GAIL accident: Blast kills 15 in Andhra,

At least 15 people were burnt to death and about 30 others injured in a huge blast and fire that took place at a gas pipeline belonging to the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday morning.

According to Andhra Pradesh Police, lighting of a stove by a tea vendor might have sparked today's fire in the GAIL pipeline after leaked gas from the line enveloped the area.

As per initial information, there was a major gas leakage from the pipeline at around 4:30 am at Nagaram village in Mamidikuduru Mandal of the district which spread to nearby areas and lighting of a stove at a tea shop triggered the fire and a blast, IGP North Coastal Zone Atul Singh said.

However, he said only after a detailed inquiry the exact cause of the incident will be known.

The dead include three women and three children. The death toll may rise as the condition of 15 of the injured is said to be critical. According to an official of the East Godavari district, the administration recovered 13 bodies from the accident site while another death was reported from the hospital where the injured are being treated.

Talking to reporters, state Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said that 14 people were killed and many others were injured when the fire broke out at around 5:45 am.

The minister added: "The fire caused massive losses. Coconut trees and other crops in over 10 acres were reduced to ashes."

Issuing a statement, GAIL chairman Tripathi said the fire occurred in an 18-inch pipeline of state-owned Gas Authority of India Limited near Tatipaka refinery of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

"The reasons for the accident are not known yet. We are currently focused on rescue and relief operations," he said earlier in the day.

State-controlled energy firm ONGC has shut two gas fields in Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the incident.

"Fields connected to the pipeline have been shut as the pipeline is closed because of the fire," a news agency quoted NK Verma, the Board Director (Exploration), as saying. It was not immediately clear how much production was affected.

The huge flames leaping out of the pipeline damaged houses and shops near the blast site. The villagers ran out of their houses in panic as the fire accompanied by loud blasts engulfed a large area.

Local police officials said fire tenders brought the blaze under control.

The Andhra Pradesh CM has directed Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa to rush to the blast site to monitor rescue and relief operations. Rajappa, who is also the home minister, asked district officials to take all measures to provide relief to the injured.

YSR Congress party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock and grief over the accident. He demanded best medicare to the injured and a probe into the incident.

Residents of Nagaram village said they heard a deafening sound and soon after a huge ball of fire engulfed the area.

The locals recalled the massive fire in a gas well at Pasarlapudi village in East Godavari district in mid-1990s which could not be put out for nearly two months.

Saturday 28 June 2014

http://zeenews.india.com/news/andhra-pradesh/gail-accident-blast-kills-15-in-andhra-rs-25-lakh-ex-gratia-announced_943093.html

Forensics hope over Troubles cases

A Belfast coroner is to meet with forensic experts and pathologists to establish if modern day techniques can shed new light on evidence from historic Troubles killings.

Jim Kitson will have discussions with representatives from the State Pathology Department and Forensic Science NI in the coming weeks.

"I want to see what is feasible," he told a preliminary inquest hearing in Belfast.

Mr Kitson said he would assess the potential of reviewing forensic and pathology evidence in a number of so-called legacy inquests he is presiding over.

He outlined details of the scheduled meetings at the hearing in Belfast into the deaths of IRA men Michael "Peter" Ryan, 37, Anthony Doris, 21, and Laurence McNally, 38, who were gunned down in an SAS ambush in Coagh, Co Tyrone in June 1991.

The coroner has already indicated he is going to explore the possibility of a review of pathology evidence in a new inquest into the deaths of 10 people shot by British paratroopers in Ballymurphy in west Belfast in 1971.

Mr Kitson acknowledged both the "time and resource" capacity of the pathologists and forensic experts would be a factor in how much work could be carried out.

Earlier this year Mr Ryan's mother Kathleen was one of six people awarded £7,500 compensation by a High Court judge in Belfast after the police, Coroners Service and a number of other state bodies conceded that delays in six long-standing inquests amounted to a breach of human rights.

Mr Kitson today confirmed that the inquest's scheduled September start date was now "unworkable" due to a number of outstanding issues.

Among matters still to be resolved are the scope of the probe; disclosure of Ministry of Defence personnel files on soldiers involved in the incident; and potential applications for Public Interest Immunity (PII) on certain material deemed by the police and MoD to touch on national security concerns.

While ruling out September, the coroner expressed hope the inquest could be listed without excessive further delay as many matters were set to be resolved over the court's summer recess.

Saturday 28 June 2014

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/forensics-hope-over-troubles-cases-30390103.html