Helicopter body recovery begins

Search and rescue teams have begun the methodical process of removing bodies from a Norfolk marsh after a US Airforce officer paid tribute to four American crew members killed in a helicopter crash.

Captains Christopher S. Stover and Sean M. Ruane and Technical Sergeant Dale E. Mathews died when their Pave Hawk helicopter came down on a marsh near Cley-next- the-Sea on Tuesday night. Their female crew mate Staff Sergeant Afton M. Ponce was also killed in the crash. Colonel Kyle Robinson, 48th Fighter Wing commander, told reporters at RAF Lakenheath, where the wing is based: "I am deeply saddened by the loss of these great airmen. They have made the ultimate sacrifice while training to save the lives of others."

He added that no May Day message or any other warning of problems on board the helicopter was sent before the crash.

Speaking at the village of Salthouse, near the crash scene, Chief Superintendent Bob Scully said teams were now "actively recovering the bodies".

It is hoped the operation will be completed by darkness, with the bodies due to be taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital ahead of post-mortem examinations.

He warned it was important to balance the families' desire for a quick resolution with the need to preserve evidence.

Rain, wind and plummeting temperatures hampered the rescue effort today. Mr Scully said teams were prepared to work through the night if necessary.

He added: "We need to take care of the deceased in an appropriate and dignified way.

"I sincerely hope they will be safely taken from the scene by the end of the day but I can't offer any guarantees.

"I fully understand the families' distress at such a terrible time but they as much as anyone will want answers about how this happened.

"Our number one priority is recovering the bodies along with sensitive evidence from the crash site but that must be done step, by step, by step."

Asked about ammunition which was strewn across the marsh in the crash, he said it was not a priority as it posed no immediate threat to the public as long as people respect the 400-metre cordon around the site.

RAF mountain rescue teams and heavy loading equipment were seen arriving at the site throughout the day.

Col Robinson sent a message to the families of those who died at a press conference at Lakenheath: "As a husband and father myself, I cannot imagine how heartbroken you must feel, now missing a piece of your family. I speak for the entire wing when I say that we are thinking of you, we are praying for you, and we are here for you."

Captains Stover and Ruane were the pilots, while Tech Sgt Mathews and Staff Sgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators in the low-level combat search and rescue training mission.

Both Col Robinson and Mr Scully said it was too early to speculate on what caused the crash.

Air accident, RAF and US investigators spent yesterday at the scene of the disaster, where debris is believed to have been strewn across an area the size of a football pitch.

The cordon is expected to remain in place for several weeks as more detailed investigations take place.

Since the crash, birdwatching groups and residents have repeated long-held concerns over low-flying training exercises.

Richard Kelham, chairman of Cley parish council, said the crash highlighted concerns about the impact of low-flying helicopters on the nature reserve.

He said: "It has been an ever-present issue for the last 20 years or so. If anything, it's got better in recent years as RAF bases have closed.

"The concern is more for the birds than anything else as local people are quite used to it.

"This has brought it to the fore again and, while we don't want a knee-jerk reaction, this is a chance to discuss whether anything can be done to improve the situation."

When asked about warnings from local residents about low flying, Col Robinson said: "I'm not aware of any warnings that we had.

"Obviously we take great care to make sure we operate in the safest fashion and all the rules and missions that they follow are the standard ones followed by the Ministry of Defence."

A derivative of the more famous Black Hawk helicopter, the Pave Hawk gets its name from the Pave acronym standing for Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment.

They are used for combat search and rescue, mainly to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel in theatres of war.

They have a four-man crew and can carry up to 12 troops. Typically, training flights would replicate real missions as closely as possible, which would mean weapons and ammunition would be carried.

Speaking about the experience of the four crew members, who were from the 56th rescue squadron, Col Robinson said: "As you would imagine, with most crews there is a range of experience levels and in general you have some of the more experienced people will fly with some of the less experienced people and this crew is no different.

"They are all highly qualified in what they did and capable."

The colonel said there were no plans to fly the four Pave Hawk helicopters from Lakenheath for the rest of the week to give crew and their families time to come to terms with the incident.

"This has obviously been a very traumatic incident for an entire Liberty Wing family and in particular the 56th and we want to maintain and make sure we are taking care of the families and that the air crew members are safe before they head back out," he said.

In a separate incident, a US Navy helicopter with five crew members crashed into the ocean off the Virginia coast during a routine training mission, killing two and leaving two in hospital.

Rescuers searched into the night for a fifth sailor.

The two who died were among four crew members hoisted from the 5C (42F) waters by a Navy helicopter and taken to a hospital, the US Navy said.

The Navy identified the aircraft as an MH-53E.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://news.uk.msn.com/us-helicopter-body-recovery-begins

More bodies turning up in Tacloban

Piles of debris left by Supertyphoon Yolanda here continue to disgorge the bodies of those who died in the world’s strongest storm in recent history.

A group called Task Force Cadaver, formed by the city government, said members of the task force are still retrieving bodies from piles of debris in different parts of this city, which bore the brunt of Yolanda.

Senior Supt. Pablo Cordeta, head of the task force, said the team has been recovering five to seven bodies every day, and expects to find even more.

Cordeta said clearing activities in the villages, especially where there are still heaps of uncollected garbage left by the storm, are helping in the team’s recovery operations.

As of Jan. 4, the task force, which has resumed operations after the Christmas break, has recovered 17 more bodies, mostly in the San Jose district, composed of several coastal villages.

All bodies collected by the task force are brought to Barangay (village) Suhi, 13 kilometers north of the city proper.

Tecson John Lim, city administrator, said at least 1,305 bodies had been brought to the village of Suhi where these had been buried in a mass grave in the compound of the village’s health center.

Lim said the burial of the bodies had been finished on Jan. 5.

Aside from corpses that had been buried in Suhi, at least 1,200 more bodies had been buried at the public cemetery of Basper town, he said.

Lim said that 66 bodies still have to be buried as they are still being processed by the National Bureau of Investigation’s forensic experts.

NBI forensic experts collect marks or specimens such as clothes, small bones and dental parts, among others, for identification. The specimens are to be kept for future reference.

Lim said the bodies are, in the meantime, being kept in a refrigerated trailer van donated by the Philippine Red Cross.

He said the death toll in Tacloban City alone has gone past 2,000.

Villagers had been taking part in clearing operations that are part of a cash-for-work program launched by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation.

The foundation pays villagers P500 each for a day’s work.

The United Nations Development Program has also initiated a separate cash-for-work program for villagers helping in clearing operations in the city.

The government has slowed the counting of the dead in areas hit by Yolanda after President Aquino, in a CNN interview, disputed initial reports that the death toll from the 300 kph typhoon is likely to hit 10,000.

Aquino, during the CNN interview, said the death toll could be closer to 2,000.

The burial of the dead in this city and other areas struck by Yolanda has been delayed because of continuing rain in the areas and by the slow process of collecting DNA samples that could help in the identification process.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/560411/more-bodies-turning-up-in-tacloban

Nine killed as fire breaks out in Mumbai train

Nine people were killed when fire broke out in the Dehradun Express early on Wednesday morning near Dahanu Road in Thane, Maharashtra.

The fire, which broke out in the S4 coach, spread to two more coaches, S2 and S3.

The train had left Mumbai at 12am and was on the Mumbai-Surat line when the fire broke out around 2am.

Of those killed, five have been identified, Western Railway (WR) officials said. Three of them are from Mumbai, while two are from Gujarat.

According to WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan, four of those identified died due to asphyxiation.

The identities of the rest could not be established as their bodies have been charred beyond recognition.

Railway officials claimed the guard noticed the fire and brought the train to a halt, and separated the three coaches from the rest of the train. Passengers too were alerted by the smoke.

Officials said casualties were limited because the train wasn't fully booked. There were 24 passengers in S2, seven in S3 and 51 in S4.

Railway officials claimed that they suspect the fire could have resulted from a short circuit in the S4 coach. The Railway Board has constituted an inquiry into the causes of the fire.

The commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry into the fire incident, Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said.

A team from Kalina Forensic Laboratory has collected samples from the accident site.

Officials claimed that relief reached the passengers in about 40 minutes and that they were transported to Golwad station. However, passengers claim the help did not get to them until after 4am.

The Railways has offered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead. Rs 1 lakh will be given to those seriously injured and a sum of Rs 50,000 will be given to those who received minor injuries, Kumar said.

DNA tests

DNA tests will be conducted on four unidentified bodies of the nine passengers who died in Wednesday's Dehradun Express fire in Thane, near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, an official said here Thursday.

"Their bodies have been burnt beyond recognition and hence it has been decided to conduct DNA tests," a Western Railway spokesperson told IANS.

The victims are believed to have been travelling in S-2 and S-3 coaches, which along with S-4 caught fire around 2.35 a.m. early Wednesday near Gholvad, around 145 km north of Mumbai.

The bodies are in custody of the Government Railway Police which will arrange for the DNA testing and later complete the formalities of handing these over to the bereaved families.

Nine passengers, including a woman, were killed when a fire engulfed the three sleeper coaches of the speeding Mumbai Bandra Terminus-Dehradun Express.

The fire which ravaged three sleeper coaches of the train caught the sleeping passengers unawares. It was first noticed by Jawahar Singh, a level-crossing gateman who alerted the Gholvad station master.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2536137/Nine-killed-fire-breaks-Mumbai-train.html

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/379464/dna-tests-identify-train-fire.html

Death toll rises to 24 in Goa building collapse

With the recovery of three more bodies from the debris, the death toll in Canacona building collapse in Goa has risen to 24.

"We recovered three more bodies from the debris of the building last night and search is on for more," Ashok Menon, in-charge of rescue operation, said on Wednesday.

He said the rescue operations had been continuing manually after buildings adjacent to the site tilted.

The demolition of these buildings is likely to start from Wednesday, he added.

More than 40 people were trapped under the debris when the under-construction five-storey building caved in on Saturday afternoon.

Police had arrested Deputy Town Planner Prakash Bandodkar on Monday night in connection with the collapse. However, Municipal Engineer Ajay Desai and three directors of a property firm (Bharat Realtors and Developers), constructing the structure, are still untraceable.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://post.jagran.com/death-toll-rises-to-24-in-goa-building-collapse-1389249002

15 killed, six buildings burnt in Lagos tanker crash

No fewer than 15 people were burnt to death when a tanker laden with petrol fell and went up in flames Tuesday night. The inferno lasted till yesterday morning, at the Berger Suya junction, Apapa, Lagos. Also, several buildings, eight vehicles and about 200 lock-up shops including a commercial bank in the area were razed. There were, however, conflicting accounts of the number of casualities.

While Federal Fire Service and National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, put the figure at 15, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and the State fire service said only five bodies were recovered. The fire which started at about 10:35pm on Tuesday was said to have been caused by a tanker laden with 33,000 litres of petrol which lost control as it was negotiating a sharp bend. It exploded close to suya spots in the area.

The driver of the truck, his assistant, several passengers in two commercial buses, by-standers and two Hausa suya vendors were burnt beyond recognition. Rescue workers were seen picking and collecting bones and burnt human parts into cellophane bags. A commercial bank was not spared as a part of the building which housed the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, was badly damaged.

Eyewitnesses said that the bank guard was trapped and burnt in the inferno. Fire fighters led by the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Fadipe Razaq Idowu, had hectic time combating the fire which lasted about five hours. Speaking with Vanguard early yesterday, Idowu stated that the team which comprises 21 officials responded promptly with three fire trucks each containing 10,000 litres of water. According to him, each of the trucks was replenished three times.

He said: “The State Fire service responded with three fire trucks, each containing 10,000 litres and was replenished three times. We also used 600 litres of synthetic chemical foam to stop the raging fire, if not, the whole building would have been razed.” Idowu disclosed that the tanker which was carrying about 33,000 litres of petrol, went up in flames after it lost control when trying to negotiate a bend at the Berger Suya Junction leading to Wilmer. Reacting to the number of deaths recorded, Idowu stated that five bodies were evacuated by Lagos State Environmental Unit at the spot.

The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said 15 people died in the conflagration. But an eyewitness said more than 15 people were burnt beyond recognition. “It will be more than that (15 people). They don’t know what they are saying. Two buses which were at the spot when the incident happened caught fire and all the occupants were burnt. The suya sellers including a woman selling orange at the junction were burnt.

One of the executives of the Berger Suya Traders Association, Gabriel Ojum, cried that they were like orphans now having lost everything they had laboured for. He said he lost more than N5 million worth of goods to the inferno. He disclosed that more than 200 shops were affected with goods burnt. Ojum pointed to another member of the executive of the union who lost about 30 articulated vehicle engines, each costing about N850,000.

How it happened

An eyewitness, who resides in the area told Vanguard that the tanker, which number plate could not be identified was coming from Kirikiri jetty and lost control probably as a result of brake failure. He said the tanker fell as it was trying to negotiate a bend and caught fire immediately. “As it lost control, the truck fell close to the suya spot at the junction with its content spilling across the road into the immediate environment, from the suya furnace it wildly spread to the street.

The driver and the conductor were trapped in the truck which was burnt beyond recognition. Two buses which were carrying several passengers were also burnt without a survivor. A woman who sold oranges at the junction; a guard in the bank was also burnt to death. Some policemen at the junction were also not spared. But I don’t know whether they (the policemen) survived it or not.”

On how it spread to the adjoining street where about 200 shops were affected, another resident, who also lost goods worth about N5million to the inferno said: “As the tanker fell, its content (petrol) spilled and flowed into the gutters and as the fire began, it spread immediately to the gutters, linking the shops and vehicles parked along the road. The entire area was gutted.

We immediately reached the fire service, which responded promptly.” An eyewitness said the fire was put out at around 3:00 am yesterday with property and goods estimated at N500million destroyed. This is a bad New Year gift —Victims Edwin Ibe, who had just returned from his village for the Christmas celebration said he lost more than N45 million worth of goods. He described the incident as bad new year gift.

A middle aged father of six who spoke amid tears, lamented: “As you can see, I lost a lot of money here. Not only that my engines worth more than N25 million got burnt to ashes, a fairly new trailer that I recently acquired which is worth over N15m was also burnt.” Promise Lezieanya, a trader, absolved the tanker driver of blame saying “he tried his best to maneouvre shouting that the truck had lost its brake as he was approaching the junction.

“A commercial bus by the side which was fully loaded with passengers to Wilmer got burnt. No one survived in the bus. I counted more than 28 people, 94 shops, eight motorcycles and eight vehicles that were burnt that night. I lost 38 pieces of engines to the fire outbreak each at the rate of N1.1m and a new truck that I had sold at the rate of N7million but had not delivered to the owners. All the Okada riders that used to stay at the junction were all burnt to ashes,” he narrated.

Fire fighters No fewer than 21 men from the state fire service were busy fighting the fire with about 90,000 litres of water. The State Director, Lagos State fire service, Fadipe Razaq Idowu stated that apart from the fact that three trucks were used, they also used 600 litres of synthetic chemical foam to stop the raging fire. He, however, acknowledged the support of private fire units of Julius Berger and the Navy which complemented the state fire service to combat the inferno.

Looting spree

Razaq told Vanguard that street urchins had a field day looting as the fire was raging. He noted, “Many of them were carrying machete, sledge hammer and other dangerous weapons trying to loot. They impeded our work, we would have recorded more successes if they had stayed out of our way.” Another eyewitness indicated that looters were trying to gain access into the ATM compartment of the affected bank just as others were busy vandalising property around.

Lagos government reacts Lagos State Government yesterday described the Apapa fire incident which killed 15 people as a shock,saying “in order to avoid this, that was why the state government embarked on the enforcement of the 2012 road traffic law.” Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, while reacting to the inferno said: “We noted it and have always advised full compliance with the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012 in terms of maintenance of vehicle road worthiness, compliance with speed limits and use of indicator lights.

“That’s why we also reorganised and strengthened our Vehicle Inspection Agency. There’s often a tendency for tanker drivers to resist enforcement, gang up and threaten to withdraw their service. We must all resist this and insist on full compliance with the Law.” Lagos records 194 fire incidents in 39 days The inferno was the 194th fire incident that Lagos would witness in 39 days since December 2013. As of Tuesday, Mr Rasak Fadipe, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that 193 fire outbreaks had occurred in Lagos within the last one month. Before the Berger Suya disaster, Fadipe said the last incident occurred on January 7 at about 3.08 a.m., at Sawmill Market, Ipaja, Lagos.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/15-burnt-death-lagos-tanker-fire/

At least 15 people killed in road accident in Pakistan

At least 15 people were killed and 26 others injured when two passenger vans coming from opposite directions fell into a ravine after hitting each other near Pakistan's northern city of Murree on Wednesday night, police officials and hospital sources said.

Ishtiaq Shah, chief traffic police officer, said that 15 dead bodies have been recovered from the accident site and the death toll may further rise as several passengers are still trapped in the ill-fated vans.

Talking to Xinhua over the phone, Doctor Ayesha Isani, spokesperson for Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad, said that they have received 26 injured people and four dead bodies so far at the hospital, while more are being brought in.

Local state TV channel PTV said that the passenger vans with altogether over 50 people on board collided and fell into a 150- 200 feet deep ravine while passing each other in Salgirah area of Murree, a resort in the country's Punjab province.

The accident apparently happened due to the slippery roads caused by light rains, but further investigations are going on.

Rescue officials said that they are facing problems in their work due to poor visibility and rainy weather.

Rescue work is still under way and over 12 ambulances are taking part to shift the injured people to capital city Islamabad, about 29 km away from the accident site.

The Army has also been called by the traffic police to help carry out rescue work.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of the accident and expressed sorrow over the tragedy.

He directed concerned officials to expedite the rescue work and advised traffic officials to formulate a comprehensive traffic plan during the rainy season.

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_09/At-least-15-people-killed-in-road-accident-in-Pakistan-3761/

Japan's move to repatriate war dead will face backlash from China, S Korea

The Japanese government is drawing up legislation that will make the repatriation of the bodies of its second-world-war dead a “state responsibility”, but analysts anticipate the initiative will attract renewed criticism from China and South Korea.

The legislation is scheduled to be submitted to the Diet before the end of the month and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is seeking the support of other parties.

Given the LDP’s majorities in both houses of parliament, the legislation is expected to pass with little debate.

Under the proposal, specialist staff will be sent on diplomatic missions in countries where Japanese troops were killed during the conflict with the task of gathering information about the locations of grave sites and battlefields.

Additional funding will also be provided for the work of recovering and repatriating any remains that are located, although no specific figure has been placed on the amount that will be made available.

“Internal Affairs Minister [Yoshitaka] Shindo has been quite adamant in proposing this kind of effort in recent years and there are now many other like-minded politicians in Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe’s government,” Yoichi Shimada, a professor of international relations at Japan’s Fukui Prefectural University, told the South China Morning Post.

Shindo was fiercely criticised earlier in January after paying his respects at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine just days after Abe had paid an official visit to the controversial war shrine.

“I believe it is quite natural for any country to try to recover the remains of its soldiers and it is shameful that previous administrations have not done anything about this situation sooner,” Shimada said.

An estimated 2.4 million Japanese were killed at home and overseas during the second world war, with the remains of around 1.13 million people still unaccounted for.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has in recent years made tentative efforts to recover remains, with around 2,000 bodies repatriated in both 2011 and 2012.

The government is aiming to increase that number rapidly and records suggest that some 600,000 bodies can be recovered.

The vast majority of these were troops killed in land battles across Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Tens of thousands died in the fierce fighting in places such as New Guinea, the Philippines, Tarawa, Palau, Guam and Myanmar.

While some were buried in mass graves, others were simply bulldozed into the caves they were defending because it was too dangerous for American troops to try to capture the strongpoints.

“One of the reasons for this new effort is to strengthen diplomatic ties with other nations, such as Myanmar,” said Shimada. “There are the remains of many Japanese killed in Myanmar that have still to be found and it has been hard for Japan to deal with the totalitarian government there in recent years.

“Through this initiative, we can improve our relations and face up to China together.”

Given the deteriorating relationship between Tokyo and Beijing in recent months, however, it is unlikely that China will co-operate in the recovery effort.

Shimada dismisses the impact of Chinese intransigence.

“Most of the cremated remains of men killed in China and on the Korean Peninsula were repatriated during the conflict because they are close to Japan,” he said. “Most of the missing are in Southeast Asia or around the labour camps in Siberia where they were held after being captured by the Soviet Union in the latter stages of the war.

“It is true that no matter what Japan does diplomatically at the moment, China complains,” he added. “But I believe their aggression towards Japan and other nations in the region – the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and others – will only stir up resentment against their heavy-handed tactics.”

Thursday 09 January 2014

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1401461/japans-move-repatriate-war-dead-will-face-backlash-china-s-korea-analysts