Chile sends experts to Honduras to investigate prison disaster

TEGUCIGALPA – This afternoon, the first group of experts from Chile’s Legal Medical Service (Servicio Médico Legal), or SML, arrived in Honduras to collaborate in the identification of the victims of the Comayagua prison, where a fire left more than 350 inmates dead. Their arrival was confirmed by the Minister of Justice, Patricia Pérez, who hopes that the four experts who left early this morning will be able to start their work immediately. The remaining eight professionals will arrive in Honduras tomorrow, and will collaborate with local authorities on how to best use their skills to help out however they can. “The Servicio Médico Legal and the Civil Registry are both services of the Ministry of Justice, which has gained experience in tragedies, not only what occurred in San Miguel prison, but also in other unfortunate events that have afflicted the country, such as the earthquake and the tragedy of Juan Fernández,” said the Minister...

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Volta Lake Disaster: 10 Bodies Retrieved As Boat Owner Flees

Ten bodies including a three-month-old baby have been retrieved from the Volta Lake at Krachi West after a boat with 12 passengers onboard capsized on Sunday. The coordinator of the National Disaster and Management Organisation (NADMO) in the area, Amudu Baba Seidu, confirmed the incident to Citi Eyewitness News on Monday. He said the boat, which was travelling from Keta to Krachi West hit a stamp in the lake resulting in its wreckage. He said the 10 people who died included four children and six mothers. “On the boat they were 12, but when the boat capsized 10 died and two were able to swim across the river. Four were younger girls including a three-month-old baby and then six were mothers,” he said. Mr. Seidu said all the 10 victims have been identified and relief items are being sent to their families, adding that NADMO would also help offset the bills for the burial of the victims. According to Mr. Seidu, the owner of the boat managed...

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Search for disaster victims held on Fukushima coast

SENDAI — Some 100 officers from the Miyagi Prefectural Police force conducted an intensive search Monday for remains near an elementary school in Ishinomaki that lost 70 of its 108 students to the quake...

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Christchurch begins grim memorial

A special cemetery for victims of the February 22 earthquake was officially opened today - a day before the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch disaster. The unidentified remains of four earthquake victims were laid to rest earlier today in a communal grave at Avonhead Park Cemetery in the west of the embattled city. Four of the 185 people who died in the disaster, and whose remains could not be formally identified, were buried in a single casket in a private interment ceremony. The victims: Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch, Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, Philippines, Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, Peru, and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident, were all in the CTV building that collapsed and caught fire, killing a total of 115 people. At 6pm, Christchurch mayor Bob Parker officially unveiled a memorial plinth to the unidentified, and unfound, victims of the killer magnitude-6.3 quake ahead of tomorrow's poignant and emotional...

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Death toll from steel plant blast in Liaoning rises to 13

SHENYANG, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a blast at a state-owned steel plant Monday night in northeast China's Liaoning Province has risen to 13, said local authorities and rescuers Tuesday. The accident happened when a mold exploded at 11:30 p.m. Monday at a steel-casting workshop owned by Angang Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. in the city of Anshan, according to a statement issued by the publicity department of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China. Ten people were found dead as of early Tuesday, while rescuers recovered the bodies of three workers who were previously identified as missing in the blast by Tuesday noon. Another 17 people were injured in the blast and they were receiving medical treatment in hospital, said the statement. Rescuers are searching for the missing worker. The cause of the accident is under investigation. The state-run Angang Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. founded more than 70 years ago,...

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Lagos may begin cremation of corpses as bill awaits passage

If members of the Lagos State House of Assembly eventually pass the Cremation Bill 2012 into law, then cremation of corpses, especially unclaimed ones will commence in the state. The bill is titled “A Bill for a Law to Provide for Voluntary Cremation of Corpses and Unclaimed Corpses within Lagos State”, enacted by the state House of Assembly. The lawmakers, in their submissions said that inability of relations to claim corpses of their relatives contributed immensely to the bad situation of the mortuaries in the state. It also uncovered that heaps of corpses at the state mortuaries can also lead to an epidemic situation in the state. The purpose of the bill will be to establish a crematorium that will take care of unclaimed corpses and for voluntary cremation of corpses within the state to solve the problem associated with getting land for mass burial, and to decongest the state mortuaries, battling with cases of unidentified and unclaimed...

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Relatives storm Honduras morgue demanding remains

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras Hundreds of relatives of inmates who burned or suffocated to death in a Honduras prison fire have forced their way into a morgue to demand the remains of their loved ones. Prosecutors spokesman Melvin Duarte says women and a few men pushed into the morgue, broke into a refrigerated container and opened at least six body bags. He says police used tear gas to chase the people from the morgue in Tegucigalpa, which is Honduras' capital. He says no one was injured during Monday's confrontation, although at least one woman fainted. The fire in a crowded prison last week in the city of Comayagua killed 359 prisoners. There were 852 inmates at the prison, more than double the capacity. 20 Febr 2012 Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/02/20/1834085/relatives-storm-honduras-morgue.html#storylink=...

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Unidentified Christchurch quake victims buried

The remains of four people who could not be formally identified after Christchurch's earthquake on February 22 last year have been laid to rest. Four of the 185 people who died in the disaster were buried in a single casket in a private ceremony at the Avonhead Cemetery on Tuesday morning, ahead of a formal dedication of the internment site in the evening. The unidentified victims were Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch, Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, from the Philippines, Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, from Peru, and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident, who were in the CTV building that collapsed and caught fire. 21 Febr 2012 http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12966179/unidentified-chch-quake-victims-buri...

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