Forensic experts identify 127 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17

Half of the number of victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash have been identified, the Dutch National Forensic Investigation Team stated through a private forum for relatives, national broadcaster NOS reported on Saturday.

In total, identities of 149 victims is now known for their relatives, which is exactly half the number of the 298 people who were on board flight MH17. Of the crash victims were 196 Dutch nationals.

On July 23, the first aircraft with remains and bodies of the victims arrived at Eindhoven Airport, followed by several other flights. The coffins were brought to the Corporal Van Oudheusden barracks in Hilversum for the identification of the victims.

The flights were part of the recovery and repatriation mission led by the Netherlands. The mission was stopped ten days ago until further notice due to the deteriorating security conditions at the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

On July 17, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, went down in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. The cause of the incident remains unknown and the investigation cannot go smoothly due to the armed conflict in the region.

The forensics team of more than 100 specialists, working at a military base in Hilversum, southeast of Amsterdam, have instituted a regime of weekly updates about their own painstaking work aimed at giving names to the human remains collected so far—amid a vacuum of information about the cause of the disaster.

Remains of two more MH17 Malaysian victims identified

The remains of two more Malaysian victims have been identified by the Netherlands authorities, bringing to date 26 Malaysians identified in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 tragedy.



Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Wee Ka Siong said this latest development had been relayed by the Netherlands government to the Malaysian Embassy and Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

“I was informed of the matter in a meeting with our ambassador to the Netherlands Datuk Dr Fauziah Mohamad Taib and MAS Services Operation vice-president Datuk Baharom Mohd Yatim on Saturday.

“The families have also been informed. The documentation process is being carried out and will be completed as soon as possible before funeral arrangements are carried out,” Wee told Bernama here late yesterday.

“Also, both governments are working hard to ensure the remains of the two victims can be sent back quickly.”

On Aug 14, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said the remains of 24 Malaysian victims of the MH17 tragedy had been identified by the authorities in the Netherlands, namely of 14 passengers and 10 crew.

He also said the remains of 16 of these victims, including that of a non-Malaysian, would be sent back to Kuala Lumpur in a special aircraft and expected to arrive at the KL International Airport (KLIA) at 10am Friday.

The date had also been announced as a day of national mourning and a ceremony in honour of the victims would be held on that day at the Bunga Raya Complex at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

In the meantime, Wee, who prior to this had been appointed to handle the process of managing the remains of Malaysian victims who are Buddhists, said all ashes and remains of those already identified would be collected on Thursday for the process of sending back to Kuala Lumpur.

According to Wee, continuous discussions were being held with the government of the Netherlands and updated to ensure all standard operation procedures and documentation were done correctly and smoothly.

Commenting on the presence of numerous non-Muslim heads of religions who were specially brought from Malaysia to manage the remains in the religious context, Wee said he was satisfied with the good response given to the matter.

“We do not know when the remains of more non-Muslim Malaysian victims would be placed under them after this and as such we will continue to discuss and cooperate to ensure the ceremonies run smoothly.

“We also received very good response from the Buddhist association here to voluntarily hold their own or join in the ceremonies to manage the remains.”

It is reported that the Buddhist religious head Reverend Sing Han, Tao Daozhang religious head Tan Boon Sin, Hindu religious head S. Mohanshan and Sikh religious head Sardar Harcharan Singh were specially flown from Malaysia several days ago for the management of the religious ceremonies for non-Muslim bodies in the Netherlands.

Flight MH17, carrying 298 people, including 15 crew, crashed in the Donetsk region, east of Ukraine and close to the Russian border, on July 17. The plane is believed to have been shot down.

Sunday 17 August 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-08/17/c_126880260.htm

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/08/17/remains-two-mh17-malaysian-victims-identified/

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Looting of Ebola clinic in Liberia sparks fresh infection fears

A quarantine centre for suspected Ebola patients in the Liberian capital Monrovia has been attacked and looted by protesters, police say.

Liberian health officials are worried the deadly Ebola virus will spread after mattresses and sheets with suspected patients’ blood stains were stolen from a quarantine center late Saturday.

The incident happened in the densely populated West Point township on Saturday evening.

At least 20 patients who were being monitored for signs of the illness have left the centre.

Officials said blood-stained bedding looted from the centre posed a serious infection risk.

The protesters were unhappy that patients were being brought in from other parts of the capital, the assistant health minister said.

Other reports suggested the protesters believed Ebola was a hoax and wanted to force the quarantine centre to close.

The centre was set up to observe suspected Ebola patients and then transfer them to a main treatment centre if they prove positive, assistant health minister Tolbert Nyenswah told.

It is not known if those at the centre were infected with the virus, though one report suggested they had proved positive.

A senior police officer said blood-stained mattresses, beddings and medical equipment were taken from the centre.

"This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life", he said.

He said the looting spree could threaten to spread the virus to the whole of the West Point area.

Described as a slum, there are an estimated 50,000 people in the West Point neighbourhood.

The Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

On Friday, the death toll rose to 1,145 after the WHO said 76 new deaths had been reported in the two days to 13 August. There have been 2,127 cases reported in total.

The attack at the Monrovia centre is seen as a major setback in the struggle to halt the outbreak

Health experts say that the key to ending the Ebola outbreak is to stop it spreading in Liberia, where ignorance about the virus is high and many people are reluctant to cooperate with medical staff.

More than 400 people have already died of Ebola in the country, according to the World Health Organization. The “looting spree,” as one police official described it, has raised concerns about the country’s ability to contain the virus.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, Kenya has barred the entry of passengers traveling from certain countries in West Africa, where the virus has had a recent outbreak. The ban, effective Tuesday at midnight, applies to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Kenya Airways previously announced it would suspend flights to some of those countries.

Sunday 17 August 2014

http://time.com/3131025/ebola-looting-kenya-flights/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Ffashionweek+(TIME%3A+Fashion+Week+)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28808832

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Nepal flooding and landslides kill scores

Thirty-three more bodies were recovered on Saturday in various districts of the mid-western region.

Mid West was hit hardest by the devastating rainfall, worst in years. Surkhet, Bardiya and Dang were greatly affected by floods and inundation.

According to our Surkhet correspondent, seven more bodies were found across the district, taking the total flood and landslide toll there to 25. As many as 119 people have gone missing.

Inspector Yogendra Hamal at District Police Office, Surkhet, said 14 of the 25 bodies were identified. He said that 2,932 people were displaced and 1,132 houses swept away. While seven school buildings were damaged 165 houses risk being swamped.

District Administration Office, Bardiya, confirmed 17 deaths and said the toll could rise. Fifteen people are out of contact. Chief District Officer Tej Prasad Poudel said more than 12,000 people were displaced and about 8,000 await rescue. He said two helicopters were used for rescue as the water level receded.

In Dang, seven people died and as many went missing while two persons were swept away by a swollen stream in Salyan. Nine and six persons are missing in Salyan and Banke districts, respectively.

The rains have damaged roads across the Himalayan country's western plains bordering India, forcing officials to use helicopters to rescue stranded people and deliver emergency supplies.

"We have found four more bodies today. We are still searching for 109 people missing," said home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal.

As the weather cleared, improving visibility after three days of rain, army helicopters were able to evacuate about 20,000 people.

"We are concerned about a possible outbreak of cholera because of all the dead bodies and livestock lying underwater," Dhakal said.

Cholera is spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated by the faeces of people infected with the disease, which can kill within hours if left untreated. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps.

"We are on alert to make sure people don't consume contaminated water, now or after they return to their homes over the coming week," Dhakal said.

National disaster management chief Yadav Prasad Koirala said authorities had "mobilised health workers to set up camps and provide people with clean drinking water and dry food".

As water levels recede, rescuers have started moving people from their damaged homes into temporary shelters, but large areas remain submerged, preventing helicopters from landing to let workers search for those still missing, Koirala said.Villagers in Surkhet, the worst-affected district, described their horror at being awoken by news that the nearby Bheri river was overflowing early on Friday.

"My neighbours woke me up, I gathered my family and we just ran uphill to save ourselves … I didn't even have time to cut my cattle loose so they could flee," said farmer Prem Bahadur Pun.

"By morning, our house was gone, the cattle was gone, my land was gone. I have lost everything," Pun said.

About 150 people from his village managed to escape to safety by running uphill, Pun said, but many others were not as lucky. "So many people are missing … including one of my neighbours, his wife and two grandchildren," he said.

As the anxious villagers waited for help, many were already suffering from fever, though no symptoms of cholera had been observed yet, Pun said. "No one [from the government] has come here yet. Some people are getting sick … We have some medicine, but what will we do when it runs out?"

The deaths come two weeks after the worst landslide in more than a decade smashed into hamlets in the hilly north-east and killed 156 people.

Heavy rain in neighbouring India's Uttarakhand state has killed at least 24 people since Friday, reviving memories of a deluge last year that killed more than 5,000 people in the same region.

Media reports on Sunday said several districts in the northern Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were also flooded after heavy rain near Himalayan rivers and the release of excess water from barrages in Nepal.

Sunday 17 August 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/17/nepal-flooding-landslides-kill-scores

http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/08/17/top-story/33-more-bodies-found-in-mid-west-toll-63/393684.html

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