Lockerbie bombing: Memorial services mark 25th anniversary

The victims of the Lockerbie bombing are being remembered today on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy in services across the UK and the US.

Memorial services attended by politicians, officials, families and members of the community will be held in Lockerbie, London and in the United States.

Pan Am flight 103 was on its way from London to New York when it exploded above Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, on the evening of 21 December 1988, killing 270 people. Eleven people on the ground died when wreckage from the plane hit the area.

The flight was just over half an hour into its journey when the atrocity occurred, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew. The majority of the victims aboard the aircraft were US citizens.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Wallace, Advocate General for Scotland, will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Dryfesdale Cemetery in the Dumfries and Galloway town.

Scotland Office minister David Mundell and Scotland's Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, will be present at a memorial event at Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington DC.

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will join Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland the Right Reverend Lorna Hood at a service in Westminster Abbey.

Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will attend an evening service at Dryfesdale Church in Lockerbie.

Mr Salmond said: “On this 25-year anniversary, and as the country prepares once more to relive the harrowing events of that terrible night, it is important that we remember that the pain and suffering of the families and friends of those who died has endured since that winter night in 1988.

“As the community of Lockerbie marks the milestone, memorial events will be held in Westminster Abbey, Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and at Syracuse University which lost 35 students in the bombing.

“But, inevitably, a focus of the day will be on the memorial in Lockerbie and it is there that I will pay my respects and condolences on behalf of the people of Scotland.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “To families, friends, neighbours, loved ones and all those caught up in the painful process of recovery, let us say to them: our admiration for you is unconditional; for the fortitude and resilience you have shown; for your determination never to give up. You have shown that terrorist acts cannot crush the human spirit. That is why terrorism will never prevail.

“And even in the darkest moments of grief, it is possible to glimpse the flickering flame of hope.”

Speaking on behalf of the Scottish prosecution service, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland and solicitor general Lesley Thomson said: “Saturday is a time to remember those who lost their lives on 21 December 1988 and the impact it had on so many lives then and since that tragic night.

“On behalf of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, our message is simple: Always remembered, never forgotten; forever in our hearts.”

A remembrance service will be held at Hendricks Chapel of Syracuse University in New York state, where 35 of its students who had been studying at its London campus died. Another service will also be held at the university's Lubin House in New York, according to the BBC.

Only one man, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was convicted of the bombing. He was found guilty in January 2001 and given a life sentence. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and was freed under compassionate release rules.

Mr MacAskill took that decision on 20 August the following year, sparking a row among politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.

Megrahi died in Tripoli, Libya in May last year.

Despite the guilty verdict and Megrahi's decision to drop a subsequent appeal against conviction, politicians, campaigners and families of victims are still dealing with the impact, with some of the British relatives considering another appeal against his conviction when they meet with lawyers in the new year.

Saturday 21 December 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-25364127

Death toll in Peru bus crash climbs to 16

The death toll from a bus plunging off a highway and down a slope in northern Peru climbed to 16 and the number of injured to 59, police in the Ancash region said Friday.

A police spokesman told Efe that the injured have been admitted to five hospitals in the region and that the bodies of the fatalities will be delivered to their families.

The accident occurred at 10:50 a.m. Thursday in the Cajacay district on the highway that leads from the city of Huaraz to Pativilca, the spokesman said.

The bus, which was headed for Lima, crashed down a 30-meter (98-foot) slope at a spot known as the "devil's curve," apparently because it was speeding and the driver was exhausted, the spokesman said.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that sent to the scene of the disaster were five ambulances plus doctors, nurses and members of the medical centers in the towns of Cajacay, Catac, Chasquitambo, and from the Regional Hospital of Recuay and Cajatambo.



Saturday 21 December 2013

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/131220/death-toll-peru-bus-crash-climbs-16

Typhoon Haiyan: 15 ships blown ashore slow down recovery of bodies

The continuing presence of 15 ships vessels that were washed or blown inland by Supertyphoon Yolanda’s storm surges and high winds in Eastern Visayas have been slowing down the recovery of more bodies in the disaster area, the heads of government agencies under Task Force Yolanda agreed this week.

The Philippine Coast Guard reported that nine mostly cargo ships, two tugboats and a barge were still stuck in the coastal villages of Tacloban City while three other ships were grounded in various places in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

PCG Tacloban station commander Lieutenant Paul Gonzales said they were still trying to coordinate with the shipowners on how to refloat the vessels.

He said that the still ongoing assessment by insurance companies and lack of equipment were holding them back in putting the ships back to sea.

Senior Superintendent Pablito Cordeta, regional director of Bureau of Fire Protection in Eastern Visayas and head of the body collection group of Task Force Yolanda, said the presence of these ships in residential areas slowed down the progress of his group in searching for bodies that might still underneath the debris and the vessels themselves.

“We are hoping that the shipowners will start work on retracting these vessels before the end of this year. Some owners have been sending engineers to assess and determine the materials and equipment needed,” Gonzales said by phone on Friday.

He said that the possibility of oil spills was also a factor to consider in the removal of the stranded vessels.

The regional Coast Guard command, in its report to Task Force Yolanda, said the ships stranded in Tacloban included two tugboats and a barge owned by Vicente Lao Construction based in Davao City.

The passenger/cargo ships were M/V Star Hilongos, owned by Roble Shipping Lines Inc. based in Cebu City; M/V Jaguar, owned by Tacloban Oil Mills (TOMI) of Tolosa, Leyte; M/V TOMI Elegance, also of TOMI; M/V Eva Jocelyn, of Eva Shipping Lines in Mandaue City; M/V Gayle, of Unilink Shipping Lines in Mandaue City; M/V David, of Candano Shipping Lines in Tabaco City, Albay; M/V Rosman, owned by Richmond Ng of Quezon City; M/V Ligaya-V, of Avega Brothers Integrated Shipping Corp.; and M/V Eastern Star, of Lilygene Shipping Lines Inc.

In Guiuan, still stuck on land were M/V RKK Uno, M/V Lancer, M/V Lady of Fatima, whose owners had apparently not yet been identified.

Saturday 21 December 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/550369/15-ships-blown-ashore-slow-down-recovery-of-bodies

10 killed as car falls in River Ghizer

At least 10 persons including two women and five children were killed when a car plunged into a river here on Friday.

The accident took place in Sherpur Qilla, some 30 km from district headquarters Gahkooch.–INP, where a Dalnatti-bound car coming from Galapur fell thousands of metre down in River Ghizer while negotiating a sharp turn.

As a result, 10 people including two women and five children were killed while one person was rescued in injured condition.

Two among the deceased were identified as Ghulamullah and Sher Muhammad.

The police, district administration officials and rescue personnel rushed to the scene and started rescue operation.

Some of the bodies were retrieved while the operation for others was stopped till Saturday (today) morning due to darkness.

Saturday 21 December 2013

http://www.nation.com.pk/national/21-Dec-2013/10-killed-as-car-falls-in-river-ghizer

Rana plaza disaster: Over 100 victims to remain unidentified

More than 100 ill-fated victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy are likely to remain unidentified forever, as the second phase of the DNA sampling nears its end at the National DNA Profiling Laboratory in Dhaka Medical College.

Following the identification of 157 victims from the 322 unidentified bodies in the first phase of the process, laboratory chief Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman told the Dhaka Tribune: “Among the 165 [still] unidentified victims, we would finally be able to identify 50 to 60 of them.”

Although a total 548 DNA samples from victims’ relatives had been submitted to the laboratory against the 322 unidentified bodies, more than 100 victims’ DNA did not match with any submitted samples.

After the Rana Plaza collapse, more than 800 bodies were handed over to relatives without having any DNA samples kept from either the victims or the relatives – a procedure which Dr Akteruzzman said was unscientific.

“The Rana Plaza disaster was a new experience for us. So we failed to follow the principle rules,” he said.

The team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which came to install the Combined DNA Index System (Codis) at the DNA laboratory, also said the handover of bodies was inaccurate as no DNA sample had been collected. The handover of any dead body from the disaster is strictly prohibited in order to identify the unknown body.

“It’s possible that people received bodies without confirming the identity,” said Dr Akteruzzaman.

For example, he said four bodies – from which DNA had been collected for the lab – were taken and buried by people claiming to be those victims’ relatives, without completing any scientific identification procedure. It was later found that three of the four samples actually matched with DNA samples from other people who gave samples to the lab to find their missing relatives.

However, Dr Akteruzzaman said there was still some hope in identifying the 100 victims were the government to take an initiative in collecting DNA samples from each of the relatives who had earlier collected the bodies of the victims, as those samples could match with the 100 unidentified.

Most of those who remain unidentified are female.

With the DNA from 50 to 60 bodies already partially matched with relatives’ samples, the doctor said a supplementary chromosome (X and Y) test was needed to verify the relation between the victim and the person claiming to be the relative.

Although the laboratory was running low on chemical reagents to run the final test, the lab chief expressed hope that a supply of those reagents would reach their hands soon.

He informed that in most cases the relatives – who claimed their family member was missing – gave one sample for the DNA test. But to ensure the relationship, it was mandatory to collect samples from three people (victim/son/daughter).

At least 1,134 people were killed and thousands more were injured when the nine-storey Rana Plaza in Savar collapsed on April 24 this year.

Saturday 21 December 2013

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/dec/21/over-100-victims-remain-unidentified