Sri Lanka to suspend recovery in landslide hit village

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Minister Mahindananda Amaraweera said recovery operations in landslide hit Meeriyabedda village would probably be halted from Sunday.

He said a final decision would be taken after discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Amaraweera, according to the Colombo Page web site, visited the landslide hit area on Saturday to meet survivors of the disaster and rescue workers. The relatives of the deceased people have demanded the rescue operations be suspended.

So far, 11 dead bodies have been recovered from the landslide site. The government has removed 201 people belonged to 47 families over fears of further land slips.

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/sri-lanka-to-suspend-recovery-in-landslide-hit-village-114110900218_1.html

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Flight MH17: More human remains recovered

More remains of victims were recovered at the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site in eastern Ukraine Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times. Fighting has kept investigators from conducting a thorough probe of the crash site -- where MH17 landed in pieces after being shot down July 17 as it traveled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. The crash killed all 298 passengers and crew on board. Remains of nine have yet to be identified.

“Several bodies of victims were found there yesterday. It was therefore decided to temporarily suspend work to remove the plane’s wreckage,” Ella Zhuranskaya, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told Russia’s TASS news agency Friday. Donetsk emergency and transport ministry representatives, Dutch investigators, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers are expected to arrive at the crash site Sunday to continue inspection, Zhuranskaya said.

The Dutch investigators had arrived this week to collect debris from the downed Boeing 777, which fell from an altitude of more than 33,000 feet after being struck by “high-energy objects,” according to a preliminary report by the Dutch government. Many of the passengers aboard were Dutch citizens. A final report on the fate of MH17 by the Dutch Safety Board is due out by the middle of 2015.

Barriers marked "forbidden area - there could be remains of victims of the MH17 crash here" could be seen at the site in Grabove on Friday, AFP journalists said.

The Netherlands is leading a probe into the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet on July 17, in which all 298 on board, including 193 Dutch nationals, were killed.

So far 289 victims had been identified among body parts recovered from the site, but no wreckage has been retrieved due to safety issues.

The Dutch-led investigation was threatened this week by reports of intensified fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region. Violent fighting near the crash site had previously forced Dutch investigators to suspend work in mid-August, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://www.ibtimes.com/flight-mh17-more-human-remains-recovered-1721142

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NYC's first 'Missing Persons Day' lets families expand DNA search

On Saturday New York City held a Missing Persons Day at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) at 421 26th Street and 1st Avenue, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There has been a statewide event in Albany for the past 13 years, but this is the first focused on the Metropolitan area.

Over 100,000 people are actively missing nationwide, and last year 13,000 went missing from New York City alone. Bodies can often end up in the custody of nearby medical examiners, but in New York City, the unclaimed can have a grimmer fate and end up on Hart Island, the potter's grave where over 800,000 unidentified bodies are buried.

Families have previously had trouble accessing the island, which sits across from City Island in the Bronx, because it's controlled strictly by the Department of Correction; inmates from Rikers Island dig the graves. Groups like the Hart Island Project, a non-profit run by Melinda Hunt, have been advocating for families to be granted access to records and graves since 1976, when the island was closed to the public.

Using updated DNA technology, the OCME has been able to reevaluate over a thousand cases dating as far back as 1990. Julie Bolcer, the Director of Public Affairs at the OCME, said they are in the process of collecting DNA samples from 1,200 bodies and they now operate one of the nation's few DNA Missing Persons Units. But, she said, one DNA sample isn't enough.

"Even if we get finally get the DNA, it's no good alone," Bolcer said. "We still need the missing link."

Tomorrow, families will have the opportunity to give DNA samples to the OCME to be compared with the DNA collected from the unidentified bodies. They will also be matched with DNA collections nationwide, in the hopes of finding a match. They have dental records and fingerprints that can be analyzed. The OCME can also send home DNA kits, for those unable to attend, and will be continuing their DNA project beyond tomorrow's event. Bolcer stressed that while collecting DNA is a draw of Missing Persons Day, it's just a small part of the day planned.

"It's also about support," she said. "The National Institute of Justice calls this the 'nation's silent mass disaster.' There will also be emotional support for people who have long missing family members and loved ones."

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11/08/loved-ones-hold-onto-hope-at-nycs-first-missing-persons-day/

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12 children feared drowned as boat capsizes in Rae Bareli

12 children are feared drowned after their boat capsized in the Ganga river at Raalpur Ghat in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district today.

The boat was ferrying 18 people from Kanjas village when it sank in the river. Six of the occupants of the boat swam to safety, Superintendent of Police N Kolanchi said. Divers managed to rescue six children from drowning.

As per the information, these children went to had bath in Ganga on Saturday afternoon. When they were returning from boat, it capsized. On getting the information, all top officials of the village reached the spot. Divers were pressed to service and five dead bodies of children were recovered.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who represents Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, rushed to the village and met the bereaved families, assuring them of assistance from her party.

Uttar Pradesh government has declared an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, district magistrate Mahendra Kumar said. UPA president Sonia Gandhi and cabinet minister Manoj Pandey reached the Kanjas village and offered their condolence. State government led by Samajwadi Party announced Rs. 2 lakh for the family of those who died, Rs. 50,000 for seriously injured and 25,000 for minor injured.

Two of the bodies have been recovered, while a hunt is on for the others, Mr Kolanchi said.

The family members of the victims alleged that the district administration had shown laxity in looking for the missing children.

Gandhi's aide Dheeraj Srivastava took up the matter with the district magistrate who asserted that rigorous search efforts were on.

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://daily.bhaskar.com/news-ht/UP-boat-carrying-children-capsizes-17-dead-6-rescued-4801206-PHO.html

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/12-children-feared-drowned-as-boat-capsizes-in-rae-bareli-617548

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Bodies of two miners recovered from Ermenek identified following DNA tests

The bodies of two of the 18 workers who were trapped in a flooded mine in central Turkey last week have been identified following DNA tests.

Officials have confirmed the names of the two deceased workers.

The two miners will be buried on Saturday with a ceremony to which also Turkey's Minister of Energy, Taner Yıldız, and Minister of Transport, Lütfi Elvan will attend.

Search and rescue teams found the bodies of two workers on Thursday. Operations for the remaining 16 workers are continuing.

The workers stayed trapped inside the mine located some 400 kilometers south of the capital, Ankara, in Karaman's Ermenek district, when a water pipe exploded and caused flooding on October 28.

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2014/11/08/bodies-of-two-miners-recovered-from-ermenek-identified-following-dna-tests

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11 dead and 39 injured in coach crash in Murcia

11 people—at least nine women and one man—have been killed in a coach crash that happened at 11 p.m. on Saturday night in Venta del Olivo, in the south-eastern region of Murcia.

More than 50 people were travelling in the coach.

Cadena Ser reported a total of 37 passengers had been rushed to hospital, 13 admitted to hospital in the town of Cieza, 4 in the village of Hellín and 20 more in hospitals in the regional capital Murcia.

One person died on the way to hospital.

The radio station also reported that the driver had been injured in the crash, and had told emergency service workers that “the brakes had failed”.

Javier Ruiz Martínez, a journalist for regional radio station SER Murcia, tweeted from the scene that the coach had fallen down a 10-15 metre-high embankment.

The coach, belonging to Autocares Ruiz in the village of Calasparra, was on its way back from a trip to Madrid having been hired by a parish group from the nearby town of Bullas, which set up an emergency information centre for relatives and friends.

The Arrixaca Hospital in the regional capital Murcia told The Spain Report that two “very serious” casualties had been admitted, “and more are expected shortly”.

30 ambulances and all of the region’s hospitals were put on standby to deal with the casualties.

Sunday 9 November 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2827109/Crash-horror-Spain-12-people-killed-bus-carrying-50-passengers-careered-embankment.html

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