Nigeria church collapse: SA team works to identify more bodies

Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe says a South African team of experts is working closely with officials in Nigeria as investigations continue into the Lagos building collapse.

The team is trying to ensure the process of identifying the victims is completed as soon as possible.

At least 115 people were killed when a guesthouse owned by preacher TB Joshua caved in almost two weeks ago, with 84 South Africans among the dead.

Radebe says a South African team in Lagos is working with local authorities.

“The team in Lagos has been able to identify with certainty 62 South Africans. As you know, 115 people died in this tragedy and from that, 84 were South Africans. So we still have a long time to go.”

“Experts from the police are currently visiting families to collect DNA samples.”

He says various methods are being used to identify the bodies.

“Our government appeals to the families and the nation to bear with us as we allow our team in Lagos the necessary time to complete this process of identifying the bodies. It is clear from the information that this is a methodical and time-consuming process.”

He says efforts to identify the bodies have been stepped up as families anxiously wait for the remains to be sent home.

“We will make sure that all deceased persons are repatriated and that the correct body is handed over to the right family.”

The identification process consists of direct identification, photo identification, fingerprint data base comparison, dental record comparison and DNA sampling.

Government says as soon as the bodies are identified, a team of 70 experts from the South African Military Health Service and the Department of Health will be ready to depart to Lagos with specialised equipment to transport the deceased back to South Africa with the required care and respect.

Almost two weeks after the guest house accommodating pastor TB Joshua’s followers collapsed, families have remained in the dark about when they will be able to give their loved ones dignified burials.

The collapse occurred when three extra storeys were being added to the existing two of a guest house of the church compound, where visitors from abroad flock to stay.

Spokesperson Phumla Williams says two South African pathologists are assisting Nigerian authorities conduct DNA tests and positively identify the deceased.

“The process is now moving fast with the assistance of the Nigerian government.”

At the same time, more South Africans who survived the collapse arrived back home today.

Some have, however, decided to remain in Lagos, choosing to return to the Synagogue Church of All Nations.

Twenty-five of the injured were flown back home on Monday and taken to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital for further treatment and assessment.

Of the patients admitted to the hospital, two are still in critical care, two have been transferred to private facilities at the request of their families and four patients have been discharged to the care of their families.

In the meantime, a national task team comprising the Social Development Department, the South African Police Service, Chaplain Services and the Victim Identification Centre has been visiting families of people presumed to have died at the church.

Other teams of social workers are providing psycho-social support to survivors and families of victims at the hospital, OR Tambo International Airport and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation call centre.

Williams says Nigerian authorities are updating the South African inter-ministerial team set up to deal with the tragedy every two hours.

On Tuesday, teams were dispatched to the church of controversial pastor TB Joshua to discuss the return of all South Africans still in the country.

The regular influx of visitors from abroad for the church's services, which can last up to a week, creates demand for accommodation that the church's own guesthouse has been unable to meet, and often spills over into local hotels.

Several African leaders have traveled to Nigeria to meet with Joshua, including former Malawian President Joyce Banda and Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.

The church attracts a global following of Christians who believe Joshua is able to perform miracles, including curing the ill and raising the dead from the grave.

Thursday 25 September 2014

http://ewn.co.za/2014/09/25/Nigeria-Collapse-SA-Team-working-hard-to-identify-more-bodies

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Paraguay: 13 missing after tourist boat capsizes

At least three people were dead and 13 were missing after a tourist boat capsized in the Paraguay River during a storm at the town of Carmelo Peralta in northern Paraguay, authorities said Wednesday night.

Aldo Saldivar, operations manager at the state National Emergency Secretariat, said the boat was carrying 11 Paraguayan crew members and 16 Brazilian tourists.

Saldivar said the tourists were on a fishing expedition to the Pantanal, a wetlands region straddling the border with Brazil about 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of Paraguay's capital, Asuncion.

He said the boat capsized in the harbor of Carmelo Peralta. "Apparently the accident occurred during a strong storm," he said.

Saldivar said 11 of the 27 people on the boat had been able to swim to shore after the vessel turned over. Navy divers were called in to look for the missing and three bodies had been recovered before the search was suspended at nightfall, he said.

Thursday 25 August 2014

http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/09/24/3333275/paraguay-15-missing-after-tourist.html

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Himachal Pradesh bus accident: toll rises to 25; 17 still missing

At least 25 persons today drowned and 17 others went missing after a bus fell into the Gobind Sagar reservoir at Rayian near Bilaspur, 95 km from Shimla.

Twenty-five bodies have been recovered while 17 injured persons have been taken to a Bilaspur hospital, Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Ajay Sharma said.

He said rescue operations were almost complete and chances of recovering more bodies could not be ruled out.

The deceased included five women, he said, adding 22 bodies have been identified.

The 40-seater bus was packed to capacity and some people were said to have been also travelling on its roof, raising fears that the toll may be higher.

A number of students and labourers, who were making their daily commute from Rishikesh to Bilaspur, are among the victims.

The bus, belonging to a private transportation company, has been pulled out of the reservoir. It was on its way from Rishikesh to Bilaspur and most of the passengers on board were locals.

Among the injured are some passengers who managed to jump out of the bus in order to save themselves.

Divers of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) joined efforts to fish out the bodies.

A large crowd of locals has gathered at the spot making anxious enquiries about the victims of the mishap.

A pall of gloom descended on the village as the news about the accident spread.

Principal Secretary (Revenue) Tarun Shridhar and DGP Sanjay Kumar rushed to the spot along with other senior officers to supervise rescue operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.

"The Prime Minister extends his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the bus accident in Bilaspur district, HP," the PMO said.

Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed sympathies with the next to the kin of the deceased.

The Chief Minister announced immediate relief of Rs. 10,000 each to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 5,000 each to the injured and said that ex-Gratia amount of Rs. 1.50 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased would be released soon.

A magisterial enquiry has been ordered into the mishap.

Thursday 25 September 2014

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/himachal-pradesh-bus-accident-toll-rises-to-25-17-still-missing-597435

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Why east London is a hotspot for unidentified fatalities

The tattoo on his left hand simply read "786". In his wallet, along with a fake Italian driving licence, was a photograph of a woman.

The Asian man in his 20s was found washed up in the Thames at Ballast Quay, just south of the Isle of Dogs on January 10, 2011. His body had been in the river for seven days.

His real name remains a mystery as do the circumstances which led him into the river. Somewhere, someone must be missing him and wondering why he disappeared.

There are 235 deaths currently listed as unidentified in the capital from records dating back to the 1960s.

The database by the UK Missing Persons Bureau shows bodies are found all over London, but east of the City and along the Thames features repeatedly.

No-one knows who they are but it's easy to presume most slipped through the net and ended up on the streets.

Keith Fernett, chief executive of charity Anchor House, which operates a homeless hostel in Canning Town, said the reason for this location arose from a cycle of poverty.

"The national hotspot is London," he said.

"You get gangmasters bringing in people on a regular basis, immigrants head to London, and the East End has historically been a point of entry.

"Then they get trapped in the poverty of these boroughs, which also has high incidents of offending. And if those people are not at Anchor House then where are they?"

Working at the east London centre for a decade, Keith (pictured left) has seen a number of cases where people have died or been close to dying in similar circumstances.

The charity now establishes the identification of every person it comes into contact with.

"We did that because a few years ago we discovered one of our residents was a heroin user and he disappeared," said Keith.

"After a few days we called the police and they made inquiries but nothing happened. We then contacted his family who called the police again. They finally found him in the mortuary at Newham Hospital where he had been laying dead for two weeks.

"Society doesn't take the same consideration for someone they believe is homeless or an immigrant that they would for me and you."

And, according to Keith, it's a problem which is growing. This, in part, is due to the negative coverage given towards those in poverty through TV programmes such as Benefits Street, he says, which has contributed to society "hardening" its views towards those on the streets.

The tragic result is isolation and, far too frequently, an anonymous death.

The lifestyle of those living on the streets also dramatically increases the risk of a premature death, very often in east London's vast waterways.

"Only yesterday I had to talk very harshly to an east European man who is an alcoholic and I told him 'if you carry on you'll be found dead in the Thames' because he'll lose control of himself and won't know where he is," said Keith.

"We've had people who were growing up in the East End who 20 years ago would swim in the Royal Docks. And someone decided to continue that, in November, days after leaving hospital with a heart illness. How close must he have come to dying?"

The figures of unidentified deaths is only likely to increase as the capital suffers the effects of a housing crisis at a time of a major population growth.

Anchor House currently has 190 bed spaces but 606 referrals from the authorities in what Keith calls a huge rise of people sleeping on the streets.

"It's affecting people from all walks of life now," said Keith. "We found a mother and her two children living under the Bow Roundabout recently. They were english. These people are out there."

Thursday 25 September 2014

http://www.wharf.co.uk/2014/09/why-east-london-is-a-hotspot-f.html

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