Britain's first UNDERWATER sniffer dog can find submerged bodies up to 100ft away

A sniffer dog has become the first in Britain to be specially trained to search for bodies underwater.

Sasha, a three-year-old border collie, uses her incredible sense of smell to locate a drowned victims from 100ft away.

She will be using her skills to help Bolton Mountain Rescue, in Greater Manchester.

Handler Dave Marsh, 62, has spent the last 12 months teaching her to become a Drowned Victim Search Dog.

Dave, who has worked as a volunteer member of the team for 28 years, was given Sasha at just seven months old by a dog expert, Neil Powell, from Northern Ireland, who spotted her potential for sniffing things out.

But due to her remarkable progress, Mr Marsh has found himself in 'deep water' with his dog - teaching her the art of finding victims under water.

Just two weeks ago the wonder dog completed her first successful staged mission from a boat, detecting her 'victim' from 100ft away.

Mr Marsh, who also works as a contracts manager, believes it will change the future of mountain rescue operations and is proud to be involved with her.

He said: 'Sasha is great to work with. She's the first of her kind in Britain and if she passes her assessment in August she'll be a valuable member of the team.'

Sasha, who turns four in July, was initially trained as a mountain rescue dog, helping out with land searches.

Mr Marsh said: 'I picked her up as a seven-month-old puppy from a trainer who said she'd make a good underwater dog. 'Nothing like that has been done in Britain before - only Neil has done it.'

To train Sasha, the team have to set the scene by staging 'bait' - usually a dead pig which emits a similar scent to that of a human - in the water around 24 hours before the exercise.

Mr Marsh said: 'The pigs we use are stillborn, there is nothing unethical about how we operate.

'We take Sasha out on our four-man rigged inflatable boat and wait for her to bark when she has the scent.

'Then we map the place and give a 50 square meter area for the police divers to look.'

Mr Marsh is confident Sasha will pass her assessment in August with 'flying colours', making her a fully qualified water dog.

And the mountain rescue team member was keen to stress the huge scope of their work.

He said: 'A lot of people think that we just deal with mountains but we also help the police find missing children, for example.'

Monday 3 June 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2335020/Sniffer-dog-trained-search-UNDER-WATER-bodies-100ft-away.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Dana Air crash cenotaph unveiled in one year anniversary

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and some family members of the victims of last year’s ill-fated Dana Air mishap, unveiled a cenotaph at the site of the crash at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.

They also unveiled a tomb block engraved with 157 names of the victims of the plane crash.

“This cenotaph which we are unveiling here today will ensure that their memories never die,” said Mr. Fashola.

“This monument will stand as a permanent memorial to these family men, women and children; and we will cherish each of their stories – stories of potential and of fulfilment, stories of true heroes,” he added.

On June 3, 2012, a Dana MD-83 aircraft crashed into a two storey building in the crowded suburb killing all 153 people on board. The horrific air disaster also claimed the lives about 10 people on the ground.

However, Lagos State government’s records at the anniversary stated that there were four ground victims who perished in the crash.

Mr. Fashola urged the victims’ families not to be crest fallen.

“A year may seem like a long time, but for the families and friends of the men women and children we lost, that day does not feel like history,” Mr. Fashola said. “The memories of that day are probably as fresh as they are painful; particularly today when you are forced to confront the thoughts you may have pushed to the innermost recesses of your minds, just to enable you get from one day to the next.”

“What does one say at a time like this? What does one say when words will never be enough?

“Many of us cannot even begin to imagine how great your suffering must have been this last one year,” he added.

For the victims’ family members who attended the ceremony, it was a reminder of the pains of the last year’s accident.

Chizoba Mojekwu, whose sister was aboard the ill-fated flight, said that attending the memorial was “difficult” for her because she is standing at the place where “it happened.”

“I’ve been living a life that maybe my sister was on holiday,” said Ms. Mojekwu, Director of Human Resources at the Central Bank of Nigeria, who also lost eight colleagues to the crash.

“They say time heals all wounds. Sometimes I believe that because I’ve lost my mum and for 14 years we still feel some of that pain.

“But this is very raw and we are still grieving,” Ms. Mojekwu added.

Ms. Mojekwu called on aviation authorities to take steps to forestall a recurrence of the incident.

“There is still much to do. Issues of what really happened to this flight remain unanswered,” Ms. Mojekwu said.

“Also the issue of compensation. It is easy to blame the insurance companies but Dana Air has to step up and ensure that people are treated with respect and with dignity,” she added.

Another family member of the victims, Ben Anyene, said that those who were directly affected “were pained, angry, and despondent.”

“The crash could have been avoided if human lives are valued in this country,” Mr. Anyene said.

“We should not throw up our hands in resignation that the plane crash was an act of God. God does not kill his own,” he added. Mr. Anyene frowned at the restoration of the operational licence of Dana Air despite that the details of what caused the crash has not been revealed.

“Among us (victims’ families) we have the reach and competence to engage those in the aviation industry. The blood of our loved ones must not be shed in vain,” said Mr. Anyene.

On plans by the Ministry of Aviation to unveil a cenotaph in Abuja to commemorate the one year anniversary, the families said that they were not informed.

“I never heard about the plan by the federal ministry of Aviation to unveil a cenotaph. A lot of the families here were not told,” said Mr. Anyene.

The families also expressed gratitude to the Lagos State government for its assistance and making “a huge difference in the lives of the families here present.”

“The state government provided mortuary, ambulances, pathological services including DNA analysis to ensure that our people’s bodies were identified and properly buried,” Mr. Anyene said.

Mr. Fashola said that the state, in the aftermath of the crash, has improved its response capacity, trained and continued to train its first responders as well as developed response protocols and acquired necessary equipment.

“As a Government we have learnt some painful lessons and we have grown from them,” said Mr. Fashola.Dana crash cenotaph - laying wreaths

“We convened a Disaster and Emergency Management Summit for all the States in the South West, at which we shared our experience and information.

“The entire incident is properly documented for posterity, with copies in the Attorney General’s office and the Governor’s office, with details of what we did well and what we could have done better to avoid our past mistakes.

“God forbid it, if such a disaster should recur, we are much better prepared to respond,” Mr. Fashola added.

In his speech, Stella Oduah, the Aviation Minister, said “every effort” is being made to prevent the errors of the past.

“We are in touch with Dana on the issue of compensation to the various families and they have assured us that they are doing everything that is possible to hasten the payment, apart from certain problems within families that are impeding,” said Ms. Oduah, who was represented by George Afamefuna, Permanent Secretary at the ministry.

“I assure the governor of Lagos State that sooner than later, we shall conclude the issue of compensation”

Monday 3 Juni 2013

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/137381-governor-fashola-victims-families-unveil-dana-air-crash-cenotaph-in-emotional-one-year-anniversary.html

Death toll in Oklahoma rises to 16; hunt for 6 missing continues

Oklahoma had barely started clearing the rubble from a monstrous tornado two weeks ago when another rash of twisters plowed through this ill-fated swath of Tornado Alley.

At least 16 people are dead across the state after a vicious storm tore through the area Friday evening, Oklahoma City Fire Chief Keith Bryant said Monday morning.

That number may continue to rise.

Authorities will resume their search Monday for six people still missing, including four who sought shelter in storm drains, Bryant said.

The storms left not only a trail of death and destruction, it also sent floodwaters surging. And the damage wasn't confined to Oklahoma.

In Missouri, a twister left more than 10 miles of significant damage "that caused dozens and dozens of houses to be literally blown up," Gov. Jay Nixon told CNN affiliate KSDK.

No one was killed in that tornado, but three people drowned in Missouri, Nixon said.

And in Arkansas, flooding killed at least four people: a sheriff's deputy, a wildlife officer and two women they were trying to save from a deluged home, officials said. The house collapsed in the middle of the rescue attempt, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens said.

The flash flooding that accompanied Friday night's storm swept some bodies up to five miles downstream, Oklahoma City Deputy Fire Chief Marc Woodard said.

Two parents and a young child who sought refuge in a storm drain were among those killed.

Samuel Cifuentes, his wife Florinda Santos and their 5-year-old son, Alex Cifuentes, died in the Oklahoma storm, said Byron Cifuentes, Samuel's brother.

Officials had been searching for the three family members in a storm drain after the family had sought shelter from the storm on Friday. Oklahoma City officials were not able to confirm the identities or where the three bodies were recovered.

A trio of storm chasers who devoted their lives to hunting powerful storms died in the middle of a pursuit.

Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras and Carl Young were killed Friday while chasing a tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma, relatives told CNN on Sunday. Their work tracking tornadoes was featured on the former Discovery Channel show "Storm Chasers."

At the intersection where authorities believe the men were killed, crews hauled away a mangled white truck that had been crushed like a tin can. The metal frame of their storm-chasing vehicle was twisted almost beyond recognition.

"They all unfortunately passed away but doing what they loved," Jim Samaras wrote in a statement posted on his brother's Facebook page.

Friday's tornado took a sudden turn that surprised many observers, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

"It was a wobbler. And it was big. ... I think the left-hand turn made a big difference on how this thing was chased as well and why people were killed and why people were injured in their vehicles," he said. "A vehicle is not a place to be in any tornado, especially a big one like that, and those men doing their job, those field scientists out there doing their jobs, were killed in the process."

Tim Samaras founded TWISTEX, the Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment, to help learn more about tornadoes and increase lead time for warnings, according to the TWISTEX website.

Samaras had received 18 grants from the National Geographic Society for his research, said Terry Garcia, the organization's executive vice president of missions.

Doug Kiesling, a fellow storm chaser, said the three men were bona fide researchers.

"A lot of times the storm spotters out there serve a very valuable purpose. They give ground truth to what meteorologists from the National Weather Service are doing," he said. "But seeing it in person, seeing it for real, and giving that real time information, I think really supplements the warning. It helps people take shelter ahead of time."

Monday 3 June 2013

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/us/midwest-weather/

China poultry plant fire kills at least 55 workers

A fire at a poultry slaughterhouse in north-eastern China has killed at least 55 people, with more believed to be trapped, state media reported.

The fire broke out just after dawn in Mishazi township, near Dehui in Jilin province, Xinhua news agency said.

"About 100 workers have managed to escape from the plant, whose gate was locked when the fire occurred," Xinhua said.

"The complicated interior structure of the prefabricated house in which the fire broke out and the narrow exits have added difficulties to the rescue work," it said.

The fire appeared to have been sparked by three early-morning explosions in the plant's electrical system, Xinhua said. State broadcaster CCTV quoted unidentified workers as saying the fire broke out during a change of shifts and may have originated in a locker room when about 350 workers were at the site.

The provincial fire department said on its microblog that the fire was caused by a leak of ammonia.

The death and injury toll was given by a Jilin provincial government spokesman who gave only his surname, Ma. He declined to give further details. Calls to fire and rescue services rang unanswered and hospital administrators said they had no information about injuries among the dozens of people reportedly sent for treatment.

Rescue workers found the bodies in the charred buildings, and rescue efforts were continuing. CCTV footage showed dark smoke billowing up from the cement structures.

Xinhua quoted survivors as saying that the plant's `'complicated" interior, narrow exits and a locked front gate made escape difficult.

The plant's owner, Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry, is a major producer of processed chicken and employs about 1,200 people. The plant is outside the city of Dehui, about 800 km north-east of Beijing.

Monday 3 June 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/03/china-poultry-farm-fire

Calamity planning - Bangladesh role-plays quake response

As Bangladesh armed forces retrieve bodies from the country’s worst ever industrial disaster, a garment factory collapse killing over 700, contingency planning is taking place for something worse - a long-predicted earthquake striking the mega-capital of Dhaka.

“We can’t have people just showing up with a shovel,” said Pete DeFelice, a disaster response exercise designer for the US Pacific Command (US armed forces stationed in Hawaii to promote regional security and disaster response in the Asia-Pacific), which is co-hosting a planning workshop from 5-14 May with the Bangladesh Armed Forces.

Government officers, armed forces and humanitarian organizations working in Bangladesh and other parts of the Asia-Pacific who may be among the first responders post-quake, are being presented with the following scenario: a 7.1 Richter scale earthquake 25km northwest of Dhaka, along the Modhupur Fault.

Loose sediment holding together much of the city caves in, leads to the collapse of 100,000 buildings; ATMs are ransacked, looting begins, mobile phone communications are down, and most of the city's hospitals and 1,000 clinics are damaged or destroyed.

Some 400,000 people have gathered at national sports stadiums (with another 150,000 camped out in front of the national parliament); 100,000 are pronounced dead in the earliest days; railway tracks throughout the city have buckled, twisted or are torn from their rail beds. The capital’s international airport cannot accept fixed-wing aircraft; none of the electronic navigation aids work and a nearby military airfield is closed due to cracks in the runway. Seaports are operating at half-capacity, and “tortuous, single lane detours” have reduced traffic by 95 percent.

The government declares a national state of calamity during the first 72 hours.

The workshop’s goal

The goal of the workshop, co-facilitated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is to improve disaster relief coordination; lay out a “real estate” plan plotting humanitarian relief during such a mega-disaster; discuss forming a regional disaster coordination centre for South Asia (along the lines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management); and answer questions on how foreign militaries can support the country as well as how the government can request international assistance.

While the country has a general National Disaster Management Plan, extending to the year 2015, and drafted its first earthquake contingency plan in 2009, these plans are largely “stove-pipe” plans developed by one ministry which are poorly disseminated and understood, DeFelice said.

In December 2009 the government created an inter-ministerial, multi-agency Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Committee - enshrined in the country’s 2010 Standing Orders on Disaster - that was meant to meet twice a year to review preparedness and awareness.

As of 2013, the committee is still not operational.

On the workshop agenda is the need to boost airport and seaport capabilities to handle humanitarian relief. David Eisenberry, a major and air logistics expert with the US Air Force, said previous US military simulations of a Bangladesh quake left questions unanswered.

“People look to air power to get the job done, especially in the first part of the disaster response. How will the country schedule aircraft? How to distribute relief with few planes? How to manage air space?”

Civil-military relations

World Vision’s national coordinator for humanitarian emergency affairs in Bangladesh, Farhana Islam, said Bangladesh’s military would be key in an earthquake response. “We [NGOs] are more equipped to respond to rural disasters, but in recent years, it is the military here that has taken the lead and has the expertise to handle the growing number of urban crises.”

Col J.M. Emdadul Islam with the Bangladesh Armed Forces told IRIN even though the military has led annual earthquake simulation exercises in Dhaka since 2010, “preparation has no limit” and handling disaster relief in the densely populated mega-city would be, at best, “complicated”.

Four large earthquakes (measuring at least 8.0 on the Richter scale) have struck Bangladesh since 1897, with the most recent in 1950.

The US Pacific Command’s DeFelice acknowledged the challenges of bringing together NGOs and armed forces. “The military folks are trained to solve problems on their own. We are here to help the military stay in its own lane and not to occupy every lane [in disaster relief].”

Thirty-one countries participate in the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team, which was established in 2000 by the US Pacific Command to improve multi-nation military operations and coordination with aid groups to respond to crises in the Asia-Pacific.

Monday 3 June 2013

http://www.irinnews.org/report/97990/calamity-planning-bangladesh-role-plays-quake-response

Bodies of Myanmar migrants found near islands in Ranong province

The bodies of at least 12 migrant workers from Myanmar have been found in the sea off Thailand's west coast after their boat sank during bad weather.

Marine Police Division 8 inspector Niran Chuayjit said officers on Sunday found nine bodies, six men and three women, floating near Chang Island in tambon Koh Phayam of Ranong's Muang district.

A day earlier, the bodies of three Myanmar females were found in the sea in same area, near Myanmar territorial waters.

Police Major General Taweeporn Churin added that 38 people were rescued.

Ranong is 460 kilometres south of Bangkok and borders Myanmar. Police say it is common for migrant workers to travel by boat to illegally enter Thailand.

Police are in the process of contacting Myanmar officials, asking that they beef up measures to prevent people travelling to Thailand illegally by boat, Pol Lt Col Niran said.

Monday 3 June 2013

http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/393729-RohingyaMuslimsAFP-1339687488-249-640x480.jpg

Fierce rain, winds kill 17, injure several across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

At least 17 people, including seven minors, were killed and several others were injured in separate incidents as heavy winds followed by rainstorms hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.

Strong winds blowing at 75 kilometres per hour caused heavy destruction across the province, inflicting losses to livestock and property.

Walls and roofs collapsed killing two minors in Lady Sarak Charsadda Road. Similarly, a child, identified as Sher Ali, was killed in Naugaman, Daudzai.

Three bodies were also brought to a hospital in Takht Bhai, Shergarh where an emergency was declared. They were identified as Hikmat Khan, a resident of Qudratabad, Saleh Gul, a resident of Moi Bhanda and a minor girl whose identity could not be ascertained.

A house on Harichand Road collapsed on three passenger vans, injuring 30 people. The wounded were taken to the tehsil Headquarters Hospital. In Hathian, a house collapsed injuring two teenagers and a wall fell on a car in Maikh Kohi injuring three others.

A woman was killed and a minor was injured when a wall collapsed storms in Risalpur, Nowshera.

Chaman was on her way home with her granddaughter when a wall fell as a result of heavy winds.

In Shabqadar, heavy downpour killed two persons in separate incidents in Mian Kallay and Rawal Kor.

According to an official of the agency’s political administration, Ahmad Ali was sitting against a wall in an attempt to shield himself from the storm when the wall collapsed, killing him on the spot.

Twelve-year-old Amreen was killed when a wall in Panjigram Village, Mingora, collapsed. In Amankot, seven people were injured where another wall fell while three others were injured in Shagai, Qambar and in Gogdara.

A teenager was killed while another sustained severe injuries after a wall collapsed in Yadgar Mohallah, the capital city of Gilgit. “Two boys, between the ages of 14 and 16, were playing when the roof collapsed due to the storm,” said Maysoor, a resident. One of them died on the spot while the condition of the other is critical, he added.

In Lower Dir, a house in Qadafi Village collapsed. Muhammad Shoaib was severely injured as a result and seven buffaloes tied near one of the walls of the house were killed.

In Katlang, four houses turned to ash when fire erupted due to storms in the area. However, no loss was reported. Three people were killed in Peshawar, three in Shergarh, one in Risalpur, two in Shabqadar, one in Mingora and one in Gilgit.

Six people were killed in Charsadda as a result of the harsh weather. Alamzeb was killed in Daryab Korona, Ali was killed in Umerzai Sabir when a tree fell on him, in Sheikhan Bari a wall fell causing the death of a minor and injured two others.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Met Office Director in Peshawar Mushtaq AlI Shah said the dust storm continued for an hour. “The temperature has dropped to 24 degrees Celsius in Peshawar,” he added.

The main Indus Highway remained blocked for the third day leaving hundreds stranded in vehicles after landslides near Speena Morh on Thursday.

Muhammad Ghani, an official of the Bhanda Daud Shah police, said they had informed the district government and National Highway Authority to clear the highway but no one had showed up. On Sunday morning, he and residents of the area gathered to clear a side of the road to allow vehicles to pass.

Dust storm and gusty winds hit the twin cities on Sunday evening. Strong winds created a dust storm which made conditions difficult for motorists on city roads.

The Met Office said that a shallow westerly trough was expected to affect upper parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining areas from Monday.

It said that further gusty winds were expected in Islamabad and Rawalpindi during the next 24 hours.

The weather will remain hot and dry in most parts of country during the next 24 hours, the Met office said.

The maximum recorded temperature in Islamabad was 39° Celsius, while in Rawalpindi it was 40° Celsius.

Monday 3 June 2013

http://tribune.com.pk/story/557983/dusty-day-fierce-rain-winds-kill-17-injure-several-across-k-p/