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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