15 bodies from the capsized boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers recovered

The death toll from an overcrowded asylum seeker boat carrying more than 200 people that sank off Indonesia's coast has climbed to 15 after four more bodies were recovered, a rescuer said Friday.

A rescue official from the local search and rescue agency Rochimali stated that the women's bodies were located late Thursday and early Friday near Ujung Genteng beach, about 50 kilometers west of where the overcrowded tugboat sank Tuesday off the coast of West Java.

The exact number of people missing remains unclear as there was no passenger manifest.

However the boat was believed to be carrying approximately 204 people, of which 189 survived.

A majority of the passengers in the ill fated vessel which was bound for Australia were from Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka. Search operations were set to stretch into Saturday.

Rochmali, who was searching for survivors by helicopter, stated that they have widened the search area following the current to the west up to 60 kilometers, but there were no signs of any survivors on Friday morning.

Last week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd changed Australia's refugee policy so that migrants who arrive by boat will no longer be allowed to settle in the country. Instead, they will be taken to the island nation of Papua New Guinea to be considered for resettlement there.

Saturday 27 July 2013

http://www.hirunews.lk/63865

9 more dead, 8 missing in Quake-Hit Gansu Province

The death toll from mudslides that have ravaged an earthquake-shattered region of northwestern China rose to 21 on Saturday, with another four missing, state media reported.

The landslides triggered by heavy rains struck just south of the city of Dingxi where Monday's earthquake left 95 dead, five missing and more than 800 people in hospital.

Nine villages under the city of Tianshui remained out of contact as of Saturday morning after the storms knocked out power, cut off communications and blocked roads, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The heavy storms and mudslides left one village, Rongguang, filled with debris, damaging more than half of the village homes and burying villagers, Xinhua said.

The area along the Yellow River has rolling hills of loose soil blown south from the Gobi desert. Thunderstorms have loosened the terraced hillsides that were made unstable by the quake.

About 123,000 people were affected by the quake, with 31,600 moved to temporary shelters, the provincial earthquake administration said on its website. Almost 2,000 homes were destroyed and about 22,500 damaged, it said.

Urban areas where buildings are more solid were spared major damage, unlike the traditional mud and brick homes in the countryside.

Saturday 27 July 2013

http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/9-dead-8-missing-quake-hit-chinese-province

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics yet to receive DNA samples of Uttarakhand victims

The identification of Uttarakhand flood victims will take a long time as the DNA samples of the unidentified victims are yet to be sent to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad.

Following the Uttarakhand floods and the large number of deaths, the CDFC had written a letter to the National Disaster Management Authority (NMDA) expressing its interest in conducting DNA tests to facilitate identification of the deceased. Subsequently the Uttarakhand state government was said to have informed the CDFD that the biological samples collected would be sent to the centre in Hyderabad for the DNA tests.

Before the mass cremation of bodies, the local doctors there had collected biological samples from the bodies. An expert from the CDFD went to Uttarakhand and explained to the doctors how to collect and preserve the samples.

"We have not received the samples yet. Perhaps we will in due course. Our expert had advised the doctors on the way the samples had to be collected for conducting a DNA test. But the samples have not been sent to us so far," CDFD director J Gowrishankar told TOI.

The bodies of seven persons killed in the helicopter crash were identified based on a DNA test conducted by the CDFD as the samples were sent to the centre immediately on July 29 and DNA analysis was completed within two days. Those identified through the DNA tests included four ITBP and three NDRF personnel. The MI-17V5 helicopter had crashed at Gaurikund while on a rescue mission.

According to Gowrishankar, once the Uttarakhand government sends the DNA samples of the unidentified bodies, the reports of the tests will be kept ready for the next phase of tests that will be needed for identification.

"If the bodies for identification are limited and the number of claimants large, it will be necessary to conduct DNA analysis of all the claimants and match it with the victims' DNA. This will take a lot of time," the director said.

In an effort to make things easy for relatives so that they don't have to travel to Hyderabad for giving their DNA samples to be matched with that of the victims', the CDFD is thinking of making arrangements with government hospitals. The samples will be collected at these hospitals in the right manner and sent to the Hyderabad centre.

Saturday 27 July 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Centre-for-DNA-Fingerprinting-and-Diagnostics-yet-to-receive-DNA-samples-of-Uttarakhand-victims/articleshow/21382865.cms