Bangladesh ferry disaster death toll rises

The death toll in Bangladesh's passenger ferry tragedy on the river Padma in Manikganj, near Dhaka, has risen to 72.

Two more dead bodies were unofficially claimed, soon after official announcement of the recovery of 70 bodies on 23 February.

At least five passengers remain missing, Bangladesh Department of Shipping's (DoS's) chief nautical surveyor Jashim Uddin Sarker told IHS Maritime.

He said around 120 passengers were saved by local rescuers and other vessels from Padma, which is the Bangladesh part of the river Ganges. However, family members of at least 30 missing passengers are still searching for bodies in the disaster area, according to the reports published today (24 February) in local media. The exact number of those on board has not yet been determined.

The over-loaded double-decker motor launch, Mostafa, with an estimated 200 passengers, capsized after being hit by fertiliser laden cargo vessel Nargis-1 and sank on 22 February before noon, near the Paturia terminal. Mostafa was heading towards Paturia from nearby Daulatdia. According to Sarker, Nargis-1 is a bay-crossing vessel, weighing around 330 gt. DoS's chief engineer, Fakhrul Islam, confirmed to IHS Maritime that the names of both vessels were correct and registered with the department.

Of the recovered dead bodies of 28 women, 15 children, and 27 men, 29 were recovered from the cabin of the salvaged Mostafa. The vessel was salvaged on 23 February morning, when the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA)'s salvage ship Rustam pulled the ferry out of the mid-stream of the Padma, BIWTA chairman Dr Samsuddoha Khondaker told IHS Maritime.

Sarker said the latest two reported bodies recovered by rescuers may be counted unofficially as the search for bodies continues by private operators and the local district administration, including the local fire service. DoS sources said the government will continue the search for bodies for several days.

Islam said Mostafa's night-time capacity was 62 passengers, while the day-time capacity was 140. DoS officials admitted that such vessels are known to have violated capacity regulations and that the operations of cargo vessels is inadequately overseen by law enforcers due to shortages of equipment and manpower. As a result accidents occur every year, with large numbers of casualties.

The police arrested the captain of Nargis-1, the vessel that reportedly ran into the side of Mostafa causing it to capsize. A three-member committee from the DoS has been set up to determine the cause of the accident. Witnesses said Mostafa sank shortly after being hit by Nargis-1.

Tuesday 24 February 2015

http://www.ihsmaritime360.com/article/16829/bangladesh-ferry-disaster-death-toll-rises

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Bangladesh: Rescue operation called off, ferry pulled out to the bank

Manikganj Deputy Commissioner has called off the rescue operation after passenger ferry ML Mostofa was pulled out and turned around near the banks of the river Padma.

Deputy Commissioner Rashida Ferdous has called off the rescue operation after 69 bodies were fished out of the river until 10:30am on Monday, more than 20 hours after the disaster.

“However local authorities and divers will keep up the search with trawlers for more bodies that might be around”, she said.

57 of the total 69 bodies have been identified and handed over to the families.

The remaining 12 unidentified bodies would be sent to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital’s (DMCH) morgue, she added.

“We have requested (the DMCH) to keep the bodies for at least two days, so that their families could identify them.”

Double-decker ML Mostofa-3, on its way to Daulatdia, sank after being hit by cargo vessel MV Nargis-1 soon after leaving Paturia dock on Sunday noon.

More than a hundred passengers of two buses -- ‘Comfort Line’ and ‘Rajdhani Express’ -- were being ferried across the river.

Witnesses said, the vessel sank shortly after being hit by the cargo vessel MV Nargis-1.

Locals with boats and trawlers rushed to rescue the passenger. Some of the passengers swam to nearby boats and trawlers.

A BIWTC tugboat located the ferry on Sunday afternoon. Rescue vessel, ‘Rustom’ pulled it out and carried it to the banks of the river around 4:30am.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan visited the site and announced Tk 100,000 for families of each victim. The Manikganj district administration has announced a further Tk 20,000.

The DC at a press conference said so far only one missing complaint has been filed.

The total number of passengers on the ferry could not be verified. “The ferry could hold 140 passengers, my guess is there should be about 150 passengers on board”, said DC Rashida.

Asked if the vessel was overcrowded that caused it to capsize, DC said it was the captains’ lack of skill that led to the disaster. “They (the captains) were not alert. Both the captains have proved they were professionally incompetent. ”

The cargo vessel’s captain and two of its crew have been arrested. The Department of Shipping has formed a three-member committee to probe the accident.

Monday 23 February 2015

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/02/23/rescue-operation-called-off-ferry-pulled-out-to-the-bank

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Ten passengers die as van catches fire near Nooriabad

At least ten passengers were burnt to death and ten others injured when a van overturned and its CNG cylinder exploded near Nooriabad town in Jamshoro district late Sunday night, Dunya News reported.

The ill-fated van was traveling from Karachi to Hyderabad.

Medical teams have collected samples to conduct DNA tests to identify the bodies, many of which were charred beyond recognition.

Two victims including 40-year-old Musarrat and her husband Iqbal (45) have been identified by their relatives. Both were residents of Latifabad area in Hyderabad.

On the other hand, authorities have decided to cancel route permits of the bus transporter and register a case against the owner of the van.

Pakistan has an appalling record of fatal traffic accidents due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

Monday 23 February 2015

http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Pakistan/263143-Ten-passengers-die-as-van-catches-fire-near-Nooria

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Families of Lagos victims cannot live without certainty

The tragedy of the death of 84 South Africans at a Nigerian church in Lagos last year is far from over, the pain is nowhere near its end.

One family whose daughter was among those killed when a building at the church collapsed has threatened to go to court for an order that the bodies of all the victims be exhumed if the results of independent DNA testing do not confirm that the body they received was that of their child.

The family is adamant that the body they received is not that of their daughter, Phumzile Mkhulisi, 47. The family's suspicions arose after what it claims was state bungling and "unconvincing" statements by South African officials.

Although our government did everything in its power to help repatriate the bodies, it is worrying that one family cannot have closure.

Mkhulisi's brother says h er body could be in any one of 80-odd graves across the country.

It was painful, and outright shocking, that the Nigerian authorities acted at snail's pace to identify the South Africans killed at the church.

Now we are faced with serious allegations that some of the bodies might have been wrongly identified.

This tragedy tells us that the government should add dental records to its identification systems.

Some will say that the government did not send the victims to Nigeria, and that it should be praised for helping to bring the bodies home.

But families have the right to know that they are burying the right body. They cannot be expected to keep quiet when there are doubts about who is in the coffin.

We call on the South African and Nigerian governments to clear up lingering doubts about the identity of some of the dead.

The Mkhulisi family will get closure only when all its questions have been answered.

Monday 23 February 2015

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/02/22/families-of-lagos-victims-cannot-live-without-certainty

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At least 41 dead after overcrowded ferry sinks in Bangladesh river

An overcrowded ferry has sunk in a Bangladesh river leaving at least 41 people including 11 children dead as rescuers search for missing passengers.

The ferry collided with a cargo vessel and sank within minutes on the Padma river, the second deadly boat accident in a fortnight in the country, which has a history of ferry tragedies.

"Divers have recovered 41 bodies. The dead included 11 children and seven women," local police chief Rakibuz Zaman said, updating an earlier toll of 38.

Officials said they did not know the exact number of people missing, but said search and rescue efforts would continue through the night, with the aid of floodlights from other ferries on the river.

Rescuers were unloading bodies from small boats some 70km from the capital Dhaka at the Paturia ferry terminal in the country's northwest, where grieving relatives have gathered to identify them.

"We found one body but five are still missing. We were returning home after the opening of a temple," Hindu holy man Kumud Ranjan Goswami said of his colleagues.

Survivors said the MV Mostofa was overcrowded with about 70-150 passengers crammed into the upper and lower decks, leaving them scrambling to find their loved ones when the tragedy struck.

"I was holding my mother's hand when the cargo boat hit our ferry from behind," an 18-year-old who gave his name as Al Amin told AFP at the terminal.

"Within two minutes the ferry was sunk. Before I realised I was washed away to the middle of the river.

"I swam and a ferry rescued me. But I don't know what happened to my mom."

Police chief Mr Zaman said some 50 people "swam ashore or were rescued by other vessels".

Bangladeshi ferries do not normally keep passenger lists, making it difficult to establish how many are missing after an accident.

An official said a salvage vessel was on its way to raise the sunken ferry, adding that the master of the cargo ship and two other crew had been arrested.

The Padma river is one of the largest in the delta nation, and boats are the main form of travel in many of Bangladesh's remote rural areas, especially in the south and northeast.

Local newspaper Prothom Alo quoted one survivor, Hafizur Rahman, as saying the cargo ship hit the boat 15 minutes after departure - causing it to overturn and trapping many passengers.

"I was on the deck of the ferry and fell into the river. Those who were on the deck were able to come out but none of the passengers inside could get out," Mr Rahman told the paper.

Boat capsizes are common in Bangladesh, one of Asia's poorest nations, which is criss-crossed by more than 230 rivers.

Experts blame poorly maintained vessels, flaws in design and overcrowding for most of the tragedies.

This month, at least five people including a minor were killed when an overloaded ferry carrying some 200 passengers capsized in an estuary in the south of the country.

About 50 people were also killed in August last year when a crowded ferry sank in rough weather in the Munshiganj district.

Naval officials have said more than 95 percent of Bangladesh's hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized boats do not meet minimum safety regulations.

Sunday 22 February 2015

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/02/23/02/08/bangladesh-ferry-sinks-as-search-for-missing-continues#FRvfLYSyXZwHe5MH.99

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Bangladesh ferry capsizes with 100 passengers on board

A Bangladeshi ferry carrying more than 100 passengers capsized on Sunday in the Padma river, 70 km (44 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka, police said.

Bidhan Tripura, police superintendent of Manikganj district, said the ferry was hit by a cargo trawler but that no casualties had yet been reported.

Low-lying Bangladesh, with extensive inland waterways and slack safety standards, suffers regular ferry disasters, with deaths sometimes running into the hundreds.

The ferry was heading to Paturia from Daulatdia in Rajbari.

Ten days ago, at least three people have died after a boat carrying Muslim pilgrims travelling to an annual Islamic congregation capsized in a river in southern Bangladesh.

The overloaded ferry with 200 passengers aboard sank on Friday Feb 13 in the Taltoli estuary leading to the Bay of Bengal, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the capital, Dhaka, police said.

Most of the passengers on the boat, which departed from Bangladesh’s southernmost coastal town of Kuakata, were heading to a religious gathering in the southwestern Bangladesh district of Barguna, said Babul Akhter, an official at Barguna police station.

While rescuers in Bangladesh have managed to retrieve the bodies after the boat capsized, still five passengers are unaccounted for, Akhter said, adding, “Most of the passengers were able to swim ashore.”

Ferry accidents are common in riverine low-lying Bangladesh with slack safety standards. Casualties of appalling shipping accidents sometimes run above hundreds.

Last August, Bangladesh for the first time arrested the owner of a ferry which sank resulting in the death of 110 people.

Sunday 22 February 2015

http://tuoitrenews.vn/international/26218/bangladesh-ferry-capsizes-with-100-passengers-on-board

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Dukki mine disaster: Bodies of seven miners recovered on fourth day

At least seven dead bodies of laborers have been recovered today (Sunday) from a coal mine in Duki area of Loralai, Dunya News reported.

According to sources, fourth day of evacuating the laborers from the coal mine is underway in Loralai.

Rescue teams and Levies personnel’s pulled out four bodies from the mine last night whereas three were evacuated early morning today.

Four of the laborers have been identified as Jin Bakht, Mir Alim, Aqal Zaman and Azeem Khan.

According to rescue teams, the bodies of the laborers are burned and mutilated.

Mining industry of Loralai earns hundreds of millions rupees but in case of such accident, there are no rescue measurements for the labourers.

Earlier, the coal mine collapsed on Thursday morning when suddenly the mine was filled with gas and a blast occurred.

As many as 20 miners got stuck under the collapsed mine while at least eight died on the spot. After 24 hours, 11 laborers were rescued alive but unconscious.

Rescue team from Quetta could make it to Loralai after 10 hours of the accident.

Tehseeldar of Dukki, Habibur Rehman told Dunya News that dead bodies of the miners to be retrieved are 2200 feet down the earth.

Sunday 22 February 2015

http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Pakistan/262980-Loralai-Bodies-of-seven-miners-recovered-on-fourt

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Bus overturns in western Indonesia, killing 18

Police say a crowded bus overturned on a toll road on Indonesia’s main island of Java and 18 people were killed.

Java police Lt. Col. Pungki Bhuwana says about 50 other passengers were injured in the crash Friday on Jatingaleh turnpike near Semarang, the capital of Central Java province.

The bus ran out of control and rolled over on a sharp bend, hitting a road divider before ending up on a gorge wall.

It was carrying members of a Quran recitation group back from the Central Java town of Pekalongan to Bojonegoro in East Java.

The injured victims were taken to the Bhayangkara, Kariadi, St. Elisabeth and Sultan Agung hospitals. Semarang Traffic Police unit chief Adj. Sr. Comr.

Sixteen passengers of the Sang Engon bus died after it rolled over at high speed on the Jangli toll road in Semarang on Friday.

Two more passengers of a bus that rolled over in Semarang, Central Java, died on Saturday, bringing the accident death toll to 18.

Central Java Police medic and health division head Sr. Comr. Rini Muliawati said the two victims died at Kariadi Hospital.

"The remains have been taken to their hometown in Bojonegoro, East Java," Rini said in Semarang as quoted by Antara news agency.

The bus was transporting 58 passengers, most of them middle-aged, from Bojonegoro on Friday morning to a religious event in Pekalongan, Central Java.

The Disaster Victim Identification team (DVI) of new Central Java Police has identified five of a total of 18 bodies of victims killed.

Tim Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Sector Health Medicine (Dokkes) Central Java Police opened a post Ante Mortem for reporting missing persons related to the accident at Toll Teak Ngaleh.

Ante Mortem post Bhayangkara Hospital Complex opened in Semarang. Dokkes Head of Central Java Police, Police Commissioner Muliawati Rini said, passengers are not all know each other.

For identification of victims it also involves INAFIS (Indonesian Automatic Fingerprint Identification System) Central Java Police. "Not all victims identified. Data ante mortem less complete (profile or supporting data on the victim), "he said in the Post DVI, Friday February 20th.

Saturday 21 February 2015

http://asiancorrespondent.com/130780/crowded-bus-overturns-in-western-indonesia-killing-16/

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/21/semarang-bus-crash-claims-two-more-lives.html

http://daerah.sindonews.com/read/967178/22/polda-jateng-buka-posko-ante-mortem-1424493913

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10 workers dead in Abu Dhabi building fire

In one of the worst fires in the UAE, 10 people were killed and eight injured in an early morning blaze in the capital’s Musaffah area at a local tyre shop located in a two-storey building on Friday.

The ground floor had seven stores and one car repair-shop and witnesses say five of the commercial units and the car repair shop were affected by the fire. The blaze spread to the upper level, which was being illegally used as a workers’ accommodation, police said.

“The 10 individuals who died were residing in the upper floor that was actually designed to be used as a warehouse, not a place of residence,” a statement by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said.

Police said the fire victims were of different nationalities.

Firefighters doused the fire and evacuated the building after receiving a tip-off at 3.44 am that a fire had broken out in three car repair shops in the Mussafah area of Abu Dhabi.

Quick Intervention

Civil Defence vehicles from the Musaffah’s main centre M14 and M33, Al Wathba, Al Maqta and Khalifa City B, all headed towards the scene. Quick Intervention Units from Khalifa City A and Mohammad Bin Zayed City in addition to patrols, ambulances, rescue, medical prevention and investigation teams all rushed to help.

Thick, black smoke surrounded the scene just behind the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), witnesses said. The bodies were transferred to the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), hospital employees reported.

The injured individuals were also taken to SKMC and Al Jazira Hospital for treatment. The Abu Dhabi Police arrested the building’s owner, and is in the process arresting the other suspects, including the building supervisor. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defense General Directorate had warned investors, workshop owners, and workers of the dangers associated with illegal housing, and indicated that they would show zero tolerance to those who disregard public safety conditions.

Investigation

A full investigation is underway and the area has been cordoned off to conduct a forensic sweep to determine the fire’s origin. Victims were brought to public hospital, the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), at about 8am, said Nizam, a Bangladeshi worker who lives in Musaffah Industrial area. “We wanted to see what was happening, but the area was cordoned off by police personnel and I don’t know if anyone was really allowed to enter the hospital,” he said.

“We heard that some workers were shifted to buildings adjoining SKMC (which earlier housed Al Jazira Hospital) but we did not have access to them either,” he added. Sources at the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), which manages public healthcare facilities in the emirate, were unavailable for comment at the time of going to print.

A doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, said that medical staff who were off duty had been asked to come in. “Many of us were asked to come to the hospital to help deal with the emergency cases,” he said.

Saturday 21 February 2015

https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/10-workers-dead-abu-dhabi-building-fire-062537240.html

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Efforts to retrieve 7 coal miners bodies in Duki still underway

A rescue operation is still underway to retrieve the dead bodies of the seven coal miners who are trapped in 2,200-feet deep coalmine at Duki Coalfield in Loralai district.

The coalmine collapsed on Thursday after a huge explosion, causing a landslide with the miners trapped inside. At least eight were killed and 15 others were injured as they made efforts to rescue their colleagues.

“There is huge quantity of Methane inside the mine which is causing trouble in the rescue operation,” Levies official Habibur Rehman told Express Tribune on Saturday. “The rescue operation is still underway to retrieve the bodies,” he added.

He said the rescue operation could take more than 12 hours for the bodies of seven coal miners to be taken out.

The member of National Assembly from Shangla, Dr Ibadullah Khan visited the mine which belongs to a private contractor who had got the contract from Agha Mohammed Sharif Tareen Company.

“The incident occurred purely due to negligence. It seems as if no safety measures were adopted,” an official at the site said, adding that “the mine was poorly ventilated.”

With no rescue facility available nearby, miners started a rescue mission and 14 of them have been wounded as a result of Methane gas. A formal rescue missing started 15 hours later on Friday afternoon, and rescue workers made attempts to pull dead bodies and the injured from the mine.

Saturday 21 February 2015

http://tribune.com.pk/story/841963/efforts-to-retrieve-7-coal-miners-bodies-in-duki-still-underway/

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No sign of Cemfjord bodies during survey, say investigators

An underwater survey of the Cemfjord, which sank in the Pentland Firth nearly two months ago, saw no sign of the missing crew’s bodies.

And investigators from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) say that any attempt to raise the wreck could be “extremely challenging”.

The Cemfjord is sitting on the sea bed – at a depth of around 270ft – after mysteriously sinking at the start of the year.

No distress call was issued and despite a major search, the eight men on board are missing, presumed dead.

One theory is that the vessel was overcome in bad weather while passing through the Pentland Firth.

The MAIB has said that its fieldwork is now complete. This included sending a remote operated vehicle (ROV) underwater to examine the wreck.

In a statement, the agency said: “A detailed examination of the wreck has been completed using multi-beam sonar, video and still camera techniques.

“Detailed analysis of the records obtained will take some weeks but it is evident that the vessel’s hull remains intact with no indications of structural failure. The bodies of the crew were not observed during the survey.

“The wreck is partially inverted and lying on its superstructure in deep water with very strong tidal conditions that would make any attempt to dive on the site extremely hazardous.

“However, the ROV surveys did provide good evidence that will allow the MAIB to complete its investigation into the vessel’s loss.

“There is no need to raise the wreck for the purposes of the MAIB’s investigation; any attempt to do so would be extremely challenging and may not be technically possible given the size and condition of the wreck, the nature of its cargo, deep water and strong tidal currents.”

Relatives of the seven Polish men will attended a memorial service will be held at the port of Gydnia today.

Saturday 21 February 2015

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/497925/no-sign-of-cemfjord-bodies-during-survey-say-investigators/

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Genetic bank operated by families of missing Mexicans

The lack of response by the Mexican government on the issue of missing people in the country has pushed many of the victims' families into becoming genuine experts on research and forensic science so much so that they are now operating a genetic bank without government intervention.

Involved in the project are researchers Ernesto Schwartz and Arely Cruz, as well as family members such as Julia Alonso, whose son went missing in New Leon state in 2008.

"Unfortunately, we have become experts, but not because we wanted but due to the misfortune of having a government like the one we have," Alonso told reporters at a press briefing Thursday.

It was held to announce the positive identification of Brenda Damaris Gonzalez, the first body to be identified through the project which has funding from Durham University in Britain.

Without a genetic test to prove it, Juana Solis, the mother of the young girl who went missing in 2011 also in New Leon, would not have believed that the bag of remains handed to her was her daughter.

Which is why she turned to the Civil Governance Forensic (GFC) team and her case became the seed for the citizens' project along with the knowledge acquired by the two researchers during their work in Colombia.

In fact, it was in that country that they came up with the idea of a model of civic participation in the field of forensic sciences.

Until now, the project has received funding of $386,000 from the British university to perform independent DNA tests for the families of the missing as well as to set up a genetic bank.

Rodolfo Franco, one of the GFC founders, told Spanish news agency Efe that one of the main objectives of the project was so that "the government sees that citizens can be organised to participate in forensic matters" and got motivated to extend their cooperation.

The project has three steps. The first is "to shape a citizen administration that will manage a database", that has already been fulfilled thanks to a group of victims, all public figures known for fighting for the cases of the missing.

Among them is Tita Radilla, the daughter of Rosendo Radilla who disappeared in 1974 after being arrested by the Mexican army, a case for which Mexico was found guilty by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

According to Radilla, it is clear that "there is no response, no clarification of facts" by the government and there are "bodies that are buried when there are hundreds of families searching for their families, and, even then, those human remains are put in mass graves without identifying them".

The second step of the project, which is still under way, is the collection of data of the families of the people who have disappeared. Until now, it has managed to gather data from more than 600 families, many of them from Iguala in the state of Guerrero.

On Sep 26 last year, 43 students went missing in that state. Since then, dozens of mass graves have been discovered with unidentified bodies, prompting the family members to question the disappearances and search for their loved ones through such initiatives.

The third step has yet to start, explained Franco, and will be the creation of a bio-bank with genetic samples from the families which could be matched with the information from bodies.

Currently, there is enough funding to conduct tests on more than 1,500 people, but the aim is to continue bumping up that number, given that the figure is still falls woefully short of the more than 27,000 people that remain missing in Mexico today, Franco said.

Friday 20 February 2015

http://www.newkerala.com/news/2015/fullnews-21876.html

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Nigerian church collapse: family questions identification of victim

The family of a Nigerian church collapse victim has given government officials an ultimatum – grant us permission to conduct our own DNA tests or face court.

In a letter to the director-general of health Malebona Matsoso, Lwandle Mkhulisi appeals to government officials to grant the family permission to have tests conducted to verify whether the body given to them two weeks ago was that of his sister Patricia Mkhulisi.

“We, the above named person’s family, we are really concerned about the correct identity of the remains that we have received, as we did not receive any proof of identity. We therefore request permission to conduct our private DNA test as we are not going to conduct any burial until we are satisfied with the deceased’s identity,” the family said.

Matsoso has until the end of Friday to give a “satisfactory” answer, failing which the family will approach the high court.

Mkhulisi’s sister’s body was among the last 11 bodies brought back into the country following delays that tested the patience of family members.

Although they were given strict instructions not to open the body bag for fear those around the body it could contract the Ebola virus, Mkhulisi’s family defied the orders, saying they needed evidence the body they were about to bury was that of his sister.

Mkhulisi said on Friday morning: “We are very angry that the government is preventing us from getting closure. We can’t find any distinguishing marks on the body and the gap in her teeth… there’s no gap there.

“They are insisting we shouldn’t open the bag. What is very odd… nothing is broken… it’s a full body. What’s horrifying is that there’s no skin… but the bones are intact,” Mkhulisi said.

When told the bodies were being brought back “we were relieved and hoped we’d get closure”. But two weeks on, the family still can’t lay their sister to rest.

“It took us a long time to accept that she’s one of those who died. She has two children and the youngest one is really broken. My mother is also not coping,” he said.

A Government spokeswoman could not be reached for comment on Friday morning.

Friday 20 February 2015

http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/we-have-wrong-church-collapse-body-1.1821458

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Bodies of Nigerian church collapse victims examined by families

Most of the KwaZulu-Natal families whose relatives died in the Lagos church building disaster on Thursday said they were certain they had buried the correct bodies as they had examined them before the burials. “Even though government officials had told us not to open the bags in which the bodies were put in, we did not heed the advice – we opened the bag and examined the remains. We definitely buried the right person,” Lindo Wittle, whose cousin, Nokuphila Precious Maphumulo was among the 85 South Africans who died in the Nigerian church tragedy, said.

Five KZN residents: Maphumulo from Ezimbokodweni, Durban couple Dicky and Dennis Ngcobo, Sabelo Myeni from Jozini and Nomusa Nyawo from Ngwavuma, were among the 85 South Africans who died in the Lagos tragedy.

Their bodies were buried in the province following their repatriation from Nigeria in November last year.

At the time of the bodies’ arrival in the country, South African government officials had advised relatives not to inspect the bodies – which were in black bags, as there were in an advanced state of decomposition.

“We heard about the incidents. However, we are not concerned at all because we opened the bag and checked her – we are satisfied as a family that we buried the right body,” Thulani Zungu, the spokesperson for Nyawo’s family said.

Myeni’s brother, Joseph Khumalo, said while he did not inspect the remains himself, the family elders did.

“Ordinarily, I would have viewed the body but was told not to. However, other members of the family did check and they told us that it was her,” he said.

Friday 20 February 2015

http://citizen.co.za/330193/bodies-nigerian-victims-examined-families/

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Chinese New Year celebrations, AirAsia Victim Identification QZ8501 closed

Out of respect for the celebration of Chinese New Year , the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team will postpone the victim identification process of AirAsia plane QZ8501 in the hospitals in Surabaya.

"Tomorrow the process of identification of the holiday, because as we respect our colleagues who are celebrating Chinese New Year, " said Head of Public Relations of East Java Police Kombespol Awi Setiyono in Post Crisis Center of East Java Police Headquarters on Wednesday (18/02/2015).

Awi said the decision has been discussed with the family who today are in the waiting room of the AirAsia Post Crisis Center, and turns the approved family day off day.

"In addition, tomorrow is also red dates, and DVI teams are also no data that must be managed for the process of reconciliation," he added. According to Awi, DVI team is dependent upon DNA samples were sent to the Indonesian Police Headquarters, which until now still no results.

So there is no data to be processed by the DVI team. "Because tomorrow off, then hopefully on Friday that DNA data has been sent, so there are more bodies were identified," said AWI. To date a total of bodies and body parts that have AirAsia DVI team received as many as 104. Of that amount, a total of bodies that have been identified through day 53 numbered 96.

Includes 2 parts of the body and the first bodies were later declared as non-human but primates. While the rest, 8 bodies divided into five bodies intact and 3 parts of the body, it is stored in a cold room Hospitals Surabaya for further identification process is carried out. The aircraft AirAsia QZ8501 Surabaya-Singapore flight declared lost contact On December 28, 2014 last.

155 passenger aircraft and 7 crew fell in the Strait Karimata, Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan. Until today, the process of search and evacuation of victims is still underway by the Basarnas team.

Friday 20 February 2015

http://news.liputan6.com/read/2178093/perayaan-imlek-identifikasi-korban-airasia-qz8501-diliburkan

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Eleven killed, 30 injured in North Korean sinkhole collapse

Eleven people-most of them women-were killed and around 30 injured in North Korea when earth they were plowing collapsed beneath them, according to a source inside the country.

The workers had been mobilized to plow at the October 18 Jonghap Farm in Yanggang province, along the border with China, on Feb. 3 as part of an annual bid by the Kim Jong Un regime to improve acidic soil for farming, an area resident told RFA's Korean Service on condition of anonymity.

Due to low temperatures during the winter, much of the earth had been turned to ice, and the workers-from the Baek-du Youth Team, and the Baek-am Tile Works and Rural Construction Unit-had been ordered to dig until they found unfrozen soil, the source said.

However, a sinkhole had developed beneath the ice and when the workers pierced through the frozen layer of soil, the ground collapsed, burying them alive, according to the source. A second source from Yanggang told RFA that four tractors had been deployed for four days as part of the rescue effort.

"Lots of officials, including those from the party committee and rural development committee responded to the accident, staying at the scene throughout the rescue attempt," the source said.

"The accident resulted in 11 deaths and about 30 injuries, almost all of whom were women." It was unclear how the sinkhole had formed, though they are commonly found in nature when groundwater causes the dissolution of carbonate rock, such as limestone, or as a result of human activity, such as mining or when natural water-drainage patterns are altered.

The sources did not provide details about how workers sought to treat the acidic soil, which the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington says is common in the North due to "decades of over-fertilization" that have also left farmland with little organic matter.

An official in Yanggang expressed remorse for the incident, telling RFA that a similar accident had occurred in December last year involving a sinkhole collapse, though it had resulted in no casualties. He said if additional safety measures had been implemented since the earlier accident, they might have saved the lives of the workers and avoided other damage.

The official criticized what he called "excessive demands" from the central authorities, saying that while plowing should be done after the harvest, local officials had been ordered to carry out the work during the winter each year, resulting in frequent accidents. "Local officials know well how difficult the soil-plowing work is in the winter, but can't help requiring people to do it because of a severe shortage of workers," the source said.

Thursday 19 February 2015

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/index.php?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=LS-20150219-47049-PRK

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Geotagging could help find missing persons

As cyclones bear down on parts of northern Australia, people are being urged to switch on geotagging on their mobile phones to help emergency services track them down in the case of an emergency.

The warning comes as Cyclone Lam in the NT moves on the coast of the northern Top End and Cyclone Marcia barrels towards Queensland's Capricornia coast.

The function logs the geographical co-ordinates of users' photos when shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook and provides a map to lead police to where the photo was uploaded.

Geotagging can also be used to help stay on top of other issues which can arise during severe weather events.

Photos of fires, floods and downed power lines shared online with their metadata will also give emergency services instantaneous information on the problem, and where it's located.

Thursday 19 February 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-2959775/Geotagging-help-missing-persons.html

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Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus: Greek-Cypriot Missing from the 1974 Turkish Invasion Identified

The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), in a press conference held today at the Anthropological Laboratory in the UN-protected area of the now defunct Nicosia Airport, has announced it “identified the right person” in the case of missing Greek-Cypriot Georgios Foris. At the same time, the three members of the Committee announced that a Red Cross independent expert has already been requested to probe this specific case.

As the Committee explained, Foris originated from the village of Assia and has been missing since the 1974 Turkish military invasion. His remains were exhumed from a well in Assia, along with the remains of another 38 unidentified individuals. His family has recently contested the identification process, although as described, some of the remains returned to his relatives did not belong to him. Therefore, the family has sought a DNA re-examination of his remains, undertaken by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. “In this case, as in the 567 other cases of missing persons identified by the CMP, we can certify that the right person was identified,” said Paul-Henri Arni, the Committee’s third member.

The press conference was held by Arni, Greek-Cypriot member Nestoras Nestoros and Turkish-Cypriot member Gulden Plumer Kucuk. Referring to Foris case, Arni, after expressing his sympathy to Foris’ family, highlighted that “our archaeologists determined that most of the remains originally buried at the site had been removed, as has been the case in other locations. What was left was a large number of small, isolated commingled remains -that is mixed up remains- which our scientists have tried to associate to separate individuals in painstaking work over the past four years. In the case at hand, several larger bones, most notably a skull, were associated with a number of very small bones. Following well-established international practice in the identification of human remains, the CMP tested the larger skeletal elements, nine in total, for DNA. The smaller ones were associated based on anthropological analysis. Testing all bones for DNA would exceed the CMP’s financial means, and, more importantly, in the case of small bones, would require their destruction, leaving nothing or only small fragments that could be returned to families.”

Furthermore, as he explained, “the family of the missing person identified by us challenged our identification based on teeth characteristics and opted to seek a retesting of the remains using DNA. While we have not received any of the results, it appears that the analysis undertaken on behalf of the family confirmed that all nine larger bones that the CMP had identified on the basis of DNA had been correctly identified.”

The above, as Arni said, allows us to draw two very important conclusions: “Firstly, the CMP identified the right person. In this case, as in the 567 other cases of missing persons identified by the CMP, we can certify that the right person was identified. Secondly, the work of the DNA laboratory is not an issue in this case. If anything, the family’s retesting has confirmed that our laboratory, in this case the ICMP in Sarajevo, worked well. We therefore would like to stress that the discussion about bringing the CMP’s genetic work back to Cyprus has no place in the context of this case. Those who pretend otherwise are misleading the public.”

On his behalf, Nestoros said that in the cases of mass graves, where bones have been relocated at a later stage, leaving only a fraction of the original remains to scientists to determine to whom they belong, CMP is considering to start giving back to the families only the remains that have been analyzed for DNA. The practice today is to let anthropologists associate smaller skeletal elements in order “to give more bones back to the families” as the CMP members said, noting however the risk at stake.

Additionally, Kucuk noted that the CMP is aware of the families’ sensitivities with missing persons and added that the Committee is trying to provide them with all the answers, along with the remains of their beloved ones. As she further explained, there are a lot of cases of mass graves with “commingled bones” and noted the scientists’ difficulty to determine to whom they belong.

Asked about the relocation of remains in Cyprus, Arni said he has “no idea” who did it but added that this “happened everywhere. It happened also in the south,” referring to the free areas of the Republic of Cyprus.

Finally, according to Kucuk, overall, the CMP has exhumed almost 1,000 persons, with the remains of 400 awaiting identification. Another 1,000 are still to be found, she concluded.

Thursday 19 February 2015

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/02/18/committee-on-missing-persons-in-cyprus-greek-cypriot-missing-from-the-1974-turkish-invasion-identified/

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Missing Persons: Arizona has more than almost all other states

Stuart Somershoe's work as a Phoenix police detective is among the most painstaking and, often, gruesome, law enforcement work there is.

“I work cold cases for missing and unidentified persons in the Phoenix Police Department,” Somershoe says. Some of Somershoe’s cases date back to the 1940s, and in many of them, it’s unlikely the person is still alive.

In his and other police agencies in Arizona, it's a labor unlike others and unlike in other states. For Arizona has more sets of unidentified remains and, per capita, missing persons cases than almost any other state, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, known as NamUs.

The state has more than 1,300 unidentified sets of human remains. Somershoe said two factors are at work in that statistic: proximity to the border means a lot of under-prepared people try to walk across hundreds of miles through dangerous terrain to get to the U.S.; and related to it is the desert environment, which can quickly obliterate evidence.

“We are a desert and that’s very bad for bodies," Somershoe said. "Bodies disintegrate; bodies decompose a lot quicker than in other states, so it’s harder to identify them when they’re just bones or fragments. When you get outside of the metropolitan area of Phoenix you’re basically in open desert. It’s kind of like our version of the Pacific Ocean. It’s very easy to lose things.”

But the problem isn’t only in Arizona. Nationally, a minimum estimated 40,000 sets of human remains are unidentified, NamUs figures show. “They call it the nation’s silent mass disaster," Somershoe said. "And the reason those numbers (are uncertain) ... is because it’s based on self-reporting from medical examiners, coroners across the country, and we know there’s a lot more out there than what are being reported to us." The relatively recent formation of NamUs created a national database of missing persons and is used extensively by many police agencies trying to connect remains in their charge with reports of those missing along with other potential clues.

"NamUs has been around officially since 2007," said Todd Matthews, the database's case management director. "It went online with the unidentified persons database and in 2009 after a beta trial we added the missing persons database.”

While the database isn’t the first to match DNA of unidentified remains to missing persons, it is the first that allows the families of those missing to take part in the search for their loved ones," Matthews said.

“I think we’ve always needed a national database," he said. "You know, you have city, county, state. We needed something that would go beyond those boundaries, because often a person is missing from New York and possibly found in Connecticut and unless those two compare notes," which is what the database allows.

Federal statistics show about 2000 missing persons in Arizona, among an estimated 80,000 nationwide. Somershoe said the NamUs database could be the key to solving these cases.

“Law enforcement is sometimes very poor in communicating with other jurisdictions," he said. "We tend to hoard information. If my missing person ended up dead in a different county, I may not know about that. If they ended up in another state I may not know about that.

"NAMus is great because we’re all invited into the same room and say, 'Hey, I have pieces of the puzzle; you have pieces of the puzzle, let’s try and resolve these'."

Somershoe said he has solved nearly a dozen cases, some decades old, with the help of NamUs. He said the more information is added to the system, the likelier that thousands of families who are missing loved ones will finally have closure.

Wednesday 18 February 2015

https://www.azpm.org/p/home-featured/2015/2/18/56984-missing-persons-arizona-has-more-than-almost-all-other-states/

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AirAsia flight QZ8501: Two more body parts identified

Two more body parts from a passenger of the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 were identified on Tuesday, bringing the total number of identified remains to 96 so far, East Java Police said.

The Disaster Victim Identification team leader, Sr. Com. Budiyono, said the police received the two body parts, a left leg and hip, from South Sulawesi on Monday night and identified them as belonging to Yonatan Sebastian, 13, from Malang, East Java.

"The identification was based on the DNA test," Budiyono said in Surabaya as quoted by Antara news agency, adding that the body parts were still being kept at the Bhayangkara Hospital.

The hospital has received 104 remains and body parts from QZ8501, which crashed into the Java Sea in December last year with 162 people aboard.

Wednesday 18 February 2015

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/pieces-airasia-passenger-identified

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