Official details of boat mishap unavailable, six days after 160 people feared dead

The fatal boat mishap in which about 160 Nigerians were feared killed at the weekend happened four days before any Nigerian agency got wind of it, some residents of the area claim.

The wooden transport boat, which reportedly set out on the ill-fated journey on Friday night from Oron in Akwa Ibom State, capsized at a location near Malabo, 40 nautical miles from Calabar, Cross River State, on its way to Gabon.

Most of the victims were said to be Igbo traders from the South Eastern part of the country who joined others in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, to board the wooden boat because of its cheap fares.

Though news of the incident was reported in the media late on Tuesday, it was gathered that the incident happened on Friday evening.

None of the government agencies is yet able to give the full details of the incident. All government agencies contacted could not provide specific information about the boat on Tuesday evening when news of the incident first broke. Information like where the boat originated from, it’s destination, the exact number of passengers at the time of the accident, the exact location and time the boat capsized, as well as number of victims and survivors.

As of Tuesday night, the Nigerian Navy, which is charged with the responsibility of protecting Nigeria’s territorial waters, was not aware of the incident even though it probably occurred four days earlier.

Yushau Shuaib of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, which responded immediately it was notified on Tuesday, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that all his agency could volunteer was the information that only two survivors were rescued, while nine bodies so far recovered were taken to the morgue at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

“The truth is that nobody knows exactly when the incident happened. All what we can tell you is that two survivors were rescued and taken to the hospital, while nine bodies have been recovered. Any other information any other person might say is all speculation, because nobody knows exactly what happened,” Mr. Shuaib said.

The two survivors, a young boy and a lady, reportedly clung to a gas cylinder till they were rescued by fishermen.

Both were received late Tuesday evening by a team of officials from NEMA, the Cross River Emergency Management Agency; the Navy; Nigerian Maritime Agency for Security and Administration, NIMASA; and others at the Eco Marine, ECM, jetty in Calabar.

The Assistant Director of Information with the Cross River Emergency Management Agency, David Akate, who confirmed the rescue, declined further comment.

All the other agencies declined comments on the incident, claiming investigations were on-going and the two survivors were being treated.

It was gathered that following the incident, local fishermen in the area rallied efforts and mobilised a rescue team on Sunday that managed to recover 45 bodies, most of them women. They were reportedly wrapped in body bags and deposited in the hospital morgue on Tuesday.

NEMA has however said it will provide more information on the catastrophe as soon as it can get them from the two survivors.

Thursday 21 March 2013

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/126139-official-details-of-boat-mishap-unavailable-six-days-after-160-people-feared-dead.html

Police looking for bodies missing from Bihar graves

Police have announced a cash reward of Rs.1,000 each for information about the bodies found missing from graves in Bihar's Araria district, an official said.

The announcement came after bodies of about 50 people killed in various lightning incidents were found to have been exhumed from graves in Raniganj and Simraha areas of Araria, about 350 km from here.

"We are serious about helping people whose kins' bodies are missing from their graves," Superintendent of Police S.W. Lande told IANS.

The appeal has been made to help police ascertain the total number of missing bodies, he said.

Lande said that a gang involved in secretly digging up graves was busted recently. "The gang was involved in selling human organs for medical research in Nepal, China and other countries."

"One of the main accused named Mohammad Majid is already in jail in connection with smuggling of tusks," the police officer said, adding they are on a lookout for two more people in this connection.

"It is really shameful to remove bodies from graves for a few thousand rupees," Lande said.

According to him, human organs or bodies are sold to medical colleges and those who are involved in clandestine medical research in several countries.

In Araria, most of the deaths due to lightning go unreported owing to religious beliefs, Lande said.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/03/20/277--Police-looking-for-bodies-missing-from-Bihar-graves-.html

‘Identity of Ratnagiri bus mishap victims established'

A day after 37 people were killed in a bus mishap in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, identity of 34 victims has been established, a senior police officer said Wednesday.

"We have so far handed over 34 bodies to their relatives after they identified the victims," said in-charge of Khed police station, Mahendra Singh Pardeshi.

He said the remaining three bodies will be identified once their relatives reach here from Uttar Pradesh.

At least 37 people were killed and seven injured when a speeding Mumbai-bound luxury bus plunged into the Jagbudi River near Khed village in Ratnagiri district in the wee hours of yesterday.

Police said, out of seven persons injured in the mishap, two were shifted to Goa by their relatives while one was discharged by the local hospital in Dervan where they were admitted.

He said the remaining four persons were out of danger.

Maharashtra government has already announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the accident victims.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://zeenews.india.com/news/maharashtra/identity-of-ratnagiri-bus-mishap-victims-established_836796.html

3 dead, 12 missing after ferry sinks on the Minjiang River

Three bodies have been retrieved and 12 others remain missing after a ferry sank on the Minjiang River in east China's Fujian Province, local authorities said Wednesday.

The accident occurred during a rainstorm around 9 a.m., when the boat sank near a dock in Xiadao Township, Nanping City, according to sources with the Nanping municipal government.

Search and rescue work is underway.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8176542.html

Sunk Nigerian boat was carrying trafficked migrants: survivors

A boat that sank off the Nigerian coast with up to 166 people on board, killing at least 45, was carrying illegal immigrants being trafficked to Gabon, survivors interviewed by Reuters said on Wednesday.

Nigerian authorities were still searching for survivors from a wooden boat that sank on Friday some 40 nautical miles offshore on its way from Oron, in Cross Rivers state, to Gabon.

Vincent Aquah, director of the Cross Rivers State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told a news conference that a rescue operation had recovered 27 people so far.

He said only nine bodies had been fished out, although a doctor at a local mortuary told Reuters on Tuesday there had been 45 bodies brought in from the accident.

Survivor Kive Sani, 27, from Togo, said he had paid money to a Nigerian "master" to get him a good job in Gabon. Part of his agreement was that he give the master a portion of his wages for an indefinite period.

"A huge wave swept onto the boat and knocked out the engine, then everything started sinking," he said.

He survived by clinging to an empty gas cylinder for nearly two days, he said.

Most poor West Africans who risk their lives each year to seek a better life head for Europe, usually via Spain's Canary Islands. But Gabon's oil-funded relative prosperity has also made it a favorite destination.

In July 2008, the bodies of 37 suspected illegal migrants were found dead on the seafront of Gabon's capital Libreville, after a boat capsized taking the same Nigeria to Gabon route.

With investment from former colonial ruler France, Gabon was one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to exploit its crude oil reserves, which have made its 1.5 million people among the continent's richest on a per capita basis.

But many of the migrants who arrive find only low paid jobs with little security, and are often indebted to traffickers.

Hafsat Zakare, 13, a Nigerian survivor, said many of the people on board were women and children from around West Africa.

Aquah said belongings recovered during the rescue mission showed some people on the boat were Ghanaians.

Boat accidents are relatively common in Africa. As many as 138 people died when an overloaded boat carrying passengers and goods capsized in rough water on a river in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-nigeria-accident-idUSBRE92J1C720130320

Malaysia: temporary burial for bodies of 28 intruders

The bodies of 28 Sulu intruders kept at the Lahad Datu and Tawau hospitals will be buried temporarily pending any possible claim by their next-of-kin.

Tan Sri Khalid said the decision on the temporary burial was made at a meeting attended by representatives from the Home Ministry, Foreign Ministry, PM's Department, AG's Chambers, Royal Malaysian Police and Interpol on Monday.

He added that those wanting to claim the bodies are required to produce their DNA sample.

He also said relatives from abroad can claim the bodies by registering with the Foreign Ministry while those in the country can go to the police.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://www.ntv7.com.my/7edition/local-en/DIGP_MAYAT.html

Gilgil district: Claim your dead, residents told

Gilgil District Public Health have decried the number of unknown bodies being dumped at the mortuary.

This is after they were given a court order to bury ten more unclaimed bodies by the Naivasha Law Coutrs, only a day after they held a mass burial for 16 bodies.

District Public Health Office Gerald Maina raised a red flag over the increase of the unclaimed bodies, saying that they had overstretched the capacity of the district mortuary.

“Ideally the mortuary should cater for twenty four bodies but now there are more than fifty people being attended to in the mortuary,” added Mr maina

He appealed to the relatives of the dead people to help identify the, saying that majority were accident victims of the Gilgil Olkalau Road.

Mr maina added that the huge capacity for the dead bodies was also because they catered for a huge population, saying that people from as far as Olkalau and Soy Sambu Brought their dead to the facility. He also appealed to the Ministry of Health to plan on expanding the facility

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-112994/claim-your-dead-residents-told

New mass grave found near Sirte

A grave reportedly containing six bodies has been found in Nufaliyah, between Ras Lanuf and Sirte.

The bodies, discovered close to the main road on Tuesday by members of the Libya Shield Battalion, Second Force, in cooperation with the Libya Shield of Ajdabiya, are thought to be those of revolutionaries.

The Assistant Commander of the Libya Shield, Second Force, Mohamed Hamad Aribi, was reorted by the Libyan news agency LANA as saying that the bodies were discovered with the legs tied and that they may have been buried alive.

A similar grave with seven bodies was found nearby last May.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/03/20/new-mass-grave-found-near-sirte/

15 Goans among Ratnagiri bus crash victims

The Goa government has confirmed the identity and deaths of 15 Goan passengers in a Ratnagiri bus crash that killed a total of 37 persons.

Transport Director Arun Desai called for a late night press conference Tuesday to inform about the number of Goans who boarded the ill-fated Mahakali bus from three boarding points in Goa, and their present status.

The official figures show that 18 Goans among 37 others including a foreign national had boarded the bus from Margao, Panaji and Mapusa. Four other Goan-origin passengers had boarded the bus from Sawanwadi and Kankavli, located on Goa-Maharashtra border.

“Among the 18 locals, 15 died and three are admitted to Chiplun (Ratnagiri) hospital undergoing treatment for serious injuries,” he said.

Two teams headed by RTO inspectors are presently in Khed, the accident spot, coordinating with the local authorities to help families bringing the bodies to Goa and assist the injured victims.

The bus, with a capacity of 51 seats carried equal number of passengers in addition to two drivers on All India permit.

Desai said that from the total passengers killed, three bodies of a woman and two men are yet to be identified. The unidentified female body is said to be one Maria Fernandes.

“We are yet to ascertain. A Mumbai family had approached us and we have asked them to identify the body in the Ratnagiri hospital,” the director said.

The speeding bus had careered off Jagbudi River Bridge landing with headfirst on a dry patch of land next to low-lying water in the river.

The government has announced in the State Legislative Assembly to render all possible help to the families of the victims.

Wednesday 21 March 2013

http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2013/newsDetails200313j.php