been found; where they were arrested if these persons were disposed of after arrest, what is the nature of the injuries indicated on the remains and what the historical circumstances that led to their treatment that in turn led to these injuries. Such information should finally lead to the identity of those who caused these injuries which led to the death of these persons. Once such factual details are established it would be possible to decide the course of action needed to ensure justice.

6. However, there are serious concerns about the manner in which the remains are being preserved and also the manner in which the inquiries are being conducted. There are detailed processes and techniques essential for the scientific investigation of atrocity crimes. These include methods for the location, evaluation, excavation, recovery, and recording of mass graves and the analysis of human remains and other evidence in order to establish the identity of victims and the cause and manner of their deaths.

7. The ALRC suggests that the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances should, through their experts, study the situation and the conduct of inquiries relating to the remains of the 200 or more persons found in Matale, Sri Lanka and assist the Sri Lankan government to ensure that these inquiries will meet the international standards required for such inquiries. The ALRC also suggests that the international community should assist the Sri Lankan government with expertise, equipment and the necessary financial resources for the proper conduct of investigations as well as the preservation of these remains under ideal conditions, which are required for such purposes.

8. The ALRC is concerned that if such international cooperation is not extended there is the possibility of the neglect of these remains which may lead to their destruction as a whole or in part and also that if the remains are not preserved under proper conditions their evidentiary value may progressively degenerate.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

http://www.humanrights.asia/news/alrc-news/human-rights-council/hrc22/ALRC-CWS-22-08-2013

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Peru returns bodies of war victims to families

Authorities in Peru's southern mountains have returned to their families the remains of 26 people killed in fighting between the army and Shining Path rebels in the 1980s.

The remains, including two women and three children, were exhumed from common graves in the Apurimac region late last year. Investigators managed to identify the remains so that they could be returned to their families for burial.

The bodies were handed over in a ceremony in the city of Cuzco on Tuesday. The families carried the remains of their loved ones in white coffins down the stone streets of the city, which serves as the gateway to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

The victims were believed to be local residents and villagers caught in the cross fire between soldiers and rebels, officials said.

Authorities in southeast Peru have been working in recent years to identify common graves left over from the bloody war between Maoist rebels and soldiers as part of an investigation into human rights abuses.

According to Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 69,000 people were killed or disappeared between 1980 and 2000 in Peru's armed conflict.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/19/peru-returns-bodies-of-war-victims-to-families/

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Pasta de Conchos mine disaster: ‘bodies must be recovered’

On Tuesday, the seventh anniversary of the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) announced that it will begin inspecting the site in an effort to recover the bodies of the miners who died in the 2006 accident.

On Feb. 19, 2006, at about 2:30 a.m., an explosion rocked the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila, killing 65 people. The mine is owned by Grupo México, the country’s largest mining company. Of the 65 miners buried in the blast, only two bodies were ever recovered.

Now the Labor Secretariat (STPS) has ordered a new investigation, and Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida said on Tuesday that it will determine whether or not it will be possible to recover the bodies.

Navarrete Prida said that “in starting a new investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, we can discover the exact technical conditions of the mine at the time and now. This will tell us what the new administration can or cannot do about the situation. “The federal government and President Enrique Peña Nieto express once more their condolences to the families of those miners for the tragedy that occurred several years ago.”

The new investigation comes as members of The National Mining and Metal Workers Union (SNTMMSRM) gathered around the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the explosion and demand justice for the families of those killed in the disaster.

At the time of the disaster, the union leader Napoleón Gómez Sada accused the federal government of colluding with Grupo México to block a thorough investigation of the site, which miners had complained was unsafe.

Navarrete Prida said that more than 200 mining operations have been inspected since December 2012.

He added that the STPS was working with federal and state authorities to determine if the Pasta de Conchos explosion was related to organized crime.

“We want to make sure coal mines, to which there is no economic alternative, are places where conditions are adequate for workers,” he said.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

http://www.thenews.com.mx/index.php/mexico-articulos/6382-%E2%80%98bodies-must-be-recovered%E2%80%99

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Heavy rain suspends search for 5 miners

Intermittent heavy rain forced the search for five miners trapped inside a mining pit of Semirara Mining Corp. in Caluya, Antique, to be suspended, an official said Monday.

Rescuers stopped their search after two landslides occurred near the west wall pit.

The bodies of five miners have been recovered beneath the rubble after the west wall of the Pani-an pit caved in on the night of Feb. 13, trapping 13 people.

“Retrieval operations are temporarily suspended due to the rainy weather,” said Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr.

He said the miners who remained trapped had a slim chance of survival, though he was hoping an air pocket would allow them to breathe.

A left arm from a still unidentified miner was recovered after it was seen floating near the Pani-an pit.

The police investigators who were sent to the site to determine what caused the coal pit to collapse were still to file a report, but it appeared that whatever caused it was aggravated by the heavy downpour.

Semirara Mining Corp. on Monday said the operations at the Pani-an site remained suspended as the company and government authorities continued to search for the five missing miners.

The company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that dogs had been called in to aid in the search.

“Further, the company has guaranteed financial, employment, scholarship and livelihood assistance to the families of those involved,” Semirara said.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/02/19/heavy-rain-suspends-search-for-5-miners/

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Yemeni military plane crashes in capital Sanaa, 12 dead

A Yemeni air force plane crashed in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, security sources said.

State news agency Saba said three women and two children were among those killed when the plane, on a training flight, came down in a western residential district. Eleven people were wounded, security sources said.

Pictures of the crash on social media sites showed one body near burning wreckage of the aircraft. Several cars were on fire and debris littered the street.

A security official said the pilot had ejected from the plane. There was no immediate word on whether he had survived.

"It's terrible and painful," resident Abdullah al-Ashwal said. "The police and medics evacuated five completely burned bodies, they were all unrecognisable."

Abdulsattar Mohammed said he saw a plane burning near houses that were also set on fire. "People were terrified and ambulances arrived late," he said.

A military official said the plane was a Russian SU-22 fighter/ground attack aircraft.

Yemen has 30 SU-22s and four SU-22UM3s in an air force with 79 capable aircraft in all, according to the 2012 Military Balance handbook issued by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

In November 2012, a Yemeni military transport plane crashed near Sanaa airport and burst into flames, killing all 10 people aboard.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/19/uk-yemen-crash-idUKBRE91I0DL20130219

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Ezu River mystery: Bodies belong to executed Kidnappers

The mystery surrounding the dead bodies found floating in the Ezu River, Anambra State has finally been unraveled. The bodies belong to suspected kidnappers who have been terrorizing the South-East zone.

Investigation revealed that leaders of the zone have been greatly disturbed by the unbridled activities of notorious indigenes of the zone who have decided to derive pleasure from snatching their kith and kin for money. And in order to curb this activity, the leaders reached an unwritten agreement which is to deal with apprehended suspect extra-judicially.

Some of the states in the zone including Anambra made their House of Assembly to pass an Edict making kidnapping punishable by death.

But the law as developments would later prove has not deterred the men prone to this cruel means of making money from engaging in their terrifying activities.

It would be recalled that to press matter home, some 1000 indigene of Anambra staged a protest complaining to the State Government the effect of the activities of these men is having on their means of daily survival. Because of the rate of this nefarious crime, most children of the state living abroad have refused to come home for visits thus denying them access to much needed foreign currency useful in their daily upkeep. The protesters which included women and children cried to the Governor to find means of dealing with the issue.

Investigation revealed that most of the bodies belonged to suspected kidnappers arrested between October and November last year. And reluctant to follow the long route of prosecution, the state in connivance with the security decided to terminate the lives of these men.

Although, the initial plan was to conduct a mass burial, the men charged with the task later changed their mind in view to the task involved. But their solution has since backfired with the whole world wanting to know what triggered the dumping of such a number of bodies in the river.

Insiders informed that recent police denial of the claims made the by the Movement for the Actualization of The Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that some of the dead bodies were its members was not far from the truth but that associations do at times cut across and that some MASSOB members might have had links with kidnappers in the region, and that some existing MASSOB members may still have.

It would be recalled that the police boss in the state, Ballah Nasarawa, on February 12, 2013, no member of the movement was either killed or dumped in Ezu River by the Police.

While briefing newsmen at the police headquarters located in Amawbia, Nasarawa revealed that the names mentioned by MASSOB as some of its missing members were not in the records of the state command, adding that as far as the police were concerned, MASSOB remained a proscribed body by the government.

He said, “As far as Anambra state police command is concerned, MASSOB had been proscribed by government and must remain so. Therefore, any person that hides under the protection of MASSOB, or any illegal organization for that matter, and commits any criminal act, will be arrested and prosecuted'.

He stressed that that the command was putting the records straight, adding that all suspected criminals arrested under the guise of MASSOB were dully charged to courts.

Earlier at the beginning of the debacle, the Civil Liberties organization (CLO) in Anambra State had accused the Anambra State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of complicity in the discovery of 50 dead bodies floating in a river in the state.

The State Chairman, Comrade Aloysius Attah and Secretary, Comrade Justus Ijeoma in a press statement pointed accusing finger at the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) saying they contended that litanies of extra judicial killings have been rampant in the state insisting that government should investigate the activities of the body.

But the State Police Command through the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka denied the allegation, describing it as untrue and added that there were no bullet wounds on the bodies of the corpses.

Chukwuemeka stressed that an autopsy is already been carried out by a team of specialist on the bodies and that such insinuations would affect investigation into the matter.

The villagers of the small and obscure town of Amansea located at the border of Enugu and Anambra State woke up to discover dead bodies of able bodied young men floating on their river known as 'Ezu River' which empties into Anambra River from Agba Ogwudu River in Enugu State. Information gathered by National Daily then revealed that some villagers went to fetch water from the river in the morning only to discover dead bodies floating slowly, with some wedged on the banks of the river. After counting up to 50 bodies, they quickly alerted their traditional ruler, Igwe Kenneth Okonkwo who mobilized his cabinet for an emergency meeting after which the state government and the police was contacted. According to the traditional ruler who looked dazed, “I have never seen this kind of incident; in fact I do not know how to describe it. Able bodied men wasted and dumped in our river major source of water for us and other communities close to us. I cannot say actually how many bodies that were dumped inside the river but all I know is that they are too many,” he said.

The CLO had further claimed that one Olisa Ifedika who is said to be a kidnapping kingpin in the state and his gang who were arrested and has been in custody of the police is among the dead bodies found at Ezu River.

“We scrutinized the bodies and saw a mark with which he is known,” a source told National Daily but the according to the police PPRO, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, the suspect is alive and in their custody where “he is helping police with investigations,” he said.

The CLO demanded that if the police are sincere in what they are saying they should present the suspects to the public; a demand that has not been met as at the time of writing this report.

Out of the total number of twenty two decomposing bodies evacuated from the river, 19 were earlier given a mass burial close to the river, but the uncertainty surrounding the deaths necessitated that three out of the lot were taken for autopsy procedures on them.

National Daily investigation gathered that following the accusations by the CLO on the state police command, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubaker, dispatched pathologists from the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja to be part of the team to forestall foul play.

The bodies were taken to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, for the autopsy.

The police established that of all the deceased victims, none was a female adding that while some wore only singlet, others wore only pants with some others boxers. Nasarawa also confirmed that there were no gun injuries or machete cuts on their bodies as earlier speculated. Nasarawa stated further that investigations were still continuing on the matter, assuring that the police would be providing additional information on the matter as they became available.

Attempt by National Daily to visit the site of the exhumation near the Ezu River was stalled as the police cordoned off the area and refused anybody from gaining access. It also directed all enquiries to either the State Commissioner for Health or the Commissioner of Police but, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ikeako said he was yet to be briefed by the team of pathologists. He also explained that the bodies had gone so bad, having been buried for over one week and urged those seeking information on the matter to be patient until he had adequate information to give on the findings of the autopsy. Ikeako noted that the state government had already picked a bill of N1.5 million from the morticians and those who evacuated the bodies, even as more bills were being expected for the autopsy proper and embalmment.

National Daily learnt that the bodies were dumped from the top of the bridge at Amansea into the river few days before the shilling discovery and the question on the lips of people of Amansea and beyond is; when will the truth behind the dumped dead bodies be told?.

According to the men sent by the traditional ruler of Amansea, Igwe Kenneth Okonkwo to find out what happened; they said they saw traces of what looked like blood on the bridge, even as there was no sign of scuffle in the area. In their thinking, the victims were killed elsewhere and brought to the river where they were dumped but the police on their part said there were no bullet wounds on the victims' bodies.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

http://nationaldailyngr.com/current-edition/ezu-river-mystery-bodies-belong-to-executed-kidnappers

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Accident claims 16 lives on Jigawa /Kano Road

A motor accident at Durbundai village in Takai Local Council of Kano State, which is some a few kilometres from Jigawa State, has claimed not less than 16 people, members of the same family and indigenes of Waza village in Birninkudu Local Council of Jigawa state.

The accident, which occurred on Saturday, an eye-witness confirmed, also injured seven persons, who are receiving treatment at Rasheed Shekoni Special Hospital Dutse.

The eyewitness told The Guardian that the two vehicles, a Toyota Siena and Ford bus, which were coming from opposite directions, had a head on collision, claiming the lives of 11 passengers instantly.

Continuing, he stated that there were two occupants in the Toyota, a male and female, adding that he could not ascertain the number of passengers in the Ford bus but he indicated that the bus was over-loaded.

The Birninkudu Local Council Chairman, Alhaji Khali Ibrahim confirmed the accident. He said the victims were on their way to Tsangaya village of Albasu Local Council in Kano State to attend a wedding Fatiya of their relation.

Ibrahim explained that “when the accident occurred, 11 people died on the spot, adding that three died later in the hospital same Saturday and on Sunday morning, another two also passed on.

The chairman explained further that the nine dead bodies received mass burial at Waza village while two were buried at Unguwar Bashe village, a few kilometres to Waza.

The Chairman promised to foot the medical bills of those admitted in Rasheed Shekoni Specialist hospital

Governor Sule Lamido has visited the injured victims at the hospital and has also paid condolence visits to the families of the deceased.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113836:accident-claims-16-lives-on-jigawa-kano-road&catid=3:metro&Itemid=558

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Australia-bound refugees 'dumped bodies at sea'

A boatload of Myanmar refugees rescued from a sinking wooden vessel off Sri Lanka's east coast after two months at sea had been trying to reach Australia, police say.

Shocking pictures have emerged of the boat people, who were plucked to safety by Sri Lanka's navy at the weekend and taken to the southern port of Galle where they were rushed to hospital to be treated for dehydration and starvation.

A Myanmar embassy spokesman said 32 people were rescued, although initial reports from naval units had suggested there were 38.

The group comprising 31 adult males and a boy had been at sea without food for 21 days when the navy rescued them after being informed by a local fishing boat.

Survivors have told local newspapers there were 130 passengers at the beginning of the journey, and 98 died on the way with their bodies dumped to sea.

They said they were planning to go to Australia after their attempt to enter Malaysia failed.

"We have been told of 32 people rescued and we are waiting to speak to them," embassy spokesman Aung Soe Moe said.

Sri Lankan police said the rescued boat people claimed they were in a group of 130 who set out in three boats just over two months ago with the intention of reaching Australia.

The fate of the others was not known.

Saturday's rescue was the second in less than two weeks.

On February 3, the navy rescued 138 Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals from a sinking boat. One passenger was found dead.

Local police officials said it was unclear if those identified as Myanmar nationals were Rohingya - members of a stateless Muslim minority described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted groups - who had fled the country.

An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine since June 2012 has triggered a seaborne exodus of Rohingya.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/16180387/australia-bound-refugees-dumped-bodies-at-sea/

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Authorities recover 4 more bodies at site of Czech gas blast, death toll at 5

Officials say the death toll after a powerful gas explosion that destroyed a three-story apartment building in eastern Czech Republic has risen to five.

Firefighters spokesman Petr Kudela said Monday rescuers working with sniffer dogs found three dead children and one more body burned beyond recognition. Another body was recovered Sunday.

Officials say 11 people were injured in the blast that occurred early Sunday in the town of Frenstat pod Radhostem.

One person is still missing.

Police spokeswoman Sona Stetinska said a gas leak apparently caused the blast, which heavily damaged the building early Sunday in the town of Frenstat pod Radhostem. Fire department spokesman Vladimir Vlcek said it would take hours to search the rubble of the building.

Monday 18 February 2013

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Authorities+recover+more+bodies+site+Czech+blast+death+toll/7979575/story.html#ixzz2LFhvoHCi

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Update: Indonesia floods, landslides kill 17

Four children were among 17 people killed over the weekend in central Indonesia after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, officials say.

The children, aged between two and nine, died along with 13 adults when flooding and landslides hit the northern part of Sulawesi island early Sunday, said provincial disaster management agency spokesman Howke Makawarung on Monday.

"We recorded 17 people killed. All bodies were found on Sunday," he said, adding that heavy rains had hit three areas, including the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado which saw water levels up to 4m.

Water, which inundated around 5,000 houses in Manado, had receded by Monday and residents had begun cleaning up their homes.

A landslide which hit the city killed a six-year old boy.

"He was taking a bath in the morning when a landslide suddenly struck his house," said the capital deputy mayor Harley Mangindaan.

Indonesia is regularly affected by deadly floods and landslides during its wet season, which lasts for around six months.

Environmentalists blame logging and a failure to reforest denuded land for exacerbating flooding.

Heavy rains caused flooding in the capital Jakarta in January that left 32 people dead and at its peak forced nearly 46,000 to flee their homes.

Sunday 18 February 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/indonesia-floods-landslides-kill-17/story-fn3dxix6-1226580661992

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Tragic traffic accident kills 7 in Lam Dong

Seven people, including three children, were killed and one was injured after a truck crashed into three motorcycles in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong on February 16.

The accident happened at 17.30 when the truck carrying vegetables was travelling en route from Lam Dong’s Bao Loc district to Ho Chi Minh City.

It bumped into three motorbikes in opposite direction carrying 8 people who were then caught up in the truck chassis and dragged away tens of metres. The truck plunged into the Bao Loc ravine.

Five people were killed at the scene, two other died on the way to hospital, and another was seriously injured at Lam Dong’s General Hospital 2. Among the deaths were three children.

Local police were mobilised to clear traffic and look into the cause of the accident.

They identified the six dead bodies who were all from Lam Dong province.

Vietnamese people are celebrating the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday which sees a sharp increase in the number of traffic accidents.

Preliminary reports showed that 290 traffic accidents have occurred during the week-long holiday, killing 234 people and injuring 284 others.

Sunday 18 February 2013

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/66602/tragic-traffic-accident-kills-7-in-lam-dong.html

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Survivors of 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire mark 10 years

Survivors of a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people and relatives of those killed huddled together in bitter cold Sunday at the site of the disaster to mark the 10th anniversary of the fire.

Some brought flowers and paid their respects at the handmade crosses that dot the site for each person who died. Others cried and spoke of missing their loved ones and the difficulty of moving past such trauma.

"People that weren't here really don't understand why we can't let this stuff go. I was 30 seconds away from dying," said Walter Castle Jr., 39, a survivor who suffered third-degree burns in his lungs, throat and bronchial tubes. He said he lost many friends and was in counseling until 2009. Recently, as the 10th anniversary approached, he began having terrible nightmares and had to go back into counseling.

"It's just very tough," he said.

The anniversary of the blaze is Wednesday. The fire broke out when pyrotechnics for the rock band Great White ignited flammable packing foam that had been installed in The Station club as soundproofing. Last month, a fire at a nightclub in Brazil killed more than 230 people under circumstances that were eerily similar: A band's pyrotechnic display set fire to soundproofing foam.

Among those who spoke Sunday was former Gov. Don Carcieri, who took office the month before the fire and still gets choked up when speaking about it. He remembered the days families waited at a hotel for word that their loved ones' remains had been identified, and the anger everyone felt, asking how the tragedy could have happened. But he also remembered how people in Rhode Island, a state with a population of just 1 million, pulled together to help each other.

"At a time of our state's worst tragedy, in some sense, it was our people's finest hour," he said.

Angela Bogart, who was 19 when her mother, Jude Henault, was killed in the fire, said she has come to know and understand her mother more in the 10 years since she died, especially since she has become a mother herself.

"My mom lives in me in everything I do. I hear her voice wherever I go," she said. "When I walk hand-in-hand with my little girl, my mother is holding her other hand."

The ceremony also featured musical performances, a reading of the names of the people who died and 100 seconds of silence.

While somber, the annual gathering at the fire site took on a more hopeful tone this year than in years past because a foundation set up to build a permanent memorial secured ownership of the site in September after years of trying. On Sunday, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation released final plans for the memorial.

They call for a 30-foot-high entrance gate topped by an Aeolian harp. Wind passing through the harp will create music, a reminder that it was music that brought people together that night.

The permanent memorial will include an individual memorial for each person who died and commemorate the survivors, first responders and those who helped care for families of the dead and survivors in the weeks and months after the fire. It will also include a pavilion as a gathering place.

Families are being asked to remove the crosses and other personal mementos that have been left at the site at the makeshift memorial that has developed over the years. The items left behind will be buried in a capsule under an area that is now the parking lot. There will be no digging on the land under where the club once stood because of the fear of disturbing human remains.

While much of the materials and labor to build the memorial will be donated, foundation officials say they need to raise $1 million to $2 million to build and maintain it.

The foundation hopes to break ground in the spring. Construction of the memorial could take one to two years.

Gina Russo, who was badly burned in the fire and whose fiancé was killed, is president of the foundation and said the memorial would turn the site into something beautiful.

"It's a happy moment going forward," she said.

Sunday 17 February 2013

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/17/rhode-island-nightclub-fire-station-anniversary/1926737/

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DNA test confirms ID of Tamil Nadu Express fire victim

Hopes of the parents of TN express fire mishap victim Jaswant Singh, 17, of Punjab were shattered after the DNA test carried out at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting Department (CDFD), Hyderabad, recently proved that one of the unclaimed bodies is their biological son. The parents have been searching for him believing that he is alive.

It may be recalled that 28 passengers travelling in S-11 coach of Tamil Nadu Express bound for Chennai were charred to death in a fire mishap soon after the train crossed Nellore railway station during the early hours of July 30 last year.

Railway police have sought DNA test with blood samples of the parents of Jaswant Singh and Avinash. The samples of the parents were compared at CDFD with the tissue and bone samples of two bodies and also with six body pieces recovered from the coach. The samples of the male body tallied with the blood samples of Jaswant Singh parents, Ravinder Singh and Kamaljit Kaur.

Railway DSP of Nellore G. Srinivasa Rao had informed Ravinder Singh about the DNA matching after receiving the report few days ago. Close relatives of the victim Gurudev Singh, Amarik Singh and Manjit Singh came to Nellore on Saturday at the instance of the DSP.

The relatives decided to take Jaswant’s bones collected for DNA test and immerse in a holy river at Shri Kartarpur Sahib in Punjab since last rites were already performed before burying at Nellore. They decided to offer prayers at the graveyard where Jaswant Singh was buried.

Sunday 17 February 2013

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130217/news-current-affairs/article/dna-test-tallied-punjab-boy

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Foreign experts to help recover bodies in Semirara

Two foreign experts arrived yesterday in Caluya, Semirara Island in Antique to assist officials of the Semirara Coal and Mining Corp. in the recovery of the bodies of workers trapped in a mining pit during a landslide last Feb. 14.

The foreigners, an American guest instructor and an Australian volunteer, arrived with Broderick Train, officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC), to check on the incident command activation, according to Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., Western Visayas police director.

Cruz said K-9 dogs have marked two areas believed to be where the missing miners were trapped.

“Retrieval operations using backhoes and bulldozers are still on going for the five still missing workers. Five K-9 units are already at Panian pit to assist in locating the victims,” he said.

The bodies of five other victims were recovered shortly after the landslide. Three other workers were rescued and are now at the hospital undergoing treatment.

Cruz said the foreigners would coordinate with other government agencies in the area, while two personnel from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are tasked to conduct an investigation on the incident.

He said Semirara Mayor Genevive Lim-Reyes announced that she would give financial assistance worth P20,000, while the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council would also give P10,000 to affected families.

Police said a mass was held in the area for the safe recovery of the missing workers.

Authorities established a command post on Saturday morning at the barangay hall of Semirara, manned by police personnel led by Senior Police Officer 1 Arturo Diorda, who was assigned to coordinate with the local government of Semirara.

Cruz said Train would take over as incident manager once he arrives at the site.

PNP Caluya and the provincial disaster management council are in the process of gathering information to come up with a comprehensive report on the incident.

Meanwhile, organized labor yesterday called on the government to look for alternative and safer sources of energy instead of using coal in power generation.

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said that the use of coal put the lives of mining workers in danger.

Sunday 17 February 2013

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/02/18/910120/foreign-experts-help-recover-bodies-semirara

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At least 10 dead in Indonesia landslides, floods

Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain in northern Indonesia have killed at least 10 people and sent hundreds fleeing for safe ground.

Disaster official Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says mud and rocks cascaded down hills Sunday in seven sub-districts of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, while more than 1,000 houses were flooded after downpours caused a river to burst its banks.

He says nine bodies were pulled from the mud and wreckage of crumpled homes and another from water.

About 1,200 people fled to temporary shelters.

Rescuers are searching for those who may still be buried beneath mud and rocks. Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Sunday 17 February 2013

Read More at: http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/21ea9664-www.wlos.com.shtml#.USD330Fb7jI

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