India: Keep passengers' family details, bus operators told

In the wake of a major bus accident which took place near Khed on the Mumbai-Goa highway, the state transport commissioner has issued directives to all tourist bus operators having national permits to keep a complete list of passengers' details along with the contact numbers of their nearest relatives. The directives have been issued so that the relatives of passengers can be contacted immediately in the event of an emergency.

As many as 37 passengers lost their lives near Khed in Ratnagiri district when a Mumbai-bound bus plunged into the Jagbudi River on March 19. While the accident occurred early in the morning, several bodies could not be identified till later that night.

The issue about passenger safety and emergency help had been raised in the state assembly session which concluded last month. During the session, the government gave an assurance in the house that a proforma would be prepared for listing passenger details in each bus.

The state transport commissioner has issued instructions to all regional transport offices to ensure that the directives given to transport operators are followed rigorously.

The transport operators are required to have three sets of the passengers list. Besides details such as name, address, and age, the tourist operators will also be required to mention the place where the passenger boarded and his or her destination.

One list will have to be carried by the driver or his assistant and produced during inspections by transport officials. A copy will have to be retained by the tourist bus operator or company.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Pune/Keep-passengers-family-details-bus-operators-told/articleshow/19875075.cms

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Libya: 11 bodies recovered in mass grave are buried

11 bodies that were discovered in a mass grave between Ras Lanuf and Brega by a research team from the Ministry of Assistance to Families of Martyrs and Missing Persons, have been put to rest this weekend.

The Ministry’s Director Hamad Al-Maliki told the Libyan News Agency that the information obtained by the research team lead to legal procedures, and forensic reports to confirm the identification of the bodies.

Three of the bodies were buried on Friday, while the rest will be buried on Saturday at a graveyard in Ajdabiya.

Last month, the Korean government presented tools, equipment and vehicles to the Ministry of Assistance to Families of Martyrs and Missing Persons, to assist the search and identification of missing persons. The project was proposed by the Libyan government in 2011, and a memorandum of understanding for its implementation was signed by representatives of both governments in December of 2012.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://libya.tv/en/11-bodies-found-between-ras-lanuf-and-brega/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=11-bodies-found-between-ras-lanuf-and-brega

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Rwanda: Gisagara leaders call on people to reveal whereabouts of genocide victims

During the 1994 genocide victims’ commemoration service this 2013 in Mamba sector in Gisagara district, the mayor of the district Leandre Karekezi has appealed to all people who still have information about the whereabouts of genocide victims so that they can get respectful burials.

This commemoration ceremony started with a mass for the 1994 genocide victims and laying wreaths of flowers to the mass grave containing more than 30,000 bodies.

People contributed about Rwf49000 to be added to the support of genocide survivors in Mamba sector. Most of the speeches delivered were to support genocide survivors for them to be self reliant as the theme of this 19th commemoration states.

Consolée Uwimana one of the genocide survivors in Mamba sector in her testimony talked about the mistreatment that was accorded Tutsis in Mamba sector towards and during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis.

Uwimana said that genocide should never happen again for no one should ever experience the atrocities Tutsis experienced during the genocide. She asked the youth to take advantage of the existing good leadership, have education, be self reliant and live in harmony.

Emmanuel Uwiringiyimana the coordinator of IBUKA in Gisagara district appreciated that played a role in the survival of Tutsis during the genocide especially the RPF soldiers who restored peace to Rwandans. He said commemoration should be a period to reminisce and prepare for the future and for everyone to participate in supporting genocide survivors.

The mayor of the district Leandre Karekezi says it is shameful that 19 years down the road after the genocide, people are still laying genocide victims to rest and others are still searching for their relatives.

He says this is due to genocide perpetrators who have not yet opened up to reveal where they hid the bodies, he appealed to such people to reveal such locations so that burial can be done with and people to keep on commemorating instead of burying every year.

“People should stop holding in the information and help us bury our loved ones in respect they lost when they were killed mercilessly, and periods like this be used only for commemoration” said the mayor.

Genocide survivors in Mamba sector just like all genocide survivors in Gisagara district have achieved a lot in their road to recovery. They are developing through cooperatives and through the support from the district.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://headlines.rw/gisagara-leaders-call-on-people-to-reveal-whereabouts-of-genocide-victims/

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Vietnam: Mass grave found in Tay Ninh province

A mass grave of 164 martyrs, members of Regiment 165 who died during the Can Le Battle on August 7th, 1967, has been found in Tan Hoa commune, Tan Chau district, Tay Ninh Province.

The grave was revealed after five fact-finding trips by the Information Centre of Searching Remains of Martyrs under the Vietnam Association of Supporting Martyrs’ Families, and excavated by the centre and Army Corps 4, Division 7, some veterans of Regiment 165 and Tay Ninh Provincial Military Headquarters.

47 years ago, Regiment 165 under Division 7 opened a battle at a military post of Saigon puppet troops at Tong Le Chan (also called Can Le) in Tan Chau district, Tay Ninh province.

Unfortunately, the battle plan was exposed when the regiment’s troops were approaching the target. As a result, the enemy troops counter-attacked with aircraft and mortars, killing the regiment’s 164 troops. The enemy put all bodies into a trench as a mass grave.

Over the past years, relevant organs at all levels, veterans and the martyrs’ families have conducted hundreds of studies to seek the remains of those martyrs.

At present, almost all 164 martyrs have been buried at Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs’ Cemetery.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://www.qdnd.vn/qdndsite/en-us/75/72/182/155/188/240414/Default.aspx

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Bodies of two US pilots found after Kyrgyzstan crash

Rescuers on Saturday said they had recovered the bodies of two US pilots whose refuelling plane crashed in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan shortly after taking off from a base that serves as a hub for military operations in Afghanistan.

The KC-135 Stratotanker with a crew of three -- believed to be carrying dozens of tonnes of fuel -- exploded and broke up midair before crashing around 98 kilometres (61 miles) from Bishkek on Friday.

"The bodies of two pilots were found this morning at 7am (0100 GMT) near the site of the crash. The search operation is continuing, the body of the third crew member has not yet been found," a spokesman for the Kyrgyz rescue operation told AFP from the scene.

The charred fragments of bodies were found close to the nose of the plane, a few kilometres from the main crash site, an emergency situations ministry spokeswoman, Anara Mambetaliyeva, told AFP.

The remains of the pilots, who have yet to be named, have been transported back to the aircraft's US base, Manas transit centre, close to the Kyrgyz capital, officials said.

The US side was working to identify the remains, while around 50 rescuers continued to search for the third crew member and the plane's black box, Emergency Situations Minister Kubatbek Boronov told journalists.

Kyrgyz ministers said they had launched a government investigation into the crash.

"The government commission has created a working group of specialists who will investigate the reasons for the crash," Kyrgyz Transport and Communications Minister Kalykbek Sultanov, who heads the commission, told journalists.

"If necessary, we will call on specialists from the US Air Force and the transit centre at Manas," he added.

Kyrgyz investigators will make public their preliminary findings in three to four days, Sultanov said.

US officials were also scouring the scene and gathering the scattered pieces of the plane.

"The whole area has been sealed off by the Americans. They are working with the plane wreckage and collecting it up," a district official, Kanat Davletov, told local radio.

An emergency situations ministry official told AFP on Saturday that at this stage a technical fault was seen as the likeliest explanation.

Some local media reports focused on stormy weather conditions when the plane took off for Afghanistan.

The plane was trying to avoid a storm front, the former Kyrgyz civil aviation chief, Alexander Nastayev, told local media, citing air traffic controllers.

The base at Manas, which hosts about 1,500 US troops and contractors, is key to the US campaign in Afghanistan, used to ferry troops into the country, refuel warplanes and evacuate wounded soldiers.

The airbase opened in 2001 and the current lease on the base expires in 2014, an arrangement that has been a cause of friction between Washington and the ex-Soviet Central Asian state.

Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev has vowed that the country will fulfil its obligations on the lease but wants Manas to serve only as a civilian passenger hub from 2014.

The incident comes less than a week after a civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after take-off at the US-run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, killing all seven crew members on board.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gFIWohZFg0VU_npMp7XQ-rbxDlPA?docId=CNG.7d5d8db66551f91b5f00e4132fb5c861.211

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Sudan miner search ends, 100 believed dead

The search for about 100 workers believed to have died inside a collapsed gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region has ended after nine rescuers also became trapped, a colleague of the miners said on Saturday.

"Today the searching has stopped because it was too dangerous," the man said from the scene of the tragedy in Jebel Amir district, more than 200 kilometres northwest of North Darfur state capital El Fasher.

The unlicensed desert mine began to collapse on Monday and several days later the stench of death was seeping out of the baked earth.

Nine rescuers disappeared on Thursday when the earth collapsed around them, the miner said, adding that eight bodies had been recovered.

It was not clear whether they were rescuers or miners.

Nobody else had been found, alive or dead, said the miner, who asked to remain anonymous.

"According to what I got from my people here yesterday, they didn't find anybody (else)," he told AFP on Saturday.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/darfur-mine-disaster-leaves-100-dead/story-fn3dxix6-1226635022993

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Myanmar Rains, Gold Mine Collapse Kill 11

Heavy rains in eastern Myanmar killed at least 11 people, including several who died when a gold mine collapsed, officials said Friday.

Myanmar's national police said in a statement that the casualties occurred in two separate locations Thursday in the township of Kalaw, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the main city, Yangon.

In one incident, eight gold mine workers were killed and seven injured when a huge tree fell on their living quarters. In another incident nearby, three other gold mine workers were killed and four went missing when part of the mine they were working in collapsed, police said.

Lawmaker Thaung Shwe put the death toll at 16 and said rescuers believed several people were still trapped inside the debris of the gold mine. He said they were trying to clear it away Friday.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/myanmar-rains-gold-mine-collapse-kill-11-19100277

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Arizona morgue prepares for migrant deaths

In Southern Arizona, medical examiners and federal immigration agents are preparing for another year of dozens of deaths in the desert as people try crossing the border illegally.

This year, officials say, they’ve developed a map showing exactly how many people have died in their attempts over the years.

The massive door to the freezer slides open at the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office. The freezer was built to handle the overflow of bodies brought here, people who died from heat stroke and dehydration as they tried walking through the desert. It’s used in the summer.

So far this year 47 migrants have died.

"Typically in June we’ll go up to 20. July in 2010 we had 55,” said Dr. Gregory Hess, the medical examiner.

The remains of those who are not identified are eventually cremated. It has led to mysteries and confusion as remains pile up. So Hess and local volunteers at Humane Borders have published a digital map people can use to sort through who has been found in the desert and where.

By Michel Marizco Freezer at the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office in Tucson. It was built to handle the overflow of bodies as the summer heats up and migrants begin to die.

"You can search by cause of death, you can search by location, you can search by age, you can search by gender," Hess said.

The map will be made available to the public on Monday.

Every year, about 240 people crossing the border into Arizona are found dead. Some of those people are never identified. The map, Hess said, may help put a name this summer to some of the remains in the freezer.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/arizona-morgue-prepares-migrant-deaths/story?id=19104562#.UYRQ7jRzA34

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12 bodies recovered from collapsed Bangladesh building on ninth day

Rescuers recovered 11 bodies and a torso from the site of collapsed Rana Plaza on Thursday while moving out the rubble using heavy machineries. With the addition, the death toll hits 442.

Eyewitnesses and rescuers said that the heat is causing the bodies still stuck in the rubble to decompose fast and most of those recovered bodies were hardly recognisable.

No survivors were found after the army rolled out heavy equipment, four days into the collapse on April 24. The eight-story building, which housed five garments factories, a shopping mall and the branch of a private bank, caved-in a day after a number of its pillars and floors developed cracks.

The number of rescued workers remains at 2,437. However, seven of them have died while under treatment, lowering the number of survivors in the catastrophe to 2,430.

Of the bodies recovered 384 were handed over to their relatives while 32 unidentified bodies were buried at Juraine graveyard. Several hundreds attended the mass funeral organised for them.

Over 80 additional graves have been prepared, with authorities expecting a rise in the number of unclaimed dead bodies.

Rescuers said that they believe unaccounted and decomposing bodies still remain buried under the sandwiched building, which would be uncovered as they go deeper into the rubble. The stench of decomposing bodies is increasing day by day and rescuers have been forced to use facemasks and spray air-fresheners to block out the smell.

When asked about how much time it would take to remove the slabs and pillars, Maj Gen Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy of the 9th Infantry Division of Bangladesh Army, who are running the rescue, said: “It is a delicate and time-consuming operation, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that we can recover the bodies unmutilated.”

Rescuers estimate that the building turned into 600 tons of rubble, of which 350 tons has been removed.

However, the number of missing people is still unclear. Suhrawardy said that 149 people have been listed so far. “However, it might be longer as we are still developing the list with the help of related organisations.”

The rescue operation chief also expressed dissatisfaction and said that the platform of garment factory owners, BGMEA, is not helping with the list.

Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) Director Shaheenul Islam said that the government will rehabilitate the victims and that Izaz Kaikobad, a rescuer who was injured, was taken to Singapore for treatment.

He also refuted allegations of concealing dead bodies and said that there is no scope of hiding bodies as they are being handed over to the administration as soon as they are pulled out of the rubble.

The armed forces spokesperson also called for not making undesirable comments over the rescue operation, as any such remark from a responsible person of the country will hurt rescuers and relatives of the victims as well.

Meanwhile, hundreds of anxious relatives are still looking for their missing loved ones at a nearby school ground, which has been serving as a place to keep the bodies initially so relatives could identify them.

Amena Begum has been looking for her husband, 41-year old Manju, who worked at the Rana Plaza. She said that she had visited all the hospitals, both in Savar and Dhaka, where the injured and the dead have been taken to look for the father of three. “At least give me his dead body” was all she had to say.

Saturday 4 May 2013

http://dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/may/03/12-bodies-recovered-ninth-day

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