Heavy rains and landslides in Bangladesh kill 90

Heavy rains causing multiple landslides over the past three days have killed at least 90 people in south-east Bangladesh, officials say. Officials are describing it as the worst monsoon rainfall in...

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Mass funeral proposed for bus crash victims

SEVENTEEN of the 19 people killed during the horrific bus crash in Meyerton on Monday have been positively identified and will be buried in a mass funeral next week. All were positively identified as their bereaved family members trickled into the Diepkloof mortuary throughout most of Tuesday and yesterday. Two bodies still remain unidentified. The Putco bus driven by Khabi, was carrying 74 passengers and travelling from Sebokeng towards Meyerton on the R59 when it crashed. The 55 other passengers were seriously injured. Thirteen of the injured victims were taken to Sebokeng Hospital, where three patients are in critical condition and in ICU and high care, and another seven patients are in stable condition. One was discharged and the remaining two were transferred to other hospitals. Two of the accident victims were airlifted to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where one is still in ICU and the other is in a stable condition. “What...

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Four dead and 130 rescued as asylum seeker boat capsizes off Australian island

Four people are believed to have died and 130 others were rescued after a crowded boat carrying asylum seekers to Australia capsized and sank today, less than a week after more than 90 people drowned on a similar journey. The incident, which occurred midway between Australia's Christmas Island and the main Indonesian island of Java, has renewed Australian government efforts to deter a growing stream of boat arrivals by legislating to deport them to other Southeast Asian or Pacific countries. An air and sea search for survivors ended late today when the Australian Maritime Safety Authority determined that no one beyond the 130 rescued had survived the sinking of the wooden Indonesian fishing boat. Only one body had been recovered. "Based on information from the survivors, including crew members, it is now believed that there were 134 people on board and that three people went down with the vessel," the authority said in a statement. Three...

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Dana air crash: Victims’ families plan burial rites

Notwithstanding on-going DNA tests being conducted on victims of Sunday June 3rd Dana plane crash, some families of the deceased have decided to go ahead with burial rites for their loved ones with...

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Anxious relatives are trying to contact Australian authorities

TEENAGE boys desperate to escape persecution in Afghanistan and Pakistan probably made up most of the 90-plus asylum-seekers who drowned off Christmas Island last week, it emerged yesterday, as police moved to identify at least three of the 17 bodies recovered. Anxious relatives overseas are trying to contact Australian authorities for information on whether their loved ones are alive. Afghan man Raiz Hussain told The Australian from his home in the United Arab Emirates he feared his brother Asad, 25, was on the boat and might be dead. Mr Hussain said his brother had been in Indonesia for 18 months and wanted to get on a boat to Australia; he had been unable to contact him since the disaster. "Sometimes he was calling me from Indonesia and told us he wanted to go to Australia, and now his phone is switched off. I'm worried he was on this ship," he said. "When the boat was destroyed, his phone was switched off." The most influential...

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Putco crash - 11 bus victims identified

At least 11 of the 19 people, who died in the Putco horror smash on Monday, have been identified. Relatives of the deceased yesterday identified some of the bodies that were being kept at the Diepkloof...

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Uganda abandons landslide rescue bid for buried

Rescue workers in Uganda have abandoned efforts to find an estimated 70 people believed to be buried in a landslide. Eighteen people have been confirmed dead after three villages were swept away on the slopes of Mount Elgon. Uganda's Red Cross told the BBC efforts were now concentrating on looking after the injured and displaced. In March 2010, thousands were forced to flee after after a landslide killed more than 350 people in Uganda's eastern Bududa district. 'Many cracks' Ken Kiggundu, director of disaster management for Uganda's Red Cross, told the BBC that 72 people were still missing. He added that 480 had been displaced and were now living with relatives and friends following Monday's landslide, which occurred after a number of days of heavy rain. "At 2pm, the ground trembled, followed by heavy rumbling of soil and stones which covered our home," Rachael Namwono, a villager in Bududa district, told Uganda's private Monitor...

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Ten killed in Nepal van plunge

At least 10 people were killed and another six injured when a passenger van crashed off a mountain road in north-western Nepal today, a police official said. Bharat Bohara said the driver lost control and the van plunged about 330ft (100m) some 300 miles (480km) north-west of the capital, Katmandu. He said the injured were taken to hospital, where two of them are in a critical condition. Few other details were available. Most of Nepal is covered by mountains where roads are generally poorly maintained as are the vehicles using them. Tuesday 26 June 2012 http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/26/10-killed-nepal-van-accident.h...

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Uganda Begins Search for Landslide Victims

Uganda has sent a rescue team to eastern Bududa district where more than a 100 people may have been killed Monday by a landslide caused by heavy rainfall. It is believed as many as three villages might...

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Uganda landslides destroy three villages

Massive landslides induced by torrential rains destroyed three villages in the mountainous district of Bududa in eastern Uganda, killing scores of people but possibly hundreds, officials said today. Disaster Preparedness Minister Stephen Mallinga said it was still too early to say how many had been killed in today's landslides, but officials from Bududa said the final death toll would likely be in the hundreds. "We are sending a rescue team down there," Mallinga said. "It's very difficult to estimate how many have been killed, but two villages are affected, and maybe more." Witnesses said the landslides were unexpected, happening several hours after a torrential overnight downpour that at first seemed to have done little damage. David Wakikona, a lawmaker from the region, said most people were likely indoors when huge blocks of mud and rocks started to roll down hills, toppling homes, killing livestock and burying people alive. "We...

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Iraq faces painful legacy of mass graves

Iraq wants to put the legacy of murderous dictator Saddam Hussein behind it, but faces a huge need for specialists to excavate mass graves thought to contain at least half a million unidentified victims. The...

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Heavy Rains Kill at Least 16 in China

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say torrential rains have killed at least 16 people and affected 1 1/2 million people in southern and northern parts of the country.  The official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that the heavy rains over the past three days had affected 450,000 people and wiped out crops in the southern Guangxi region. Another more than 730,000 people were affected in the southern province of Jiangxi, and 312,000 were affected in the adjacent manufacturing powerhouse province of Guangdong. Xinhua quoted a local government official as saying the direct economic losses so far were $20.3 million, and that water levels in 10 reservoirs and several major rivers had risen above warning levels. Xinhua said rainstorm-triggered floods have also hit areas of Inner Mongolia in the north of China. Monday 25 June 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/06/24/world/asia/ap-as-china-rain-storm.html?_...

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Identification of boat victims 'long and complex'

Police say the grim task of identifying victims of the Christmas Island boat tragedy will be long and complex. Twenty officers have been sent from Perth to assist with the coronial investigation. Seventeen bodies have been recovered and are being stored in a makeshift morgue on the island while about 70 people remain unaccounted for. WA Police are identifying the dead on behalf of the coroner and Deputy Commissioner Chris Dawson says it is likely to take at least two weeks. "Dealing with tragedy and a major loss of life is not easy for any individual to deal with," he said. "What I can say is that the agencies are working very closely together and West Australian police are just part of a national effort that's taking place."  A total of 110 asylum seekers were rescued and transferred to a high security detention facility on the island. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says all of the survivors were rescued on the night...

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Mexico ravine bus crash kills 26

At least 26 people were killed in Mexico on Sunday after the bus they were traveling in turned over on a wet road in the southwestern state of Guerrero, a Red Cross official said. At least seven people...

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Eight killed, 44 injured in Croatia bus crash

A Czech bus carrying about 50 passengers crashed near a tunnel in Croatia early Saturday, killing eight people and injuring at least 44, the national rescue services said. "A bus with Czech licence plates drove through a safety barrier and turned over" near a tunnel in Sveti Rok, some 230 kilometres (138 miles) south of Zagreb, the National Protection and Rescue Directorate said. The accident occurred around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) on the road to the Adriatic city of Split, a popular tourist destination. The injured were taken to a hospital in nearby Gospic, while victims with serious injuries were being transferred by a military helicopter to the capital Zagreb, the rescuers said. Local media said the bus hit the barrier, turned over and smashed into a concrete fence opposite. There were 50 passengers, police spokeswoman Kristina Maodus told Nova TV. All of them were Czech nationals, the channel said, quoting unconfirmed reports.  Saturday...

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Death toll rises as survival hopes fade

Rescuers have found two more bodies from a capsized asylum seeker boat, bringing the death toll to five. But ninety passengers from the overcrowded boat are still unaccounted for. One hundred and...

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Fourth year anniversary of the sinking of the Princess of the Stars

Persida Acosta, chief of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), said Judge Peras is set to conduct an occular inspection in Romblon where the ship sank at th height of typhoon Frank in June 21, 2008. Acosta said government lawyers assisting families of victims to identify remains and seek damages, as well as the PAO “pray to the courts and high heavens that the courts in Cebu and Manila expedite the resolution of the damages suit.” Around 560 cadavers were recovered from the sunken ship. Acosta told Cebu Daily News the PAO Forensic Laboratory identified 11 skeletal remains taken from the ship. Of the number, seven were turned over to their families. Acosta said PAO recently identified the remains of 42-year-old Joselito Aballe, whose remains were turned over in a simple ceremony to the daughters of Joselito in Cebu City. Acosta said the PAO Forensic Team will proceed to Sibuyan Island to process, analyze and identify the recovered body. Efforts...

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Indonesia plane crash search called off

Rescuers have ended their search of damaged and burned homes in Jakarta without finding further victims of a military plane crash that killed seven airmen and four people on the ground. The Fokker F-27 turboprop was on a routine training flight when it crashed into a military housing complex on Thursday about a mile short of the runway where it was trying to land. Two children aged two and six, their grandmother and their aunt were killed in the crash, along with the plane's pilot, co-pilot and five trainees. "Search and rescue efforts have finished," air force spokesman Colonel Agung Sasongko Jati said on Friday morning. "All the wreckage has been removed and there are no more new victims." Eleven people were injured in the crash, which sent a huge plume of black smoke billowing into the sky. The aircraft was built in 1958 and has been used by Indonesia's air force for the past 35 years, during which time it had completed 14,900 flight...

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Search for missing after boat capsizes off Christmas Island

Ships and aircraft scoured the Indian Ocean Friday for survivors after a boat capsized off Australia's remote Christmas Island, with three people confirmed dead and more than 80 missing. Ships and...

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Nine perish in bus accident, 6 positively identified

Nine people died and more than 15 others were injured in a traffic accident along the Kwekwe-Gweru highway yesterday morning (Wednesday). The accident occurred when a ZUPCO bus travelling to Chipinge...

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Asylum seeker boat capsizes north of Christmas Island

UP to 75 asylum seekers may be dead and 40 others are clinging to the hull of an upturned boat, which has capsized in Indonesian waters. Up to 200 people were on board the vessel, which was on its way from Sri Lanka to Australia. Prime Minister Julia Gillard distressed by asylum boat tragedy The maritime drama began to unfold after 3pm (AEST) today when an Australian Customs and Border Protection surveillance plane spotted a vessel "in distress" 200km north of Christmas Island. The observers immediately contacted Indonesian authorities, who are leading the rescue effort alongside the Australian Navy, Defence and Customs. "It is believed up to 200 people could be on board, although this detail has not yet been confirmed," Customs said in a statement. West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said about 40 people were spotted on the upturned hull, others were in the water and up to 75 others may be dead. "We have grave fears...

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Plans for forensic dentistry

THERE are plans to offer a new course in forensic dentistry at the Fiji National University's College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Australian High Commission head of mission Glenn Miles made the revelation at the opening of the Forensic Odontology in Medico-legal Investigation and Human Identification workshop earlier this week. "These initiatives will, I understand, ultimately lead to the development of a new Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma in Forensic Odontology courses to be offered by the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences," Mr Miles said. College dean Prof Ian Rouse confirmed Mr Miles' revelation, saying they were interested in introducing forensic dentistry into the curriculum. "The college is very interested in further development of postgraduate programs in dentistry and is very keen on a PG Certificate and Diploma in Forensic Dentistry," Prof Rouse said. "This would...

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Indonesia air force plane crashes into Jakarta housing complex

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian air force plane slammed into homes and ignited a fireball in the crowded capital while trying to land Thursday, killing at least nine people, a military official said. The...

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17 die as bus plunges into ravine

Seventeen people were killed and three were left seriously injured when a long-distance bus overturned and plunged down a deep ravine in China, state media reported. The official Xinhua News Agency...

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Bus overturns in Haiti river; death toll disputed

Haiti - A bus overturned in a rain-swollen river in southern Haiti, and officials differed on Tuesday about the number of people who died. A statement issued by President Michel Martelly's office says about 60 people were on the bus when the driver attempted to cross the Glace River. It said that local civil protection officials have recovered the bodies of 40 people and are still searching the area. The statement said nine people were either rescued from the submerged bus or managed to swim to safety. But Norman Wiener, an official from the Grand'Anse department, said the bus owner who collected money from the passengers told him that there were 27 people aboard and that only eight people are missing. Wiener said another 19 people survived. The accident occurred Monday near the town of Pestel on Haiti's southern peninsula. Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of Haiti's office of civil protection, says the driver apparently ignored...

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Ghosts Scare Residents Of Dana Plane Crash Area

Some residents of Iju-Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos, where a Dana airline crashed into buildings on Sunday, have appealed to the authorities to bury the victims far from the area. Their apprehension was based on their belief in the existence of ghosts, Idayatu Ali, a 24-year-old unemployed school leaver, said living around the scene of the crash, was superstitious and would not want the victims buried at the scene of the accident, “for fear of ghosts”. According to her, human beings are no goats and when they die prematurely, especially, violently, their ghosts will haunt the scene for a while. “This is no superstition; I have witnessed where a young man died in an accident and his ghost continued to cry at the scene for days until a sacrifice was performed. “Please, tell them not to bury the victims here or else some of us will have to abandon our houses,” she pleaded.  However, Jude Agwu, a commercial motorcyclist, said he and some...

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Example of a disaster highlighting the dangers of visual ID (2010)

No coherent mechanism used to identify crash victims bodies MANGALORE: Twelve of the 158 passengers of the Air India Express flight killed in the May 22 crash here had to be buried in unmarked graves. According to the district administration, the 12 bodies could not be identified because of a mix-up. Some families took away the bodies that did not belong to them in the confusion that prevailed after the crash. The body of Mohammed Zubair Ziad (4) was taken away by a family that believed that it was the body of an adult. Narrating a similar incident, Vidya Dinker, an activist who was involved in the relief operations, said: One family had identified their kin and filled the claims form at the Wenlock Hospital. They then moved to another hospital to look for other relatives. By the time they came back, somebody else had taken the body. There was no coherent mechanism to identify the bodies, and some junior policemen were handling the...

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Death toll in ferry boat sinking rises to 9

MANILA, Philippines–Two more bodies were retrieved from the waters off Palawan as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) continued its search and rescue operations for passengers believed on board a ferry...

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2 more bodies recovered from sunken ship in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines—Two more bodies were recovered in Palawan as search and rescue operations of the Philippine Coast Guard continued for passengers who remained missing from the sunken vessel M/V Josille 2, a report from Radyo Inquirer 990AM said Monday. The report quoted PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo as saying that two still unidentified persons—a male, and a female—were fished out from the waters of Culion, Palawan near the site where Atienza Shipping Lines-owned cargo passenger vessel sank shortly before midnight Tuesday. The bodies were already in the stage of decomposition, the report said. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council earlier said there were 66 passengers listed on the manifest – 34 passengers and 11 crewmembers – and at least 21 unlisted passengers. Meanwhile, island hopping in El Nido, Palawan has been temporarily suspended since Sunday and until authorities become certain that...

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Several people missing after boat sinks in Ganga

Sahibganj (Jharkhand): A number of people ferrying in a boat over the Ganga river went missing after the boat sank midstream at Sahibganj district of Jharkhand. “Six persons have been rescued and...

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Remains of boat that sunk in Sea of Cortez last year found; 7 Calif. fishermen still missing

SAN FRANCISCO — A private salvage crew has located the wreckage of a chartered fishing boat that sank in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez last year, leaving one Northern California man dead and seven still classified as missing. Charles Gibson, one of the 35 fishermen and crew members who survived the capsizing of the Erik, tells The Contra Costa Times that divers hired by the families of the missing men found the boat on the sea floor this week. The Erik was on a planned six-day trip when it was swamped by waves in the Sea of Cortez on July 3, 2011. Survivors spent 16 hours clinging to coolers, floating rings and life vests before they were rescued. Dena Jacinto, whose father-in-law remains missing at sea, says the divers have not determined whether any bodies are inside the wreckage. Monday 18 June 20...

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15 missing after wooden ship sinks in Indonesia

JAKARTA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers are searching for 15 crew members who remain missing after a wooden cargo-ship with 27 people on board capsized in waters off Maluku in eastern Indonesia on Sunday morning, rescuers said. The ship sank at 10 : 25 a.m. local time (0125 GMT) in the waters of central Maluku, due to poor weather condition, Agung Sedayu, press officer at the National Search and Rewscue Office told Xinhua over phone. "The waves were huge during the accident, they sank the ship," he said. The ship was on route from Ambon city to Nangrole town in Maluku province, said Agung. The boat, which had 27 passengers and crew on board, went down after it was battered by waves up to five metres (16 feet) high in Maluku province, provincial search-and-rescue team head Amin Bin Tongke told AFP. "Twelve of 27 people on board were rescued alive. We are still looking for around 15 missing," he said. The boat, which was also carrying...

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Dana crash: LASUTH concludes autopsy

Lagos State University Teaching Hoaspital (LASUTH) yesterday said the process of autopsy on all recovered bodies from the scene of the Dana plane crash ended yesterday. This was just as Daily Sun gathered the reasons the victims of the Dana air crash would not be given mass burial. According to a source, a management meeting was held at the Lagos State University Teaching Hoaspital (LASUTH) with the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Jide Idris, Commissioner for Special duties, Dr. Waler Ahmed and the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Wale Oke in attendance. The source said relatives of the victims would love to bury their loved ones because it was part of their cultural attachment in the society. “Besides, a thorough investigation such as autopsy carried out on the victims would help unravel the major cause or causes of death and even help investigate the cause of the accident by the probe panel,” said the source. He explained further...

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Fire kills 13 in southeast Turkey prison

ISTANBUL—Thirteen prisoners died from smoke inhalation after inmates started a fire during a mutiny in a jail in southeastern Turkey, officials said Sunday. The prisoners set fire to blankets and beds in a cell in the Sanliurfa city prison late Saturday, but it was brought under control before it could spread throughout the jail, which holds 1,000 inmates, the Anatolia news agency reported, quoting governor Celalettin Guvenc. Another five prisoners were hospitalized, as well as 12 prison staff who were injured during the rescue. The fire broke out during a fight in a dormitory with 18 inmates, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told media, relaying a survivor’s account. “I was also informed by the governor that the conditions in the cell were not suitable to accommodate 18 inmates,” he added. After an initial investigation, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin noted that there was resistance from the prisoners when security...

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24 killed in road accident in western India

AHMADABAD, India - Police say a truck carrying workers has overturned on a slippery road after overnight rains in western India, killing 24 people and injuring another 25. Police officer Bharat Bhai...

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11 killed after Haitian boat capsizes

CMC - The death toll from Monday’s boat accident filled with Haitian immigrants, which capsized in waters off North Abaco is expected to rise. Police officials in the Bahamas said that the search and rescue operations will resume today for at least 12 missing bodies. It’s reported that at least 28 people had boarded the boat “Glory Time” on Monday. However, 11 bodies had been recovered, while 12 other passengers were still missing. The police said five other passengers were able to swim to shore. The police said that the Haitians were heading to Florida from Abaco, when a distressed call was made after the boat encountered rough seas and was taking in water before capsizing. The authorities said that “officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the US Coast Guard, BASRA and other concerned citizens” responded to the call that had been received late Monday. The U.S. Coast Guard...

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