Fire kills at least six in Pakistan

Officials said at least six people were killed after a fire broke out early Sunday at a building in Lahore City in Pakistan.

The exact number of individuals inside the building at the time of the fire is not known, Geo News reported.

The fire, which destroyed the third floor of the building, also affected four other blocks in the neighborhood.

A fire officials said the blaze reignited after being under control for four hours.

Fourteen fire trucks were on the scene, Geo News reported

Sunday 20 January 2013

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/01/20/Fire-kills-six-in-Pakistan/UPI-76181358709825/#ixzz2IXyMAiYe

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Sense of community begins to develop in ‘Pablo’-hit village in Davao Oriental

It has often been said that tragedy, disasters and unfortunate events often bring out the best and worst in humans; they also unite or divide a people.

Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) was no exception: It galvanized the world, especially local organizations, to positive action to help the survivors cope with the devastation as well as assist their communities get back on its feet.

In the eco-tourism resource-rich barangay (village) of Ban-ao, the farthest barangay of this town which borders the municipality of Cateel and Baganga, a sense of community is starting to develop in each survivor—a feeling of unity, commonality and oneness with one another.

A sense of hope for a brighter future is pervading Ban-ao and “visitors” can’t help but notice the unity of the people here.

“I often wonder what the overall feeling in this village before Pablo was. But now, the feeling of unity and oneness is so palpable in everyone that I can’t just feel or sense it but also see it in the people, in the way they help each other cope with the disaster,” Ed Cox, expert disaster response and humanitarian volunteer of the Rotary Club’s Disaster Aid International (DAI) said in a casual conversation with the BusinessMirror on board one of the vehicles of the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs (BMG) on the way to Ban-ao from Cateel.

Cox, who admitted his frustration at people who don’t understand his “job,” said that there were times that he felt so frustrated at and disappointed with the response from government and so-called expert disaster response and “But then, I see the survivors and then hope springs back to life. Yes, you can see sadness in their eyes. But you can also see there the fire of hope burning. And it is our job, our work, our responsibility to make sure that this fire of hope in them is not extinguished. It is our job to convert this hope into positive action for them to be able to help themselves. That’s the meaning of assistance,” he said.

And this hope is what’s driving the survivors in Ban-ao forward into rebuilding a devastated community and rebuilding lives, even if it means literally picking the pieces and putting them back together.

Teary-eyed, Punong Barangay Mera Ching said that despite the unfavourable fate they had in the past year, there is always a reason to celebrate a new life, a new beginning. And this should not be missed especially by the little children,” Rochelle “Bibing” Mordeno, executive director of Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) said in BMG’s DR and humanitarian interventions update report to donors, partners and the general public.

Ching, at 42, is ably leading Ban-ao’s slow but sure recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Because of Ching’s leadership, purok (sitio) leaders of Ban-ao are also taking very active roles in the “new Ban-ao,” consisting of several Tent Communities.

“This also helped unload the burden on the part of the punong barangay [as] all of the seven purok leaders are actively involved especially on major decision-making and planning related to the tent community and the barangay in general,” Mordeno said.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/regions/7939-sense-of-community-begins-to-develop-in-pablo-hit-village-in-davao-oriental

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“We learned so many lessons from Pablo”

Typhoon Pablo taught Compostela Valley “many lessons” and the province now wants to ensure it could respond effectively should another disaster happen by allocating P2 million this year on trainings on disaster preparedness.

“We learned so many lessons,” Compostela Governor Arthur Uy told the Kapihan sa ComVal Thursday morning, as he noted that it was the first time the province experienced a typhoon.

He said they “did prepare” for the typhoon, put in place an evacuation program, but “we came up short admittedly.”

He said the response to the disaster was rather chaotic in the first two weeks and that it was a good thing there were volunteers who helped them.

Uy said they are allocating P2 million this year for disaster preparedness. “We need to capacitate (our people) through trainings, equipment.”

This year’s allocation is more than twice last year’s.

Raul Villocino, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told MindaNews that last year’s budget for trainings was P950,000.

Uy acknowledged the need to assess and evaluate their disaster preparedness “dahil napakarami palang kakulangan. Medyo kalat tayo” (because we are inadequate.. We’re disorganized).

He cited the handling of the dead as an example, apparently referring to the problem in New Bataan which posted the highest death toll not only in the province but in Pablo’s path across Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.

Local authorities initially dug two mass graveyards at the public cemetery in Barangay Cabinuangan, New Bataan, only to be told by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that the bodies should be in individual niches or in body bags if placed in compartments.

The NBI also told them there is a process to follow and that forensics teams need to get DNA samplings from the unidentified victims for matching with their surviving relatives.

Uy said the P2M budget will be used for trainings and other capability-building activities, separate from equipment like rubber boats.

He said he has asked the provincial government of Albay, a province used to dealing with typhoons, to conduct trainings in Compostela Valley.

Under RA 10121 or the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010, a declaration of as state of calamity is no longer necessary to access and utilize the DRRM Fund.

The DRMM Fund is to be sourced from “not less than five percent of the estimated revenue from regular sources,” to support disaster risk management activities. These include pre-disaster preparedness programs, including training, purchasing life–saving rescue equipment, supplies and medicines, for post-disaster activities and for the payment of premiums on calamity insurance.”

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2013/01/20/we-learned-so-many-lessons-from-pablo/

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Bridge collapse isolates devastated town

Another bridge has collapsed in Davao Oriental, making Caraga town isolated. The Caraga Bridge, which connects Caraga town to Manay town, was destroyed around 10:30 a.m. Sunday “by the rampaging water which carried with it uprooted trees,” Mayor William Dumaan told the Inquirer by phone.

The trees could be among those uprooted when Typhoon “Pablo” hit the east coast towns of the province on Dec. 4, he said.

But some residents said although some of the trees still have roots, there were at least “three big cut logs.”

Asked where the logs were, the residents said they were carried away to the sea. Vice Gov. Jose Mayo Almario earlier warned that “the worst is yet to come” with the onset of the rainy season. He said that with no more trees to hold the rainwater, there would be flooding, with rampaging water carrying fallen trees with it.

At the height of Pablo, the Baogo Bridge, which connects Caraga to Baganga town, was destroyed by floodwater that had uprooted trees and logs.

The destruction of the Caraga Bridge has rendered the town totally isolated.

Another bridge in Cateel town is also facing collapse. Only light vehicles are allowed to pass the Papad Bridge, which connects Cateel and Baganga. If the bridge is destroyed, it will mean total isolation of the typhoon-ravaged town of Baganga, which can be reached through Cateel from the east and Caraga from the south.

In General Santos City, tears flowed as wreaths were laid and white balloons were released on Saturday, signifying the end of the 45-day search and rescue operation for the 352 fishermen who went missing at the height of Pablo last month.

Lt. Gen. Jorge V. Segovia, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, came here on Wednesday and told the families of missing fishermen that “efforts of the government would be shifted from search and rescue to rehabilitation.”

The fishermen aboard 47 fishing vessels from this city and nearby Sarangani province disappeared when Pablo battered Eastern Mindanao on Dec. 4.

On Dec. 9, massive sea and aerial search and rescue efforts were launched. Using 22 boats, the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, US Navy, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and different fishing companies scoured the fishing grounds covering some 500,000 hectares near Palau all the way down to Indonesia.

Navy Capt. Lued Lincuna told the Inquirer that 44 survivors were from General Santos City, Sarangani, Davao del Sur and Surigao del Sur. Fifteen bodies were retrieved. Lincuna said the last time the team recovered a cadaver was on Dec. 12, “so, the task force decided to refocus its efforts to helping the families of the victims.”

On Saturday morning, the city government, the fishing federation, BFAR, Philippine Navy, Coast Guard and families of the missing fishermen held a fluvial wreath-laying ceremony on Sarangani Bay.

It was a symbolic mass burial to pay tribute to fishermen who perished at sea together with their fishing vessels.

Despite the holding of symbolic mass burial, Ramona Lacanilao, 42, a resident of Calumpang here, refused to give up hope. “I still believe my husband is alive. I will continue waiting for him,” Ramona said in Bisaya.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/343755/bridge-collapse-isolates-devastated-town

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Building fire kills eight in Russia

Eight workers died in a fire that broke out in an administrative one-storey wooden building in Yekaterinburg in the Urals, the regional emergencies center reported on Sunday, RIA Novosti reports.

The fire erupted early on Sunday and engulfed an area of 200 square meters. The building housed a brigade of workers who were engaged in the construction of a new greenhouse center. It took the firefighters more than two hours to extinguish the blaze.

Previous reports said six construction workers were killed in the fire. “During the clearance of debris the bodies of two more people were found,” the regional emergencies center said.

According to preliminary data, workers from the Perm Region in the Urals were killed in the fire, regional Interior Department spokesman Valery Gorelykh said.

“Criminal investigators found several cars at the scene, including a Volga car with Perm number plates, and a Ford car with Sverdlovsk Region number plates, which was used by the construction brigade foreman, according to some information” the spokesman said.

The location of the foreman has not been determined, it is not ruled out that he may be among the fire victims. The identities of the persons killed in the fire are being established, he said.

Negligence, careless smoking and reluctance to comply with fire safety rules are the most frequent causes of residential building fires across Russia. The number of house fires has risen dramatically in the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Fire safety came into the spotlight in Russia in recent years after a number of high-profile blazes. Over 150 people were killed in a fire at a nightclub in the Urals in December 2009.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/756942.shtml

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Four Dead in Russian Coal Mine Accident

At least four miners died early on Sunday as a result of smoke inhalation during an accident at a coal mine in southwestern Siberia’s Kemerovo Region, local emergencies services reported.

A total of 77 miners were working underground at the mine No. 7 in the Prokopyevsky district when smoke started spreading though the tunnels at around 02.15 a.m. Moscow time [22:15 GMT on Saturday].

An initial report said one miner died and seven were missing, but an update at 04.55 a.m. [00.30 GMT] added three more victims to the death toll. Sixty-nine people have been successfully evacuated.

“Rescuers have discovered three more bodies. The fate of the four missing miners remains unknown as the search for them continues,” the latest official report said. Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev is personally leading the rescue effort. Kemerovo is part of Russia’s major coal-producing Kuzbass region.

Specialists and experts have determined the location of the four trapped miners. However, a rescue operation was suspended on Sunday Morning for fear of gas explosion regarding the high methane concentration in the tunnels, emergencies officials said.

A regional emergency center was set up in preparation for further rescue and medical efforts.

Meanwhile, families of the coal mine accident victims will receive three million rubles (100,000 US dollars) in aid, regional authorities said.

Methane explosion is a major cause of fatal accidents in Siberian coal-producing regions. In may 2010, two gas blasts at a coal mine near the town of Mezhdurechensk killed 91 people.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/756937.shtml http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130120/178898641.html

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15 Unidentified Bodies Found Floating on Ezu River in Anambra State

The people of Amansea community in Anambra state woke up to a gory sight on Saturday morning to find about 40 bodies floating on Ezu, a river at the boundary between Anambra and Enugu states.

The decomposing bodies, all male, were without any noticeable body mutilations or injuries and could not be identified by the people of Amansea community who live in the area on Anambra state side of the divide. They added that no member of the community had also been reported missing.

The bodies were discovered in the early hours of the morning when they went to fetch water.

According to Channels TV, the river is the only source of water for the five communities of Amansea, Ebenebe, Ugbenu, Ugbene and Oba-Ofemili and the development had caused a lot of discomfort to the people.

The Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Musa Daura, maintained that Enugu and Anambra enjoy relative peace and so could not decipher where the corpses were coming from. He wondered how the avalanche of dead bodies got there because he had not heard of any communal clash whether in Enugu or Anambra where many people were killed.

The villagers were advised not to fetch water from the river until the bodies are cleared and buried.

This is really shocking and we hope the police are able to unravel the mystery behind this case.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://www.bellanaija.com/2013/01/20/15-unidentified-bodies-found-floating-on-ezu-river-in-anambra-state/

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