China's drone-led search for earthquake survivors

Earlier this month, first responders in China used drones to determine the hardest-hit areas following a massive earthquake that killed more than 600 people, in one of the first displays of how drones can be used during emergency situations.

One of the great promises of drones is the technology's inherent ability to be flown above a disaster site, giving first responders a survey of the situation and allowing them to direct where to send aid to. But, until now, that's been more of a theoretical benefit of drones—very few people have actually used them in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Take, for instance, the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan last year in the Philippines: Tons of search and rescue helicopters, but not a single drone, searched for survivors.



Well, after an earthquake hit Yunnan, China, earlier this month, rescue workers there called up Hong Kong's DJI (the largest commercial drone manufacturer in the world), and asked its pilots for help.

"We sent a team of pilots to assist the China Association for Disaster and Emergency Response Medicine following the earthquake. This was the first time [the country] used [drones] in its relief efforts and as a result many of the cooperating agencies and bodies working on site have approached us for training / using UAS technology in the future," Michael Perry, a spokesperson for the company, told me in an email.

Perry said that the drones were able to relay images back to rescue workers, who used them to determine which roads needed to be cleared first and which areas of the rubble to search for possible survivors.

"Aerial images captured by the team were used by workers in the epicenter area of Longtoushan, where most of the traditional buildings in the area collapsed," the company said. "The dense rubble and vegetation have made ground surveying extremely difficult, so using aerial images has helped identify where relief teams can focus on searching for survivors."

It's not clear if the drones directly helped save any lives (and granted, everything we know about the aerial imaging effort in this case is coming from the company itself), but this is clearly the future of disaster relief.

Drones are cheap, can be flown close to the ground, and are safer to use than helicopters. It's only a matter of time until the very first response by first responders is to toss a drone in the air to get a survey of the situation. After that, they just might toss a drone in the air to help deliver medicine and supplies.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-chinas-drone-led-search-for-earthquake-survivors-looks-like

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Benin closes all traditional morgues citing Ebola threat

The Beninese government has ordered the closure of all traditional morgues across the country to protect its population against the Ebola virus disease.

The illegal structures that operate under poor hygienic conditions could result in a number of contagious diseases.

Benin has had a long tradition of preserving dead bodies such as using palm wine or coal dust, and some of the methods can help preserve a dead body for almost a week.

The majority of the Beninese rural population uses traditional methods to preserve the bodies of their loved ones in the homes while morgues are only used in the urban centres before burial.

Over the past four months, 2,127 people have been infected with the virus in West Africa, of whom 1,145 have died.

Ebola, which is transmitted through direct contact with blood or body fluids of infected people or animals, causes serious haemorrhaging and can have a 90 percent mortality rate.

This is the first time that the disease has been identified and an epidemic has been confirmed in West Africa, with outbreaks to date having been confined to Central Africa.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/224855181

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Building collapse kills at least 8 in South Africa

Eight South African workers died on Monday when a building under construction collapsed, and more people were feared trapped under the rubble, emergency workers said.

The labourers were working on a double-storey residential building on a private estate in Meyersdal south of Johannesburg when it collapsed.

"Initially there were five dead bodies recovered from the rubble, the number has now increased to eight," said William Ntladi, the spokesman for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services.

Nearly ten other workers were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries.

Ntladi said the cause of the accident was not yet known.

"Rescue workers are still busy on site removing concrete rubble, trying to find more people," he said, adding that it was unclear how many people might have been working on the construction site.

Authorities are still trying to make contact with one of the building's contractors as well as the owner of the property.

Two contractors are reportedly working on the site, but only one of the companies has provided details of how many employees were on the scene on Monday afternoon.

The labour department said it had sent out inspectors to investigate the accident.

"The department has dispatched a team of inspectors to investigate after which they will issue a preliminary report on the cause of the accident," a statement said.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/building-collapse-kills-8-in-south-africa_955410.html

http://www.enca.com/meyersdal-house-collapse-search-resume

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Bihar: Train rams autorickshaw at a manned railway crossing, 18 killed

At least eighteen people were killed after Dehradun-Gorakhpur Rapti Ganga Express rams an autorickshaw in Bihar`s Motihari district on Monday. Reports alleged that all who have died in the mishap belong to the same family. The railway authorities have confirmed the death of four people in the accident.

The accident took place at a manned crossing at Semra-Sugauli section numbering 169 C. According to the sources the railway authorities have not reached the accident spot yet, but the bodies are being taken out with the assistance of the local villagers. As the autorickshaw got stuck in the engine of the train, it stopped on the spot. The local people are angry about the accident.

A local mob had then handed out instant street justice, thrashing the train driver and his assistant mercilessly after the August 19, 2013, accident in Khagaria district. Today, people living near the crossing said the gateman, Santosh Kumar, fled immediately after the crash. The train’s driver and the guard couldn’t be found either.

Witnesses said the accident occurred around 3pm, barely 20 minutes after the Muzaffarpur-Dehra Dun Rapti Ganga Express had left Bapudham Motihari station and around the same time the victims, from Chiknauta village, were returning from the annual fair in a temple complex in nearby Semra.

Dharmendra Jha, a local resident who saw the crash, said the auto-rickshaw, packed with villagers, was crossing the tracks as the gates of the level crossing near Chhapra Bahas village had not been closed.

The Dehra Dun-bound train, speeding at around 70kmph, smashed into the three-wheeler. Such was the impact that the train dragged the auto for more than 200m before coming to a halt, Jha said.

The site of the crash is some 180km northwest of Patna and falls on the Semra-Sugauli section of East Central Railway (ECR).

Local people blamed the railway administration as the crossing is “manned”, unlike the thousands across the country that are unmanned, one of the reasons for track deaths.

Samastipur divisional railway manager Malik said the gateman had been put under suspension for alleged negligence. “Under the rules, the assistant station master of the nearest railway station informs the gateman as soon as a train leaves a nearby station. The assistant station master of Semra station had informed the gateman but he (the gateman) didn’t close the gate (less than a kilometre away from Semra station), leading to the accident,” Malik said, adding that a high-level probe had been ordered.

Another ECR official said the traffic inspector of Bapudham Motihari railway station, B.M. Tripathi, and the assistant station master of Semra station, Sunil Kumar, had also been placed under suspension.

Fearing the wrath of the local people, the entire staff of Sugauli railway station disappeared. Police reached the spot at least an hour after the accident but preferred to keep away seeing the anger of the villagers.

For hours, the train stood surrounded by a mob. The passengers had a tense wait but none were harmed.

East Champaran district magistrate Abhay Kumar Singh and superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh reached the spot almost three hours after the accident and were camping near the site. “With co-operation of the local people, we are first trying to pull out the auto-rickshaw and some bodies out of the engine,” Abhay said.

The Railways have announced ex-gratia of Rs. 50,000 to the family members of the families of the deceased. The state government has also announced ex-gratia of Rs. 1.5 lakh to the family of those who died. In addition, those injured will get Rs. 5,000 in the mishap.

It is not the first case reported of train and vehicle collision at manned railway crossing in Bihar. In March, a goods train going to dryport in Nepal from Bihar`s Raxaul district rammed into a tractor. The tractor was dragged to two kilometers with the speeding train engine. The body of the driver was untraceable after the accident.

Another incident in the same month was reported in Begusarai, a manned crossing near Bachwara station train rammed a tempo with students. One student died in the mishap while five others were seriously injured.

On 22 May 2011, in Madhubani district of Bihar 15 died in the collision of Bolero and Garib Rath express at a manned crossing.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/NAT-TOP-train-rams-autorickshaw-at-a-manned-railway-crossing-killing-18-in-bihar-4716707-NOR.html

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140819/jsp/nation/story_18734688.jsp

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2010 Mangalore air crash: ‘Identification of bodies was a disaster after air crash’

In the early hours of May 22, 2010, Air India Express flight (from Dubai to Mangalore) overshot the runway and exploded into flames as it plummeted down the valley at Bajpe.

The issue of identification of victims of the 2010 air crash at Mangalore International Airport was a “disaster” in itself, said A. Prabhakara Sharma, who was then the in-charge Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district.

In the early hours of May 22, 2010, Air India Express flight (from Dubai to Mangalore) overshot the runway and exploded into flames as it plummeted down the valley at Bajpe. As many as 158 passengers and crew members died.

“It took 12 hours to retrieve the bodies, but relatives had started to claim the bodies. We took a collective decision to handover the bodies. In hindsight, it was the wrong decision and a disaster in itself,” said Mr. Sharma at a talk on ‘Disaster management – a case study of the aircraft accident at Mangalore airport’, organised by the Mangalore Management Association here recently.

Mr. Sharma, who is currently the Executive Director of the Dr. Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama, was then the Additional Deputy Commissioner who supervised the operations as the Deputy Commissioner was away.

Though the management of the disaster was “good”, there were insurmountable challenges, especially the identification of the charred bodies in the lack of quick DNA testing, he said.

While relatives were told that DNA testing – a process that takes weeks – was to be conducted, Mr. Sharma says the pressure was mounting. “It was not political pressure. It was through relatives who wanted the body to complete the final rituals. Withholding the bodies was becoming a tragedy in itself. Some had even said they will not consume food or water.”

Eventually, out of 158 bodies, 136 were handed over, while the rest were kept until DNA results come. “Out of 22 bodies, DNA samples of just 10 claims matched. This meant that 12 bodies had been mistakenly claimed by others,” he said.

With the government responsible for the unclaimed bodies, Mr. Sharma recounted the difficulty finding a spot to bury them. “We scouted for locations, but locals objected as they did not want bodies to be buried in their village…Only New Mangalore Port Trust allowed us to use their land,” he said.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/identification-of-bodies-was-a-disaster-after-air-crash/article6327977.ece?utm_source=Most%20Popular&utm_medium=Mangalore&utm_campaign=Widget%20Promo

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