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 years in the Chittagong region. Chittagong is the second largest city of Bangladesh.

At least 150,000 people have also been stranded by the floods, officials say. Rescue operations are continuing but rain is hampering efforts.

Flights to Chittagong airport have been cancelled.

Most rail links have also been suspended after a railway bridge collapsed. Days of heavy rain have caused mud banks to collapse, burying houses and blocking roads.

Those killed were drowned in flash floods, hit by landslides, struck by lightning or buried by wall collapses.

Many homeless people live at the foot of the hills or close to them despite warnings from the authorities about the danger of landslides.

Chittagong port received 40cm (15.75in) of rain in a single 12-hour period on Tuesday.

The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka says that dozens of people are still missing and the death toll is expected to increase.

Our correspondent says that the downpours have flooded vast areas of the city, displacing thousands of people. "We are having the worst rainfall in many years," said Jainul Bari, district commissioner for Cox's Bazar, one of the affected areas.

Volunteers using loudspeakers warned people about the danger of heavy rainfall and landslides in Cox's Bazar, officials say, but local people and rescuers were still left helpless when floodwater suddenly inundated dozens of villages and severely disrupted communications.

 In neighbouring Bandarban district, bodies have been recovered from multiple landslide sites, local officials have said.

Bandarban police chief Saiful Ahmed told the AFP news agency that most of the victims were asleep when huge waves of mud and debris buried them alive. "One family has lost 12 members," Mr Ahmed said.

Other officials have said that they are expecting more heavy rain in the next few days. Security forces have been deployed to help the search and rescue effort.

Chittagong has been hit repeatedly by monsoon rain and landslides in recent years.

As a result, the government has tried to tighten rules on where development can take place but with little success.

Thursday 28 June 2012

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18605765

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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 happened on Monday is a tragedy and our sympathies and prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones at this difficult time,” Gauteng MEC for Health Ntombi Mekgwe said yesterday.

A mass memorial service was proposed during a meeting held yesterday by the office of the mayor of the Sedibeng District Municipality, Mahole Simon Mofokeng.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Sedibeng District Municipality, the Emfuleni Municipality, the Gauteng Department of Transport, the Road Accident Fund and Putco.

The service has been proposed for July 4 from 11am until 1pm at the Mphatlalatsane Sports Complex in Sebokeng.

The proposed mass funeral is set to be held on July 7 at 8am. ”On behalf of the people of Sedibeng, I once again convey and express my deepest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and friends of the passengers who passed on (died) during this accident,” said Mofokeng. “I would also like to wish the injured passengers a speedy recovery.”

The police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.

Thursday 28 June 2012

http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/mass-funeral-proposed-for-bus-crash-victims-1.1329578#.T-waNXj82W8

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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 merchant ships, two Australian warships and an Australian air force plane that can drop life rafts to the sea responded to the capsizing. The search area was 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Christmas Island and 185 kilometers (115 miles) south of Java. 


The boat capsized in Indonesia's search and rescue zone but Australian authorities raised the alarm after the crew made a satellite phone call to Australian police. 


The first merchant ship reached the scene more than four hours later, officials said. Last Thursday, 110 people were rescued when a boat carrying more than 200 mostly Afghan asylum seekers capsized just 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the latest tragedy. 


Only 17 bodies were recovered. The survivors' refugee applications were being assessed at Christmas Island, where Australia runs an immigration detention center. 


Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said the survivors of today's incident would be delivered to Christmas Island early tomorrow. 


Australia is a common destination for boats carrying asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka and other poor or war-torn countries. 


In December 2010, an estimated 48 people died when an asylum seeker boat broke up against Christmas Island's rocky coast. 


Last December, about 200 asylum seekers were feared drowned after their overcrowded ship bound for Australia sank off Java. 


Other boats are suspected to have sunk unnoticed with the loss of all lives. 


Wednesday 27 June 2012 


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/four-dead-and-130-rescued-as-asylum-seeker-boat-capsizes-off-australian-island-7893352.html

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