Afghanistan Earthquake: Dozens Feared Buried After Deadly Quakes

KABUL, Afghanistan -- As many as 50 people are feared entombed under tons of rock and stone that buried a village in a landslide after two earthquakes in northern Afghanistan, authorities said Tuesday. A single bulldozer worked to uncover the bodies of those killed in Monday's landslide after the earthquakes struck the Hindu Kush region, but villagers fear there will be no survivors. So far, rescuers have only recovered the bodies of two women, according to Gov. Abdul Majid of Baghlan province who reached the area on Tuesday afternoon after a four-hour drive from the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri. "It's impossible to get to the bodies," the governor said. "They estimate that they are buried in 30 meters of rock. There are tons of rocks and stones covering the village." Baghlan province's Burka district, the site of the landslide, is a remote collection of mountain villages. Majid estimated that the rubble covered one hectare of...

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Dana crash: Victims’ relatives in DNA identification dilemma

TEN days after 153 passengers aboard Dana Flight 099 from Abuja perished along with an indeterminate number of people on the ground when the aircraft crashed into residential buildings in Iju, a suburb of Lagos, on the afternoon of Sunday June 3, 2012, the release of the remains of the victims to their relations by authorities of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, remains a contentious issue. In the aftermath of the air disaster described as one of the worst in recent times, a total of 11 identifiable bodies had been cleared for release up till Monday June 11, 2012. Although not all of the released bodies which have undergone autopsy at the expense of the Lagos State government have been claimed to date, the hospital authorities are, however, insisting on conducting individual DNA tests on all the remaining bodies whether or not they are identifiable, pending approval of the release of  any more bodies. But this...

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