123 missing presumed dead in Nepal landslide

The 123 people missing in Saturday’s massive landslide in Sindhupalchok are now considered dead and the search operation has been stopped after Wednesday.

The missing, however, cannot be officially declared dead yet, said the home ministry. The law allows the disappeared to be certified dead only after 12 years from the time of the disappearance.

“The search and rescue team will now focus solely on draining the artificial lake formed by the landslide dam,” said Yadav Prasad Koirala, joint-secretary at the ministry. The team had recovered 33 bodies from the debris before the search was halted. Koirala said that it has become impossible and even dangerous for the team to look for bodies.

“The families of those presumed dead have begun receiving 40,000 Nepalese rupees (US$406.30) per dead,” said chief district officer of Sindhupalchok Gopal Parajuli. A Nepal Army team has been trying to drain the lake for the last five days. But its plan to explode a section of the dam to widen the channel created on Saturday failed for the second consecutive day.

According to the Army, the water has been flowing into the lake at the rate of 190 cubic feet per second and is flowing out at 210 cusec. A reading on Wednesday showed that the water level of the dammed lake has been reduced by 51 cm, said Jagdish Chandra Pokharel, NA spokesperson.

The Army and disaster experts, however, are unsure what the reduction means in terms of a possible outburst. No one has information on the exact depth and volume of the lake and the strength of the dam. “To the naked eye, the volume of water on the lake seems constant,” said Dhruba Devkota, a humanitarian programme coordinator at Save the Children, an international organisation, involved in providing immediate relief to the victims. Devkota was on the site of the disaster on Wednesday.

“The dam looks strong,” he said. “But there is a new danger to upstream localities from back flooding because we can see the landmass on the hill splitting again. Another landslide could occur at the same site.” According to the ministry, the last three months alone have seen landslides and flood affect ten districts, including Sindhupalchok.

Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) evaluation report says that 1.9 kilometer long slope of land percehed 1350 meters above the Sunkoshi River.

The administration evacuated nearly 5000 people living across the banks of the Sunkoshi River. They have been shifted to higher grounds. Sindhupalchowk is 120 km (75 miles) east of Kathmandu.

Landslides are common in Nepal during the June-September monsoon season. These landslides and flooding generally claims life dozens of people die every year. According to government records, since 1967, Nepal has experience over 14 large landslides. The landslide of May 2012 killed at least 26 people when it blocked the Seti River in northwestern Nepal.

Some massive floods and landslides have been experienced by the Sunkoshi Valley in 1982, 1987, and 1996.

Friday 08 July 2014

http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/massive-landslide-struck-sindhupalchok-district-of-nepal-1407410853-1

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=249060

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Varanasi boat capsize: 5 more bodies recovered, 7 missing

The bodies of five more persons were fished out of the Ganga river while a search was on to trace the seven others who had gone missing after a boat capsized in the river near Shooltankeshwar area.

A total of 12 bodies have been recovered so far since the boat carrying over 42 persons capsized in the Ganga river in the middle of Varanasi and Mirzapur in Betawar ghat near on Tuesday.

23 of them managed to swim to safety while 19 went missing.

"Five bodies have been recovered since last night and search is still on for the missing 7 people. A total of 12 bodies have been recovered till date," said Ashok Kanojia, SDM of Chunar town in Mirzapur.

"The five bodies recovered since last night have been identified as Rahul, Raj Kumar, Bechan, Shivpujan and Parmanand," said Kanojia. A search is still on for the missing people in Mirzapur and Varanasi district.

A team of NDRF, Jal Police and PAC flood platoon along with river divers is carrying out search operations in Varanasi and Mirzapur district. The boat, heading towards Mirzapur from Varanasi, capsized in the river on Tuesday at Betawar ghat near Shooltankeshwar area.

Friday 08 July 2014

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/varanasi-boat-capsize-5-more-bodies-recovered-7-missing/490891-3-242.html

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33 dead, 131 still missing after Bangladesh ferry capsized

The confirmed number of dead in the Bangladesh ferry disaster is climbing steadily as rescuers recover the bodies of more victims far away from the site where the vessel sank four days earlier.

"The death toll of Monday's ferry capsizal has climbed to 33 on Thursday night after more than a dozen bodies were retrieved since morning," said Kaniz Fatema, an assistant superintendent of police in central Bangladesh district Munshiganj.

She said the number of missing persons has increased to 131 as of Thursday night.

The overloaded ferry Pinak-6, with some 250 passengers on board, capsized in Padma, one of the three rivers that form the Ganges Delta, at around 11:15 a.m. local time Monday in high winds and waves amid inclement weather.

After giving up hope of getting their relative back alive, most families of the missing passengers have already started searching for floating bodies in Chandpur, Barisal, Bhola and other areas in the Bay of Bengal on their own.

A very few of the relatives were seen at the Mawa ferry terminal yesterday as the authority concerned is yet to trace the sunken launch, Pinak 6, even four days after the accident.

As over a hundred passengers still remain unaccounted for, their families started searching for missing bodies by hiring trawlers in different areas where most of the bodies were found earlier.

It was alleged that most of the bodies drifted out with the strong current in the Padma. As of yesterday, the rescuers had recovered a total of 33 bodies, mostly from other districts.

The administration yesterday recovered 12 more bodies from rivers in Bhola, Shariatpur, Barisal, Madaripur and Lakshmipur.

Relatives and locals in Mawa told the Dhaka Tribune that most of the relatives are now gathering at the Pachchar Primary School ground in Madaripur where the district administration is keeping the bodies that are recovered by rescuers.

On the school premises, several hundred relatives were seen waiting for news about their dear ones in the evening while some were holding up photos of their missing relatives.

Jahid Matubbar had lost seven of his family members and relatives, but he had found only one body that of his niece Faiza.

“They (rescuers) have recovered the body from Bhola. We do not think that they can find any more bodies. So, I have asked my relatives to go to Bhola, Barisal and Chandpur points and search for others, hiring trawlers,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said the families of the ill-fated passengers are now waiting at Pachchar in Madaripur as they have lost their confidence in the authorities working at Mawa ferry terminal.

Ali Jabbar, who lost his wife and daughter in the accident, said: “As like today (Thursday), I used to search Chandpur area with a trawler as the lack of initiatives for rescuing the bodies taken by the authorities concerned is quite clear,” he said.

Along with Jahid and Jabbar, several hundred families were searching for bodies in different areas, including Kawrakandi in Madaripur, Naria in Shariatpur, Haimchar in Chandpur, according to Dhaka Tribune correspondents.

Madaripur Deputy Commissioner GSM Jafarullah confirmed to Dhaka Tribune that relatives were searching for bodies in the Bay of Bengal and also Shibchar area.

“We have received 23 bodies and 12 of them were handed over to their relatives after identification. Meanwhile, three other bodies were received by the relatives mid way while they were coming to Madaripur from different areas including Bhola. Relatives, who were searching for the bodies of their near ones have taken three bodies midway,” he said at 8:00 pm.

When a body was being brought to the Pachchar Primary School ground, all relatives were running to see if the body recovered was of their near and dear ones.

Meanwhile, relatives staged protests in Madaripur with the only demand of- “return the bodies of near ones”.

Shahidul Islam, a survivor of the accident who has been roaming in the area for last four days to get her relative’s body said: “I have lost my pregnant wife, Ayesha Akhter, and daughter, Sarah Moni, in the accident. How I can live without them. Please give their bodies or kill me.”

Friday 08 July 2014

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/aug/08/victims%E2%80%99-families-search-bodies-their-own

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