Police scientist wins £500k payout after developing post-traumatic stress disorder from handling bodies in the wake of the Asian tsunami

A police scientist has been awarded almost half a million pounds in compensation after he was left distressed by handling dead bodies after the Asian tsunami a decade ago.

The forensics expert helped identify some of the 230,000 victims of the disaster that engulfed Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand in 2004.

He developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning to the UK.

He felt let down by the police quango that employed him for not providing him with counselling after his harrowing experience.

The man, who has not been named, has been on sick leave for much of the intervening decade while pursuing his compensation claim.

Now he has received a total of £464,000 as part of a deal that will end his employment contract with the police professional body, now known as the College of Policing.

The compensation payment, one of the biggest made to a police worker, was so large that it had to be listed in the Home Office’s annual accounts, published last week.

In the section on losses and special payments, it stated: ‘A compensation payment of £464,000 was paid by the College of Policing in respect of an employee who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.’

The College of Policing, which replaced the man’s former employers, Centrex and the National Policing Improvement Agency, said: ‘In 2005, the Home Office put together a deployment of policing experts to help in the response to the Sri Lankan tsunami.

‘Following a review of the 2005 deployment the College of Policing recognises that there were matters Centrex could have dealt with better, including post-incident support.’

The forensics expert was one of about 60 police officers and civilian staff from the UK who helped out in the aftermath of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean. It is estimated that more than 230,000 people were killed in the Boxing Day disaster.

Sunday 14 June 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2664703/Police-scientist-wins-500k-payout-developing-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-handling-bodies-wake-Asian-tsunami.html

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14 dead in Bulgaria flash floods as rescuers search for missing

Flash floods in Bulgaria have killed at least 14 people, including two children, with others missing after torrential rains lashed the east of the country, authorities said Friday.

The worst hit was the Asparuhovo neighborhood of the Black Sea port city of Varna, where at least 11 people including two children perished, local authorities said.

A 7-year-old child, who said he was with his sister and grandmother when the disaster hit, was rescued and taken to hospital.

Three more victims drowned in the nearby northeastern town of Dobrich and 150 people were evacuated from the lowest part of the town where the water level remained waist-high on Friday evening, an AFP photographer said.

A total of 1,200 tourists, including Germans, Russians and Britons, were evacuated — some via helicopters — from the nearby resort of Albena, resort chief Krasimir Stanev said.

Many Ukrainian children meanwhile remained blocked in their hotel in the village of Kranevo.

Dozens of smashed and piled up cars and uprooted trees littered the narrow mud-splattered streets of the worst-hit Varna neighborhood of Asparuhovo on Friday, leaving parts of the area still impassable.

The normally picturesque hillside quarter was submerged after torrential rain pounded the region on Thursday evening, clogging garbage-filled drainage canals and turning the steep streets into raging torrents.

Many rickety houses were totally destroyed by the water and authorities were unable to say whether their owners had survived even if they found no new victims buried under the ruins.

Electricity was partially restored on Friday except in the worst-affected parts where authorities refrained from switching it on due to safety concerns. Also, bad tap water quality made it unsafe for drinking.

Navy divers continued to search a canal linking Lake Varna to the Black Sea, where all the floodwater drained away, dragging with it cars, furniture, garbage and uprooted trees. Two bodies were recovered from the waters.

Soldiers and 40 prisoners helped to evacuate people throughout the day and clean up the piles of mud and garbage from the streets of Asparuhovo.

Rescue efforts have been hindered as heavy rains and hail storms continued to lash Bulgaria throughout Friday and more floods, even if not as bad, were reported in eastern and central Bulgaria.

Along with Varna and Dobrich, the central city of Veliko Turnovo also declared a state of emergency on Friday.

Forecasters said the situation was set to improve in the coming days, even if they did not exclude more rain.

Sunday 22 June 2014

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/europe/2014/06/22/410675/14-dead.htm

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14 killed in flash floods, landslips

At least 14 people have been killed in two separate incidents of landslide in Gulmi and Pyuthan districts.

Nine members of a family including five children died after their house was swept away by landslides triggered by prolonged rainfall at Anglung-8, Gulmi, on Thursday night.

Police identified the dead as Bhavilal Kunwar, his wife Cheti Kunwar, daughter Juthi Bista, daughter-in-law Sita Kunwar, grandson Chetman and granddaughters Bipana, Bindu, Harikala and Hima. They were buried under the debris of mud and boulders. Police Inspector Rajendra Prasad Shrestha said further details of the incident are awaited.

The disaster site is 54 kilometres from district headquarters Tamghas. The District Administration Office provided Rs 20,000 to the family of each deceased while the District Development Committee gave Rs 10,000.

In Pyuthan, four people, including two minors, died and one went missing on Thursday night when three houses and huts were swept by landslides at Khung VDC Wards No 7 and 8.

Floods swept away three houses and seven cowsheds belonging to Prem Bahadur Giri, Deva Bhandari, Dom Bahadur Giri in the remote VDC. Deva and Dom Bahadur died in the incident. Prem Bahadur’s son Ayush, 2, and 10-month-old daughter Ayusha were also killed. Mana, Prem’s 21-year-old wife was seriously injured. Another person identified as Raju Kunwar, 26, of Khung-7 is missing.

Chief District Officer Ram Bahadur Kurumbang said the rescue team is effortful to recover the bodies. The fatalities are believed to be high as the disaster struck at night.

Saturday 21 June 2014

http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/06/21/fullnews/14-killed-in-flash-floods-landslips/391118.html

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Beas tragedy: 3 more bodies of students found

Three more bodies of engineering students from Hyderabad were recovered from the Beas on Thursday, bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 12. Twelve students and a co-tour guide are still missing and operation is on to search the bodies.

A body, identified as that of M Siva Prakash Verma, was found floating in the Beas at 12.35am. The other two bodies — identified as of Macharla Akhil and Ashish Mantha - one was found at Deod, 3km upstream of Pandoh dam, and another was floating in the dam, officials said.

As the students' parents, who had been camping at Pandoh since June 9, have already left for Hyderabad, Himachal government will send the bodies to their native places for cremation.

Mandi deputy commissioner Devesh Kumar said jawans of armed forces and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are continuing with the search operation. A police official said the bodies had bloated and surfaced on their own. Teams engaged in search operation are searching for the bodies between accident site of Shalanala and Pandoh dam. After high-tech sonar system failed to detect the bodies underwater, teams have decided to wait and let the bodies come on the surface automatically.

Officials said there was a strong possibility of more bodies surfacing in the few next days. As many as 24 students and a co-tour guide were swept away in the Beas when water was released from Larji hydroelectric project without proper warning on June 8.

Friday 20 June 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Beas-tragedy-3-more-bodies-of-students-found/articleshow/36844712.cms

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Mexican officials identify eight bodies from mass grave near Gulf Coast

Aided by people searching for missing relatives, Mexican officials identified on Thursday eight of 31 bodies pulled this week from a clandestine grave uncovered near Mexico´s Gulf Coast.

Mexican marines found the grave Monday on a ranch in Cosamaloapan township in the state of Veracruz. The grave is on a property formerly owned by the late mayor of a nearby town in a region dominated by Mexico's Los Zetas gang.

State officials say some of the bodies had been buried for at least six months. The investigation indicated the victims could be from surrounding communities, the officials said.

The discovery of such graves has punctuated eight years of criminal warfare in Mexico that has killed or left missing some 100,000 people. More than 340 bodies were dug from graves in the backyards of middle class homes in the state capital of western Durango two years ago. In 2011, nearly 200 bodies were recovered from pits in the town of San Fernando, about 90 miles below the South Texas border.

Officials pulled at least 70 bodies from another grave discovered last November near Lake Chapala, a resort area popular with U.S. and Canadian retirees outside the western city of Guadalajara.

This week's discovery lies not far from the oil fields of Veracruz and the neighboring Tabasco state, which Mexican officials hope will be developed by private foreign and Mexican firms. A rail line, over which train-hopping Central American migrants ride en route to the U.S., cuts through the area.

Mexican federal officials say drug-related murders have decreased by some 15% this year, compared with 2013. But critics contend warring drug-cartel rivals seem be opting to hide their victims by burying them secretly or dissolving them in acid.

Friday 20 June 2014

http://online.wsj.com/articles/mexican-officials-identify-eight-bodies-from-mass-grave-near-gulf-coast-1403215623

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14 Bodies Recovered, 63 Rescued, 20 Still Missing In Boat Incident

Fourteen people were drowned in the Sg Air Hitam boat tragedy so far, with the latest casualty a man whose body was fished out near the coast of Westport Klang at 6.30pm.

Kuala Langat OCPD Supt Azman Abdul Razak said the SAR team today recover five bodies, while a couple were rescued.

"The victims were found near the coast of Pantai Morib, Pulau Carey and Pantai Sungai Hitam.

"Out of the 14, 11 were male. So far, we have rescued 63 people, including 12 women.

"We believe that there are still 20 victims missing," he said at the Kuala Langat SAR operation centre.

Azman added that the police have yet to pronounce the missing Indonesians dead as there was still a high chance they could be alive.

The SAR effort was a collaboration between the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Fire and Rescue Department, marine police and Civil Defence Department.

"We have divided the search areas into five zones covering over 25 nautical miles. We may extend the search areas from time to time.

"The search will continue and our core search areas are near the coastal areas," he said.

Azman said no one has come forward to claim the bodies.

He also denied that the capsized boat was carrying smuggled items such as firearms and diesel.

"We have deployed our K-9 unit but so far have yet to find evidence of smuggling. But we know the path is one of the 10 routes frequently used by smugglers and illegal immigrants.”

On Wednesday midnight, a boat carrying 97 Indonesian nationals capsized near Sungai Air Hitam, Kuala Langat.

The boat was believed to be headed to Aceh, Indonesia.

Another boat incident involving 27 Indonesians occured in Sepang earlier today. It was travelling to Tanjung Balai when the incident happened.

Friday 20 June 2014

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/505782-14-bodies-recovered-63-rescued-20-still-missing-in-boat-incident.html

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India: DNA profiling for armed forces by 2020

The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) has set 2020 as the deadline for completing its ambitious project of DNA profiling and creation of a repository of all Indian armed forces personnel.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of living organisms. DNA profiling is accepted as the most-advanced and reliable method of establishing identity of living individuals as well as dead bodies and body remnants.

Knowing the identity of each soldier, especially those deployed in the forward and high-risk areas, is critical in case of deaths in the battlefield or in action. The profiling helps to identify the remains of the soldier.

"So far, we have completed 10% of the project work ever since the new DNA-profiling lab went functional last year in the department of forensic sciences here," AFMC director and commandant Vice Admiral Sushil Kumar said on Wednesday.

Deputy commandant and dean Maj Gen Velu Nair said, "The immediate focus is on the high-risk group such as air force pilots, submariners, naval divers, navy pilots, soldiers posted in high altitudes and glaciers and those in counter-insurgency operations. We have completed profiling of the air force pilots and are now moving in a phased manner to others in the high risk group. The project will eventually cover all personnel from army, air force and navy."

"We had to train our staff at the National Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad and all our collected samples are going to labs in Spain for validation and verification. This is a time-consuming process but, validation is vital as we can't afford any mistakes in profiling of our armed forces personnel. So far, all our samples and findings have proved correct," said Nair.

On the ongoing research related impact of environment on the health of soldiers in high altitudes and the glaciers, he said, "The project is in the last stage and we will publish the results in a medical science journal of international repute in a year's time. Prima facie our studies, over the last two-and-a-half-year, has shown that environment directly is the trigger in 75% cases of health problems suffered by the soldiers."

"We are looking into the genetic and the ethnic part by analyzing our findings to know why it occurs. Also, the idea is to prepare a road map for the army commanders to take a call on reinduction of personnel in the glaciers after a specific period and how much do we compensate them medically," said Nair.

A total of 750 troops were taken from Jammu to higher altitudes above 9,000 ft to go through stages of acclimatization. "In Ladakh region, we actually have been going every quarterly, so far we have made six to seven trips and have checked them out physically and in the labs i.e. testing blood samples at macro and micro (molecular) levels. Later, all 750 troops go turn by turn to the glaciers for 90-day stay and on their return we screen them to look for blood changes. Thereafter, we follow them up for a year to see if they may have got mild blood pressure or a clot in the vein. These are known facts but what we don't know is why it occurs," said Nair.

Profiling Facts

The project, covering over 1.13 million soldiers from Indian Army, will include Indian air force and navy personnel too as per risk and priority factors.

A DNA profiling centre and repository, costing Rs 2.5 crore, was inaugurated at AFMC, Pune in February 2012. The repository has the facility to store blood samples for up to 21 years.

Pilot exercise involving blood samples of 100 soldiers started in November 2012 for standardizing DNA profiling systems.

Full-scale operations were stuck in the medico-legal question of whether DNA profiling will be accepted as evidence in the court of law.

Sanctions from Union ministries of law and health, recognising the authenticity of the DNA extraction and tissue-typing process were then awaited.

New centre finally went functional last year.

Defence Research and Development Organisation has provided expert scientist for the profiling centre.

Thursday 19 June 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/DNA-profiling-for-armed-forces-by-2020/articleshow/36781662.cms

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Manali tragedy: One more body of a student recovered, 16 still missing

One more body of a student was recovered from Beas river on Wednesday eleven days after 25 persons, including 24 students from a Hyderabad engineering college, were swept away in the river.

Nine bodies have been recovered so far and fifteen students, including three girls and co-tour leader Prahlad, are still missing.

The swollen body floating in the river was spotted by rescue team members, who fished it out of the river.

"The swollen body surfaced near the Pandoh dam, about 12 km downstream Beas from the accident spot," Jaideep Singh, commanding officer of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said.

"More bodies, which are in the process of bloating are likely to surface in next two or three days," he said.

Massive search operations, aided by advanced technology, were launched to locate 24 B. Tech students of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, and a tour leader, who were washed away in Beas river on June 8 after sudden release of water from the reservoir of the Larji hydro-power project near Thalot.

Singh said one more body was recovered from the river on Wednesday, but it was not of any of the missing Hyderabad engineering students.

The rescue operations would continue to recover the remaining bodies, he added.

About 600 rescue personnel of NDRF, Army, Police, ITBP and 50 expert divers were engaged in the search along 15-km stretch of Beas river from Thalot to Pandoh Dam.

Thursday 19 June 2014

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/manali-tragedy-one-more-body-of-a-student-recovered-16-still-missing/480213-3-254.html

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Nine bodies found, 27 still missing in Carey Island boat tragedy

A search and rescue team recovered nine bodies that were believed to have drowned while another 27 are still missing when a boat carrying 97 passengers, believed to be Indonesians, capsized about two nautical miles from Sungai Air Hitam, near Carey Island, here.

As of 7pm, 61 passengers have been rescued.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Sani Harul said the nine bodies comprised seven men and two women.

"Their bodies were found floating near the shores while 61 others were rescued. The search and rescue operation will continue, since another 27 have not been accounted for.

"The number may be more or less because there is no record of those on the boat," he told reporters here today adding that the search area had been extended to about five kilometres from the shores of Pantai Sungai Air Hitam.

"The search and rescue operation will continue throughout the night if the weather permits," he said.

Sani said 160 personnel, a helicopter from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and another from the Royal Malaysian Police were involved in the search and rescue operation.

"The search and rescue operation also involves seven fishing boats, five from MMEA, three from the Malaysian Civil Defence Department, three from the Fire and Rescue Department and one from the Marine Police," he said.

The boat carrying 97 passengers was believed to have left the Sungai Judah jetty in Carey Island at about 11pm and capsized about an hour later.

MERS 999 received a distress call at 12.20am and by 3.20am, the Customs at the Jetty Restoran Viking, Jugra found 31 victims and taken in for investigations.

At 10.30am, another 30 were found at Ladang West, Carey Island while the first body was spotted near a dredging vessel in Sungai Langat at 10.55am before another two bodies were found at 2.15pm near Tanjung Rhu and Carey Island.

At 3pm, the fourth body was found in the Carey Island waters while two more bodies were found 10 minutes later near Air Hitam and two hours later another body was found in Tanjung Rhu waters.

Sani said at 6pm another body was found in Tanjung Rhu while the ninth body was found at 6.20pm at Pantai Bangkong, Carey Island.

Meanwhile, Selangor Police Chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat said the boat capsized because it was overloaded.

"The boat which can only ferry 40 passengers had cramped in 97 passengers and headed to Tanjung Balai, Sumatera," he said.

Police will carry out a thorough investigation because it involved elements of human trafficking, he said.

Thursday 19 June 2014

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1047511

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Mass grave containing 28 bodies discovered in eastern Mexico

At least 28 bodies have been recovered from a mass grave in Veracruz, an eastern Mexican state plagued by attacks on migrants and drug cartel violence.

The state government said officials had found the grave on a ranch outside the town of Tres Valles. It said investigators were still excavating the grave, but did not release any more details. A local newspaper reported that marines had found the bodies after spotting vultures on a dirt road.

The area was being guarded by federal and state police forces, while people with missing relatives or friends began arriving at the offices of state authorities in Tres Valles to see if their loved ones were among the victims. Investigators were looking for more bodies on the ranch, which is known as El Diamante.

On Monday, authorities found seven bodies in a grave in the nearby town of Cosamaloapan. Authorities said the victims were all members of one family from Tres Valles.

The Gulf Coast state of Veracruz has suffered years of fighting between the Zetas drug cartel and its rivals. It is also crossed by tens of thousands of Central American migrants heading towards the US each year.

Officials have discovered a series of mass graves around Mexico in recent years, several filled with the bodies of migrants killed by the gangs that control profitable migrant-smuggling routes.

One of the largest single mass graves was discovered in 2010 in Tamaulipas state. It contained the bodies of 72 migrants, who authorities said had been killed by members of the Zetas, angry that the victims had declined to work for the cartel.

Thursday 19 June 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/mass-grave-discovered-eastern-mexico-veracruz

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US army recovers bodies of 1952 crash victims

The remains of about a third of the service members who died when their military transport plane crashed into an Alaska mountain and then was buried for decades in glacier ice have been identified, military officials said Wednesday.

The Department of Defense released the identities of 17 people onboard the C-124 Globemaster, which crashed in 1952, and said the remains will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

The first burial is believed to be planned for Saturday in Caney, Kansas, for Army Pvt. Leonard A. Kittle, said Tonja Anderson-Dell, a Tampa, Florida, woman who has researched the crash for years.

Her interest was stoked about the crash when her grandmother, now deceased, told her details of her grandfather, Isaac Anderson, 21, who died when the plane hit the mountain on Nov. 22, 1952. Anderson-Dell also maintains a Facebook page about the crash and recovery efforts.

The identifications were bittersweet for her because her grandfather wasn't among them.

"He wasn't part of the ones that will be coming home," she told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. "However, I am still happy for the families that are bringing their servicemen home."

The plane from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, was headed to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage when it went down with 52 crew members and passengers aboard.

Efforts to reach the crash site immediately after the crash were halted by bad weather. Days later, a member of the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol, along with a member of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron, landed at a glacier and positively identified the wreckage as the Globemaster.

"In late November and early December 1952, search parties were unable to locate and recover any of the service members," the Department of Defense said in a statement.

The civil air patrol member was Terris Moore, president of the University of Alaska. He later told reporters the plane "obviously was flying at full speed" when it hit Mount Gannett, sliding down the snow-covered cliffs, exploding and disintegrating over 2 or 3 acres, according to an Associated Press story from the time.

The heavy transport plane with 41 passengers and 11 crew members became buried in snow and likely churned beneath the surface of the glacier for decades. The Alaska National Guard discovered the wreckage in June 2012 on Colony Glacier, about 40 miles east of Anchorage.

An eight-man Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recovered materials such as a life-support system from the wreckage and possible bones from the glacier two summers ago, and took the evidence to the command's lab in Hawaii for analysis. Last year, additional artifacts were visible.

Military officials said in a release that the remaining 35 service members have not yet been recovered from the wreckage, and the site will be monitored for possible future recovery efforts. Further details were not immediately available from a military spokeswoman who didn't return a message to The Associated Press.

Anderson-Dell said it is her understanding the military will continue to fly over the area to see if the glacier has given up any additional material from the wreckage.

Thursday 19 June 2014

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-identifies-17-killed-in-1952-alaska-crash/

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18 bodies retrieved from Tokroanu boat disaster

total of 18 bodies have been retrieved from the Volta Lake following a boat accident that occurred near Tokroanu in the Krachi-East district last Saturday.

Ten bodies were retrieved on Saturday, June 14 whilst eight of them were retrieved on Monday, June 16.

Twenty-three of the passengers on board were rescued with nine bodies still missing and yet to be found in the lake.

According to the Krachi-East District Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Jordan Quaye, 10 bodies were retrieved on Saturday, June 14, with eight retrieved on Monday, June 16.

He disclosed that 19 adults and four children were rescued after the disaster struck last Saturday.

The dead bodies have been deposited at the Worawora Evangelical Presbyterian hospital.

A total number of 50, comprising 30 adults and 20 children were on board when the boat struck a tree stump and capsized.

They were said to be travelling from Ayafi-Battor to Kissiekope near Tokroanu when the accident occurred.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

http://www.gbcghana.com/1.1761114

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8 people dead, 28 missing as boat carrying Indonesians sinks off Malaysia; 61 survivors found

An overcrowded wooden boat carrying Indonesians home in a storm sank in choppy seas off Malaysia's west coast early Wednesday, leaving 28 people missing and eight dead, Malaysian officials said. At least 61 people survived.

The boat capsized shortly after midnight about 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometres) from shore on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur while trying to leave Malaysia illegally for Aceh province in Indonesia, maritime agency official Mohamad Hambali Yaakup said.

Tens of thousands of Indonesians work without legal permits in plantations and other industries in Malaysia, and they travel between the countries by crossing the narrow Strait of Malacca, often in poorly equipped boats.

The passengers in the boat that sank were believed to be heading home before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hambali said survivors were rescued at sea and found on land after swimming to safety; they included 12 women and a child. Those dead were a woman and seven men, he added.

The survivors were being questioned by police and immigration authorities, and Indonesian embassy officials were also on the scene. A rescue department photo showed about two dozen survivors, who had little belongings with them, sitting outside a building.

Hambali said a ship and several boats with search lights will continue to search for further survivors throughout the night. A helicopter, which earlier scoured the sea, will stop for the night and resume searching Thursday, he said.

Rescuers were seen recovering a body from sea, laying the dead onto a boat desk and carrying a body on land in Pantai Kelanang, near the sinking.

Police Superintendent Azman Abdul Razak said 100 personnel were involved in the rescue effort.

Hambali said authorities are still investigating why the boat sank but rough seas and an overloaded boat could have been factors. It could also have hit an object as some survivors claimed the boat was leaking, he said. Police told local media the boat capsized during a storm.

He said chances of survival for more than 24 hours without a life vest were very slim.

The boat's capacity was 50-60 people, but it was believed to be carrying 97. Hambali said some survivors may have swum to shore and gone into hiding.

Such incidents are common in Malaysia, which has up to 2 million Indonesian migrants. Many sneak into neighbouring Malaysia for menial work such as plantation or construction workers and return home on boats believed to be old and unsafe.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/world_news/article_9e004efe-da5c-52f9-b4a1-18048f8cd522.html

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At least 20 die in bus accident in Venezuela

At least 20 people were killed and 10 others injured Monday when a bus ran off the road and struck a tree in the central state of Miranda, Venezuelan authorities said.

"Up to now we have the unfortunate number of 20 people killed and 10 people injured - we're waiting for the list identifying these people," the emergency management services director of Miranda, Victor Lira, said on Union Radio.

Lira said the accident occurred around 4:30 a.m. when the driver of the bus coming from the western city of Barquisimeto lost control and "hit the highway's dividing strip and then collided with a fixed object, a tree," for causes as yet unknown.

He said that fire rescue personnel worked from the early hours of the morning at the scene of the accident, located according to media accounts on the expressway between Caracas and Valencia, to free a number of people who were trapped in the wreckage.

Traffic remained blocked for several hours on the expressway, Venezuela's main east-west route.

This was one of the worst accidents to occur in Venezuela, where a number of collisions with multiple fatalities have taken place in recent years.

In July 2013, 16 people died and 33 were injured when a truck and a bus crashed in the central state of Guarico, while in April 2012 a collision of buses near the eastern city of Barcelona left 14 dead and 22 injured.

Monday 16 June 2014

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/06/16/at-least-20-die-in-bus-accident-in-venezuela/

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11 tourists killed, 45 injured in Himachal bus accident

At least 11 tourists were killed and 45 others injured when a private bus skidded off the road and rolled down a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district Monday evening, police said.

A majority of the tourists were from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said the toll could increase as some more passengers might be trapped in the bus wreckage.

The bus carried around 60 tourists and was on its way from Renuka to Paonta Sahib in the hill state.

It met with the accident near Madhara Ghat, some 15 km from Renuka and 50 km from district headquarters Nahan, Assistant Superintendent of Police B.S. Thakur told IANS.

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, he said over phone from the spot.

The injured were admitted to government hospitals in Nahan, Paonta Sahib and Dadhau.

Witnesses said police had a tough time extricating the bodies from the mangled steel of the bus.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed shock and grief over the accident and directed the district administration to take all possible measures to rescue the victims and provide them adequate relief.

Monday 16 June 2014

http://odishasuntimes.com/63601/11-tourists-killed-45-injured-himachal-bus-accident/

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17 more skeletons found near Kedarnath valley

A special task force (STF), comprising 22 members, recovered 17 more skeletons from the Jungle Chatti and Rambara forest areas near the Kedarnath valley in Rudrapryag district on Sunday, just four days after 17 were recovered.

The team, led by DIG G S Martolia and Ajay Kotiyal from the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Mountaineering Institute, recovered nine skeletons from the Jungle Chatti area and eight from the Rambara area. They are believed to be of people who panicked and ran to higher regions for refuge during the flash floods in June last year.

The intensive combing operation was launched on Wednesday.

Members of the STF told TOI since the exact number of those who went missing and were killed during the disaster could not be ascertained, the possibility of recovering even more skeletons from the forest areas between Gaurikund to Kedarnath cannot be ruled out. "Our combing operation is on and will continue till all skeletons are found," said DIG G S Martolia.

An STF officer added that the skeletons were cremated after their teeth were sent to the Dehradun forensic laboratory for DNA and other related tests to ascertain their identities.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led Harish Rawat government in the state has constituted an 18-member combined task force, headed by IPS officer Sanjay Gunjyal, to intensify efforts through a 20-day long search operation for more skeletons in the region. "This new task force will help recover more skeletons from the region within the next couple of days," said chief secretary Subhash Kumar.

A combined search team had recovered about 350 rotten bodies from places in high altitudes two months after the catastrophe in the Kedarnath valley in mid-June last year. The bodies were cremated post DNA tests.

Monday 16 June 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/17-more-skeletons-found-near-Kedarnath-valley/articleshow/36619114.cms

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The many would-be immigrants missing in the Mediterranean Sea

Every year tens of thousands of people leave poor, war-torn countries to seek better fortunes in Europe. Many risk dangerous sea voyages for the chance to improve their lives, but a huge percentage die as a result.

The number of fatalities is horrific enough, but what’s even worse is that their bodies are often not recovered.

Some who are trying to reach Europe from Africa, the Middle East or Asia do so by land via Turkey, but the majority braves the waters, often with deadly consequences.

Between 2000 and 2013, an estimated 23,000 men, women and children died trying to reach the continent. Most were drowning victims.

That number of fatalities is horrific enough, but what’s even worse is that their bodies are often not recovered, their deaths go undocumented and their families are never notified.

Journalists and activists alarmed by the trend formed a team to conduct the broadest study to date on migration deaths, gathering data and cross-referencing public and non-governmental records. The result? “The Migrant Files,” an interactive online database and map that detail Europe-bound migrant deaths.

And the trend is growing more deadly each year. According to Danielle Grasso, who worked on “The Migrant Files,” one out of every 200 people who tried reaching Greece and Turkey by boat in 2010 died — and by 2012, the number had jumped to one out of every 30 people. Stronger anti-immigration policies in Europe, coupled with tighter land border controls between Greece and Turkey, have helped boost the popularity of these dangerous sea routes.

Despite the high human cost, this issue only grabs headlines if a large boat sinks as it did last October, when 360 would-be emigrants perished off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost territory.

The waters surrounding this small island have seen nearly 4,500 hundred deaths since 2000. Locals are making great efforts to help the thousands who do make it to shore — so much so that Lampedusa was a 2014 Nobel Peace Price nominee for “showing a unique ability to express empathy and solidarity.”

Following the October tragedy, the EU vowed to take action. “The European Union cannot accept that thousands of people die at its borders,” said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

Two months later, the EU launched EUROSUR, a new approach to patrolling Europe’s external borders, focused on intelligence gathering and faster information exchange between agencies, that aims to stem the tide of illegal immigrants while “reducing the death toll by rescuing more lives at sea.”

So far, no member state or European body has come up with a way to quantify the exact number of migrants killed in transit.

But there’s a clear tension between the EU’s vow to save lives and its commitment to stop the flow of people. After all, strong border control is partly what pushes migrants to risk their lives at sea in the first place.

So far, no member state or European body has come up with a way to quantify the exact number of migrants killed in transit. Frontex, the European agency in charge of border control, collects statistics on “lives saved” by European rescue missions — but not on lives lost.

Countries of origin are also trying to stop their citizens from embarking on perilous journeys by coordinating with Europe. At a recent EU-Africa summit, European and African leaders drew up a plan to facilitate legal immigration, promote economic development and fight the traffickers.

While both continents do what they can to stem the tide of people setting off on treacherous journeys, thousands of families in countries like Morocco, Syria, Senegal and Nigeria will forever wonder whether their loved ones found better lives in Europe — or died trying.

Monday 16 June 2014

http://www.ozy.com/acumen/the-many-would-be-immigrants-missing-in-the-mediterranean-sea/32039.article

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High-tech equipment fails to locate missing bodies in Beas

The massive search operations to trace bodies of Hyderabad engineering students yielded no result on Sunday, even as high-tech echo sounder device and remote sensing equipments were used to scan the Beas riverbed. The search operation began at 6am.

The rescue teams deployed a sides can SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) to capture the images of the riverbed.

“The device showed good images but no bodies could be located,” said Jaideep Singh, commandant national disaster response force (NDRF), adding, the bodies were probably buried under thick layer of silt.

Lt Comnd of Indian Navy Hydrographers Bhoj Raj and PO Ratheesh scanned a stretch of 10 km from Pandoh Dam to the upstream using the device. The device was able to locate two carcasses but they were of some animals.

The search operation was carried out in two phases, scanning 5 km stretch each time. The rescue teams involving over 600 personnel of NDRF, Shastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo- Tibet Border Police (ITBP), Navy, Army and state police had recovered eight bodies in the first four days of the search operation.

However, there is no significant headway since then as no bodies have been traced in the last three days. A special search operation to trace the bodies by drying up the Beas, by closing the sluice gates of Larji and Parbati- III power project on Saturday, also proved unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, a seven members team of Banglore- based Geokno India Private Ltd, led by manager Sunder Raj, also joined the search operation and had deployed its underwater light detection and ranging (LiDAR) to trace the bodies.

The team has scanned more than 5-km stretch from Pandoh reservoir to upstream to get the images of the riverbed and the data collected would be analysed later.

At least 25 persons, including students of Hyderabadbased engineering college were swept away in the Beas River at Thalout near Mandi on June 8.

Monday 16 June 2014

http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/chandigarh/high-tech-equipment-fails-to-locate-missing-bodies-in-beas/article1-1229924.aspx

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Rescuers found bodies of seven miners in Donetsk region, 2 missing

Rescuers have found bodies of seven workers who died in an explosion in a mine near the city of Kirovsk (the Donetsk region), Ukraine’s emergency situations service reported on Friday.

Two miners are missing, the service says. The search and rescue operation is underway.

The explosion occurred at night on June 12 at the depth of 300 meters, where nine miners were working.

A colliery explosion occurred in the town of Kirovskoye, the Donetsk Region of Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The agency specifies that nine miners stayed down at the moment of the explosion. Their fate is unknown.

It is reported that the gas-air mixture burst at 3:39 am (4:39 am Moscow time) on 12 June at the depth of 300 metres. No fire outbreak followed.

Operations in the mine have been currently suspended.

Friday 13 June 2014

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_06_13/Bodies-of-seven-miners-found-in-Donetsk-region-5459/

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12 bodies still missing in S Korea ferry disaster

The rescue team searching for bodies inside South Korea’s sunken ferry has made no progress for finding 12 bodies still trapped within the ship.

Twelve bodies are still missing, out of which four are believed to be trapped in the third and eight in the fourth decks.

The last body was found on Sunday, bringing the number of victims to 292.

Rescue forces, including navy, coast guard and civilian divers, hoped to find the remaining bodies more quickly after removing the debris from the hull.

It is also expected that bad weather and strong underwater currents further impede the search in next days.

The lack of a common understanding among different groups engaged in the search operation has led to the withdrawal of some civilian divers, adding to the concerns of family members of those missing.

"There had been some misunderstanding among different players, but we are trying to close the gap. And all divers are now joining again and doing their best to find the missing," an official said.

The ferry capsized off South Korea’s southern coast while carrying 476 people, out of which 325 were students from a high school in the city of Ansan, just south of the capital, Seoul.

The government has faced widespread disapproval for its handling of the disaster and the rescue effort. Critics say valuable time was wasted during the first emergency call from a passenger to the coast guard office.

Friday 13 June 2014

http://en.apa.az/xeber_12_bodies_still_missing_in_s_korea_ferry_212646.html

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