Quebec fire: Four more bodies pulled from destroyed seniors' home

Recovery crews pulled four more bodies from the rubble of a fire-ravaged seniors' home, bringing the death toll to 14 with 18 missing.

Provincial police made the announcement Monday afternoon.

Fire destroyed a wing of the Residence du Havre on Thursday in this small town two hours northeast of Quebec City.

The search resumed Monday morning after blizzard conditions and bitter cold halted recovery efforts Sunday.

Search teams are using de-icing equipment to penetrate the foot-thick ice that coats the rubble.

The results are "encouraging," provincial police spokesman Guy Lapointe said. Large tarps are draped over the site to block wind and prevent more ice from forming.

Authorities have also brought in a special device typically used to heat up icebreaking ships.

The tarps have withstood -30 C windchills and powerful gusts that approached 90 km/h.

"We were still able to proceed because it was still warm under the tarps," Lapointe said. "Morale on the ground is good. People are working hard."

The municipality has formally requested emergency provincial aid. Coroner's spokeswoman Genevieve Guilbault said the department's forensic lab is "stretched to the limit."

So far only three bodies have been identified.

Also on Monday, families began to prepare funerals.

The memorials will be organized by the same Catholic authorities who planned funerals in the community of Lac-Megantic, Que., where 47 people died in a runaway train explosion last July.

Parish officials have advised families in L'Isle-Verte that mass funerals are available.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/01/27/21427526.html

Five dead, 14 missing in Indonesian landslide

A landslide triggered by days of rain buried a village on Indonesia's main island of Java on Tuesday, leaving at last five people dead and another A landslide triggered by days of rain buried a village on Indonesia's main island of Java on Tuesday, leaving at last five people dead and another 14 missing, an official said.

The landslide happened in mountainous Jombang district in eastern Java at 1:30 am (1830 GMT Monday) after a particularly heavy downpour, said local disaster agency official Putra Anugerah.

“We pulled five bodies from the rubble this morning and are still searching for the other 14. Sixty people have also been displaced.”

Five homes were completely crushed by the landslide and members of the rescue agency, army personnel and community members were helping search for the missing, officials said.

Indonesia has been pounded with rain in recent weeks, the start of the country's months-long wet season, causing widespread flooding and landslides across the vast archipelago.

Environmentalists blame logging and a failure to reforest denuded land for exacerbating the floods and causing landslides, which hit Java's mountainous regions every wet season.14 missing, an official said.

Tuesday 28 January 2014

http://www.dawn.com/news/1083294/five-dead-14-missing-in-indonesian-landslide