11 people killed in Byo bus accident

Eleven people died in a fatal accident that involved a bus, Kombi and Mercedes Benz sprinter minibus 10km out of Bulawayo along the Bulawayo- Harare highway yesterday (Friday) afternoon.

This accident occurred at Cement Siding after TP Transport bus loaded with passengers and on its way from Harare side swept a Kombi and a Mercedes Benz sprinter minibus which were also loaded with passengers and going opposite direction. The drivers of the kombi and sprinter minibus lost control and veered of the road. Eight people who were in the Sprinter minibus were killed on the spot,while two people who were in Kombi were also killed on the spot. One person who was in the bus was also killed.

When The Zimbabwean visited the accident scene, police and fire brigade officers were busy retrieving bodies from wreckages while ambulances were ferrying the injured to United Bulawayo Hospital.

The accident happened at the same spot where eight people were killed in January this year after the driver of a Botswana registered bus, Jay-Jay Tours, lost control at a curve on a morning marked by heavy showers and veered off the road.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Mandlenkosi Moyo only said: “Yes an accident has occurred, but I am still getting more details about that.”

Hundreds of Zimbabweans including some senior government leaders have perished in road accidents that experts have largely blamed on the poor state of roads and human error.

This past festive season has seen a death toll of over 208 people compared to about 147 who died in road accidents in 2011.The accidents occurred despite the heavy presence of traffic police on major highways.

Traffic safety officials blame a number of factors for the upsurge in crashes, including the poor state of the roads and the increase in the volume of traffic and human error.

Police have also been accused of contributing to the carnage by taking bribes from traffic offenders, enabling unroadworthy vehicles to continue plying the roads.

Saturday 9 March 2013

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/64174/11-people-killed-in-byo.html?utm_source=thezim&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=listarticle&utm_content=textlink

Sixth Body Recovered as Russia Mourns Avalanche Victims

Rescuers have recovered the body of the sixth missing teenager at the site of an avalanche in Russia's East Siberian republic of Tyva, where a mourning has been declared for the victims.

The head of the republic, Sholban Kara-ool, declared a one-day mourning on Saturday for the six teenagers, who were killed in an avalanche last week.

The avalanche occurred on a remote mountain slope six kilometers (four miles) from the village of Mugur-Aksy in the republic’s Mongun-Taiginsky distinct on March 3.

Seven boys were planning to plant flags at the top of the mountain - a custom that is believed to bring luck.

One of them, Anton Salchak, 17, a junior European kickboxing champion, managed to escape the snow trap and alerted the regional authorities to the incident.

Five bodies were retracted from under the snow on Wednesday and the search for the last missing teenager continued.

Saturday 9 March 2013

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130309/179909380/Sixth-Body-Recovered-as-Russia-Mourns-Avalanche-Victims.html

9 people killed in fishing boat fire off South Korean waters

Nine people died and one people is missing when a fishing boat was on fire off waters in Gunsan city of South Korea, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday citing the relevant authorities. According to the police, the fire started at about 5:20 a.m. on the 20-ton fishing boat, 24 kilometers of Gunsan city in west South Korea, forcing 11 crew to plunge into freezing sea waters to avoid flames and smoke. Among the total of 20 boat members, 10 have been rescued but nine of them were pronounced dead later. The police are still searching for the missing one. "It seems that many of the people jumping into the sea died because of hypothermia caused by excessively low water temperature," a police officer was quoted as saying by Yonhap. The authorities have yet to identify the cause of the accident and whether the sailors were alive or dead. Saturday 9 March 2013 http://english.sina.com/world/2013/0308/569613.html

Yorkshire's worst mining disaster: When tragedy struck at colliery in 1973

This month marks the anniversary of one of the worst mining disasters in the history of Yorkshire.

The Lofthouse Colliery Disaster of March 21, 1973, left 30 men dead and dozens more scarred for life.

Some of the bodies were never recovered and had to be sealed in.

It happened at just after 2am after a group of men working on a coal seam known as the Flockton Drift unexpectedly hit an old tunnel which was already flooded.

What happened next was one of the most horrific disasters not only in the history of Yorkshire but of the UK.

Thousands of tons of water crashed through into the working mine, taking with it tons of debris, including rock and metal, some of which weighed several tons.

As the news spread, miners working in other parts of the pit, some of them several miles away, were told to evacuate.

Tony Banks, 70, who was a miner for more than 30-years, was on duty that night.

He said: “We were working in the tunnel below them, known as the ‘11 Yard Seam’ - it was connected but not directly. We knew something was up because around 2.20am there was a sudden surge of wind and then the ventilation reversed for a few moments. That only happens when something’s up but we didn’t know what at that stage.”

However, at just after 4am they were told via radio to evacuate immediately, as water levels were still rising in the mine.

In some cases miners had to down tools and run for their lives.

There were even stories of some of the younger minders having to make the agonising decision to leave older, slower miners behind to die as they fled the water.

Dave Hagan was a member of the Allerton Bywater rescue crew which worked flat out for 37 days following the disaster.

He said: “There was one chap called Charlie Cotton who was working with his son and they were both running from the water and when he realised he couldn’t outrun it, he told his son, ‘You go on lad, I’ve had my life.’

“His son got out but he never did.

“It was such a horrible thing to happen and for a lot of people it’s like it happened yesterday. Them bodies are still down there and it’s important we never forget.”

Mr Hagan said it was the consensus view the mining tragedy was down to ‘Victorian greed’.

He said: “Back in those days you had to pay the landowners for taking coal, so what they used to do is pinch a bit here and a bit there and no-one would mark it on the map.

“That’s why when they came to survey the area before mining started, they were completely unaware these old shafts existed.

“I remember the Prime Minister Ted Heath coming into the rescue room and telling us he was scaling the operation back from a rescue to a recovery mission - they were simply too scared more lives would be lost.

“It felt like we’d given our all and it was for nothing. It felt like being kicked in the stomach.”

Those old Victorian mine workings, miles of them, had filled with water down the decades and when the Flockton Seam crew broke through, they unleashed a reservoir of water some 3.5m gallons strong.

The water turned to slurry as it sped along the maze of underground tunnels and carried debris up to three miles away. In the end, 60 tons of concrete was used to plug the shaft, sealing the bodies of seven men in forever.

On Saturday, March 23, a service will be held at Outwood Parish Church at 1pm. From 2pm at Ledger Lan WMC, there will be a video shot in 1973 showing interviews with miners and other people, plus a performance from Lofthouse 2000 brass band.

The next day there will be a short service at 3.15pm at the memorial, followed by events at St Paul’s Church, Alverthorpe.

Saturday 9 March 2013

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/yorkshire-nostalgia-when-tragedy-struck-at-colliery-1-5481825