Nigeria: Plane Crashes With Agagu's Casket, Kills 13 (update)

Nigeria's aviation industry witnessed another tragedy yesterday, as an Embraer aircraft operated by Associated Airlines with registration number SCD 361, conveying the corpse of former Governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu from Lagos to Akure for burial, crashed shortly after take-off at Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos killing 13 persons on board while seven others survived.

The crash which occurred at about 9.30 a.m. had 13 passengers, and seven crew members on board.

President Goodluck Jonathan, in his immediate reaction ordered a thorough investigation into the crash by all relevant agencies with a view to determining the cause and taking further actions, as may be necessary. Embraer, manufacturers of the aircraft has also said it had offered to help authorities investigate the crash of the 30-seater plane.

An engineer, Rasheed Olajide, who witnessed the air crash at the airport told Reuters that "the plane was making a lot of noise and appeared to make a maneuver to avoid a residential area before it came down. A diplomatic source told Reuters the engine was made by Pratt & Whitney Canada, a unit of United Technologies Corp, PW100. According to the airfleets.net website, which keeps a record of passenger aircraft worldwide, the crashed aircraft was more than 23 years old.

The crash happened within Sahara Group tank farm, one of the companies supplying aviation fuel to airlines. The tank farm is situated some 200 metres away from the perimeter fence of the international wing of the MurtalaMhuammedAirport. The aircraft broke into two with its cockpit compartment burnt, while the remaining part that included the luggage compartment, was slightly burnt.

Agagu's casket intact

However, the casket containing the remains of Agagu, kept in the luggage compartment, was intact as it was not burnt when it was finally removed from the wreckage. The casket was conveyed in a NAF Ambulance with registration no AF 054 -Eo1 to the nearby NAF hospital, a few hours after the accident.

All relevant security and emergency agencies comprising Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), members of the Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps, Red Cross and Lagos State Fire Services, were present at the crash site. Others include the Nigerian Air Force personnel and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority

Some officials of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) were seen retrieving personal effects of passengers from the aircraft into their waiting vehicle for identification. Some of the retrieved belongings were a small camera, laptop bags, one iPad, a travelling bag containing personal effects, a torchlight, a walkie-talkie, a wallet and the case of a reading glass.

Many people wanted to catch glimpses of the incident and used their camera phones to snap pictures of the site. However, security agents had to cordon off the area to be able to dismantle the luggage compartment and bring out the casket.

A Commissioner of the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB), Captain Usman Murktar, who spoke on the air crash confirmed that there were 20 people on board the ill fated plane and that all persons on the aircraft have been accounted for. He also confirmed that search and rescue operations were called off at exactly 11.50am yesterday. This was after the last missing person on board the aircraft was recovered.

Black Box found -- AIPB boss

Captain Murktar said: "We can confirm that there were six survivors on the aircraft. Four are in stable condition while two are critical. All are receiving full medical attention in the hospital. The Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) has commenced investigation into the probable cause(s) of the crash. The Cockpit Voice Recorder, popularly called the Black Box has been found and is in the custody of AIPB."

In the course of search and rescue, the casket bearing the remains of Late Olusegun Agagu was brought out unscathed while survivors were rushed to hospital. The AIPB commissioner however failed to disclose the names of those aboard the aircraft, saying the bureau has to first officially notify the families of the victims before making their names public.

General Manager, Corporate Communication of FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Datti while speaking on the crash said that the aircraft was heading to Akure with 20 passengers onboard and that immediately the crash occurred, emergency response team rushed to the site of the crash to rescue the victims.

He said: "The propeller aircraft which belongs to Associated Airlines with registration number 5N-BJY crashed around 9:32am with 20 passengers onboard. Rescue operations commenced immediately with all relevant agencies to help and some of the survivors, about six of them have already been rushed to the hospital and they are receiving medical attention. We call on the public to shun unconfirmed reports and avoid speculation, so we will continue to update you every thirty minutes."

Also speaking, Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Idowu Fadipe said that the agency was able to recover 11 passengers who were dead, while four other passengers were rescued alive.

Mr. Fadipe said: "We rescued 11 suspected dead passengers and four were rescued alive. Immediately we heard about the crash, we mobilised a lot of equipment and personnel to the site, so immediately we arrived here, we quickly engaged ourselves on search and rescue operation but before then, we put out the fire because there is no how you can work here without putting out the fire first, so within a few minutes three fire trucks responded, each carrying 10,000 litres of water to enable us quickly put off the fire and after that we engaged on search and rescue operations with other emergencies agencies.

A hospital source gave a total of seven survivors. Five of the injured are receiving treatment at the Surgical Emergency Section, LASUTH, one at the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, base, Ikeja, and another survivor who suffered some degree of burns was being attended to at the Burns and Trauma Unit of Gbagada General Hospital, after being referred from the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta.

Mr Feyi Agagu, son of late former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Agagu; Akintunde Taiwo, Akinsanya Femi, Mrs Toyin Samson and one unidentified adult male are at Surgical Emergency unit of LASUTH recuperating. Mr Agagu wore a cast on his neck while Mrs Samson is in stable condition.

DNA tests The Lagos State Government Thursday promised to conduct DNA tests to identify 13 bodies, which it said, were charred beyond recognition in the plane crash that occurred at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Orelope-Adefilure, the state’s Deputy Governor, who visited the survivors at the emergency ward of the hospital, called on the relations of the victims in the ill-fated aircraft to come for DNA tests so the identity of the victims could be established.

“The survivors are here in the hospital receiving treatment. The 13 bodies recovered cannot be identified at the moment. But we are still waiting for the manifest of the passengers from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. The survivors are receiving treatment here at the emergency surgical ward.

“So what we want to let the public know is that anyone who knows that he or she had anybody among the travelling party to Ondo State, aboard the flight, but not among the survivors, should see the pathologists at the LASUTH,” she said.

Speaking on the DNA tests, the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Prof. John Obafunwa said the state government had “to carry out a forensic examination aimed at knowing the cause of the death and assisting in the identification of the victims.

“We are going to conduct the investigation this evening, having been given orders by the coroner to do so. Hopefully, within the next 48 to 72 hours, we should have been done with what we have to do. But we have been told that a number of bodies had been burnt beyond recognition and we will have to identify these individuals.”

He urged those whose relations were suspected victims on board the flight to see him.

“Basically, we need to have the children, the siblings, parents, as we are going to take some samples from them. It is not a thing that is difficult,” he explained.

Full manifest still awaited

Identities of all the victims remained unknown at press time as the full manifest was yet to be released, but unconfirmed reports indicated that among the dead were four staff of MIC Funeral Services, Lagos, as well as the Managing Director, Mr Tunji Okusanya and his son. The first son of Agagu who was on the flight was believed to be among the survivors.

Confirming the deaths, LagosState deputy Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said all the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Expressing shock over the incidence, the Deputy Governor consoled families of the victims, assuring that the government would take necessary steps to identify the bodies of the victims and give the best treatment to the survivors. "Accept our condolences. We will support the family members," she stated.

Meanwhile the state government may not release any of the bodies until it has conducted autopsies and forensic tests on the bodies before release to relatives. Already, family members of the deceased have been urged to come forward to submit DNA samples for the forensic tests and proper identification of victims bodies.

It was gathered that the samples for DNA was necessary since the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Giving the hint, Prof. John Obafunwa, said: "We will take samples from their mouths. We will not push needles into anybody. We will compare this with DNA samples of the victims and this will be done as soon as possible. We will hasten up whatever we have to do because we appreciate the feelings of individuals.

Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed observed the state has created a Help Desk to provide information to those families that were involved in the crash. The commissioner can be reached through 08022234870 for further information.

Striking LASUTH doctors work on crash victims

Meanwhile, following the crash, members of the Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH-ARD has modified its ongoing strike to attend to emergencies. Bodies of victims of the ill-fated aircraft have been evacuated to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH.

President, Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH chapter, Dr Oluwajimi Shodipo who confirmed the situation said the on going strike was not about wasting lives but saving them.

"We have joined the strike but we have modified ours at LASUTH because of the plane crash in order to save lives. "We are attending to emergencies now. Consultants are also working at the various units. The strike is not about wasting lives but about saving lives.

The Associated Airline involved in the crash has stopped scheduled flights operations since last year after the Dana plane crash. The airline has been operating skeletal chartered services.

Friday 4 October 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201310040163.html

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Costa Concordia: DNA testing begins following discovery of remains

The Costa Concordia cruise liner was hauled upright last week and the complicated 19-hour salvage operation led to the discovery of at least two bodies.

Divers recovered the bodies of two victims and what they believe to be more human remains from the tragic accident.

Authorities are already awaiting the results of separate tests on other bones found last week.

"Other [remains] have been found and are being analysed," Franco Gabrielli, the head of the search operation, told Ansa news agency.

''We are awaiting the results of scientific analyses. Before to jumping to any conclusions, we have to wait for the results to confirm whether the remains belong to the missing.''

The first group of remains were found near the fourth deck of the liner, which crashed into a reef, took on water and capsized off the Tusan island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people.

The ship was hauled upright last month in a major salvage operation. The Rebello and Trecarichi families hoped works would lead to the discovery of the missing bodies.

The Costa Concordia capsized on January 13, 2012 when it moved too close to land, struck a group of large rocks, and flipped over. 32 people were killed aboard the ship.

Speaking to reporters this week, Franco Gabrielli said it was almost a miracle that they could pull two bodies from behind a 114,500 tonne vessel after 20 months of submersion.

Rebello, a 33-year-old cruise waiter from India, was last seen making his way to a muster station at the restaurant at the back of the ship after he helped numerous passengers to safety.

Trecarichi was on the cruiser to celebrate her 50th birthday with her 17-year-old daughter Stefania. They had boarded different lifeboats because Trecarichi was cold and had gone below deck to fetch a jacket. Stefania survived.

Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino is on trial over the disaster on charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

Friday 4 October 2013

http://www.inquisitr.com/979383/costa-concordia-shipwreck-dna-testing-begins-following-discovery-of-remains/

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/511118/20131003/costa-concordia-new-remains-found-russel-rebello.htm

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Bodies of all nine victims of boat tragedy found

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams fished out the bodies from the river near Maujampur village, which is about eight kms away from the site of the tragedy, Sub-divisional officer Madhav Kumar Singh said.

The bodies have been identified. While three of them hailed from Sohara village, the rest six were from New Khawaspur village, he said.

Three of the girls were aged between 8 and 14 and five others between 17 and 19. The ninth victim was a 40 year-old woman.

Singh said the bodies were handed over to their families after autopsy and compensation will be given to them as per the law.

Singh said that the name of 13-year-old boy Om Prakash Bind, who rescued five persons onboard the ill-fated boat, will be recommended to the Centre by the district authorities for bravery award.

A boat carrying 26 people had capsized in the Ganga two days ago. While 17 of the passengers swam to safety, nine others had gone missing.

Friday 4 October 2013

http://zeenews.india.com/news/bihar/bodies-of-all-nine-victims-of-boat-tragedy-found_880906.html

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Italy sinking: Search resumes for missing migrants

The rickety fishing boat was the third of the night to head toward the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, overloaded with African migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Most never reached shore.

After the boat started taking on water, someone on board set a fire to get the attention of passing ships. The flames spread and panicked passengers surged to one side to avoid the fire. The vessel capsized, and hundreds of men, women and children who didn't know how to swim were flung into the Mediterranean Sea.

At least 113 bodies have now been recovered and some 200 of those on board the 20m (66-ft) fishing boat are still unaccounted for.

Dozens of bodies are thought to remain in the sunken vessel, according to rescue officials.

"We need only caskets, certainly not ambulances," said Pietro Bartolo, chief of Lampedusa health services.

It was one of the deadliest accidents in the perilous crossing thousands make each year, seeking a new life in the prosperous European Union. Smugglers charge thousands of dollars a head for the journey aboard overcrowded, barely seaworthy boats that lack life vests.

Lampedusa, 70 miles (113 kilometres) off Tunisia and closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, has been at the centre of wave after wave of illegal immigration.

Between 450 and 500 people were believed to be on board the boat, which set sail from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and capsized about a half-mile from Lampedusa; health commissioner Antonio Candela said only 159 were rescued.

Bartolo initially put the death toll at 94 but said it would certainly rise as search operations continued.

The deaths of so many people may have come down to the lack of a cellphone.

The 66-foot (20-meter) boat was carrying migrants from Eritrea, Ghana and Somalia, Italian coast guard spokesman Marco Di Milla told The Associated Press.

It nearly reached its destination, getting as far as nearby Conigli island before it began taking on water, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters.

Usually, smugglers have mobile or satellite phones to call for help when they near shore or run into trouble. Instead, someone on this boat set fire to a piece of material to attract the attention of passing ships, he said.

Only three of the estimated 100 women on board were rescued -- and none of the 10 children were saved, said Simona Moscarelli, of the International Organization for Migration in Rome. Two of the dead women were pregnant.

"Most of them can't swim," she told the AP. "Only the strongest survived."

Italian coast guard ships, fishing boats and helicopters from across the region searched for survivors. Rescue crews hauled body bags by the dozens at Lampedusa port, lining them up under multicolored tarps on the docks.

Coast guard divers found the wreck on the sea floor, some 130 feet below the surface, Cmdr. Floriana Segreto told the AP.

Survivors packed Lampedusa's detention centre for migrants, along with those aboard the two other smugglers' boats, which reached shore safely. More than 1,000 people were squeezed into a space built for 250, Moscarelli said. Medical workers scrambled to treat the injured.

Migrants who arrive in Lampedusa are processed in centres, screened for asylum and often sent back home. Some slip into the general public and make their way to northern Europe, seeking to blend into larger immigrant communities. In Italy, migrants can work legally only if they have a work permit and a contract before they arrive -- a policy pushed through by Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League party.

Thursday's disaster was the second shipwreck this week off Italy. On Monday, 13 men drowned while trying to reach southern Sicily when their ship ran aground just a few yards from shore.

Hundreds of migrants reach Italy's shores every day, particularly during the summer, when seas are usually calmer. According to the U.N. refugee agency, 8,400 migrants landed in Italy and Malta in the first six months of this year, almost double the 4,500 who arrived during the first half of 2012. The numbers have spiked in recent weeks, particularly from Syria.

Still, they are a far cry from the tens of thousands who flooded to Italy -- many through Lampedusa -- during the Arab Spring exodus of 2011.

Before Thursday's tragedy, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees had recorded 40 deaths in the first half of 2013 for migrants arriving in Italy and Malta.

Last year, that route saw 500 deaths.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/migrant-ship-capsizes-off-italian-coast-death-toll-could-surpass-300-1.1481447

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Disused factory building collapses in northern China, burying 16 people sleeping inside

Sixteen people remained missing as of Wednesday morning after a factory building collapsed on Monday in north China's Hebei Province, according to rescue headquarters.

Over 200 rescuers were excavating debris at the accident site near the village of Houshan in Wu'an City, said the rescue headquarters.

The isolated building near the village collapsed early on Monday morning.

The buried, all construction workers for Fengshanbao Iron Mine, were staying in the building for the night.

A Wuan propaganda department official confirmed a state media report that the 16 were construction workers for an iron mine and had been staying in the building near the village of Houshan for the night. The official refused to give his name, as is common with Chinese officials.

The subsidence depth was estimated at about 15 to 20 meters, and the complicated geological conditions and the building's narrow foundation made the rescue work even harder, according to headquarters.

An investigation into the cause of the collapse is under way.

Construction workers are often migrants who have left their homes in search of a better life. They are sometimes forced to use makeshift housing, including tents and abandoned buildings, to be close to their temporary work sites.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8415938.html

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Italy migrant boat: '92' bodies recovered after ship sinks off Lampedusa

A pregnant woman and a three-year-old child are believed to be among the 92 bodies recovered after a migrant boat ran aground off the coast of Sicily, the coast guard has reported.

The incident is the second deadly grounding this week, after 13 men drowned on Monday just a few metres away from Southern Sicily's shore.

Pietro Bartolo, the top health official on Lampedusa, told Sky Tg24 that over 200 were still unaccounted for. He expected the toll to rise as search operations continue.

Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini told Tg24 earlier that 82 bodies had been found and that search and rescue operations were continuing.

Ms Nicolini told reporters that the death toll was rising as bodies were being laid out in the harbour.

"It's horrific, like a cemetery, they are still bringing them out", she said. "It's an immense tragedy."

Ms Nicolini said the ship had caught fire after those on board set off flares so it would be seen by passing ships.

So far 141 people have been rescued, but the boat is believed to have been carrying as many as 500 people, according to reports.

Coast Guard ships and helicopters from across the region, as well as local fishing boats, were on the scene trying to find survivors in the sea, said Coast Guard spokesman Marco Di Milla. The operation was taking place off the Isola dei Conigli, or Rabbit Island.

The migrants aboard the boat were from Eritrea, Ghana and Somalia, he said.

A fishing boat raised the alarm at around 7:20 a.m. (0520 GMT) and began pulling people out of the water before coastguard vessels arrived on the scene.

Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is a frequent destination for smugglers' boats.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-migrant-boat-92-dead-after-ship-sinks-off-lampedusa-8855735.html

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Plane crashes after take-off in Lagos, Nigeria

A plane carrying 27 people has crashed shortly after take-off from Lagos airport in Nigeria, officials say.

A rescue operation is ongoing. At least five bodies have been recovered and one person is being treated for serious injuries.

The Associated Airlines plane was bound for Akure, which lies about 140 miles (225km) north-east of Lagos.

The plane's engine appeared to fail and the aircraft plunged to the ground and burst into flames, officials said.

The charter flight took off at about 09:30 local time (08:30 GMT) from the domestic terminal at Lagos's Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Officials said the plane crashed on to open land within the airport complex, close to a fuel storage depot.

It is not yet clear whether the fuel caught fire.

Eyewitness Ahmad Safian told the BBC: "I heard a loud bang and then there was lots of black smoke. The security forces rushed straight to the scene. I saw three bodies removed from the wreckage."

Mr Safian said the road to the airport was blocked for a short time but operations were continuing as normal at the airport.

Aviation ministry spokesman Joe Obi said there were seven crew and 20 passengers on board.

Akure is the capital of Ondo state. Local media reported that the plane was carrying the body of the former state governor, Olusegun Agagu, who was to have been buried this weekend.

Although Nigeria's air safety record has improved in recent years, the country has a history of major passenger plane crashes.

In June 2012, more than 150 people were killed after a dual engine failure caused a plane to crash in Lagos.

Lagos airport is a major hub for West Africa and saw 2.3 million passengers pass through it in 2009, according to the most recent statistics provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24381066

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25 people killed in traffic accident in central Sudan

Twenty-five people were killed AS several others were injured on Wednesday in a traffic accident in Al-Bagair area of Gezira State in central Sudan.

Police said the accident was caused by the wrong overtaking.

Several ambulances and civilian vehicles rushed to the scene and took the bodies of the victims to the hospital, Maj. Gen. Al-Tayeb Babikir Ali, Director of Gezira State Police said.

Traffic accidents are on the rise in Sudan. In July in Iyssa Al-Haj area in Kassala State of eastern Sudan, killing 37 people and injuring 40 others in a road accident.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.africareview.com/News/25-people-killed-in-traffic-accident-in-central-Sudan/-/979180/2015944/-/assov6/-/index.html

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Cambodian flood death toll rises to 39

Floods from Mekong River and heavy rainfall have claimed at least 39 lives and affected 100,334 families in Cambodia in less than three weeks, the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said Thursday.

About 10,000 families have been forced to flee their houses for higher grounds as some 89,200 houses, 533 schools and 291 Buddhist pagodas have been submerged, a NCDM's report said.

In addition, approximately 100,000 hectares of rice seedlings are also inundated, the report said.

Thirteen out of the kingdom's 24 cities and provinces are being hit by the Mekong River and flash floods, it added.

Disaster control officials could not be reached for comments on Thursday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the authorities last Friday to closely monitor flood situation and prepare to evacuate affected people to safe grounds.

The country has suffered from the impact of low pressure system and tropical storm Wutip that had caused heavy rainfall in the Mekong River basin and in Cambodia.

"The government would like to advise concerned ministries and authorities to be on high alert and prepare rescue measures to evacuate people to safe grounds so that fatalities and property damage by floods will be reduced," he said in a directive.

Floods usually hit Cambodia between August and October. In 2011, the country was hit the worst from floods, killing up to 250 people, according to the NCDM.

Last year, floods killed only 14 people.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2013-10/03/content_30195350.htm

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Deadly hornets kill 42 people in China, injure over 1,500

Swarms of aggressive hornets, in their fall mating season, are inflicting a deadly toll in a central Chinese province.

Hornets have killed 42 people and injured 1,675 people in three cities in Shaanxi province since July, according to the local government. Thirty-seven patients remain in critical or serious condition.

Over the summer and early fall, hornets have invaded schools full of children and descended upon unsuspecting farm workers in China.

One of them is Mu Conghui, a woman who was attacked in Ankang City while looking after her millet crop.

"The hornets were horrifying," she told Xinhua, the Chinese state-run news agency. "They hit right at my head and covered my legs. All of a sudden I was stung and I couldn't move.

"Even now, my legs are covered with sting holes."

Two months, 13 dialysis treatments and 200 stitches later, Mu still remains hospitalized and unable to move her legs.

The influx of venom to the human body can cause allergic reactions and multiple organ failure leading to death. Patients like Mu have been receiving dialysis to remove the toxins from her body. In photos, patients bore deep dark craters scattered across their limbs, the size of bullet wounds.

Government authorities say these attacks are from a particularly venomous species, the world's largest hornet, known as the Asian giant hornet or vespa mandarinia.

The giant hornet extends about 3.5 to 3.9 centimeters in length, roughly the size of a human thumb. It has an orange head with a black tooth used for burrowing, according to an animal database at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Wang Xue, director of the intensive care unit at First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University and an expert of the provincial hornet sting treatment guidance unit, warned in a Shaanxi government release that hornets tend to be aggressive and more active during September and October -- their breeding season. The hornets do not go into hibernation until December, according to local government authorities.

Local authorities have deployed thousands of police officers and locals to destroy the hives. So far, about 710 hives have been removed and at least 7 million yuan (about $1.1 million U.S.) sent to areas affected by hornets, according to a government press release.

The spate of attacks could be caused by the unusually dry weather in the area, authorities say. The arid environment makes it easier for hornets to breed. Urbanization could also be a contributing factor, as humans move into hornets' habitats.

Some experts cited in Xinhua stated additional factors such as increased vegetation and a decrease in the hornets' enemies, such as spiders and birds because of ecological changes.

Humans can inadvertently irritate the hornet hives, as most are tucked away in secluded places, such as tree hollows or even underground.

The provincial government has warned residents to wear long sleeves when outdoors, and not to attempt driving away the swarms or removing their hives.

Vespa mandarinia are known as formidable, carnivorous killers, found in eastern and southeastern Asia, especially in Japan.

About 30 to 50 deaths are reported each year in Japan from such attacks, according to Japanese studies. Most of the deaths are due to allergies to the venom, said Shunichi Makino, director general of the Hokkaido Research Center for Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.

"It's very difficult to prevent the attacks because hornet nests are usually in hidden sites," he said.

Makino, who specializes in entomology, warned that the sting from an Asian giant hornet was severe compared with those of other insects.

"The venom of an Asian giant hornet is very special compared with other hornets or yellow jackets," he said. "The neurotoxin -- especially to mammals including humans -- it's a special brand of venom."

The giant hornets are also destructive to western honey bees. Research in Japan suggests tens of thousands of honey bee hives are damaged by the giant hornets each year.

The species feed their young with the larvae of other insects and use their mandibles to sever the limbs and heads of their prey. The hornet's venom sting is a neurotoxin so powerful that it dissolves human tissue, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The giant hornets are attracted to human sweat, alcohol and sweet flavors and smells. They are especially sensitive to when animals or people run, according to Xinhua.

One victim told local media earlier this month that "the more you run, the more they want to chase you." Some victims described being chased about 200 meters (656 feet) by a swarm.

Every breeding season, the giant hornets produce an average of 10,000 offspring. They feast on other insects such as wasps and bees, launching coordinated attacks on the hives of their prey.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/world/asia/hornet-attack-china/

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At least 62 migrants killed as boat sinks near Lampedusa

At least 62 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off southern Italy, reports say.

Rescue operations are continuing and officials warn the toll may rise.

Passengers reportedly threw themselves into the sea as the vessel got into trouble and Italian officials were quoted as saying that dozens of people were still in the water.

Earlier this week, 13 migrants drowned while trying to reach the coast of Sicily.

There are reports that a fire broke out on board, before the boat sank. There are believed to have been around 500 people on board.

More than 140 have so far been rescued.

Local media reports say that at least one child and a pregnant woman are among the dead.

Those rescued came from sub-Saharan Africa, the mayor of Lampedusa said.

The boat sank just four days after 13 migrants drowned when their boat foundered off eastern Sicily.

Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is the frequent destination for smugglers' boats.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24380247

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Mexico finds more bodies, raising toll from storms

The Mexican government says searchers have found eight more bodies of victims from twin storms that struck the Pacific and Gulf coasts at the same time last month.

The Interior Department says the death toll now stands at 155.

Statistics of civil protection authorities sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday say that nearly 175,000 homes were affected by floods and landslides, mostly in the southern state of Guerrero.

The biggest known tragedy was a mudslide that swept into a remote mountain village in Guerrero and left dozens missing. Only some of their bodies have been recovered.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has ordered an investigation to find which officials gave permits for building homes in banned areas such as riverbeds, which put residents in danger during the storms.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.wral.com/mexico-finds-more-bodies-raising-toll-from-storms/12952961/

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8 dead in Tennessee church bus crash with tractor-trailer, SUV

A church bus from North Carolina was involved in a fiery crash on I-40 Wednesday afternoon that killed at least eight people and injured 14.

According to a preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, six of those killed were passengers on the bus, one was in the tractor trailer, and one in an SUV.

"We hope and pray that there will be no more," said THP Spokesperson Sgt. Bill Miller. He added that the agency's thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

UT Medical Center said they have are treating all 14 injured in the crash. As of 6:45 p.m., the hospital reported that eight of them were in critical condition, two were in serious condition, and four were in stable condition. The final two patients arrived by personal vehicle.

THP says a passenger bus was traveling eastbound on I-40 near mile marker 423 when, according to their preliminary investigation, its left front tire blew out. The driver lost control and the bus crossed the median and crashed into a tractor trailer and clipped a Tahoe SUV that was heading westbound. They say the tractor trailer immediately caught fire and the bus overturned. The accident happened around 2 p.m.

Within five minutes, the first emergency crews from Jefferson County arrived, and began helping the victims while sending out the call for more help.

Brad Phillips, EMA director of Jefferson County, said the local rescue squad extricated several passengers from the bus, which was very close to the burning tractor-trailer. He could not say how many people had to be rescued, but said most of them were out within 15 minutes of the squad's arrival. He could not confirm the ages of any of the victims, but said there were no minors involved.

The rescue crews did a "valiant" job, according to Phillips, who asked people to pray for the victims of the crash, their families, and the first responders.

An EMS official told 10News 20 ambulances and five helicopters responded from multiple counties, including Knox, Sevier, Jefferson, Hamblen, and Grainger Counties.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is the lead investigating agency on the accident. Their Critical Incident Response Teams (CIRT) have special training and equipment to respond to and reconstruct fatal accidents.

"It takes a lot to reconstruct that. Fall Branch has a team, Knoxville has a team and we'll help each other with that. As far as resources, we've sent a lot of our troopers up there to help them, and we'll help each other out," said THP Lt. Don Boshears.

CIRT teams from Knoxville, Nashville, and the Fall Branch Districts were on the scene Wednesday night, according to Sgt. Miller.

No names of the victims have been released, and Sgt. Miller said no family notifications have been made. The fatalities will be taken to the UT forensic center to be identified.

The bus was from Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, North Carolina. Dionne Stutts from the church confirmed the bus was on its way back from an event called Fall Jubilee in Gatlinburg. She says the group on board is called "The Young at Heart" and they're mostly ages 55 and up. They have several church members on the way to the scene.

The Red Cross is assisting the victims and their families. If you believe you have an immediate family member involved in the crash, you can call the Red Cross at 865-305-5716 for information.

Interstate 40 has been closed since the accident, and likely will be for a while. Drivers heading east will be detoured onto I-81, then to I-26 into North Carolina. Westbound traffic is being stopped at the Newport exit and taken on alternate routes.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/hamblen-jefferson-cocke-greene/2013/10/02/bus-rollover-closes-i-40-in-both-directions-in-jefferson-co/2909779/

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Second find of body remains made at Concordia wreck

More body remains have been found at the Costa Concordia shipwreck after bones were found last Thursday, Civil Protection Chief Franco Gabrielli said on Wednesday.

Gabrielli said the identities of both sets of remains are awaiting the results of DNA examination.

When asked if the first find had been identified, Gabrielli said in the Tuscan coastal town of Massa, where he was attending a Civil Protection event, that: ''We are awaiting the results of scientific analyses. Among other things, other (remains) have been found that are under DNA examination.

Beyond jumping to easy conclusions, we must wait for the results which will or will not give confirmation of the remains of the missing''.

Doubts remained over the weekend about whether bones found at the site of the massive cruise-ship wreck last Thursday were from one of the two bodies still missing after the January 2012 disaster which killed 32, after sources close to the disaster commissioner's office said they were not. ''It is still not possible to say they are of human origin, still less to say they belong to someone in particular,'' the commissioner had said.

The bodies of Italian passenger Maria Grazia Tricarichi and Indian crew member Russel Rebello are still missing. The other 30 corpses were recovered soon after the huge cruiseliner went down after hitting a rock off Tuscany's Giglio Island.

DNA tests are being carried out in a hospital in Grosseto, the largest nearby city.

The lurching, semi-submerged wreck of the Concordia was finally hauled upright upright last month, making the search for the bodies and new inspections possible.

''In the next few days, we will terminate the inspection of the (ship's) bottom and we will begin that of the interiors.

Thursday 3 October 2013

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/63810/Second-find-of-body-remains-made-at-Concordia-wreck.html

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Indonesia mission to return bodies, survivors

The Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday that it would be sending a delegation to Indonesia within the next 24 hours to oversee the repatriation of over 40 Lebanese nationals, including the survivors of last week’s boat tragedy.

The delegation, which will be led by the head of the Higher Relief Committee, Ibrahim Bashir, will also include a forensics expert tasked with identifying the remains of dozens of recovered bodies using DNA testing. The delegation will arrange the transfer of any remains back to Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities in northern Lebanon began taking samples Tuesday from relatives of the missing.

Last Friday, a boat carrying some 80 migrants seeking to illegally enter Australia foundered off the coast of Indonesia, killing dozens, with many more still missing. As news broke that many of those on board were Lebanese from impoverished villages in northern Lebanon, public outrage mounted, with the victims’ families blaming the poor living conditions for pushing their loved ones to resort to human traffickers.

While conflicting reports have emerged regarding the number of dead and missing, the Foreign Ministry’s secretary-general, Ambassador Wafiq Ruhaimeh, said that according to survivors, approximately 68 of the 80 people on board were Lebanese. Eighteen survived the sinking, but it is unknown how many of the 36 bodies that have reportedly been recovered are those of Lebanese citizens.

Ruhaimeh said the survivors are currently being put up at a hotel in the city of Sukabumi until their travel papers and return flights to Lebanon can be arranged. He said they would be repatriated “very soon” along with six Lebanese nationals who were being held by Indonesian authorities for overstaying their visas, and at least 18 more citizens who were not on the boat that sank but were preparing to make a similar attempt.

While Ruhaimeh had no additional information on the investigation into the smuggling network behind the doomed voyage, the National News Agency reported Tuesday that four Lebanese nationals, including two from Akkar, had been arrested in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, new details of the vessel’s ordeal were revealed Monday during a news conference in Sydney, where the vice-chief of the Australian Defense Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, presented his official report of Australian rescue efforts.

At approximately 7:57 a.m. Friday, he said, Australian police received a phone call claiming that a ship that had left Jakarta four days earlier with 80 people on board was stranded with no food or water and sinking.

The Australians established contact with a passenger on board but were unable to determine the vessel’s exact coordinates, at which point they informed the Indonesian search and rescue agency, suspecting that it lay within Indonesian waters. Despite dispatching two aircraft and diverting four merchant ships, Binskin said, Australian authorities were unable to locate the ship. At approximately 4:40 p.m. they were “made aware of a maritime incident in the vicinity of the reported vessel in distress,” indicating that their Indonesian counterparts had located the boat.

Meanwhile, angry residents in the north of the country briefly blocked several main roads Tuesday, demanding that Lebanese authorities do more to discover the fate of the Lebanese on board the vessel.“All we hear is conflicting information and words of condolence,” said Khodr Harraz, one the boat victims’ relatives who joined the protest at Abu Ali roundabout. “We want action by authorities.”

The families called off their protest and opened the roads after receiving personal assurances from caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel that the Lebanese state was serious about returning the survivors and the bodies of the victims to Lebanon.

Wednesday 2 October 2013

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Oct-02/233264-indonesia-mission-to-return-bodies-survivors.ashx

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23 killed in Thailand's floods as more storms loom

Thai authorities say floods have killed more than 20 people and affected areas across the country in the past two weeks, while concern is growing there could be a repeat of the devastating floods in 2011.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department says 32 out of 77 provinces have seen flooding since mid-September and 23 people have been killed.

Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi says Thailand is not at risk from the remnants of Typhoon Wutip, which reached the northeast Tuesday. However, he says the country should be ready for other storms.

In 2011, Thailand saw its worst flooding in half a century. More than 800 people were killed and agricultural, industrial and residential lands were devastated over a wide swathe of the country.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11133104

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DNA test required to identify capsized boat victims

DNA tests were required to identify the bodies retrieved after a vessel carrying Lebanese and other migrants to Australia sank off the coast of Indonesia last week, a Lebanese envoy to Jakarta told The Daily Star Monday.

“I examined 33 bodies today in the public hospital of Jakarta and I couldn’t identify any. It is as if they were struck by an atomic bomb,” said Toufic Hamzeh, who was dispatched to Indonesia by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to follow up on the issue.

“Relatives of the travelers should send DNA samples to the Lebanese Embassy here [Indonesia] so that DNA tests can be conducted to identify the bodies,” Hamzeh added.

Hamzeh said that he was informed by the Indonesian police that a remaining 25 bodies would be brought to the hospital Tuesday.

At least 26 Lebanese asylum-seekers drowned in the boat accident on Friday. They were attempting to illegally migrate to Australia. Indonesian police said there were 80 people aboard the boat that was headed for Australia’s Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The Lebanese victims are mainly from Akkar and the northern city of Tripoli.

Hamzeh said that 18 Lebanese survived the accident. “I visited some of them who were put in a hotel by Indonesian authorities, far from Jakarta, at least six to seven hours by car,” he said. “We provided them with clothes and mobiles ... they cannot leave the hotel.”

“I heard about three Lebanese women who survived and are in hospital,” Hamzeh said, adding he was on his way to see them.

Hamzeh said that the process of bringing the Lebanese survivors back home would take from 10 to 15 days since they lacked legal documents.

He explained that there were some Lebanese who couldn’t make the trip and were arrested by Indonesian authorities for lacking documentation. “I will try to solve their problem to bring them back home,” Hamzeh said.

Survivors of the accident told journalists that they sent their GPS coordinates to Australian rescuers for assistance, but no one came to their aid.

Hundreds have died in fatal sinkings in recent years, as large numbers continue to board rickety, wooden boats in Indonesia to try and make the treacherous sea crossing to Australia.

Residents of Akkar blocked main roads Monday demanding that the fate of their relatives be uncovered.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Oct-01/233128-dna-test-required-to-identify-capsized-boat-victims.ashx

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Investigator makes appeal over cases of Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac, Joe Lynskey and four other IRA victims

Time marches on but there are still people alive who must have knowledge about the seven disappeared whose bodies remain missing, says Geoff Knupfer, the English forensic scientist and chief investigator of the North-South Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains.

He wishes they would come forward.

Mr Knupfer, who was involved in the 1980s in the searches for the victims of the Moors murderers, says at least six and up to 12 people would have participated in each abduction, killing and secret burial of the disappeared. “Just to think about,” he says. “There must have been between a dozen and half-a-dozen people involved. There would be a driver, guards, people who dug the graves, often there would be pilot [scout] cars as well . . . ”

How could there not be people out there who could end the torment of the families of the victims, he wonders. Ten bodies have been recovered but seven remain missing. Of the seven, the commission has no leads on Joe Lynskey, a man in his 40s who disappeared from west Belfast in 1972, nor on Capt Robert Nairac, shot dead just south of the Border in 1977. Both were killed by the IRA.

Former monk

Mr Lynskey was one of the first of the people know as the Disappeared to be killed but was one of the last to be known about. It was only three years ago that the IRA admitted he was one of these victims.

A former Cistercian monk, he was killed because, the IRA decided, he was seriously compromised due to an alleged relationship with the wife of an IRA prisoner. While the IRA admitted the killing in 2010, the commission still has not been able to persuade former members to provide details of where he is buried. Mr Knupfer was emphatic that the body of Capt Nairac – who was killed by the IRA in Ravensdale, Co Louth – was not destroyed, as has been reported and rumoured.

“We are absolutely confident that this story of his remains being put through a meat processing factory are just pure myth. We are happy that wasn’t the case,” he says. “We are confident he is buried south of the Border and that his remains are recoverable.”

South Armagh IRA members are notorious for their reluctance to yield up their secrets. Nonetheless, Mr Knupfer appealed to their humanity: “This is not about Robert Nairac, soldier, it is too late to help him; it is about his family who are grieving just like any other family would do.”

Information had been received on Seamus Ruddy, who was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army in Paris in 1985 due to an internal feud, but it appeared to be incorrect.

“A location was pointed out to us. We searched it and not only were we able to say Seamus Ruddy wasn’t there but that the ground had never been disturbed. The assumption we draw from that is it was the wrong place,” says Mr Knupfer.

‘First-hand knowledge’

The commission is convinced that Columba McVeigh, who went missing in 1975, is buried in Bragan bog in Co Monaghan, but despite several digs since 1999 his body has not been found. Mr Knupfer wants more specific information. “We believe there are other people out there who have first-hand knowledge, and we appeal for them to come forward,” he says.

The commission also believes Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright, who went missing from west Belfast in 1972, are buried in the bog at Coghalstown in Co Meath. But, again, finding more specific information is the problem. It has “high-grade information” that Brendan Megraw, who disappeared from Twinbrook in west Belfast in 1978, was buried in Oristown, Co Meath. There is a concern, however, that due to previous bulldozing his secret grave could have been destroyed, according to Mr Knupfer.

“We know in some cases there are people alive who we have not managed to speak to us yet; for whatever reason they won’t engage with the commission. It would be helpful to speak to people with primary knowledge,” he adds. Anyone with any information is guaranteed absolute immunity and anonymity, Mr Knupfer stresses.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/investigator-makes-appeal-over-cases-of-columba-mcveigh-robert-nairac-joe-lynskey-and-four-other-ira-victims-1.1545312

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Old atrocities, now official, galvanize Afghanistan

So many people were buried alive by bulldozers in the barren fields around the Pul-e-Charkhi Prison on Kabul’s outskirts that guilty soldiers later said it was like an earthquake as their victims tried to claw their way out.

Thirty-four years later, the names and details of nearly 5,000 of those victims — arrested, tortured and killed by the Afghan Communist government in 1978 and 1979 — have resurfaced, cataloged in records released in September.

The so-called death lists were originally compiled by the Afghan government. They languished, unreleased, for decades, until unearthed by Dutch investigators and published on the Web site of the Netherlands national prosecutor’s office.

The Afghan government’s reaction to the release of the lists was initially cautious, and President Hamid Karzai was quoted as saying that reconciliation was more important than prosecutions.

It is a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, and not just because so many former Communist officials now hold high positions in government, especially in the military and police hierarchies. Calls to prosecute old Communists inevitably lead to calls to prosecute all those who came after them and committed massacres of their own during the three decades of conflict that followed.

But as word spread among thousands of relatives of the victims, the death lists went viral, lighting up social media among a younger generation, and bringing calls from older people for prosecutions. Finally, pressed by Sima Samar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, President Karzai declared Monday and Tuesday national days of mourning.

Mosques in Kabul and throughout the country were thronged with mourners for the victims on Monday, and many memorials were planned in rural villages that were particularly hard hit by the wave of torture and killings carried out by Afghanistan’s intelligence service at the time.

Just in the village of Gul Qala, in Kabul Province, 25 people were on the newly released lists. They were all relatives of Mualavi Abdul Aziz Mujahid, a former jihadi commander and a politician; they included uncles, cousins and in-laws.

At the time, Mr. Mujahid was 10 and knew little of the ferment around him, until he saw an older cousin, a religious scholar and a farmer named Shah Dahla, arrested by plainclothes agents.

Mr. Dahla had just returned from the muddy fields, barefoot, and the agents refused to allow him a moment to rinse off his feet and put his sandals on.

The memory reduces Mr. Mujahid to tears 34 years later.

“Over the years, I have seen a lot of dead bodies in a lot of battles,” he said. He later fought the Communist government, the Soviets and then other jihadis in the civil war, and finally the Taliban. “But this person’s innocence hurts me deeply.”

Mr. Dahla’s son, Mohammada Jan, said his mother and his siblings never fully accepted that their father was dead, though they suspected it. “Even so, when we found out from the Internet that it was confirmed, everyone cried,” he said. Mr. Jan was 15 at the time of his father’s disappearance; he, too, choked up at the memory of his being taken away unshod.

The death lists include victims’ names, dates of death, father’s name, occupation, hometown and the charges against them — usually reduced to one word, including “anarchist,” “fundamentalist,” “Maoist,” “Khomeini.”

The chain of events that led to the lists’ discovery began with an asylum request by Amanullah Osman, the head of interrogation for Afghan intelligence in 1978 and 1979, who fled to the Netherlands in 1993. In his asylum interview, according to the prosecutor’s office, Mr. Osman admitted to signing documents concerning people who were to be executed. “That was expected and desired of me,” he said. “If you don’t go along with it, you can never attain such a high position.”

The Dutch denied him asylum but never expelled him, and eventually opened up a war crimes investigation. That led them to a 93-year-old Afghan refugee in Germany who gave them the death lists, which she had gotten from a former United Nations official, Felix Ermacora, who had never released them. Dutch authorities said they were confident of the lists’ authenticity.

The prosecution was dropped in 2012 when Mr. Osman died, and the Dutch decided to release the lists. “The close relatives of the deceased in this case have the right to know the truth about the circumstances of the disappearance and the final fate of their loved ones,” the prosecutor’s office said.

The overwhelming public response in Afghanistan has forced the government to make some acknowledgment, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, a former member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the author of a still-unreleased report on mass graves throughout Afghanistan. But he added that the lists had stirred a fresh wave of concerns among officials.

“The government was afraid as always that this was the beginning of a process, and it will not stop just in this era of the Communists,” Mr. Nadery said. “Those in the government were also involved in the ’90s, and the Taliban also committed similar atrocities.”

One particular target of popular anger is Assadullah Sarwari, Mr. Osman’s boss at the Afghan intelligence agency in 1979, who was initially sentenced to death but later had his sentence reduced to a 19-year prison term.

Shalizai Didar, a former governor of Kunar Province, said 11 people from his family were on the lists, along with 100 people he knows. “We demand from the government to execute Assadullah Sarwari — not only him but also his colleagues.”

“They should all be prosecuted, no exceptions,” he said. “In the name of democracy, Taqat and all those people are just walking free.”

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/world/middleeast/release-of-decades-old-death-lists-stirs-anger-and-grief-in-afghanistan.html?_r=0

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Floods kill at least 30 in Cambodia, thousands have to flee

At least 30 people in Cambodia have died in recent floods caused by heavy rains and the Mekong River overflowing its banks, a disaster relief official said Monday, Sept 30, according to the Associated Press.

Keo Vy of Cambodia's disaster management committee the floods have also forced more than 9,000 families to flee their homes and destroyed nearly 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of rice fields.

He added that nearly 67,000 houses were damaged or submerged, as well as 513 schools, 300 Buddhist pagodas and 25 health centers. Nine of the country's 24 provinces have been affected so far, he said.

Four people died Sunday night when their car drove into a flooded pond in the eastern province of Prey Veng, police said.

The government warned that the rains will continue as Typhoon Wutip headed toward neighboring Vietnam late Monday.

Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated from high-risk areas in central Vietnam, as typhoon Wutip that sank at least two Chinese fishing ships neared the coast. A total of 75 fishermen are missing after three vessels encountered strong winds near the Paracel Islands, according to a statement on the website of the Hainan government in south China. Two of the vessels sank Sunday and contact with the third has been lost, it said. Typhoon Wutip was expected to hit the central coast later Monday with sustained winds of up to 93 miles per hour and gusts up to 125 mph, Vietnam’s weather forecaster said.

Fatalities and dislocations caused by floods are an annual problem for Cambodia at this time of year. About 250 people were killed in 2011 in the worst flooding in a decade, according to the government.

This year's flooding death toll already has exceeded the 14 people reported killed by flooding in the relatively dry year of 2012.

Last week, typhoon Usagi killed at least 25 people in Guangdong province of south China. Winds of up to 180 km/h (110 mph) were recorded in some areas, toppling trees and blowing cars off roads. Its victims drowned or were hit by debris. The storm has affected 3.5 million people on the Chinese mainland.

Earlier in the month, Mexican authorities say 97 people were killed by storms that hit the country. In the village of La Pintada, near the Pacific coast, a landslide partially engulfed the town. At least 15 bodies have been recovered and almost 70 residents were missing. More than 100,000 people were affected.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170645/

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Australia's police DNA database expands to cover disasters

Police investigators across Australia will soon have better access to the federal government’s national DNA database through a powerful new search engine that will allow detectives to match the genetic material of unidentified human remains at crime scenes and disaster sites and establish a possible family connection between individuals.

A tender issued by CrimTrac, which is responsible for developing and maintaining national information sharing services between the state, territory and federal law enforcement jurisdictions, reveals the agency is looking for a supplier to help police forensic labs extend their ability to find genetic matches.

As part of its service to other agencies, CrimTrac hosts the National Criminal Investigation DNA Database (NCIDD), which enables Australian police and authorised bodies to directly match DNA profiles nationally by comparing two DNA profiles to determine if they come from the same person.

Although sometimes controversial, DNA matching is widely regarded as the most significant leap in the forensic science of identification since fingerprinting and because it provides investigators with evidence that is usually hard enough to lead to either a conviction or release of a person accused of a crime.

But aside from justice, DNA evidence can also offer closure.

CrimTrac now wants to expand on its existing DNA skillset by creating a National DNA Investigative Capability (NDIC) which can be used in not only for criminal investigations, but also for disaster victim identification (DVI) and identifying previously unknown human remains.

CrimTrac calls it “kinship matching”, which examines profiles to “establish biological relationships among individuals” and is an approach that will be used in the identification of unidentified human remains across Australia.

If all other investigative leads have been exhausted, investigators will be able to do a search of the national database for potential relatives of the remains using a ‘relative’ index on the national database.

The grim process of identifying human remains at disaster sites like plane crashes or bomb blasts has always been a challenge for investigators because of the risk of misidentifying an individual - making DNA testing an invaluable tool in the absence of fingerprinting or dental record availability.

Testing processes for DNA identification have become easier for investigators through quick acting devices like the DNAscan technology from General Electric, launched in early September 2013.

The gadget is a printer-sized device that claims to reduce DNA identification from a matter of hours to only 85 minutes.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2013/10/01/article/Australias-police-DNA-database-expands-to-cover-disasters/RGRMCICRXJ

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14 fishermen rescued, 2 dead, 58 missing after Typhoon Wutip

Rescuers Tuesday found 14 fishermen alive, retrieved two bodies and are continuing search for 58 others missing in the South China Sea after three fishing boats have sunk since Sunday afternoon due to Typhoon Wutip.

A total of 88 fishermen and their boats, all from south China's Guangdong Province, went missing near Shanhu Island of the Xisha Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan.

Fourteen survivors were rescued Monday.

Zhang Jie, a spokesman with the Hainan Maritime Affairs Bureau, said 22 vessels and four airplanes are still combing the sea area for more survivors.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8415550.html

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Bodies of 13 immigrants wash up on shore of Italy after boat smuggling 200 migrants from Africa runs aground

The bodies of 13 immigrants have washed up on the coast of Sicily after a boat carrying 200 people ran aground as it approached the shore.

When the boat ran into difficulties in rough seas near the coastal town of Scicli this morning, the migrants it was carrying jumped into the sea.

Most made it to shore and ran away, but a number of men were unable to swim strongly enough and drowned.

Rescue boats and divers are now combing the waters looking for more bodies.

Two alleged leaders have been arrested on suspicion of people-trafficking, according to Italian newspapers.

One of the rescue workers said that the Scicli beach was within reach of the migrants at the time, who had travelled packed very closely onto an eight-metre long, cabin-less fishing boat for several days to get this far.

Witnesses say the traffickers showed no qualms about beating the migrants to force them to dive into the water.

According to an initial reconstruction of the events, the coast guard received an emergency phone call around 10 AM from a swimmer on the Scicli beach, who had seen the migrants in the sea after the boat ran aground some 100 metres from the coastline.

Police, carabinieri, and medical teams were mobilised, while three coast guard vessels took off from Pozzallo.

Once at the location of the sighting - San Piei di Modica, a few kilometres from the Scicli beach - they saw some corpses had been washed ashore while others were subsequently recovered a few metres from the shoreline.

The bodies of an overall 13 North African adult males were found. The other migrants had swum to shore only a few moments before, and only a few of them were stopped by the authorities.

Most instead managed to escape on foot. Searches are underway to find them.

One of the alleged smugglers is said to have lashed out at a swimmer who tried to rescue him from the water.

As well as the 13 men who drowned, a number of other immigrants had to be rescued, and several - including a pregnant woman - were taken to hospital for treatment.

One immigrant who tried to escape after reaching the shore was hit by a car on a nearby road and suffered serious injuries.

In addition, 20 children are among the 70 migrants apprehended so far, most of whom came from Eritrea in East Africa, according to Corriere Della Sera.

However, Sicily and surrounding islands are notorious hotspots for immigrants arriving by boats from Tunisia, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa.

The region has also attracted a large number of Syrian immigrants in recent weeks following the continued violence in the country's civil war.

This is not the first time in recent months that illegal migrants making the desperate journey to Italy have drowned on the way.

Last month six Egyptians died after they jumped out of their trawler, thinking they had reached land, while in July seven immigrants drowned while trying to hold on to a fishing cage being towed to shore.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2439311/Bodies-13-immigrants-wash-shore-Italy-boat-smuggling-200-migrants-Africa-runs-aground.html

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2013/09/30/Thirteen-migrants-pushed-boat-off-Sicily-drown_9385317.html

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Mumbai building collapse: confusion over bodies

Several families were unable to identify the bodies of their near and dear ones at JJ Hospital because they had swelled up and unrecognisable. Lack of coordination between the hospital and the cops added to the confusion.

The Jadhavs were not sure whether the body handed over to them was that of their daughter Pallavi (20).

Pallavi was brought in at J J Hospital at 8 pm on Saturday night after which her maternal aunt Reshma Jadhav identified her body and were given her necklace and bracelet after the due process.

The family said that they filled up a form with the police as well as the senior medical officer present at the time.

Reshma said, “I went up to identify the body of Pallavi’s mother Chitra for around 10 minutes and returned to the hospital on Sunday morning to claim Pallavi’s body after the post-mortem was conducted.”

“I learned that another family called the Gaikwads had taken the body and performed the last rites assuming it was their 17-year-old daughter Komal Gaikwad,” she added.

Reshma went to the medical officer after the mix up and was shown the list in which Pallavi’s name was crossed off and instead Komal Gaikwad’s entry was made.

The family then exchanged heated words with hospital officials as to why they handed over the body to the Gaikwad family.

Hospital officials began to run around to confirm the identity of Pallavi after which J J Dean Tatyarao Lahane, ex-corporator Yeshwant Jadhav and BMC union leader Sanjay Baperkar met with the family for around 10 minutes.

The family who had assumed that they were given Komal Gaikwad’s body was taken back to the morgue along with officials after which the Jadhav family were convinced that it was Pallavi.

Yeshwant Jadhav said, “When we calmed the family down and took them to the morgue, they recognised her earrings as well as a ring that Pallavi wore on the middle finger of her left hand.”

Pallavi’s paternal uncle, Suresh Jadhav confirmed the identification, he said, “Yes we saw the body and are convinced that it is Pallavi.”

The 24-hour drama ended at 8 pm on Sunday, the family is awaiting for the body of Pallavi’s brother Sanket who is yet to be identified. Pallavi’s sister Mansi and her mother Chitra were found dead on Saturday evening. The only survivor is her father Chandrashekar Jadhav (50) who was found with minor injuries after 32 hours of the collapse.

Chandrasheakar is also admitted in J J Hospital, but has not been told about the death of his family members, said his brother Suresh Jadhav.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://freepressjournal.in/now-the-bungle-over-bodies/

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Private jet bursts into flames after 'unsurvivable' crash on runway

A private jet has exploded into flames after sliding off the runway in Santa Monica, California, Sunday night in a crash that authorities are calling 'unsurvivable.'

Smoke could been seen billowing high into the sky above the Santa Monica Airport, where the twin-engine Cessna Citation jet crashed into a hanger about Sunday afternoon.

It is unknown how many people were aboard the jet and no fatalities have been confirmed.

However, Santa Monica Fire Captain John Nevandro told reporters 'I was an unsurvivable crash.'

KNBC-TV reports that the plane crashed about 6.20pm Pacific Time.

The plane was landing in Santa Monica en route from Hailey, Idaho, a resort town the boasts celebrity residents like Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.

However, neighbors reported hearing a thunderous boom before the fire started.

Dozens of Twitter users posted pictures of a large cloud of smoke coming from the airport.

The aircraft then caught fire. Firefighters are currently battling the blaze, which sent a cloud of smoke billowing above the city 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The cloud could be seen from miles away, including on Venice Beach.

The plane belongs to Creative Real Estate Exchange LLC, an real estate company whose owner lives in Malibu.

The jet has taken eight flights since September 15.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2438413/Crash-Santa-Monica-Airport-twin-engine-plane-slides-runway-landing.html

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Nigeria boat capsize (update) : 42 bodies recovered

Over 40 persons are feared dead after a boat carrying about 150 traders and wedding guests capsized last Friday in River Niger, about four kilomtres offshore near Malale village in Borgu local government area of Niger State.

The boat was ferrying people from Tungar Na'illo from neighbouring Kebbi State to a local market in Malale, when it hit a stump and broke into two, official of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and locals told Sunday Trust last night. NEMA said further that about 100 persons were still missing as at press time.

At least 42 dead bodies were said to have been recovered from the river, even as search for more bodies was continuing at nightfall yesterday.

Residents said the body of the Village Head of Tungar Na'illo, Malam Garba Maigari, who was in the boat, was also missing in the waters.

One of the men involved in the rescue efforts who was interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service yesterday, said fishing nets had been used to bring out about 16 bodies from the river.

He said the mishap occurred during an attempt by operators to repair the boat's engine, which went off, adding that no government agency had taken part in the rescue operation at the time of the interview.

Most of the passengers were on their way to the market to sell smoked-fish, while others were returning from a wedding ceremony in a neighbouring community in Kebbi State, it was learnt.

The spokesperson of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Malam Ibrahim Hussaini, said the boat's driver, one Dauda Santere Abubakar, and 15 others had survived the accident, adding that the driver had disclosed that only 80 people were onboard at the time the boat sank. However, other persons from the community who spoke variously claimed that the boat was overloaded and suffered from age-related mechanical problems.

Hussaini, earlier told Sunday Trust that details at his disposal were still sketchy, and that "the boat was believed to be carrying over 150 passengers, mostly traders [when it] capsized midway into its journey resulting in the drowning of the passengers."

"Efforts are being made to rescue possible survivors along the bank of the river or [to recover] the corpses of victims that were drowned. At the moment search and rescue is ongoing on the river and I will make the details of the incident available later as the agency has dispatched its officers to assist the villagers in the rescue efforts", he said.

A road safety official, however, told Sunday Trust in Kebbi State that about 30 people were rescued with two bodies of infants floating.

Similarly, an eyewitness, Ibrahim Yauri, told Sunday Trust that the incident occurred around 12 noon and that it took over three hours rescue operation to recover 42 bodies.

Ibrahim said the boat took off from Niger State to Warra when it met its waterloo.

"The boat left Tungan Na-IIlo village in Niger State with traders and those attending a wedding ceremony. The boat broke into two as a result of overload and most of the victims are from Niger State. So far we have recovered about 42 bodies including two babies and many women," he said.

Another witness, Malam Adamu, said the rescue operation was still ongoing at the time of filing this report, "but it is very difficult because of the lack of equipment and adequate manpower."

A former vice chairman of Borgu local government, Saifullah Haruna Umar, told Sunday Trust that over 60 people, including women and children, were believed to have died in the mishap.

Haruna said reports from eyewitnesses had indicated that the ill-fated boat was pierced by a tree stump that was lying on the riverbed, breaking it into two and causing people to drown.

He said apart from carrying passengers beyond its capacity, the boat was equally overloaded with luggage and other personal effects.

"We will want to call on government to clear the river of these deadly stumps which have been causing accidents, especially for canoe riders who are not familiar with the route," he said.

But a source in Borgu Emirate said four bodies were initially removed from the waters on Friday, adding that another 17 were recovered yesterday.

"Some of them tried to swim to shore, but gave up later and died after getting exhausted because of the distance," he said.

"It is too early to know the exact number of people that have drowned at the moment, because most of the bodies will remain under the water until after about two or three days," he added.

He said the boat was old and rickety even before the accident.

It was gathered that though the villagers raised the alarm over the mishap at New Bussa, the local government headquarters, which is about 30 kilometres from Malale district market, effective rescue efforts were too late by the local divers who were mobilized by the local government officials arrived.

The Secretary to the Niger State Government, Saidu Ndako, was also quoted as confirming the boat mishap, saying 42 people had perished "I received the information late in the night that a boat had capsized and 42 persons have drowned in the incident, while rescue operation is ongoing," the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), quoted him as saying.

"We believe that the boat was overloaded because its capacity was put at 60 passengers, but over 150 passengers were said to be on board during the incident. The debris in the swollen river may also have been responsible for the incident," he said.

Meanwhile, the Niger State governor, Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu yesterday commiserated with the families of the victims of the boat mishap.

Aliyu, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, described the accident as disheartening "at a time when government was grappling with the challenges of bettering the lot of the people."

He "urged those involved with water transportation to be more careful, especially during raining season when water level is usually high," the statement said, adding that "the state emergency management agency had since deployed its officials to the scene of the mishap to ascertain the extent of losses incurred with a view to compensate families of the victims."

Monday 30 September 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201309290124.html

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Mexico's disappeared continues to rise

A helicopter with five people on board crashed near Murbad, about 75km from Mumbai, on Sunday morning. All the five, including two pilots, were found dead.

The Bell 212 helicopter took off from Juhu aerodrome at 7.47am for Nagpur via Aurangabad for a refuelling break. The Mumbai ATC took charge of the chopper’s navigation about five nautical miles from Juhu. The helicopter was expected to reach Aurangabad at 9.30am.

Around 9.10am, the ATC’s Aurangabad division informed Mumbai about the loss of contact with the helicopter. The Mumbai ATC immediately launched a search operation along with several agencies.

After a while the Thane police informed the ATC about a chopper crash around 2,000ft above the ground on a hilly terrain in Murbad’s Naneghat area.

The dead were identified as captain SS Bhaduria, co-pilot captain Allen Martin, captain Anshu Matta, engineer Yatin Wakade and technician Dean D’Souza.

“The bodies will be handed over to the families after post-mortems,” NK Balakrishnan, CEO of United Helicharters Pvt Ltd, which owned the helicopter, said.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) officials visited the spot and an investigation is on.

“So far, we suspect the aircraft touched the high tension electric wires and that could have led to the accident,” a senior Mumbai ATC official said.

Aviation industry experts say high tension wires are generally at about 80-100 metres from the ground. And helicopters generally fly in the range of 7,000-15,000 feet above the ground.

They talk of two possibilities: the chopper might have had a faulty altimeter. In that case it would have shown the wrong altitude — a possible reason for the copter touching the high tension wires. Or, the pilot might have tried to land the helicopter because of some mechanical problem.

The search and rescue team found it difficult to reach the crash site because of the hilly terrain and bad weather. The charred bodies were brought down to the plains manually and then taken to the primary health centre in Tokavade, close to Kalyan.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1895746/report-5-dead-in-helicopter-crash-near-murbad

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Typhoon Wutip: Many missing as Chinese boats sink

At least 70 people have been reported missing after a typhoon caused three fishing boats to sink in the South China Sea, Chinese state media say.

Five boats carrying more than 150 people encountered strong winds from Typhoon Wutip on Sunday, Xinhua news agency says citing maritime officials.

A rescue operation is under way and reports say 14 people have been found.

The storm is expected to make landfall in central Vietnam on Monday and thousands have been evacuated there.

The boats ran into strong winds near the Paracel islands, around 330km (200 miles) from China's southern coast, officials were quoted as saying.

Two of the boats, from southern Guangdong province, sank on Sunday, and contact was eventually lost with a third boat, the Associated Press news agency says.

At least 10 ships and six planes are involved in rescue operations. Officials have advised local fishing boats to berth to avoid rough waters.

On Monday, Vietnam was anticipating widespread flooding and landslides - Typhoon Wutip is said to be the most powerful to hit the country this season.

The country's weather forecaster is expecting the typhoon to bring heavy rain and sustained winds of up to 93mph (150km/ph).

More than 40,000 villagers from areas that were expected to be affected by the typhoon have been moved to safety, reports say.

Last week, another typhoon, Usagi, left more than 25 people dead in China and affected tens of thousands of people on the mainland.

The storm hit just as millions were travelling for China's mid-Autumn festival - a national three day holiday when many visit family - leading to cancellations of transportation.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24296117

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33 bodies found in Indonesian boat sinking

Rescuers have found 33 dead bodies and keep searching for dozens of others feared missing after the sinking of an Australian-bound asylum seeker boat off West Java island, Indonesia, on Friday, local rescuer said Monday.

As many as 28 people have been rescued safely by the rescuers, said Maman Padmono, rescuer in charge at West Java Search and Rescue Office.

But he could not confirm the number of missing people. According to information from a local military command, the number of missing people reached 59 among a total of 120 passengers from the Middle East. "The search and rescue is underway now to find scores other missing people,"he told Xinhua by phone from West Java.

Rescue officials, police and military have searched waters along Cianjur coast to find the missing ones, said Maman.

Indonesia has been a favorite transit-point for those from the Middle East or other countries willing to seek asylum in Australia.

The asylum seekers have often risked their lives by making a long journey passing Ocean by boat, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people.

Monday 30 September 2013

http://www.neurope.eu/news/wire/33-bodies-found-indonesian-boat-sinking

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Many still missing in ferry accident

The death toll from the sinking of an Australia-bound asylum seeker boat off Indonesia's main Java island rose to 28 on Sunday, with many more still feared missing, police said.

"We found seven more bodies after sweeping the coast this morning, six adults and a boy," Warsono, police chief in the Agrabinta area of Java, where the boat went down, told AFP.

He said the death toll from the accident was now 28.

But officials fear that many more are still missing after the boat carrying would-be refugees from Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen broke into pieces and sank in rough seas south of Java on Friday.

It was the first deadly asylum boat accident since Tony Abbott became Australia's prime minister earlier this month.

It came ahead of his state visit to Indonesia, which begins Monday, where his tough boatpeople policies are likely to be the focus of talks.

About 20 police, military and search and rescue officials were sweeping the coast around Agrabinta in West Java province in the hunt for survivors or bodies.

Sunday 29 September 2013

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Many-still-missing-in-ferry-accident-20130929

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Rare picture shows priest praying over Titanic victims before they are buried at sea

They were gathered nine days after the 'unsinkable' liner had gone down in the Atlantic Ocean with the loss of 1,512 lives.

And this haunting black and white photograph taken on board one of the body recovery ships following the Titanic disaster shows a mass funeral for dozens of the dead being buried at sea.

The image - which has been discovered a century on from the disaster in 1912 - shows body bags stacked on the windswept deck while two crewman tip up a stretcher to drop a victim over the side.

The ship's priest, the Reverend Hind, is seen conducting the service in front of the solemn crew, who were gathered days after the Titanic had sunk on its journey from Southampton to New York City.

Although the records show that 166 out of 306 bodies retrieved by the Mackay Bennett ship were buried at sea, no images of the macabre event have been seen by the general public until now.

Most of the victims dropped into the Atlantic were believed to have been chosen because they had no means of identification or were third-class passengers and therefore could not afford a funeral.

In the photo - which has a pre-sale estimate of £5,000 - one of the bodies is clearly labelled number 177, which was William Mayo, a 28-year-old London man who was a leading fireman on the ship.

The image has been owned by the family of one of the crew of the Mackay Bennett until now - as they have made it available for auction at Henry Aldridge and Sons Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: ‘Despite the number of bodies buried at sea, visual records of the occasion, such as this photograph, are almost non-existent, even in period publications.

‘This picture blows away the myth that the burials were an orderly and dignified process. You can clearly see the bodies in brown sacks piled up on the deck, with some piled two or three high.

‘The Reverend Hind is seen holding a prayer book looking at two crewman who appear to be tipping up some kind of platform, presumably committing a body into the sea.

‘The Mackay Bennett spent five days retrieving bodies from the wreck site and had to request for a second vessel to join it because there were so many. This photo shows that the deck was pretty much full up with the victims.’

In the aftermath of the Titanic disaster on April 15, 1912, the ship Carpathia picked up more than 700 survivors from lifeboats.

The Mackay Bennet was a Canadian cable laying ship and the owners of the Titanic, White Star Line, contracted it at a rate of £300 a day to recover the bodies.

It left Halifax, Nova Scotia, on April 17 and arrived at the wreck site on April 21.

The crew conducted burials at sea on the evenings of April 21, 22 and 23 and then of the afternoon of April 24, when it is thought the picture was taken.

In an account of the burials, Reverend Hind later wrote: ‘Anyone attending a burial at sea will most surely lose the common impression of the awfulness of a grave in the mighty deep.

Sunday 29 September 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2437189/Rare-picture-Titanic-victims-shows-prayers-said-bodies-buried-sea.html

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Indian officials call off search for bodies in building collapse

Officials in the Indian city of Mumbai have called off their search for more bodies following the collapse of a five-storey apartment building and say the final death toll stands at 60.

Mumbai deputy police commissioner Tanaji Ghadge said all of the 93 people who had been missing were now accounted for.

"The toll has now risen to 60 and we have now called off the search for more bodies in the debris," Mr Ghadge said.

But Alok Avasthy, an official at the National Disaster Response Force, said the death toll may rise depending on whether victims in hospital succumb to their injuries.

Rescuers managed to save 33 people from the building's wreckage in the two-day search.

A male survivor in his 40s was the last to be pulled out from under the twisted iron bars and fallen concrete on Saturday afternoon.

Local officials said 22 families had been housed in the block owned by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai in the city's eastern suburbs.

It collapsed at dawn (local time) on Friday and the cause is still being investigated, but one person has already been arrested.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the arrested man was accused of carrying out faulty and unauthorised renovation at his rented office-cum-warehouse on the ground floor of the building, which is thought to have caused the collapse.

Municipal authorities said that they would bear the cost of treating the injured and that compensation would be paid to the families of the deceased.

Sunday 29 September 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-29/an-india-building-collapse-search-over/4987740

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42 dead, 100 missing in Nigeria river boat accident

A boat overloaded with passengers and goods travelling on the Niger River in central Nigeria has capsized, killing 42 people with 100 others missing, the state rescue agency told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The boat with an estimated 150 people on board "split" in two after setting off from Malilli village in Niger state, said Mohammed Shaba, head of the State Emergency Management Agency.

"As of now, we have lost 42 and 100 are missing," he said of the Friday evening disaster.

Rescue teams were on site, searching the waters for further bodies after what Shaba described as the worst accident to hit the state in recent years.

"We are going to learn a lesson from this," he told AFP.

According to Shaba, the vessel was packed with far too many traders as well as the goods they acquired from a market in Malilli.

While he blamed "overloading" as the primary cause, he also said that high waters on the Niger could have been a contributing factor, following a heavy rainy season in the area.

Nigeria has seen significant flooding in regions across the country in recent years.

The Niger is Africa's third longest river, behind the Nile and the Congo, extending an estimated 4200 kilometres (2600 miles).

The boomerang shaped waterway begins in Guinea, carves north and east through Mali, then back south through Nigeria expelling into the Gulf of Guinea.

Shaba said water levels on parts of the Niger have gotten so dangerously high over the last few years that he has advised people living along the river bank to find a second home where they can stay when the rains peak.

Passenger boats in Nigeria, especially in more remote areas, are often poorly maintained and sometimes incapable of navigating rough waters.

But operators with narrow profit margins typically try to cram on board an excessive number of passengers to boost income.

Boat travel is especially attractive to traders seeking to move goods because of the poor state of Nigeria's roads, which are among the most dangerous in the world.

But boat travel can be equally hazardous, with dozens already killed in Nigeria this year.

In March, nearly 100 people died when a passenger boat that set off from neighbouring Benin capsized off Nigeria's southern Cross Rivers state.

It took days for details of the disaster to emerge and some people survived at sea by clinging to a cooking gas cylinder for several hours.

But the Niger accident could prove to be among the deadliest in Africa in recent years.

In July 2012, a ferry sank in choppy waters as it crossed from mainland Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar, leaving at least 104 people drowned.

In September 2011, more than 200 people perished when the MV Spice Islander, which the authorities admitted was overloaded, sank while sailing between two of the main islands in the Zanzibar archipelago.

Sunday 29 September 2013

http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/africa/40113-nigeria-river-boat-accident

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Mumbai building collapse death toll rises to 42

At least 42 people are now known to have died when a four-storey residential building collapsed in the western Indian city of Mumbai.

Some 33 survivors have so far been pulled from the rubble of Friday's disaster, some with serious injuries.

Between 83 and 89 people were in the building near Dockyard Road in the east of the city when it collapsed.

The collapse is the latest in a series in Mumbai. Poor construction practices have been blamed in earlier incidents.

As rescuers equipped with cranes searched the rubble, a young girl was dragged alive from the the ruins on Friday, nearly 12 hours after the collapse, and a 50-year-old man was pulled out on Saturday with serious injuries.

The cause of the collapse is not yet known.



Municipal employees

"Five members from my family were trapped inside. So far, two have been rescued. I am praying to God others will also come out alive," Preeti Pawar, among crowds of relatives and onlookers outside the ruins, told Reuters news agency.

Rescuers worked for six hours to free the survivor found on Saturday. The man's leg had been crushed by a wall.

Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force, said rescuers had not found signs of life recently but vowed to continue the search.

The building had been home to more than 20 families of employees of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

Officials say the municipality asked the residents to vacate the property earlier this year.

Property prices and rent in Mumbai are among the highest in Asia. Many citizens are forced to live in old, dilapidated properties in a land-scarce city.

More than 100 people have been killed in five building collapses in Mumbai between April and June alone.

And between 2008 and 2012, there were 100 building collapses in the city in which 53 people died and 103 others were injured, authorities say.

Saturday 28 September 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24314133

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