Migrant deaths highlight rural tension in Italy

Even dead migrant workers are exploitable. Or so it would seem from the hardly edifying scenes that followed the deaths last Saturday of six Romanian farm workers killed in a horrific train accident near Rossano in Calabria, southern Italy.

The workers were killed when the Fiat Multipla car in which they were travelling home was struck by a train at a countryside level crossing, late in the afternoon.

The impact of the crash reduced the car to mangled steel, instantly killing the six passengers, three men and three women. It took rescue workers and firemen hours to extract the bodies.

The pain and distress of the Romanian workers’ families did not end there. When relatives arrived at the scene late on Saturday night, they were horrified to find rival undertaker companies arguing about who had the right to collect the bodies. As the undertakers squabbled, one of the bodies was knocked off the rescue service stretcher and onto the ground.

In a short clip ( today.it/citta/rossano) that has been frequently viewed, relatives of the dead workers are heard to shout angrily at the undertakers: “Shame on you. Shame on the Italian people.” In the clip, the police appear to stand back, unsure what to do.

The tragedy once again serves to highlight the precarious working conditions of seasonal farm workers in southern Italy. The six dead had been harvesting clementines, probably for a daily wage packet of €20 euro.

In a homily on Sunday, the bishop of Rossano, Santo Marciano, called on local farmers to reject the “logic of dishonesty and exploitation which reduces human beings to conditions of modern slavery”.

Two years ago, police had to bus 1,300 mainly African seasonal farm workers out of another Calabrian town, Rosarno, following three days of riots and scuffles involving the workers and local people. The riots started after shots were fired, almost certainly by ’Ndrangheta Mafiosi, at some of the Africans in an attempt to enforce territorial control.

The level crossing at which the six died is one which the Italian state train authority (FSI) leases to private citizens, most often farmers. They are usually closed off by a padlocked gate.

Investigators have yet to establish the full dynamics of the tragedy, although it is known that two Romanian workers survived the crash because they had got out of the car to open the crossing gate.

Wednesday 28 november 2012

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/1128/1224327207594.html

9 Dead, 7 missing after fishing boat sinks off northeast China

Nine people have died and seven remain missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of the northeastern Chinese seaport of Dalian, maritime authorities said.

The boat with 17 people on board sank in the wee hours of Wednesday amid strong waves during an attempt to hook the boat to a larger vessel, the authorities said.

The bodies of nine of the fishermen were recovered at around 3:30 p.m., while another seven people are still missing.

The only person rescued from the sinking boat is listed is good condition at a hospital in Liaoning province, where Dalian is located.

Authorities said a rescue operation involving a helicopter, seven maritime patrol vessels and 120 other boats was still ongoing.

Wednesday 28 november 2012

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/28/dead-7-missing-after-fishing-boat-sinks-off-northeast-china/#ixzz2DXMIgEBj

15 killed as van falls into canal in S. Pakistan

At least 15 people were killed and eight others went missing on Wednesday evening when a passenger van fell into a canal in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, local media reported.

According to local Urdu TV channel ARY News, the passenger vehicle carrying 23 people plunged into the Kair Thar canal in the Shikarpur district due to overspeed and brake failure.

Majority of the killed included women and children who drowned in the water after the van fell into the canal.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Azhar Shah confirmed the death of the 15 people, adding that the death toll could rise as at least eight people were still missing.

Initially, local people retrieved bodies of four women and two children from the canal before the rescue teams arrived at the site. Rescue workers were searching the missing people with the help of heavy machinery.

The ill-fated passenger van was heading towards Shikarpur district from Dadu city of the same province when the accident occurred.

All the dead bodies were shifted to civil hospital Shikarpur as rescue teams continued their efforts to recover more bodies.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.nzweek.com/world/15-killed-as-van-falls-into-canal-in-s-pakistan-30391/

52 unclaimed fire victims buried after DNA tests

No-one showed up over the past two days to claim them. Their bodies charred beyond recognition.

And so, unidentified bodies of 53 workers who had died from the fire at Tazreeen Fashions Ltd were buried at the Jurain Graveyard in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.

Anjuman-e-Mufidul Islam, a charity, received the bodies and conducted the burial as the nation observed a day of mourning on Tuesday.

After concluding the DNA tests at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the district administration handed over the bodies to the voluntary organisation.

The graves were prepared on Monday night and the serial numbers of the DNA were tagged with the coffins as well as on the boards erected there in the hope that, some day, their families can identify them.

Bangladesh's deadliest factory fire in the multi-storied Tazreen Fashions Limited of Tuba Group burned alive at least 110 workers, according to government estimates.

Sixty bodies were initially handed over to the Anjuman for burial. Later, the district administration decided to wait until Tuesday for relatives of the dead to claim them.

They claimed seven more bodies and the administration handed over the rest around 11:30am on on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Abul Fazal Meer told reporters that they had 55 bodies last night. Husbands of 'Jaheda' and 'Mariam' identified their bodies in the morning. "We've handed over 53 bodies to Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial."

The Additional District Commissioner of Dhaka Abul Fazal could not say how many of the dead were female.

"The bodies are burnt so badly that identifying them was almost impossible," he said.

After the first Namaz-e-Janaza at the DMCH, the bodies were taken to Jurain graveyard and buried after a second Janaza there.

Mohammad Abdul Halim, Assistant Director of Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, said that all the bodies were buried as per Islamic rituals.

Four vehicles carried the bodies to the graveyard. Those who did not find their loved ones yet thronged the graveyard to give it a last try — all in vain.

The tombstone of the dead will carry the number waiting to be identified by their families, said Assistant Director of Anjumane Mofidul Islam Halim.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=237087&cid=2

Decomposing bodies of five men found in Korean-marked boat off Japan’s coast

Police revealed Wednesday that a boat with Korean (Hangul) language writing on the side washed ashore on Sado Island with five rotting bodies inside. The island is located just off Niigata Prefecture on Japan’s western coast, and while police say nationalities are still unknown, they confirm all the bodies were adult males. The only other things in the 13 meter (43 feet) long boat were small belongings and garbage.

Five bodies were found on Wednesday morning in the boat washed up on rocks by a beach on the island, roughly over 10 meters (32.8 feet) long and weighing about 5 tons, on Sado island, northern Japan, Kyodo news reported.

It is still unknown how the passengers died, likewise the Korean writing on the boat is said to be unreadable. Police have said the only thing that is clear is that boat was adrift at sea for a long period of time. In the last few years, there have been several cases of North Koreans turning up in that area off Japan’s coast after fleeing the isolated communist country. Nine refugees, consisting of three men, three women, and three children, were found by the Japan Coast Guard in September 2011 after being at sea for 5 days. The group later resettled in South Korea.

The police and the Japan Coast Guard are seeking to identify the bodies of what appear to be adults and are probing how the boat drifted onto the beach.

In January of this year, three more North Koreans were found at sea, along with the body of another passenger who had died of hypothermia. They were also thought to be defectors trying to escape North Korea’s food shortages and poverty, but they turned out to be fishermen whose boat engine died and drifted out to sea. They were eventually repatriated at their own request.

Monday 28 November 2012

http://japandailypress.com/decomposing-bodies-of-five-men-found-in-korean-marked-boat-off-japans-coast-2819036

Unclaimed bodies buried

There was none to claim them.

Fifty-three unidentified bodies from the fire at Tazreeen Fashions Ltd were buried at the Jurain Graveyard in the capital on Tuesday afternoon after two days of wait for their families, reports bdnews24.com

But the bodies were beyond recognition.

Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, a charity, received the bodies and conducted the burials when the nation observed a day of mourning on Tuesday.

After concluding the DNA tests at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the district administration handed over the bodies to the welfare body.

The graves were prepared on Monday night and the serial numbers of the DNA were tagged with the coffins as well as on the boards erected there so that their families can identify the dead bodies later.

The deadliest factory fire broke out on the ground floor of the multi-storey Tazreen Fashions Limited of Tuba Group killing at least 110 workers, according to government estimates.

Sixty bodies were initially handed over to the Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial. Later, the district administration decided to wait until Tuesday for relatives of the dead to claim them.

As relatives claimed seven more bodies, the administration handed over the rest around 11:30am on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Abul Fazal Meer told reporters that they had 55 bodies last night. Husbands of 'Zaheda' and 'Mariam' identified their bodies in the morning. "We've handed over 53 bodies to Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam for burial."

The ADC, however, could not say how many of the bodies were male and female.

"The bodies are burnt so badly that identifying them was almost impossible," he said. After the first namaz-e-janaza at the DMCH, the bodies were taken to Jurain graveyard and buried after a second Janaza there.

Mohammad Abdul Halim, Assistant Director of Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam, said that all the bodies were buried as per Islamic rituals.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2330083&date=2012-11-28