Police collect DNA samples of kin of dead to identify bodies

Close to a week after an accident on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway left eight people dead and 14 injured, DNA samples of the kin of the deceased have been taken and will be sent to JJ Hospital to identify the dead, the police said.

Three vehicles were gutted after a collision between a diesel tanker and luxury bus on the highway, 12 km from Manor village.

“At this point, it is impossible to identify bodies. The families submitted claims with us last week. Accordingly, we took DNA samples from immediate family members and will send these to JJ Hospital. Once the reports from the forensic department there are received, we will hand over the bodies,” said Assistant Police Inspector Meghana Burande, Manor police station.

At 1.30 am on Wednesday, January 29, a diesel tanker hired by BPCL and travelling from Wadala to Hazira in Gujarat broke down in the middle of the road after ramming into a vehicle moving ahead of it,

The luxury bus, which was travelling to Ahmedabad from Pune rammed straight into the stationary tanker, the police said. A Hyundai Verna car speeding behind also rammed into the bus. The three persons inside the car escaped with minor injuries. In the blaze that followed due to fuel leak, the bus driver, Shaukat Mulani (36), the second driver and six passengers were burnt alive, the police said. Both Siddiqui and Shah fled after the accident and were arrested a few hours later.

While one of the passengers was identified by a silver locket he wore around his neck, the other seven deceased remain unidentified, the police said.

Doctors and local police said bodies had been completely charred, with no features discernible. The bodies were later sent to JJ Hospital in Mumbai for a forensic examination.

Tuesday 04 February 2014

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/police-collect-dna-samples-of-kin-of-dead-to-identify-bodies/

Search for victims delayed as Indonesia’s Mt Sinabung spews ash into the sky

A new eruption of ash and steam from Indonesia's Mt. Sinabung has put on hold a search for victims of the Saturday's major eruption that has claimed 16 lives.

The volcano erupted at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, February 1st, just a day after local residents who were previously evacuated due to the eruptions and pyroclastic flows were told that they could return to their homes. This fast-moving flow of hot ash and gas quickly swept down the mountainside, traveling roughly five kilometres away from the crater. It was followed by two more flows over the next hour.

According to reports, search parties checking villages on the volcano slopes recovered 14 bodies, along with three people who had suffered burns. The death toll had risen to 16 on Sunday when another body was discovered and one of the burn victims died of their injuries. All of the victims were from the village of Suka Meriah, which is roughly three kilometres from the volcano. Evacuation zones had stretched out to well beyond that range over the past few weeks, due to the volcano's increased activity. It's still unclear whether those restrictions were lifted prior to the weekend eruption, or if those on the mountainside had simply violated the restrictions put on travel in the area.

A resident runs to escape the billowing ash cloud engulfing their village.Search efforts for victims resumed on Monday, since three people are apparently still missing from the eruption on Saturday. Those efforts had to be delayed, though, when the volcano spewed out another blast of ash and gas, reaching 2.5 kilometres into the sky. This mixture of burning hot ash and poisonous gas would not only have made searching difficult simply due to obscuring everything in the area, but with temperatures reaching several hundred degrees and combined with a mix of poisonous gases, venturing into the area could have been deadly. Authorities were to decide later on Monday if the search would be called off permanently.

At the other end of the island nation, the disaster mitigation agency raised the alert level on Mount Kelud of East Java to level 2, according to state-run Antara News, and there are now around 20 volcanoes in Indonesia that are currently on alert status. The alert statuses of most of the volcanoes are simply to note a level of activity above normal. Mt. Sinabung is at the highest alert level: level 3.

Today, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the sea floor near Kepulauan Barat Daya, and was followed by several aftershocks. These may be unrelated to the volcanic activity, but eruptions are often associated with tremors and earthquakes, as magma shifts under the ground.

Tuesday 04 February 2014

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/search-victims-delayed-indonesia-mt-sinabung-spews-ash-012625624.html

28 bodies recovered from Isle Verte fire

The Surete du Quebec has ended its recovery efforts following a deadly fire in Isle Verte, after finding the bodies of 28 victims.

17 of those recovered have been identified by the coroner, and efforts are being made to identify the remaining nine.

Four of the people missing from the night of the fire are still unaccounted for.

SQ officer Guy Lapointe said the cause of the fire is still unknown, and police have yet to rule out the possibility that the fire was deliberately set.

While police will no longer be at the scene, specialist chemists and electricians will be scouring the wrecked building to see if they can figure out what started the fire.

About 900 attended a church service this past Saturday to mourn the victims of the Jan. 23 fire at the Residence du Havre.

Tuesday 04 January 2014

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/28-bodies-recovered-from-isle-verte-fire-1.1668611

11 drown, 50 missing as ferry sinks in Bangladesh

Eleven persons were drown and 50 others were missing as a small ferry sank into the Surma River in Bangladesh's northeastern Sunamganj district Monday night, officials said on Tuesday.

Kamrul Alam, chief executive of the Doara sub-district of Sunamganj, confirmed the ferry sank after its engine.

Alam said six bodies were recovered Monday night and five bodies were found Tuesday morning.

Fire service rescuers are conducting rescue operations.

Tuesday 04 January 2014

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=198067