Typhoon Wutip: S China Sea fishermen’s bodies are identified

Local police in Hainan Province have identified four fishermen's bodies retrieved from the South China Sea after three fishing boats sank on September 29 due to Typhoon Wutip, after taking DNA samples from the families of all missing fishermen as of Sunday.

"We have informed their families of the sad news and we will help them deal with the aftermath," said Chen Jialin, vice mayor of Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, who is now in Sanya, Hainan Province to ensure the rescued fishermen get back home.

Earlier at 4 am, 54 fishermen from Jiangmen started their journey home by bus and they were expected to arrive at 7 pm on Friday, said Chen.

Search experts Sunday said that there would be little hope to find more survivors with 72 hours having passed and they suggested that the next step for the search party should be focused on the uninhabited islands.

The South China Sea fleet organized 10 ships and three helicopters to search the area on Sunday where they found the bodies of another four fishermen. As of Sunday afternoon, there were 14 dead and 48 missing in the typhoon aftermath.

The Chinese government sent a navy ship to fetch 268 fishermen who were trapped by Typhoon Wutip in the South China Sea.

The vessel arrived in Sanya on Thursday morning.

The injured have been hospitalized, while more ships have been sent to search for another 58 fishermen, who remain missing after three fishing boats sank near Shanhu Island in the Xisha Islands, about 330 kilometers from China's island province of Hainan, on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Hainan Maritime Search and Rescue Center, 11 navy warships, eight civilian ships and 10 aircraft are continuing the search.

Altogether five fishing boats, including the three that sank, were caught in Typhoon Wutip on Sunday, according to the Hainan Maritime Search and Rescue Center.

The fishermen had received typhoon warnings starting on Friday but did not go ashore. Instead, they placed their ships in a lagoon south of Shanhu Island to avoid gales, but the typhoon overturned their boats.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/816070.shtml

Lightning bolts kill 32 during Indian monsoon

Lightning strikes in India have killed at least 32 people, including nine children.

The deaths occurred in the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand which have been hit by torrential rains and strong winds.

Trees were uprooted, houses damaged and power cables brought down across the region.

"About 24 people including seven children were killed Saturday and Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar," State Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha said.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, eight people including two children died, Puran Mahto, an official in the state's Dhanbad district said.

Lightning strikes during the July to October monsoon season are common but the death toll over the weekend was unusually high.

Villagers housed in bamboo and grass huts are generally most at risk.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://news.sky.com/story/1151169/lightning-bolts-kill-32-during-indian-monsoon

Peru bus drops over 260 feet off cliff and kills 19, injures 25

At least 19 people- including two young children - were killed when a bus traveling from the Peruvian capital Lima to a rural southern province plunged off a cliff Saturday.

Two children, aged one and three-years-old, as well as 17 adults, were killed when the bus careened off a cliff and over 260 feet down a steep hill in Huancavelica, southern Peru. 25 more people were injured, according to officials.

The bus was carrying 55 passengers when it dropped over 260 feet, according to Correo. The driver is hospitalized after suffering injuries, Correo reported, his condition is not known.

The accident occurred about 4:20 a.m. Sunday in a farming community in the Acoria district of the Huancavelica region about 246 kilometers (152 miles) southeast of Lima. The bus was only one hour from its destination, according to Peru21.

At least one surviving passenger has blamed the crash on excessive speed as the driver raced up the narrow, winding road, according to AFP, which cited RPP news radio.

Video from the scene of the accident showed several locals rush to the bus, turn it right-side up and begin to pull passengers from the wreck.

Several bodies could be seen being carried away from the chaotic scene, many more were lying on the ground covered in blankets along the steep hillside.

Survivors were shown crying, some thanked God for allowing them to survive, many just wanted loved ones to know they were still alive.

The condition of the 25 injured, according to Correo, is not known, many have been airlifted to a local hospital.

Deadly bus accidents are frequent in Peru, where enforcement of road safety rules is weak. Government figures say 5,435 people died and 13,520 were injured in bus crashes between September 2008 and December 2012.

The Peruvian Attorney General's Office says the main causes of such accidents are bus drivers' recklessness, excessive speed, alcohol drinking and sleepiness.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2448252/Horror-Peru-bus-crash-kills-19-including-young-children-injures-25.html

Recovery in doubt for remains of Canadian plane-crash victims in Antarctica

The frozen remains of three Canadians have been in the wreckage of a plane, partly buried in snow and stuck on the side of one of the highest mountains in Antarctica, for nine months.

The summer season is starting at the bottom of the world, and that was supposed to mean a mission to recover the bodies of the men could begin. But now there is confusion about who should co-ordinate the retrieval and it is unclear when, or even if, it will happen.

"It's almost a bit like if it happened in outer space, that there's no clear lines of authority as to who has responsibility for what," says Judge Neil MacLean, the chief coroner of New Zealand.

MacLean headed an inquest into the plane crash in June and, although no one has actually seen the bodies, the judge ruled the three men must have died in the crash. He formally registered the deaths of 55-year-old Bob Heath, of Inuvik, N.W.T., 36-year-old Perry Andersen, of Collingwood, Ont., and 25-year-old Mike Denton of Calgary.

An official with Canada's Transportation Safety Board says it has decided the crash site is too dangerous to send in the investigators who are studying why the plane flew into the mountain. Jon Lee also says New Zealand has jurisdiction over the area and it's up to that country's coroner to decide what will happen with recovery of the men's bodies.

But MacLean says he has no further role in the case.

"I think there may be some crossed lines of communication," he said.

Jurisdiction aside, says MacLean, it's really about who has the skills and resources to take on a recovery mission.

New Zealand's search and rescue centre helped in the initial search for the plane. Crew members were unable to get to the bodies, but were able to dig out some equipment and personal items from the wreckage.

The United States is also part of a search and rescue team in the Antarctic, but a spokesperson was unavailable for comment. The U.S. government has been in shutdown mode for almost a week.

MacLean says he knows it's important for the families of the three Canadians to have closure. Some of the relatives were able to listen to the coroner's inquest over the Internet and the judge warned them that getting the men home might not be possible.

The three men, all employees of Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air, were the only people on board the Twin Otter plane when it slammed into a steep slope on Mount Elizabeth on Jan. 23.

Heath was the pilot, Denton, the plane's first officer, and Andersen, an engineer, was responsible for ongoing maintenance of the plane.

The trio took off from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole research station and were en route to an Italian research base in Terra Nova Bay. A search began when the plane's emergency locator beacon started transmitting a signal.

Bad weather hampered rescue efforts for several days. A six-member team eventually made it to the site.

Monday 7 October 2013

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Bodies+three+Canadians+remain+crashed+plane/9005441/story.html

Thailand: Pickup truck crashes, 18 killed

Police said 15 people died at the scene. The others, all seriously injured, were rushed to Buri Ram hospital, where three more people succumbed to their injuries.

The Toyota pickup, adapted to carry passengers, was initially reported to be carrying a total of 23 men and women heading to Ubon Ratchathani. It ran off the Buri Ram–Satuk road, part of Highway 219, in tambon Ban Dan of Ban Dan district. However, the number of people on the crashed vehicle was not immediately clear.

A staff member at Buri Ram hospital, who refused to be identified, said 15 died instantly at the scene, 11 injured were sent to the hospital and three of them died at the hospital, for a total of 26 people on one pickup.

Police and a rescue team rushed to the scene as soon as the accident was reported. Bodies were scattered on the ground outside the vehicle, with bodies still trapped inside the twisted wreckage.

The driver, Chavalit Thavornkham, 24, was killed instantly.

An initial investigation found that the truck left Samut Prakan to deliver the passengers to Ubon Ratchathani. It was not clear why it was travelling through north Buri Ram.

Pol Col Suthee Setthawong said the pickup was carrying construction workers. Many had no ID documents on them and were thought to have come from Laos.

Witnesses said the driver appeared to lose control and the vehicle veered off the road and continued for about 100 metres before ramming into a tree.

It was suspected the driver fell asleep on the straight road. Police found a methamphetamine tablet in his clothing and a bottle of alcoholic beverage in the pocket of the driver’s door.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/373435/18-construction-workers-killed-in-pickup-crash

Lagos plane crash: DNA results expected within three weeks, death toll rises to 15

Families of the victims of last Thursday's plane crash may have to still wait a little longer to recover the bodies of their loved ones that perished in the mishap going by indications on Sunday.

Reason: The Lagos State Government will only allow that when it shall have successfully conducted full forensic examinations, including deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests on the corpses expected to last for the next three weeks. Though the exercise had begun since Saturday.

The DNA test and mapping billed for the United Kingdom, are to facilitate proper identification of the charred bodies before burial.

Speaking on Sunday in Lagos, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Wale Ahmed, said collection of DNA samples from two family members of each victim, is to help experts identify the bodies and ensure orderly receipts.

The commissioner, who was addressing expectant relatives, said the United Kingdom laboratories contracted to handle the DNA examination had promised to make results available in three to four weeks at the receipt of the samples.

Ahmed noted that the whole process was being accelerated so the families could in good time perform obsequies for the departed souls.

"The process is to help us give right corpse to the right family," he said.

It would be recalled that similar delay was experienced in the wake of the June 3, 2012 Dana Air plane crash in Iju, Lagos, where several families of about 158 victims could not claim their bodies until after six weeks that their DNA testing lasted.

Ahmed, however, commiserated with the families on behalf of the state governor and Lagosians, adding that the government would do whatever it could to assist in the burial.

The death of Samson Hassan, one of the survivors of the Associated Airlines plane that crashed in Lagos Saturday night, indicates that the death toll in the crash has risen to 15 victims.

He added that the government had gotten the right copy of the flight manifest from the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), adding that the state's Office of Public Defender (OPD) is available to help those who might need its services.

Ahmed said: "We have been having meeting with the airline, NCAA, the insurance and other agencies to ensure the success of the exercise.

Meanwhile, makers of the ill-fated aircraft, Embraer Company, have indicated interest in being part of the inquiry to unravel the cause of the accident.

Also to join in the probe is the operator of the airplane, Associated Airlines. Although, the AIB said it is not obliged to include the airline.

The Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Captain Usman Muktar, on Sunday gave the hint, noting that the Bureau had commenced inquiry into the Embraer 120 ER aircraft marked 5N-BJY belonging to Associated Aviation Limited, which crash-landed at the Joint Users Hydrants installation at the Lagos airport.

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau(AIB) said it has commenced the readout of data from the Flight Data Recorder ( FDR)otherwise referred to as Black Box recovered from the Embraer 120 ER aircraft belonging to Associated Airlines that crashed in Lagos on Thursday morning.

AIB Commissioner Captain Muktar Usman, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said the analysis of data from the FDR was being carried out at AIB’s laboratory in Abuja.

He also confirmed that one of the seven survivors had died on Saturday without disclosing the identity of the latest casualty in the aircraft accident.

He said, “Flight recorders of the ill-fated aircraft have been recovered and will be downloaded at the Bureau’s newly installed flight laboratory at its Abuja headquarters. The readout of the recorders has commenced. The aircraft, which crashed less than three minutes after take-off from Runway 18L of the airport, had 20 souls on board, including seven of the airline’s crew. There were six survivors as at 05 October, 2013.”

He said investigation continues into the crash of Embraer 120 ER aircraft marked 5N-BJY belonging to Associated Aviation Limited, which occurred at the Joint Users Hydrants installation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos at 9:30hrs (local Time) on Thursday 03 October, 2013.

Associated Aviation Limited is a Nigerian registered domestic airline, which operates chartered and scheduled flights in the country.

Aircraft accident investigation investigators taking the recorders to a laboratory where “they can download the data from the recorders and attempt to recreate the events of the accident”. Often, black-box manufacturers supply the readout systems and software needed to do a full analysis of the recorders’ stored data.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/134760-crash-victims-corpses-may-be-available-in-three-weeks-

http://leadership.ng/news/071013/lagos-plane-crash-death-toll-rises-to15

DNA test results of Rana Plaza victims likely after Eid

The DNA test results of the unidentified victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy will be made public after Eid-ul-Azha, sources have said.

The Combined DNA Index System (Codis) software, set up at the National DNA Profiling Laboratory of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), has already successfully traced most of the identities.

The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that the process of matching the DNA profiles of 321 unidentified victims against those of 550 relatives is almost complete.

However, it could not be known how many of the victims have so far been identified.

Seeking anonymity, a senior official of the women and children affairs ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that Prime Minister’s Office had given strict directive to keep the test reports confidential until it got approval from there.

Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, chief of the DNA profiling laboratory, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that we have managed to identify some of the victims through DNA matching by the Codissoftware.”

However, declining to disclose any further information, he said: “We have nearly completed the matching. But some minor works are still left. Hopefully we will be able to officially reveal the results soon.”

If the DNA test results are made public, the ill-fated relatives of the unidentified victims who has been waiting for more than six months, will be able to claim monetary compensation from the government and the donor agencies.

Some 550 people, who said their relatives had been missing since the tragedy, have so far provided DNA samples.

They have not got any kind of help from any organisationbecause their relationships with the victims could be proved.

Out of the 1,115 bodies pulled from under the rubble of the collapse, 234 remained unidentified mainly because they had decomposed beyond recognition and were buried to the Jurain Graveyard in the capital.

The authorities, before burying the bodies, kept DNA samples from each of the bodies so that they could be later identified; but did not have the necessary apparatus to do the tests.

On September 22, experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the USA finished setting up the Codissoftware at the DMCH DNA laboratory.

The nine-storied Rana Plaza in Savar near Dhaka, that housed five garment factories, came down on April 24 with thousands trapped inside.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.dhakatribune.com/labour/2013/oct/07/dna-test-results-rana-plaza-victims-likely-after-eid

Divers recover 83 more bodies on Sunday from shipwrecked migrant boat off Italy

Divers recovered a total of 83 bodies on Sunday from the wreck of an unseaworthy boat carrying migrants that sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the Ansa news agency reported.

The death toll from Thursday's accident now stands at 194. Authorities fear many more bodies lie in the wreckage on the sea bed.

There were 155 survivors - 154 Eritreans and one Tunisian, according to UNHCR, the UN agency for refugees.

The boat, which reportedly had a capacity of about 500, caught fire and sank on Thursday.

Survivors told UN staff that the boat left from Libya about two weeks back, and the engine failed as it approached the Italian coast.

When the migrants noticed fishing boats passing them without helping, they set clothes and blankets on fire to attract attention. A tourist boat alerted the Italian coast guard, which began rescue operations.

Each year thousands of people from Africa and the Middle East, fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty, embark on treacherous sea journeys as they try to reach Europe via Italy and Malta. Many of them end up in Lampedusa, which is located half-way between Sicily and Tunisia.

While there are no official statistics, Fortress Europe, a non-governmental group, has estimated that more than 6,200 people have died off the coast of Sicily since 1994. It included some 4,800 missing people in the count.

William Lacy Swing, chief of the International Organization for Migration, has said that while the Italian coast guard and port authorities have saved thousands of lives in the Mediterranean over the past two decades, at least 20,000 people have died since 1993.

Monday 7 October 2013

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/06/5799595/divers-recover-83-bodies-sunday.html