Belgian plane crashes with skydivers on board, 11 dead

Ten skydivers and a pilot have died after the plane they were in crashed shortly after taking off in Belgium.

The PC-6 Pilatus Porter plane had taken off from the Temploux aerodrome but is thought to have developed a wing problem after reaching a height of about 3,000 metres.

Some of the skydivers and their instructors attempted to jump to safety as the aircraft went down but were also killed.

Witnesses have reported seeing part of the one of the wings falling off.

The aircraft came down between the small villages of Marchovlette and Fernelmont and burst into flames just before 4pm local time (3pm BST) on Saturday.

Benolit Pierson, who was in his garden nearby at the time, said, “I just saw this plane bobbing violently up and down. It was obviously having great difficulty staying airborne and then it suddenly lost its right wing in mid-flight. I heard a massive bang.

"There was another massive explosion and ten seconds later it crashed.”

He told Belgian television that seconds before it hit the ground, he saw three parachutists come out of the plane and try in vain to open their parachutes. "They appeared to be desperately trying to open their parachutes but it was much too late.”

He added: “They must have opened just as they landed.I could see that one of the victims was still alive when I got to the scene, but he was clearly terribly injured. I tried to get into the plane but was beaten back by the flames.”

One witness told Belgium's Sud Presse newspaper: "The plane flew over my house and I saw pieces fall from the plane.

"Then the plane pitched, and nose dived, crashing about 200 yards away."

Jean-Claude Nihoul, Mayor of Fernelmont, said: "Three parachutes open ground show that three people tried to jump," adding that "it is a tragedy that we had never known in the region."

The three men attempted to open their parachutes after jumping from the light plane which had caught fire and lost a wing shortly after take-off.

But their parachutes failed to open in time and they perished along with seven other parachutists and the pilot, who had become a father for the second time earlier in the week.

Three parachutes were later found opened at the scene of the crash near the village of Marchovelette, 10km (six miles) from Namur on Saturday afternoon.

The plane careered into a field of wheat, less than 250 metres from a row of houses.

Most of the 11 victims are believed to be experienced parachutists but one of those who died was a young woman flying for the first time as a birthday treat.

The reason for the accident is not yet known but investigators have been summoned to the site to find out why the plane suddenly plunged to the ground from a height of around 3,000m.

Efforts are also being made to confirm the identities of those who died.

Firefighters rushed to the scene, some 75 km (47 miles) south-east of Brussels, but are understood to have been unable to save any of those on board.

Mr Nihoul, said: "The plane took off from Temploux aerodrome with 10 parachutists and probably a pilot on board and crashed around 10 minutes later in a field.

"All those on board are unfortunately dead. The toll is 10 or 11 victims."

Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo confirmed the news soon after, saying his thoughts were with the families of the victims. He later visited the scene with his interior minister.

The same plane and pilot, operating out of the Paraclub in Namur, had carried out 15 similar flights,or 'rotations’, earlier in the day apparently without any problems.

A source at Belgacontrol, the air traffic operator, said: “We do not have a lot of information at present, as this particular aircraft used a system where the pilot relies on sight rather than instruments.”

Michel Douront, a local fire chief, said: “It would normally take a plane like this 15 minutes to reach 4,000m so, as this happened after only ten minutes into the flight, it must have been at a height of about 3,000m. It appears to be a tragic accident.”

The exact cause of the accident was still being investigated. Pieces of wing were found several hundred meters from the crash site.

Jean-Claude Nihoul, the mayor of nearby Fernelmont, said: “We no longer recognise the plane, which is totally destroyed. It is an awful tragedy.”

Belgium’s King Philippe and the country’s prime minister, Elio di Rupo, arrived at the crash scene last night to help comfort the victims' families and friends, who had gathered at a local sports hall. They were joined by Interior Minister Joelle Milquet and mayor of Namur, Prevot Maxime.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://news.sky.com/story/1156862/ten-skydivers-killed-in-belgium-plane-crash

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/10390868/Belgium-plane-crash-kills-11-parachutists.html

14 Laos plane crash victims identified

Lao Airlines on Saturday said it had identified almost half of the 30 bodies so far recovered after a plane carrying dozens of people, many of them foreign travellers, plunged into the Mekong River.

In the country's deadliest known air disaster, all those on board died when the Lao Airlines turboprop ATR-72 plunged into the swollen waters in stormy weather on Wednesday near Pakse airport in Champassak province.

More than half of the 49 passengers and crew were foreigners from 10 countries.

According to the airline, 44 passengers and five crew were on the flight. The passengers included 16 Lao nationals, seven French, six Australians, five Thais, three Koreans, three Vietnamese and one person each from China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States. A person who had been listed as a Canadian was instead added to the list of Vietnamese.

Lao Airlines said that its team, in cooperation with Thai rescuers, investigators from the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer and local authorities, had identified 14 of the 30 bodies found so far.

Two Australian passengers, the Cambodian captain and several members of the crew were among those named so far.

``Our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by this terrible tragedy,'' the carrier said in a statement.

On the riverbank, a group of orange-robed Buddhist monks performed a prayer ceremony for the victims whose bodies have been recovered and those still missing.

Families of those identified have already begun holding funerals for their loved ones.

``This is the biggest loss in my life,'' Souksamone Phommasone told AFP as he prepared to cremate his wife Chinda.

She died along with her mother and father as they returned in the ill-fated aircraft from a visit to see the couple's daughter in Vientiane.

Teams of Thai and French experts plied the vast and muddy Mekong River with high-tech sonar equipment, ramping up the search for the plane and clues to why the aircraft went down three days earlier.

Lao Airlines said in a brief statement that offered no update of the ongoing investigation. The ATR-72 aircraft was delivered in March, raising questions into why a virtually new plane crashed.

Until Saturday, the search for bodies and the plane's flight data recorder had been stalled by lack of manpower and equipment in the poor Southeast Asian country, which lacks capabilities in disaster management.

France's air accident investigation agency, the BEA, said it sent four investigators to help Laos with the probe. It said the team would work with technical advisers from ATR, the French-Italian manufacturer of the aircraft.

The Thai Air Force, meanwhile, sent a C-130 military transport plane with specialists and equipment, including several high-tech sonar systems, to locate objects on the river floor.

The French and Thai teams set out on small boats scanning the water's surface with the sonar equipment Saturday, a stark contrast to previous days of searching that included Lao villagers peering into the murky water from long-tail boats.

Experts say the flight data and voice recorders could help determine if the crash was caused by human error or a technical problem. The chief pilot has been identified as 56-year-old Young San of Cambodia, who had more than 30 years of flying experience.

Cambodia's civil aviation security director, Mak Sam Ol, said he was briefed by Lao authorities on a final instruction from the control tower.

``Due to a storm and strong winds, as the plan approached landing, the air controller told the pilot to change course,'' Mak Sam Ol said in a telephone interview. ``He followed instructions but the plane faced strong storms and couldn't get through.''

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/375382/bodies-of-the-crashed-lao-airline-plane-identified

Mali river disaster toll soars to 72

The death toll from last week's river boat sinking in Mali, one of the worst ever in the country, has jumped from 39 to 72, an official said Friday, after more bodies were discovered inside the wreck.

"There are now 72 dead, 11 lightly injured and 210 survivors," Security Minister General Sada Samake said, giving what he said was a definitive count.

A large dugout boat, carrying scores of people and a large amount of merchandise, broke up on the Niger river near Koubi, which lies around 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of the central city of Mopti.

"Rescue teams were able to refloat it. We found more bodies," the minister said at a press conference attended by several other government members.

Accidents involving rudimentary canoes are frequent but the disaster that took place overnight a week ago was the deadliest ever recorded in Mali, according to the authorities.

Such boats are the main means of transport for residents of Mali's central and northern regions travelling to the towns dotting the Niger, the main river in west Africa.

"In the future, these canoes will have to be equipped with life vests, fire extinguishers and lights for nighttime navigation," Planning Minister Abdoulaye Koumare said.

French troops in Mali to fend off Al-Qaeda-linked groups assisted the emergency response by dispatching medics.

Residents of the remote area complained however that most of the effort to find survivors in the hours following the accident was led by villagers because the authorities were slow to deploy and ill-equipped.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.ekantipur.com/2013/10/19/headlines/Mali-river-disaster-toll-soars-to-72/379514/

At least 19 dead in Atimonan pile-up

Nineteen people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday, October 19, in a pile-up on an unlit highway in Atimonan, Quezon province. The accident involved 3 buses and 4 trucks.

In a statement, the police said that the accident was caused by a Manila-bound bus driver losing control of the vehicle before dawn.

The police added that 34 other people, many of them bus passengers, were injured. The driver of the runaway bus, who was unharmed, was arrested.

The road accident occurred along Maharlika highway.

In July, a collision between a delivery van and a truck occurred along the same road. The driver of the delivery van was reported dead on the spot by the Philippine News Agency.

Pictures of the accident taken by Rappler contributor Jose Del show local responders retrieving body parts of the dead.

The bodies of the victims were arranged side by side on one lane of the road, covered only by banana leaves.

The incident occured at around 1 am, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Managment Council said.

Victims were rushed first to Emil Joanna General Hospital and Doña Marta Memorial District Hospital in Atimonan. Others were tranferred to the Gumaca District Hospital and the Jane County Hospital in neighboring town Pagbilao due to the number of casualties.

The collision involved 8 vehicles: a 10-wheeler truck, a closed-van container truck, a jeepney, 3 buses, and two elf-type, closed vans.

Warning signals have been installed, and policemen are deployed to reroute traffic.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.rappler.com/nation/41736-dead-atimonan-road-pile-up

Philippines calls off search for quake survivors

Philippine authorities on Saturday gave up hope of finding survivors from the worst earthquake to hit the country in two decades, which left at least 180 people dead.

The rescue operation was called off four days after the magnitude-7.2 earthquake in Bohol province, 640 kilometres south of Manila, on Tuesday.

“The rescue operations have ended and, instead, we are now conducting recovery operations,” Eduardo Del Rosario, head of the national disaster relief agency, told a press conference.

“We are still looking for 13 others. Our responders are now on the site to recover their bodies,” he added.

More than 3.4 million people were affected by the quake, including nearly 400,000 forced to stay outdoors under makeshift tents for fear that aftershocks could cause their homes to collapse.

Food, water and other relief supplies were running low in many of the affected areas as damaged roads and bridges slowed down efforts to bring help to them.

Authorities said government teams were working double time to clear the roads. Emergency workers were using alternative means to provide relief goods.

“We’ve been able to reach some places by airlifting and doing food drops,” presidential deputy spokeswoman Abigail Valte said. “Disaster response teams have also been using boats to reach places with roads rendered impassable by the quake.” Most of the dead were in Bohol, the site of the earthquake’s epicentre, where 167 people were killed. Thirteen were killed in the nearby provinces of Cebu and Siquijor, the disaster relief agency said.

All the 13 missing and presumed dead are from Bohol. They include five boys who were playing near a waterfall in the town of Sagbayan when the tremor hit, police said.

The earthquake destroyed more than 34,000 houses in five affected provinces, several centuries-old churches, dozens of hospitals and government buildings.

Electricity and water supplies were disrupted for days, while telecommunication remained weak in many areas, especially Bohol, a province that is home to more than 1.25 million people.

Damage to infrastructure has been estimated at 549 million pesos (13 million dollars). Tourism, a key industry in Bohol and Cebu, has also taken a hit, with cancellations pouring in.

Top tourist draws to Bohol were damaged by the quake, including historic churches and the Chocolate Hills, a group of more than 1,200 grass-covered limestone domes.

The quake was the worst to hit the Philippines since July 1990, when a magnitude-7.9 quake killed more than 1,600 people, with 1,000 still listed as missing, presumed dead.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/philippines-calls-off-search-for-quake-survivors/article5251026.ece?homepage=true

Japan typhoon death toll rises to 29

The death toll from a typhoon that triggered massive landslides on a Japanese island rose to 29 on Saturday, as officials advised residents to take shelter in anticipation of more heavy rain.

Around 1,200 troops, firefighters and police searched for 22 island residents who remained missing after typhoon Wipha struck Oshima island, 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Tokyo, on Tuesday.

The powerful typhoon set off mudslides that buried some 30 houses and damaged more than 300 structures on the small island.

“Two more bodies were pulled today,” bringing the death toll on Oshima to 27, said a spokeswoman for the island’s administrative office.

Combined with two other deaths in and near Tokyo, the total death toll from Wipha in Japan has reached 29.

Island authorities Saturday advised around 1,900 residents living in the areas worst hit by the landslides to evacuate to designated school gyms and community centres, as a precaution against expected heavy rains and further landslides.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/japan-typhoon-death-toll-rises-to-29-1.379941

Up to 30 missing in cave-in at Colombia gold mine

A cave-in Friday at an unlicensed gold mine in Colombia left up to 30 workers missing, a rescue official said.

Two people were injured but no bodies have been recovered so far at the mine in the northwest department of Antioquia. The missing number were between 10 and 30, according to other workers, said Cesar Hernandez, a senior disaster relief official.

Rescue workers with sniffer dogs were combing the area.

The accident happened when a device used to remove earth from the mine broke. Walls collapsed and tons of earth fell on miners.

The mine is in a mountainous area that is hard to reach.

The Mining Industry says that between January 2012 and June of this year 86 people died and 39 others were injured in mine accidents.

Colombia has more than 14,357 gold mines, more than half of which are unlicensed.

Gold mining accounted for 2.3 percent of Colombia's gross domestic product in 2012.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/131019/30-missing-cave-at-colombia-gold-mine

French, Thai experts, high-tech sonar join search for Lao Airlines plane and black box

Teams of French and Thai experts plied the vast and muddy Mekong River with high-tech sonar equipment Saturday, ramping up the search for a Lao Airlines plane, 19 bodies still missing from the crash and clues to why the aircraft went down three days earlier.

On the riverbank, a group of orange-robed Buddhist monks performed a prayer ceremony for the 30 victims whose bodies have been recovered and those still missing.

Lao Airlines flight QV301 crashed Wednesday as it prepared to land in stormy weather at Pakse Airport in southern Laos. The plane then skidded into the Mekong River, the largest in Southeast Asia, and disappeared. All 49 people on board, more than half of whom were foreigners, are presumed dead.

By Saturday morning, 30 bodies had been found and authorities were still trying to identify several of them, Lao Airlines said in a brief statement that offered no update of the ongoing investigation. The ATR-72 aircraft was delivered in March, raising questions into why a virtually new plane crashed.

Until Saturday, the search for bodies and the plane's flight data recorder had been stalled by lack of manpower and equipment in the poor Southeast Asian country, which lacks capabilities in disaster management.

France's air accident investigation agency, the BEA, said it sent four investigators to help Laos with the probe. It said the team would work with technical advisers from ATR, the French-Italian manufacturer of the aircraft.

Thailand, meanwhile, sent a C-130 military transport plane with specialists and equipment, including several high-tech sonar systems, to locate objects on the river floor.

The French and Thai teams set out on small boats scanning the water's surface with the sonar equipment Saturday, a stark contrast to previous days of searching that included Lao villagers peering into the murky water from long-tail boats.

Experts say the flight data and voice recorders could help determine if the crash was caused by human error or a technical problem. The chief pilot has been identified as 56-year-old Young San of Cambodia, who had more than 30 years of flying experience.

Cambodia's civil aviation security director, Mak Sam Ol, said he was briefed by Laotian authorities on a final instruction from the control tower.

"Due to a storm and strong winds, as the plan approached landing, the air controller told the pilot to change course," Mak Sam Ol said in a telephone interview. "He followed instructions but the plane faced strong storms and couldn't get through."

According to the airline, 44 passengers and five crew were on the flight. The passengers included 16 Lao nationals, seven French, six Australians, five Thais, three Koreans, three Vietnamese and one person each from China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States. A person who had been listed as a Canadian was instead added to the list of Vietnamese.

Saturday 19 October 2013

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10/19/french-thai-experts-high-tech-sonar-join-search-for-lao-airlines-plane-and/

7 Bodies recovered at site of Mexico plane crash

Seven bodies had been recovered as of Friday from the wreckage of a light plane that crashed four days ago in northwestern Mexico with 14 people on board.

The recovery work resumed early Friday after a halt forced by bad weather in the Sierra de la Giganta mountain range, officials of the Baja California Sur state government told Efe.

The seven recovered bodies were taken to the arena at the port of Loreto, and in the coming hours will be moved to the state capital of La Paz, where genetic identification tests will be made.

DNA samples were taken Thursday from family members of the victims to enable identification, since the bodies in the plane were charred beyond recognition.

The plane, a single-engine Cessna 208-B operated by Aeroservicio Guerrero, went missing on Monday just 25 minutes after taking off from Loreto on a flight to Ciudad Constitucion.

The plane was authorized to fly despite adverse weather conditions in Baja California Sur due to Tropical Storm Octave.

Aboard the aircraft were 13 passengers - mostly members of the same family, including two minors - and the pilot.

Friday 18 October 2013

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/131018/7-bodies-recovered-at-site-mexico-plane-crash