Tuesday, 31 July 2012

18 train fire victims remain unidentified

July 31

Hyderabad - Eighteen of the 32 people who died in the Tamil Nadu Express fire in Andhra Pradesh Monday are yet to be unidentified even as a forensic team Tuesday inspected the gutted coach. Relatives...

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Monday, 30 July 2012

Ebola Outbreak in Uganda Kills 14

July 30

The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, health officials have said, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that has prompted many people to...

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13 die in Nigeria’s ghastly road crash

July 30

No fewer than 13 passengers died in a motor accident on the Benin-Ore road, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) confirmed on Sunday. In a statement issued by Mr Bisi Kazeem, Deputy Corps Public Education Officer, the commission stated that the accident happened at kilometre 53, before Ohosun town, zone 5.12 toll gate unit command in Edo State at 7.45 a.m on Sunday. Kazeem said the accident, which involved two vehicles, was caused by the driver of the Anambra Mass Transit Toyota Hiace bus, with registration number YB 610 EPE (Lagos), who for no reason drove against traffic on the Benin-Ore lane. The driver faced an oncoming Iveco truck descending a slope, resulting in head-on collision. The bus was coming from Lagos carrying traders dealing in electronics and 13 out of the passengers in the bus died, while three people survived including the truck driver. The victims, according to FRSC, have been taken to Shiloh Hospital, Ugbogui...

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Dana air crash inquest: update

July 30

John Obafunwa, Chief Medical Examiner at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, said that some of the passengers on the ill-fated flight died from inhalation of toxic fumes after the crash. “They...

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25 pilgrims killed in road accident in Haryana

July 30

At least 25 people were killed when the mini truck they were travelling in collided with a truck at Siwani in Haryana's Bhiwani district on Monday. While 22 people were killed on the spot, three succumbed to injuries while being taken to hospitals in Bhiwani and Hisar, Bhiwani SP Satish Balan told PTI. The mini-truck was carrying pilgrims from Ghugha Maari temple in Rajasthan to Kalayat near Kaithal district of Haryana. The canter carrying 60 pilgrims of Sisarhato village in Kaithal district was returning from Amarpura dham in Rajasthan. The accident occurred on a blind curve on the road at around 8:30 am. According to reports, most of the passengers were asleep at the time of accident. The residents of nearby village rushed to the spot to extract injured people and bodies of the victims from the mangled remains of the vehicle. The injured werwe sent to nearby hospitals in Hansi and Hisar town. Monday 30 July 2012 http://www.h...

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Andhra Pradesh train fire: 47 killed, probe ordered

July 30

At least 47 passengers were charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke in a coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore early this morning after a suspected short circuit. Twenty-six...

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Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Helicopter Crashes in Southeastern France, 6 Dead

July 25

Officials say six people have been killed after a helicopter plunged into a mountain in South East France. Security official Francis Mene said the Super Puma AS 532 AL came down while carrying out...

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Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Thirteen people killed in overloaded motorcycle crash

July 24

Thirteen people were killed and seven others injured when an overloaded three-wheel motorcycle crashed off a bridge in south-east China, state media said today. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the vehicle was travelling along a rural road in Fujian province when it fell off a stone bridge. A man who works for the Shouning county news office, who would give only his family name Zhong, said the vehicle was overloaded with passengers - a common occurrence in rural areas where villagers have no other way to travel. No other details were known on the crash. Serious road accidents are common in China where vehicles are not properly maintained and laws are often ignored. Tuesday 24 July 2012 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thirteen-people-killed-in-overloaded-motorcycle-crash-7972480.h...

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Clues sought in IDs of Texas pickup crash victims

July 24

Investigators continue the difficult task of trying to identify 14 suspected illegal immigrants who were killed when a pickup truck packed with nearly two dozen people crashed in South Texas during...

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Rain storms kill at least 37 in Beijing

July 24

BEIJING: Officials have raised the death toll to at least 37 in the heaviest rainstorm to hit Beijing in six decades, and dozens of other storm deaths have been reported elsewhere in China. The rain...

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Flooding in central Nigeria's Jos kills at least 35

July 24

Heavy rainfall in central Nigeria forced a dam to overflow, causing flooding that left at least 35 people dead and destroyed or damaged some 200 homes, the Red Cross said Monday. "We have recovered...

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Monday, 23 July 2012

Disaster drones: How robot teams can help in a crisis

July 23

An ominous plume of black smoke hangs over east London. The scarcely believable news arrives in snippets: A huge blast has rocked the Thames Barrier; a surge of water is ploughing through the city;...

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Zanzibar says 145 people were killed in ferry disaster last week

July 23

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Authorities in Zanzibar said on Sunday that 145 people had been killed in last week’s ferry disaster in the Indian Ocean, a day after the operation to find survivors was called...

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Saturday, 21 July 2012

18 die as bus plunges into gorge in India

July 21

A government official in India says 18 people are dead after a bus fell into a deep gorge after being hit by hurtling boulders during a landslide in the mountainous northeast. Another 17 people are...

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At least 21 killed, 29 injured in Mexico bus crash

July 21

A bus accident early Friday in the western Mexican state of Nayarit left 24 dead and 14 injured, authorities said. The original casualty report spoke of 21 dead and 29 injured. First responders initially counted 17 bodies, but discovered four additional victims when the bus was lifted, while three injured passengers died en route to the hospital, sources in the state Attorney General's Office said. The accident occurred around 4:00 a.m. on a stretch of highway between the towns of Puente de Chapalilla and Tequepexpan, Nayarit government spokesman Sergio Cañedo told Efe. The bus was carrying a group headed to the beach in the village of Rincon de Guayabitos when the predawn crash occurred, Omar Landazuri, a duty officer for the Nayarit State Civil Protection Service, told AFP. "The bus overturned and began to roll down a ravine, ejecting people along the way," Landazuri added, saying that many of the victims died from the battering...

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Four dead, 36 injured in Egypt tour bus accident

July 21

Egypt’s official news agency says a bus crash in the south has killed four Egyptians and injured 35 others, including some tourists. The state-run Middle East News Agency says the accident happened...

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Friday, 20 July 2012

At least 68 dead in Zanzibar ferry disaster

July 20

STONE TOWN, Zanzibar - Rescue workers fought rough seas on Thursday to search for survivors after an overcrowded ferry sank near the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, but hopes of finding people...

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Thursday, 19 July 2012

ZAKA Disaster Victim Identification Team Boards Bombed Bulgaria Bus

July 19

Bulgarian authorities allowed members of Israelis ZAKA voluntary emergency response team that specialize in disaster victim identification, to board the bombed out bus, following the brutal terror...

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More than 100 missing after Zanzibar ferry sinks

July 19

(Reuters) - Rescue workers fought rough seas on Thursday to search for more than 100 people missing after an overcrowded ferry sank near the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, but hopes of finding...

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Wednesday, 18 July 2012

Skin, bones and tissue for sale: How the dead are being used for grisly trade in human body parts

July 18

On Feb. 24, Ukrainian authorities made an alarming discovery: bones and other human tissues crammed into coolers in a grimy white minibus. Investigators grew even more intrigued when they found, amid the body parts, envelopes stuffed with cash and autopsy results written in English. What the security service had disrupted was not the work of a serial killer but part of an international pipeline of ingredients for medical and dental products that are routinely implanted into people around the world. In their expose, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists followed the trial of body parts back to the Ukraine, where many are harvested. The seized documents suggested that the remains of dead Ukrainians were destined for a factory in Germany belonging to the subsidiary of a U.S. medical products company, Florida-based RTI Biologics. RTI is one of a growing industry of companies that make profits by turning mortal...

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Death toll rises to 10 in Brazil bus accident

July 18

The death toll from the bus accident in the southern Brazilian state of Parana has risen to at least 10, with 26 other people injured, the highway patrol said. The bus went off a highway Monday after hitting a truck and plunged into a ravine near Pirai do Sul, a city in Parana. The bus was traveling from Belem, a city in Para state, to Curitiba, the capital of Parana. The bus was carrying 52 passengers, who rented the vehicle to take them to an information technology conference that starts on Tuesday in Curitiba, media reports said. Wednesday 18 July 2012 Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/17/death-toll-rises-to-10-in-brazil-bus-accident/#ixzz20xkZK...

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Nine passengers die in a bus crash near Kahuta

July 18

At least nine passengers perished in yet another road accident near Kahuta on Tuesday morning when a bus fell into a ditch, the third major accident during the last two months in the same area. The...

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Trishuli bus plunge: 11 missing

July 18

At least 11 persons went missing in Monday’s bus crash at Krishnabhir along Prithvi Highway, Dhading. A total of 16 people were killed and 15 others injured when the bus plunged into the Trishuli river. The...

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Fire at suspected mass grave site

July 18

PRISTINA, Kosovo, July 17 (UPI) -- A fire broke out at a burial site suspected of containing the remains of Serb civilians kidnapped and killed in Kosovo, an official said. Irina Gudeljevic, a representative of the European Union mission in Kosovo, could not say whether the fire had affected an investigation into the remains of missing persons believed to be buried at the site in Zilivode near Oblic, Tanjug reported. Families of missing and kidnapped individuals said Monday they suspected the fire had been intentionally set to destroy evidence about the existence of the mass grave. The families said excavation teams had reached a depth of about 82 feet when the fire started, and Tanjug said satellite photos show the mass grave holds the remains of at least 26 people. Forensic medicine experts from the EU mission in Kosovo, the European Union Rule of Law Mission for Kosovo and their colleagues from the Pristina Department of Forensic...

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Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Train derails in Egyptian capital Cairo: 'many dead'

July 17

An Egyptian passenger train has derailed and caught fire in a suburb of Cairo, reportedly leaving many people dead. Five of its cars overturned. Egyptian media report at least 4 people killed and 70 injured. A security source has told Reuters that at least 15 people were injured.  Reports also say the accident took place in the Badrasheen area of Giza, as the train was heading for the southern province of Suhaq. The train was coming from the town of Sohag, 500 kilometres south of Cairo. The number of casualties and the death toll are still unconfirmed. At least five ambulances rushed to the scene to help the victims, amid fears of a large death toll.   Other train accidents in Egypt The railway system's poor safety record has long been blamed on badly maintained equipment and poor management.  Feb 20 2002: 361 die when a train catches fire 43 miles south of Cairo. Aug 21 2006: At least 58 are killed...

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Death toll from Japan's heavy rain rises to 28

July 17

The death toll from record rainfall on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu rose to 28 on Monday and rescue workers searched for four missing people, reports said. Evacuation orders were lifted in most parts of the region and many residents had returned to clean up flooded homes. Substantial damage was inflicted on farming and fishing industries in Fukuoka prefecture. Dozens of fishing boats went adrift and farm machines were submerged, the Nishinippon newspaper cited local authorities as saying. Greenhouses were also damaged and a seaweed farm was flooded in the prefecture, it said. Many residents in northern mountainous areas of Yame were without electricity and water after a flooding river destroyed facilities and caused utility poles to collapse, NTV reported.  The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted more rain in the region and local authorities warned of more mudslides and flooding. As warm, humid air created an active...

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Okobe petrol fire disaster death toll rises to 124

July 17

Abuja – The death toll from Okobe petrol tanker disaster rose to 124 on Monday, up from 95, the Rivers Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Dr Kayode Olagunju, said. Olagunju...

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Monday, 16 July 2012

Nepal bus crash kills at least 39

July 16

At least 39 people are dead after an overcrowded bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded off a wet road in southern Nepal. The driver lost control of the bus on the rain-slicked road and it plunged into...

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9 die in Nepal's 2nd bus disaster in 2 days

July 16

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Police in Nepal say a bus veered off a highway and plunged into a river, killing at least nine people and injuring 18 more in the mountainous nation's second road disaster in...

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32 dead or missing as flood victims begin clean-up

July 16

TOKYO - Flood victims in Japan began a full-scale clean-up operation Monday after record rainfall forced hundreds of thousands to flee and left at least 32 dead or missing in northern Kyushu. Residents together with volunteers and local government officials shovelled mud and moved damaged furniture from their homes, while mechanical diggers removed fallen trees and debris from the roads. Four days of torrential rainfall wrought devastation in the four prefectures of Kumamoto, Oita, Saga and Fukuoka, with rivers bursting their banks, and muddy water destroying or inundating houses.  Electricity remained cut off to some 2,600 houses in northern Kyushu, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co, while local governments sent emergency response teams to villagers isolated by landslides. Troops were called in Sunday to airlift supplies to those cut off, while local authorities dispatched rescue helicopters to ferry the elderly to hospital. The...

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Hope lost in death, leaving nothing but a number

July 16

WITH their hopes for a better life snatched by a ferocious ocean, the bodies of 18 asylum-seekers who drowned in last month's two boat sinkings were unceremoniously loaded on to a plane bound for Perth...

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