Search resumes for landslide victims after public pressure

The search operation to find the bodies of villagers buried under a mudslide in north-eastern Afghanistan resumed after relatives rejected the government’s decision to halt the operation. The disaster buried the Ab-e-Barik village in Argu district after heavy rains on Friday, leaving about one-third of the 1,000 families missing and feared dead. “We had to start the operation again as the villagers insisted on finding the bodies of their loved ones, see them one last time and bury them,” Gul Ahmad Bedar, deputy governor for Badakhshan province said yesterday. Vice-President Karim Khalili on Saturday said the search operation was halted, arguing that all the missing people had been buried by the mud. He announced the village to be a mass grave.

“But the villagers did not accept the suggestion, saying they want to bury their dear ones,” Bedar said. “Therefore, we hired some 400 workers to pull the bodies out from about 50 metres of mud,” he said, adding that the operation may take at least a week. The number of the missing is estimated at 2,000 to 2,100. More than 300 bodies have been so far recovered and identified, according to officials. About 700 families have been displaced and are living in the open around the ruined village. The government, international aid organisations, businessmen and politicians have provided donations. Some foreign countries promised to send aid. “We received the daily essentials from Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates yesterday,” said Naveed Ferotan, spokesman for the provincial governor spokesman. “Also, Pakistan and Turkey have said they would help the victims.

He said presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani donated 600,000 Afghanis ($10,500) during his visit to the village on Monday. Before that, Khalili and fellow Vice President Younus Qanooni brought 40 million Afghanis (about $700,000) of government support, he said. An official for the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority in Badakhshan province rejected reports of shortages, saying there were “enough materials.” “We have received more than we expected. There are breads, cooked meals, potable water, milk, medicines, warm clothes, tents and temporary shelters. We transfer them every day to the victims,” Mohammad Asef said. He said people from neighbouring, unaffected villages had also come to the area to try to claim some of the materials.

Tuesday 06 May 2014

http://main.omanobserver.om/?p=78934

Dozens of Niger migrants missing after being abandoned in Sahara

About 30 migrants from Niger are missing in the Sahara desert without food or water after their driver abandoned them once they crossed into neighbouring Algeria, military sources in Niger said on Monday.

Niger, for decades a transit country for migrants trying to reach North Africa or Europe, has pledged to halt the flow of people through its section of the Sahara after 92 migrants died trying to get to Algeria late last year.

"As I speak, Algerian and Nigerien patrols have been launched on both sides of the border to try and find these 30 migrants who, according to those that were found, don't have anything to eat or drink," a military officer in Niger said, asking not to be named.

The alarm was raised after 14 women and children who split off from the rest of the group were discovered by Algerian soldiers on their side of the border, the officers said.

A second military officer in Niger, who also asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press, said the migrants had left the northern Niger town of Arlit on May 1 to try to illegally get into Algeria.

"They were abandoned by the driver about 3 km (2 miles) after they crossed into Algeria. Fourteen migrants were saved but the rest of the group has disappeared," the second officer said.

Algerian authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Migrants trying to get to Algeria are often women and children from Niger who are sent to beg outside mosques. Another migrant route to Libya mostly attracts young West African men looking for jobs in North Africa or trying to get into Europe.

Tuesday 06 May 2014

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/05/uk-niger-algeria-migrants-idUKKBN0DL12U20140505

South Korean ferry disaster: Diver dies while searching for bodies

A civilian diver searching for bodies in the doomed South Korean ferry that sank last month has died, authorities have said.

Officials said the 53-year-old, known only by his surname Lee, became unconscious and later died in hospital.

He is the first fatality among divers searching the Sewol ferry, which sank on 16 April with 476 people on board.

Only 174 people survived, with many trapped inside the vessel. So far the disaster has claimed 262 lives, with 40 others missing.

Divers have described having to swim though dark, cold waters into the sunken ferry, feeling for children's bodies with their hands in a maze of cabins, corridors and upturned decks.

"We have to touch everything with our hands,” said diver Hwang Dae-sik, whose team had retrieved 14 bodies so far.

“This is the most gruelling and heartbreaking job of my career," he told Reuters news agency.

State news agency Yonhap reported that Lee was a veteran crew member of Undine Marine Industries, which specialises in maritime engineering and rescue work.

He had lost consciousness shortly after diving into waters 25m deep in the early hours of Tuesday.

Fellow divers lost communication with him five minutes into his dive and later pulled him to the surface. It was his first search attempt in the Sewol, according to the authorities.

Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has since ordered government officials overseeing the rescue operation to thoroughly check divers' health conditions.

Despite Lee's death, divers are continuing their searches Tuesday with the authorities believing most of the remaining missing people are in 64 of the ship's 111 areas.

Tuesday 06 May 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/06/south-korean-ferry-disaster-diver-dies_n_5271281.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

22 migrants die, others believed missing after smuggling boats capsize in Greece's Aegean Sea (Update)

A yacht and a dinghy crammed with immigrants trying to sneak into Greece capsized Monday in the eastern Aegean Sea, leaving at least 22 dead and several more missing in one of the deadliest such accidents in Greek waters in recent years.

The vessels had been trying to enter Greece illegally when they overturned before dawn off the island of Samos near the Turkish coast. The boats were overloaded but it was not immediately clear what caused them to capsize. It was Greece's third fatal migrant boat disaster this year.

The Greek coast guard said 36 people — 32 men, three women and a child — were rescued, and two of them — a man and a child — were airlifted to a hospital on the mainland. It identified the survivors as 23 Somalis, nine Syrians and three Eritreans, the coast guard said. The child's nationality and the nationalities of those who died weren't immediately known.

Coast guard officials recovered the bodies of two women, a man and a boy from the sea, and later found a further 18 bodies — including three children — inside the yacht after it was towed to Samos.

Survivors told the coast guard that between 60 and 65 people had been on the 10-meter (30-foot) yacht and the two-meter (six-foot) dinghy that had set off from Turkey.

"We can't give a precise number of missing people," Coast guard spokesman Nikos Lagadianos told The Associated Press before the overturned yacht was searched.

Coast guard vessels, fishing boats and two search and rescue helicopters combed the area for survivors or bodies. A nearby cruise ship helped for several hours being cleared to continue its journey.

Despite the deep financial crisis that brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy four years ago, the country remains a major entry point for people from poor or war-ravaged parts of Asia and Africa seeking a better life in the 28-nation European Union.

Fatal accidents are frequent as migrants risk the dangerous sea crossing from Turkey. Before Monday's incident, 21 people had drowned in similar incidents since the beginning of the year. At least 21 people died and six are still missing after a similar accident in December 2012.

Over the weekend, the Greek coast guard rescued about 250 immigrants from the sea.

Tuesday 06 May 2014

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/05/05/greece-2-dead-30-missing-as-migrant-boats-sink