AirAsia flight QZ8501: four more bodies recovered from wreckage

Four more bodies were recovered from the wreckage of AirAsia flight 8501 on Saturday but Indonesian salvage teams failed to raise the fuselage of the crashed passenger jet from the sea bed.

Rescuers workers managed to lift the fuselage of the jet nearly to the water’s surface before it sank to the ocean floor again when the lifting balloons deflated, in a setback in the effort to recover more of the victims’ remains.

Divers were struggling with strong current and poor visibility to prepare to retrieve the 30-metre-long wreckage, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, the operations chief at the National Search and Rescue Agency.

“We now need additional balloons,” Supriyadi said after Saturday’s setback.

He added that the cockpit was reported to be about 500 metres from the fuselage at a depth of 30 metres and that the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot might be inside. “Divers would evacuate [them] if they are there,” he said.

Divers were able to enter the main section of the plane, which crashed in the Java Sea last month, for the first time on Friday and retrieved six bodies.

A total of 69 bodies have now been recovered from Flight 8501, which crashed on 28 December with 162 people on board while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, to Singapore.

Poor weather for the past week had prevented salvage workers from reaching the main part of the Airbus A320-200 since its location was determined earlier this month.

Passengers’ belongings including milk cartons, hair rollers and an iPhone with headphones still attached, as well as aircraft parts such as seat cushions and tables, floated out as the fuselage was being lifted, according to one report.

Detritus including wires and seats floating inside the fuselage stopped divers from entering the main section to find more bodies on Friday.

“The divers said it was dark inside, the seats were floating about and the wires were like a tangled yarn,” Supriyadi said.

Rescue officials hoped that more bodies could be retrieved when the fuselage had been raised.

The plane’s black boxes – the cockpit voice and flight data recorders – were recovered last week, and were being analysed by investigators and Airbus advisers.

Indonesian transport minister Ignasius Jonan said this week that the plane climbed unusually fast before stalling and plunging into the sea.

Moments before the plane disappeared from radar screens, the pilot had asked to climb to avoid a major storm but was not immediately granted permission due to heavy air traffic in the area.

Tatang Kurniadi, head of Indonesia’s national transportation safety committee, has ruled out sabotage and said a preliminary report was expected to be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation next week.

A full analysis of what went wrong could take up to a year, he added.

Sunday 25 January 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/24/airasia-flight-qz8501-four-bodies-wreckage-java-sea

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Disaster exposes Mutoko nightmare

The incessant torrents washed away bridges in the area and turned mostly dusty roads into gorges, locking the people of this area away from the rest of the world. Up to now, the bridges remain unrepaired while the roads are virtually inaccessible.

For those who live across the Nyamuzizi River, they have to cross the murky waters risking drowning and being attacked by crocodiles.

“We employ the services of some men who help carry us across rivers but at a price,” said Georgina Muswerota from Johane village.

The river daredevils charge a fee of US$5 for a single passage across the river. “If you have luggage the fee goes up,” she said.

Another villager, Aleck Chimanga said the worst affected were schoolchildren who were being forced to miss school many times because of the flooded river. The bridge at the river was swept away by storms three years ago.

“Children at times do not go to school, especially those who attend Chisambiro and Kapondoro schools. It becomes too dangerous for them,” he said with concern etched on his weathered face.

During the burial of victims of some of the Harare-Nyamapanda road accident which claimed 26 people mostly from that area, relatives had to use cattle-drawn scotchcarts to ferry the bodies of their loved ones across the river.

“We were lucky that it has not rained for the past few days otherwise it could have been difficult to get the bodies across,” said a villager.

As a result of the bad roads, all but one public transporter, the Zupco bus on which many villagers perished in the accident, have withdrawn their services.

“We have to wake up at 4am and cross the river then walk all the way to the shops where we catch the bus. If you miss it, then you have to try another day,” said Michael Karonda.

The villagers also blamed the large number of people who died in the recent accident on the inadequate transport.

“If there were many buses people would not have all been on one bus,” said Alfonse Siwetu, a brother to Vengai Chinyama who lost his wife and three children in the accident.

The district administrator for Mutoko, Cephas Mudavanhu said he was aware of the problem.

“We have embarked on a project to rehabilitate and upgrade the roads,” he said.

Chief Mutoko (Philemon Nyachoto) said the roads needed attention as a matter of urgency.

“We are aware that the government has no money but the roads should be improved,” he said.

The Standard last week experienced firsthand the transport nightmare that the villagers live with every day. The news crew had gone to report on the burial of the four members of the same family who were killed in the Zupco bus disaster.

We negotiated our vehicle over collapsed bridges which will certainly flood quickly should there be a heavy downpour. Because the normal route is no longer in use, we had to make several detours and by the time we finally got to Chisambiro Business Centre, I had lost all sense of direction.

Crossing Nyamuzizi River on foot was no easy feat, especially after plodding through a dense forest with tree branches hanging over the small footpath.

Clambering down the river bank was another challenge. The steep edges were dotted with smooth rocks which were so slippery we literally crawled on all fours to get to the base of the river.

On our way out of the river we met a villager who was coming from the funeral who told us it had taken her an hour to get to the homestead from the river. It was already getting dark and there was no doubt therefore that we had to cross the river in the darkness of the night if we had to make our way back to Harare.

Determined to cut the hour to at least 30 minutes, we dragged our weary bodies up the river bank and once again were plunged into another jungle with thistles and the same jagged footpath.

After more than an hour, we finally got to the Chinyamas just in time to catch the last fading light. The return trip in the dark was more than a nightmare.

Sunday 25 January 2015

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2015/01/25/disaster-exposes-mutoko-nightmare/

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To keep planes from disappearing, NTSB urges constant tracking

In a response to recent incidents in which large commercial airliners have vanished into oceans, the National Transportation Safety Board is calling for new regulations requiring all passenger planes that fly over large bodies of water to be equipped with more sophisticated flight tracking technologies.

The NTSB recommendations come less than two weeks before international aviation authorities meet in Montreal to debate new flight tracking standards, in the wake of the disappearance on March 8 of a Malaysia Airlines jet.

Aviation authorities believe MH flight 370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, turned dramatically off its course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and crashed somewhere in the south Indian Ocean. Searchers aided by 26 countries have analyzed and mapped 41,000 km of ocean floor, but still, no wreckage has been found.

To prevent such difficult searches in the future, the NTSB recommends planes be equipped with tamper-resistant devices that transmit a plane's location every minute via satellite.

The NTSB is also recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration also require all commercial airlines to equip every plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders, the co-called "black boxes," with low-frequency underwater beacons with strong signals that are more easily detected by searchers.

The NTSB also wants the FAA to require longer lasting batteries on the beacons, so that signals can be detected for at least 90 days after a crash. Currently, batteries are required to last at least 30 days.

"Technology has reached a point where we shouldn't have to search hundreds of miles of ocean floor in a frantic race to find these valuable boxes," said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher Hart in a statement. "In this day and age, lost aircraft should be a thing of the past."

Among the other recommendations from the government agency that investigates plane crashes and other transportation disasters in the U. S., is that flight data and voice recorders, be designed so that they cannot be disabled. Among the theories in the disappearance of MH 370 is that a member of the flight crew or someone else in the cockpit disabled the devices before the plane veered off-course.

The NTSB also wants cockpit video recorders required on all planes, so that images of the cockpit in the last several minutes before an incident can be preserved.

NTSB investigators have been recommending video recorders for 15 years, citing a number of incidents in which pictures of the controls or video of the pilots' actions could have helped clarify what may have caused a crash.

But airline pilots unions have opposed video recorders in the cockpit, citing privacy concerns, and saying that that video images could be misinterpreted and misused.

Air Line Pilots Association President Tim Canoll calls the recommendation for cockpit video recorders "a premature overreaction ... that will not improve safety and could, in fact, impede it by diverting limited resources that could be used for more valuable safety enhancements."

And while the technology exists for the other NTSB recommendations, some airlines may balk at the cost of purchasing, installing and implementing such systems.

The NTSB recommendations go far beyond what an airline industry task force is recommending. Industry leaders and global regulators gather in Montreal next month for a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a agency of the United Nations, to debate and possibly adopt new worldwide standards for tracking passenger flights.

Saturday 24 January 2015

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jan/22/to-keep-planes-from-disappearing-ntsb-urges/

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Road accident in Arunachal Pradesh kills at least 11 labourers

At least eleven labourers were killed on Friday and several others got seriously injured, including three critically, when a vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Sessa along Bhalukpong-Tawang road of Arunachal Pradesh.

The incident occurred at 3.5 kms from Sessa when the driver of the vehicle failed to negotiate a sharp curve due to poor visibility and fell into the 150-feet-deep-gorge this afternoon, SP A Koan said.

While ten people died on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries at Bhalukpong while he was being taken to Tezpur in neighbouring Assam along with three others, he said.

The vehicle was on its way to Nafra in West Kameng district from Bhalukpong. While all the bodies have been retrieved, the vehicle could not be lifted, the SP said.

On 19 January last, 4 persons were killed near the same spot when their vehicle fell into a deep gorge.

Saturday 24 January 2015

http://www.firstpost.com/india/road-accident-arunachal-pradesh-kills-least-11-labourers-critically-injures-three-2061593.html

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60 years on - eyewitness remembers Birmingham's worst train crash

Birmingham's worst train disaster happened on a wintry afternoon at Sutton Coldfield railway station 60 years ago.

On January 23, 1955, an express train carrying around 300 passengers derailed on a sharp bend shortly after 4pm.

Seventeen people, including the train crew, died and a further 25 were injured.

The train had rocketed towards the station at speeds of up to 60mph – twice the speed limit – with devastating results.

Stan Brown, a council lorry driver, was called in to help set up a temporary morgue to deal with the volume of bodies being taken from the wreckage.

“My wife Jean and I were walking down the Parade when we saw a fire engine come by and all the fireman had black faces,” says Stan, now 82 and from Sutton Coldfield.

“The next thing I knew my boss came and took me to the railway station.

“There I saw the terrible tragedy.”

The sight he beheld must have been horrendous.

The train had collided with platforms and nine out of the 10 carriages had derailed.

The first carriage was crushed between the engine and the second carriage.

Another was knocked into the air, causing it to drag along the station roof.

Seven bodies, including those of the two drivers, were trapped inside the train.



Stan, who was 22 at the time, recalls: “Dr Preston, the medical officer, was there as was the surveyor Mr Porter. There were half a dozen chaps helping.

“We went to Riland Road where there was a council yard depot shed we used to store the lorries, steam rollers and salt for the roads.

“The floor was greasy so we covered it with tarpaulin and put sheets up to the windows so people couldn’t see inside.”

Forty ambulances from across the Midlands were sent to the scene along with a mobile surgical unit from Birmingham Accident Hospital, 25 fire crews and 50 extra police officers.

Extra help was also provided by RAF servicemen who were based at Whitemore Common.

“I remember the ambulances carrying the bodies in,” says Stan, who has two children and four grandchildren.

“Then, once the bodies were cleaned up, we laid them out for their families to come and see them.

“We were there for two days. We couldn’t believe how many bodies there were.”

Stan had served with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers for three years in Germany, having been called up for national service as a driver.

“Even though I’d been in the army, I’d never seen a dead body before,” says Stan.

“But everyone was just doing anything they could to help.

“Arthur Anenborough, the ticket collector, had been travelling in the last coach that derailed. He ran to the signal box and managed to avert a further disaster.

“A lady who lived nearby could see what was happening and ran to stop another train from coming down the track.

“The trouble was the train had been travelling too fast. It had exceeded the speed limit and come off the rails. If it had travelled 10 yards more, it would have reached Park Road where there’s a 300-500ft drop onto the road below.

“It’s hard to come to terms with something like that but you just live every day the best you can.”

A passenger called Mr W Forrest, from South Shields, who had been travelling to Coventry and was in the fifth coach.

“The train had been swaying from side to side,” he told the Birmingham Mail at the time.

“Suddenly, there was a terrific rending noise and we were all thrown in a heap.

“Some of us were thrown up and struck the roof.”

The train was the 12.15 from York to Bristol via Sheffield, Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Birmingham, and it had been diverted from its usual route because of engineering works.

Most of the injured went to Sutton Coldfield Hospital, with Birmingham General and the accident hospital also taking casualties.

Although excessive speed was the major factor in the accident, the exact cause was never fully established.

It seems likely the driver knew he was exceeding the speed limit but did not realise the extent of the danger.

One theory was that he thought the train was running late and was making up time, another that there was a gradient to climb after the station which he thought was best approached at full speed.

The steam locomotive, like most at that time, was not fitted with a speedometer.

Following the tragedy, lineside speed restrictions were universally adopted and the Government announced a multi-million pound modernisation plan for the railways.

This included a £210 million programme to improve track and signalling.

Wolverhampton Wanderers player Bobby Thomson had been due to take the train that derailed in Sutton Coldfield that fateful day.

In his book, The Real Bobby Dazzler, he wrote: “Little did Cullis know that seven of his players were due to take that train.

“One of those was me. The others were Colin Tether, Dick Calvert, Harry Middleton, Stan Round, Cyril Bevan and Geoff Sidebottom.

“Cullis called a meeting for the Sunday and we travelled back on the Saturday instead.”

It was a decision that probably saved their lives.

So, could an accident like this happen today?

“It is much less likely,” says Sim Harris, managing editor of Railnews.

“The railways in Britain are now protected by a system called TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System). If a train is travelling too fast, the driver is warned. If the warning is disregarded for more than a few seconds, the brakes are applied.

“The next generation of signalling and train protection, the European Rail Traffic Management System, is now being tested. This includes various visual warnings if the permitted speed is exceeded at any time and, as with TPWS, the system takes over and stops the train if it is travelling too fast or does not have authority to proceed.”

MAJOR RAIL DISASTERS OVER THE LAST 60 YEARS

November 5, 1967 – 49 dead after commuter train derailed near Hither Green, South-east London

February 28, 1975 – 43 killed in Moorgate Tube crash, the cause of which remains a mystery

November 23, 1984 – London tube fire traps hundreds – thought to be started by a cigarette

September 19, 1986 – 75 injured and driver dead following collision at Colwich Junction near Rugeley, Staffordshire

November 18, 1987 – 31 dead after Kings Cross Station fire, which began in machine room under a wooden escalator

December 12, 1988 – 35 dead in Clapham rail collision following wiring errors made by an overworked rail worker

October 5, 1999 – 38 people died in Paddington rail crash, resulting in a public inquiry into high speed train safety

October 17, 2000 – Four dead in Hatfield rail crash caused by a cracked rail

February 28, 2001 – Ten people died in Selby rail crash after the driver fell asleep at the wheel

May 10, 2002 – Seven killed in Potters Bar rail crash after the train derailed at high speed

Saturday 24 January 2015

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/60-years---eyewitness-remembers-8489949

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At least 14 people killed in highway accident in Mexico

At least 14 people died and 19 others were injured Thursday when a bus collided with a freight truck in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, authorities said.

The accident happened before dawn on the road connecting Ciudad Obregon with Guaymas, the state coordinator for emergency services, Carlos Jesus Arias, told Efe.

"So far there are 14 people dead," the official said, adding that the injured were taken to two hospitals in Ciudad Obregon.

The bodies recovered at the scene "are completely burnt" and will be difficult to identify, Arias said.

The crash was apparently caused by an attempt by the driver of the bus, en route to the border metropolis of Tijuana, to pass a cantaloupe-laden truck on a bridge, he said.

Some of the 19 injured survivors are in critical condition, authorities said.

Saturday 24 January 2015

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/01/22/at-least-14-people-killed-in-highway-accident-in-mexico/

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Indonesian divers find 6 bodies in fuselage of crashed AirAsia jet

For the first time, Indonesian divers were able Friday to enter the fuselage of the AirAsia jetliner that crashed last month into the Java Sea and retrieved six bodies, an official said.

The operations chief at the National Search and Rescue Agency, Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, said the divers spotted some more bodies inside the fuselage.

"Today we have evacuated six bodies from inside the fuselage," Supriyadi said. "Some other bodies are still there but their position among other debris made it difficult for our divers."

A total of 65 bodies have now been recovered from AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed Dec. 28 with 162 people on board while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, to Singapore. Authorities believe many of the other bodies are still inside the fuselage.

Rescuers have been struggling with strong currents and poor visibility in an attempt to lift the fuselage of the Airbus A320 and what appears to be the plane's cockpit from the seabed at a depth of 100 feet.

Bad weather is a suspected factor in the crash. The pilots asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied permission by air traffic controllers because of heavy air traffic.

Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan told Parliament earlier this week that radar data showed the plane was climbing at an abnormally high rate, then dropped rapidly and disappeared. No distress signal was sent.

Officials of the National Transportation Safety Committee have ruled out sabotage. Investigators are analyzing data from the aircraft's cockpit voice and flight data recorders with advisers from Airbus, the plane's manufacturer.

The head of the transportation safety committee, Tatang Kurniadi, said a preliminary report on the accident is expected to be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization next week.

He said a full analysis of what went wrong with the plane could take up to a year.

Saturday 24 January 2014

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2015/01/22/divers-resume-work-as-java-sea-waves-ease.html

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Highway accident: Forensic experts complete collection of DNA samples

A team of the National Forensic Science Agency of the National Police Bureau has collected the samples of the victims of the tragic accident on Kathore Link Road and their heirs for the DNA identification process.

At least 62 people were burned alive on the Shikarpur-bound Geo al-Shoaib Coach that had started its journey from Karachi. The overcrowded bus caught fire following a collision with a tanker at around midnight on January 11. As the bodies were charred beyond recognition, the authorities had decided to conduct DNA tests to identify the victims before handing the bodies over to the heirs.

The police investigators had later decided to summon the experts from the facility in Islamabad to collect the samples in Karachi, instead of sending them to the laboratory.

The team arrived in Karachi on Monday, after which the police approached the victims’ heirs again for the collection of blood samples. The DNA experts accepted the samples from the remains of the victims collected by the doctors at the hospital, but the blood samples of the relatives were not accepted as most belonged to distant relatives.

The DNA experts had asked that the parents or children’s blood samples be obtained. “Subsequently, we approached the parents or children of the victims for resampling,” explained Investigations SP Malik Altaf. “Only one victim’s family is left now as his father is currently imprisoned at the Sukkur Jail.”

The officer said that the jail authorities have been asked to collect his sample. He added that the experts have assured the police that they will submit the DNA test reports within two weeks.

Thursday 22 January 2015

http://tribune.com.pk/story/825405/highway-accident-forensic-experts-complete-collection-of-dna-samples/

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AirAsia Flight 8501: Five more bodies found, divers might reach the wreckage

Divers found five bodies of passengers of AirAsia Flight 8501 belted to their seats near the plane’s fuselage in the Java Sea on Thursday, an Indonesian official said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Rough seas and strong currents have hampered the search efforts for several days.

Three bodies have been retrieved from the sea, while two are yet to be recovered, bringing the total number of bodies found to 58 as of Thursday morning. Officials said they are optimistic that divers would now reach the fuselage where several bodies of passengers are expected to be trapped. The Airbus A320-200 went missing on its way to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, on Dec. 28 with 162 people on board, and crashed after the pilot requested for a change of course to avoid unfavorable weather.

"Our divers found five bodies buried in mud, close to the plane fuselage. They were still belted to their seats," Suryadi B. Supriyadi, director of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told AFP. "We believe they spilled out of the fuselage, which is 50 to 100 meters away."

Over the past several days, weather had reduced visibility underwater to only 2 meters, making it difficult for divers to reach the fuselage for inspection. However, an improvement in weather on Thursday is expected to help move the search forward.

"But it is a bright, clear day so we remain optimistic that the divers might reach the wreckage today (Thursday)," Supriyadi reportedly said.

The fuselage, which rests at a depth of about 92 feet on the sea floor, was found last week after a search of the shallow waters. The jet’s flight data recorders were also recovered last week and are being analyzed by investigators in Jakarta to help determine the cause of the crash.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said Tuesday that the plane had made an abnormally steep climb before stalling and crashing into the Java Sea.

Thursday 22 January 2015

http://www.ibtimes.com/airasia-flight-8501-bodies-strapped-seats-found-buried-mud-divers-might-reach-1791012

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Fire in shop-house kills eight in South Sulawesi, DVI team identifies victims

A fire gutted a shop in Sungguminasa, Gowa regency, South Sulawesi, early on Tuesday, killing eight people, six of whom died from burn injuries while two died from inhaling toxic fumes.

According to Gowa Fire Department member Abdul Rahim, firefighters found one intact body on the first floor, while the seven remaining victims were found separately on the second floor of the shop.

“We found two bodies hugging each other in a bathroom,” said Rahim.

The bodies were recovered after the fire was brought under control at 5:30 a.m. local time and were immediately taken to Syekh Yusuf General Hospital in Gowa.

At Tuesday noon, members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit at the South Sulawesi Police headquarters identified seven of the victims and handed their bodies over to their relatives for burial. Most of them hailed from outside Gowa regency.

Another eight people suffered fractures they sustained when fleeing the flames. Some of them leaped from the second floor of the building, while others ran through the flames.

The shop owner, his wife and other two children were among the eight injured victims, while the others were his niece and nephew and two nannies. They are currently being treated at Grestelina Hospital in Makassar.

Based on information gathered at the scene on Tuesday, the fire broke out on the first floor of the shop, which comprised four shop-houses. The fire quickly spread to the second floor where electronic goods and furniture were sold.

Wednesday 21 January 2015

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/21/fire-ravages-shop-house-kills-eight-south-sulawesi.html

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Zimbabwe: 9 more bus crash victims identified

Police have identified nine more people who died during Sunday’s horrific crash along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway, bringing to 25 the number of victims who have been identified so far. The other one is yet to be identified.

Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday said six survivors of the accident were still admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital.

On Monday, there were 13 who were admitted and seven of them were discharged yesterday.

“As the Zimbabwe Republic Police, we continue to appeal to the motoring public to exercise extreme caution on the roads, avoid speeding and the use of defective vehicles,” Snr Asst Comm Charamba said.

Meanwhile, 17 bodies were on Monday collected for burial by relatives. Most of them were taken to Mutoko.

The bodies were at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals mortuary and by yesterday only nine were still to be collected.

Mutoko East legislator Ricky Mawere yesterday said most of the victims were from his constituency.

He confirmed that the relatives had collected the bodies for burial.

Sunday’s horror crash — which claimed 26 lives and left 45 people injured — was declared a State of Disaster, paving the way for bereaved families to receive State assistance for burial of the victims.

This was disclosed by Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday.

Twenty-four of the victims died on the spot, one on the way to hospital and the other at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Monday, bringing the death toll to 26.

The affected families received a coffin, US$200 each and transport from the Government.

Mnangagwa urged road users to exercise extreme caution on the road bearing in mind that public transport should not be a danger to human lives.

The Zupco bus heading for Mutoko and the Pioneer bus travelling to Harare side-swiped along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile the opposition MDC-T said it joined “the families of the deceased and the entire nation in mourning the tragic and unnecessary loss of life that continues to wreck havoc on the country’s dilapidated highways.”

“Over the years, the Zanu PF regime has been neglecting the country’s roads and highways resulting in the virtual collapse of our tarred road network. As a result of this perennial neglect, there is virtually no tarred road in the whole of Zimbabwe that is not littered with huge and dangerous potholes.

The country’s highways have been converted into death traps on which thousands of commuters lose their lives year in and year out,” the party said.

The party also condemned the Zanu PF regime’s plans to introduce 32 more tollgates in the country’s roads “at a time the Zimbabwe national Roads Authority (ZINARA) is bogged down by chronic mismanagement and unprecedented corruption leading to a massive pilfering of the money that is collected from the country’s existing tollgates.”

Wednesday 21 January 2015

http://nehandaradio.com/2015/01/21/9-crash-victims-identified/

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DNA tests fail to identify charred bodies in search for 43 missing Mexican students

Mexican prosecutors said Tuesday that an Austrian forensics lab has been unable to find any more DNA that could be used by conventional means to identify charred remains that might be those of 42 missing college students, but said they have authorised a final, unconventional effort.

The Attorney General’s Office said the University of Innsbruck reported that “excessive heat” damaged the mitochondrial DNA in fragments of teeth and bones, “at least to the point that normal methods cannot be used to successfully analyse them.”

Failure to positively identify the remains would be a setback for the government, which has struggled with widespread, often violent protests demanding that the students be returned alive, and with relatives’ scepticism about the official belief they are dead.

The University had previously found DNA in the remains that belonged to one of the 43 students who were detained and disappeared in the southern state of Guerrero in September. Prosecutors say the students were turned over to a drug gang that killed them and then incinerated their bodies on a fuel-fed pyre, before crushing the charred remains and them in a river.

Authorities sent only 16 sets of remains to Austria, saying the rest were so badly deteriorated there was no chance of identifying them.

The university has offered to use one last technique to identify the remains, but says there is a risk the testing may destroy the samples without obtaining any useful information.

That technique is known as massively parallel sequencing, which uses many computers in coordination to perform a task.

The university said it expected the testing to take another three months, but could not give an exact date for results.

“The main risk is that the DNA extracted may be destroyed “without yielding any usable results, prosecutors cited the university as saying.

Prosecutors said, however, they had authorised the new round of testing.

Vidulfo Rosales, a lawyer representing families of the missing teachers college students, said prosecutors should have consulted the families of the missing students before making that decision.

“If these tests are done on the bone fragments, there could be practically nothing left,” Rosales told local media. “This is going to have an impact on the parents’ belief system. ... In rural tradition, mourning is highly symbolic, highly important.”

The Austrian forensics team is considered a world specialist in identifying damaged remains through DNA testing. In 2004, the lab reconstructed DNA profiles of victims of a tsunami in South Asia whose bodies had been decomposing in extreme heat and humidity.

The students went missing Sept. 26 after confrontations with police in the Guerrero state city of Iguala in which three students and three bystanders were killed. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam has said they were attacked by police on orders of Iguala’s then mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, who has since been detained after going into hiding.

The police and Abarca allegedly had ties to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang. Police allegedly turned the students over to Guerreros Unidos gunmen, who took them to a local dump, killed them and stacked their bodies on a pyre and used diesel, wood and old tires to burn them.

Authorities are holding more than 70 people in the case, which also forced the governor of Guerrero to resign.

Wednesday 21 January 2015

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1688342/dna-tests-fail-identify-charred-bodies-search-43-missing-mexican-students

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AirAsia QZ8501: Search agency confirms recovery of 53 remains

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Indonesia has confirmed having recovered a total 53 remains.

Of the number, 45 had been identified by the team from the Disaster Victim Identification, Police Department Indonesia (DVI POLRI).

AirAsia in the statement here said eight other remains were in the process of being identified.

"The DVI POLRI announced that there is no identification release today. The DVI POLRI team is currently gathering more DNA evidence on the remaining passengers," said the statement.

The statement said Basarnas was able to recover more debris such as passenger windows, seats and other interior parts believed to be from AirAsia QZ8501.

The search and recovery mission continued today as divers began to descend in the Java Sea floor to observe the fuselage wreckage this morning.

However the floating mission continued to be hampered by high waves and adverse weather conditions. AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501, carrying 162 people on board, went down on Dec 28 after losing contact with air traffic control on its way from Surabaya, to Singapore.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/01/19/air-asia-53-bodies-confirmed/

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Bones, ashes at Liberia crematorium a reminder of Ebola trauma

The furnace has been extinguished at a crematorium for victims of the deadly Ebola virus near Liberia's capital Monrovia but a row of barrels filled with ash and charred bone are a reminder of the darkest days of the outbreak.

The seven barrels containing human remains are lined against a black wall. A sheet of paper taped to each says the date the bodies were incinerated but there is no way of identifying them. Small piles of ash lie scattered at other places on the site.

Authorities believe they are close to beating the Ebola virus in this poor West African nation, which together with neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone bore the brunt of the worst outbreak on record of the disease.

More than 3,500 people died of Ebola here over the past 10 months but now there are just 10 confirmed cases according to the government, which hopes that figure may fall to zero by the end of next month.

With the worst seemingly past, Liberia is gradually starting to deal with the loss, but for many people it is hard to properly mourn loved ones whose bodies may never be recovered.

Burial plays an important part in West African culture - with mourners often touching the corpse at funerals - in an intimate and spiritual farewell to their loved ones.

Dehmietay Dehmie, head of the volunteers who operated the crematorium, believes he burned the bodies of his three sisters, who died from Ebola, but has no idea where their ashes now lie.

"They were brought here but I could not recognise them because bodies are brought in body bags," said Dehmie, who - like other members of the cremation team in Boys Town - has been ostracised by the local community.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government decided to start mass cremation at the height of the epidemic in August after scores of people contracted Ebola at traditional burials.

The disease - which has no known cure - is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of the infected and mourners were exposing themselves to high risks of contracting the virus.

The decision received the backing of Medecins Sans Frontieres - the medical charity that took the lead in fighting Ebola - which provided the incinerator for the Boys Town site.

It sent shockwaves through communities, with some families interring their dead themselves rather than see them cremated. Nonetheless, the government says it helped to bring the outbreak under control in Liberia more swiftly than neighbouring Sierra Leone and Guinea - which did not take such action.

"Cremation is not our culture. It was due to necessity that we had to cremate people, but it worked very well," said Assistant Minister of Health, Tolbert Nyensuwah, the head of the government's Ebola taskforce.

With specialised teams trained in safe burial techniques to prevent infection, victims are now being interred in a 50-acre cemetery by the highway to the Roberts International Airport.

The ashes of victims at the crematorium will be transferred to the cemetery at a special ceremony, Nyensuwah said.

Residents of Boys Town - a coastal area 20 km southeast of Monrovia - want compensation for health risks, emotional trauma and social stigma after hundreds of victims were burnt at the crematorium, which stood largely unused since Liberia's brutal 1989-2003 civil war.

"We were not consulted," said spokesman Tibelrosa Tarponweh. He said armed police arrived on Aug. 2, sealed off the crematorium and started delivering corpses: "They intimidated us into submission."

"How can anyone feel witnessing on a daily basis the bodies of fellow citizens dumped and burned, and the smoke of their remains streaking our air and our homes?" he asked.

No-one knows exactly how many people were burned here, but the crematorium team say hundreds of bodies passed through between August and December, when the incinerator was shut down. An MSF spokesman said that the volume of bodies was so high it was impossible to identify them individually.

"We hope the government will dispose of the ashes in a dignified way, for instance with a memorial where the names of all the victims could be engraved," Yann Libessart said.

Estalla Nelson, speaking at a memorial service for her cousin Alexander Anderson who died of Ebola, said cremation could prolong the trauma for families.

"It is going to linger in the minds of people that your loved one died and you could not see the body," she said.

The government is discussing compensation with the community. The toll has been heaviest on 28 men who volunteered at the crematorium and say they have been ostracised by residents.

"People take us not to be normal humans .... People are threatening to chase us out of the community," said J.T. Josiah. "We have been sleeping here in the crematorium."

Tuesday 20 January 2015

http://www.trust.org/item/20150118121151-gempq/?source=dpagehead

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Handheld Biometrics Deployed To Indonesia In Aid of AirAsia Victim Identification

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went missing on December 28, 2014, enroute from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The fight was found shortly after, having crashed into the waters south of Borneo and killed all 162 passengers.

In the effort to identify the fallen victims of this latest major airline disaster, Indonesia’s Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (INAFIS) has been employed with the various Disaster Victim Identification teams. Using a number of technologies including the Trident handheld reader from Credence ID – which is using the Mobile Automatic Multi-Biometric Identification System (MAMBIS) – the disaster response teams are hoping to match the victims’ traits with photos, names and addresses.

According to law enforcement officials from Indonesia, MAMBIS can produce 100 percent matches on victims whose fingerprints have not been damaged, while offering 60 percent accuracy with damaged samples. Over 50 percent of the AirAsia victims have been identified using the Trident device, bringing peace of mind to the mourning families affected by the disaster. Those victims who require other methods of identification, such as X-Ray or DNA matching, will take a significantly longer time to positively match to records.

Underneath the tragedy and ensuing investigation efforts related to the AirAsia crash is the thankful fact that Indonesia benefits from an extremely comprehensive national ID database that includes the biographic and biometric data of nearly every one of the country’s 250 million plus citizens. A national registry, in tragic times like this, is helping identify bodies at a very fast pace thanks to mobile biometric readers like the Trident.

The Trident handheld device, which can enroll and match face, fingerprint and iris biometrics, is used all around the world. In August, Credence ID announced that it won contracts in Mexico and Guatemala to aid in managing the identities of prison populations.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

http://mobileidworld.com/biometrics-deployed-to-indonesia-in-aid-of-airasia-victim-identification-1193/

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India: Centre to create DNA bank of unidentified bodies

Every year, about 40,000 unidentified bodies are disposed of even as thousands go missing across the country. Is there a link between unidentified bodies and missing persons?

The Centre on Monday responded positively to a PIL by NGO Lokniti Foundation and said it has drafted a bill for creating DNA data bank of all unidentified bodies to help find possible link between missing persons and unidentified bodies.

The NGO, through advocate Ashok Dhamija, had suggested keeping DNA profile of the bodies before their disposal to help break the news of the death to families waiting for their missing near and dear ones.

Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Neeraj Kishan Kaul said an expert committee appointed by the department of biotechnology had examined privacy-related issues in the draft 'Human DNA Profiling Bill" and suggested several categories of such profiling, which included the category of unidentified bodies.

"By international standards, one DNA examiner can undertake 100 cases per year. Therefore, India would require 400 DNA examiners (for 40,000 bodies) to do the job. It is financially very resource intensive as on an average, at current costs, it requires Rs 20,000 per case. The cost of identifying 40,000 unidentified bodies would require Rs 80 crore per year. In addition, the overhead cost of salaries and other expenses for keeping 400 DNA examiners and support employees would have to be taken into account," the Centre said.

At present, India has 30-40 DNA examiners in forensic laboratories for 1.2 billion population against an estimated requirement of around 800-1,000 such examiners, it conceded.

"Therefore, it is necessary to set up large number of DNA testing units with skilled personnel who are capable of handling forensic DNA testing for keeping data bank of unidentified bodies," the Centre said.

Dhamija had earlier argued that unidentified bodies could be because of serious crimes. "Since the bodies cannot be identified using traditional methods, the perpetrators of the possible crime remain untraced and the families to which the victims belong never come to know about the fate of their relatives," he said.

"DNA profiling of unidentified bodies can help match the missing persons. In addition, DNA profiling of missing persons could help trace them and reunite several who had either been missing or kidnapped as children and forced into prostitution, bonded labour or even those who have turned mentally unstable," he added.

The petitioner said that though the government had been considering a proposal for DNA profiling of unidentified bodies since 2007, no decision was taken yet. As per data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, number of unidentified bodies recovered and inquest conducted were 37,282 in 2007, 37,668 in 2008, 34,902 in 2009, 33,857 in 2010 and 37,193 in 2011.

In 2011, the highest number of unidentified bodies was recovered in Maharashtra (6,313), followed by Tamil Nadu (4,479), Uttar Pradesh (4,084), West Bengal (3,704), Delhi (2,748), Andhra Pradesh (2,639), Karnataka (2,440), Gujarat (2,099), Madhya Pradesh (1,191), Rajasthan (1,170), Haryana (1,159) and Punjab (1,004).

The petitioner said, "One of the main reasons for large number of bodies remaining unidentified is that people freely move from one part to another in search of work and members of poor families have no means to keep in touch with their near and dear ones. It becomes difficult for the local police to identify persons who have no local connection and who have died without anyone complaining of death caused by any mischief."

It said 11,846, 13,586 and 13,268 people went missing in Delhi alone in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. In Andhra Pradesh, 47,936 people went missing during 2009-12 and in Gujarat, another 37,395 were reported missing during 2007-11.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-to-create-DNA-bank-of-unidentified-bodies/articleshow/45948126.cms

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AirAsia Flight 8501: More Bodies Found In Java Sea

High waves and strong currents continue to hamper recovery operations of the fuselage of AirAsia Flight 8501 in the Java Sea, officials said Monday. Indonesian Navy divers on Sunday were unable to access the main body, where most of the victims’ bodies are believed to be trapped.

Suryadi B. Supriyadi, director of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, reportedly said that a team of 15 divers attempted to reach the fuselage, which rests at a depth of about 92 feet on the sea floor, to examine and calculate its weight, but failed to do so due to unfavorable weather conditions. Survey vessels have so far located at least nine big objects, including the jet’s fuselage, while authorities also believe some of them belong to the jet’s cockpit. However, divers reportedly need to be deployed to verify the objects.

“BASARNAS assured that the search and recovery mission of QZ8501 passengers still becomes the main priority as it is suspected that more passengers might be still trapped under the wreckage,” AirAsia Indonesia said, in a statement.

Two more bodies were recovered Sunday from near the location of the fuselage bringing the total number of victims retrieved to 53, of which 45 have been identified so far.

The Disaster Victim Identification Police Department of Republic of Indonesia said that the team is collecting DNA samples to identify the six bodies that had been recovered earlier.

Meanwhile, investigators in Jakarta are still analyzing the flight data recorders, which could help determine the cause of the crash.

The Airbus A320-200 went down with 162 people on board on Dec. 28 after the pilot requested a change of course to avoid bad weather. It was the last known communication from the plane, which was flying to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia. Singapore Disaster Victim Identification team return from mission The Singapore Disaster Victim Identification team returned yesterday (Jan 18) after more than two weeks in Surabaya.

The team, comprising eight police officers and two forensic experts, worked closely with their Indonesian counterparts.

Yesterday, after first being welcomed by Commissioner of Police Hoong Wee Teck, the returning team were greeting by family members at a small reception at Changi Airport Terminal 2.

The head of the DVI team shared some of the duties which were conducted when they processed bodies that arrived Pangkalan Bun in Kalimantan.

Duties included collecting fingerprints, DNA samples, dental records, as well as other information like finding out from the next of kin what the victims were wearing before boarding flight QZ8501.

The head of the DVI delegation, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sekher Warrier, said: "We went there to assist the Indonesians during this difficult period and we were helping them to bring closure and comfort to the families of the victims."

Monday 19 January 2015

http://www.ibtimes.com/airasia-flight-8501-fuselage-recovery-hampered-due-strong-currents-more-bodies-found-1787160

http://www.tnp.sg/news/airasia-qz8501-singapore-disaster-victim-identification-team-return-mission-help-bring-closure

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Cockroaches with backpacks? They're a search-and-rescue team

A swarm of insects could one day be the most reassuring sight imaginable to someone trapped in a collapsed building. That’s because researchers at N.C. State are developing technology that equips cockroaches to enter disaster areas and send back information for search-and-rescue missions.

“You may be someone who hates the cockroach, but it could be the cockroach that saves you one day,” said Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at N.C. State who has written two papers on the work.These enhanced insects – dubbed biobots or cyborgs – have been developed by Bozkurt and others over the past eight years.

Working initially with moths and, later, cockroaches, the scientists equipped the insects to pick up sounds too distant or faint to be heard outside the rubble.“They carry little backpacks with a small microphone and radio,” Bozkurt said.

“With the two-way radio, they can transmit sound to the outside and also receive commands.”Another facet of the technology allows the insects also to send signals to one another. “It’s a neighbor-to-neighbor interaction that allows someone to build a map,” explained Edgar Lobaton, a robotics engineer and assistant professor in NCSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“These little agents move around and continuously communicate with each other by sending out radio signals. We are learning to take this information, put it in a computer, and create a map of the area.”Because GPS systems usually don’t penetrate concrete and steel, signals emitted by the cockroaches could be extremely important in clearing disaster sites, Bozkurt said.

Steering the insects

To conduct the studies, the scientists attach to cockroaches’ bodies a small platform, which carries the electronic transmission devices. The researchers then control roaches by sending electronic pulses to their antennae.

Their tendency to swarm – with many cockroaches following the behavior of a few – helps scientists keep the deployed insects within certain parameters.“They use their antennae in a tactile manner, like a blind person (might use a cane),” Bozkurt said. “If there’s a wall, the cockroach will follow along by dragging their antennae along the wall.

The idea is if these biobots can detect tunnels or small passages and send back that information, you can find multiple ways between the victim and the first responders.

”Because cockroaches lack pain receptors, the electronic impulses don’t harm them, and the backpacks are removed once the experiment ends, Bozkurt added.Another development has been creation of an “invisible fence” to help corral the insects.

Between 20 and 100 cockroaches at a time have been deployed in these experiments.Bozkurt said he began the work almost eight years ago, with moths.“As a professor, I led a team of graduate students interfacing electronic devices with the insects to steer them from point A to point B.” However, controlling the flying insects posed a difficulty, Bozkurt said. “You have to tether them.

And any disturbance is likely to bring them down.”The cockroach – in particular the large, wingless Madagascar species – was more adaptable to the lab experiments. “Cockroaches come in different sizes; some are small and some are large enough to carry larger payloads,” he said. “And they come with different speeds.

Some are fast, but others are slow enough that we are able to control them. And they are available. ”In addition, Bozkurt said, the work is a good way to demonstrate the value of insects: “Insects play an important role in our ecosystem.”

The work is carried out by three teams at NCSU led by Bozkurt, Lobaton and Mihail Sichitiu, an associate professor of engineering.

It is funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation CyberPhysical Systems Program.

Roachlike robots

While Bozkurt is running lab experiments with real cockroaches and Lobaton is developing cyborg mapping capabilities, Sichitiu is experimenting with “robots that act like cockroaches,” Bozkurt said. Sichitiu’s robots with wheels of 6 to 8 inches may be deployed on flat surfaces.

Eventually, scientists hope to program robots to mimic insects, climbing walls and investigating small spaces. Bozkurt admits he has special admiration for cockroaches and spiders.

“The majority of people hate them, but as engineers, we are amazed by their structure, and when we try to build insectlike robots, it’s very difficult.

Although millions have been spent, we still don’t have a robot that can act like an insect. It’s much more complicated than your smartphone. They deserve some respect.”

Monday 19 January 2015

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/01/18/4479215/nc-state-team-pioneers-backpack.html

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Zimbabwe: 24 perish in bus disaster

Twenty-four people died while 46 others were seriously injured when two buses were involved in a side-swipe at the 35km peg along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road Sunday morning.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the accident occurred when a Harare-bound Pioneer bus, owned by Unifreight, encroached into the lane of a Zupco bus which was travelling in the opposite direction.

“46 people were seriously injured and taken to Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals. Police are still verifying the number of passengers who were in the two buses,” Charamba said.

“We urge motorists to avoid speeding and drive on the correct side of the road. They should pay attention and be observant whilst moving on the road.”

When NewsDay arrived at the scene, the wreckage of the Pioneer bus was already being towed away while police and workers from the surrounding farms were loading corpses into a Unifreight lorry. Workers from former Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs minister Ray Kaukonde’s farm were helping in retrieving the bodies from the buses.

Kaukonde’s farm, Pagejora Rubie, is close to the accident scene.

“If both the bus drivers were not speeding, maybe the accident could not have happened. The Unifreight bus driver was moving on the white line making it difficult for our driver to avoid him,” said a crash survivor, Patrick Murehwa, who was on the Zupco bus.

Another Zupco passenger, Thomas Matowo, who escaped without injuries, also said their driver was speeding.

“I was not hurt since I was at the back. I managed to pull out three other passengers,” Matowo said.

Blessing Katena from Epworth, who was travelling to Kapandaro in Mutoko, said she escaped unscathed together with her four-year-old son.

“The Unifreight bus driver encroached into our lane and we suspect he might have fallen asleep and lost control of the bus,” Katena said. Most of the casualties were on the Zupco bus which was extensively damaged with the driver said to be among the deceased.

Last August, another Zupco bus side-swiped a haulage truck 13km from the same spot and killed 13 people.

Monday 19 January 2015

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/01/19/updated-24-perish-bus-disaster/

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Rescuers resume operation to recover fuselage of crashed AirAsia plane from Java Sea

Rescuers resumed on Monday an operation to recover the fuselage of the crashed AirAsia passenger plane from the seabed of the Java Sea.

The operation to recover the largest chunk of the crashed aircraft began last week, but was obstructed by poor weather conditions in the region.

Rescuers believe that most of the bodies will be found in the fuselage of the plane. As of now, only 51 bodies out of total 162 people on board of the passenger jet were found.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared from radar screens on December 28 about 40 minutes after its departure from Indonesia's second largest city of Surabaya to Singapore and crashed in the area off Kalimantan (Borneo) Island.

The jet was carrying 155 passengers and seven crewmembers, nationals from six countries (155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Briton, one Malaysian, one Singaporean and a Frenchman).

Rescuers have found the black boxes, but specialists decline to name the reasons for the crash as flight data is still being decoded.

Singapore ends search

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on Sunday officially ended its deployment in the multinational search operation for the AirAsia plane, which crashed in the Java Sea December 28, with 162 people on board, the SAF said in a press release.

The Singapore Navy ship MV Swift Rescue, which found the fuselage of the ill-fated plane, returned to the Changi Naval Base Sunday morning, Xinhua reported, citing the SAF.

Singapore’s Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen along with senior SAF officers, received MV Swift Rescue at the naval base, and a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the accident.

Ng praised the contributions of those who took part in the search operation.

“Our SAF servicemen and women gave their best efforts for the search operations,” he said, adding that “their efforts helped bring closure to the families of the victims and provide answers to the cause of the accident”.

The cockpit voice recorder, a part of the black box of the crashed plane, was retrieved Tuesday from the Java sea floor and the main section of the fuselage of the aircraft was located Wednesday.

Rescue teams have so far recovered 48 bodies out of the 162 people who were aboard the aircraft.

The return of MV Swift Rescue marked the end of SAF’s 22-day deployment, in which more than 400 personnel, two C-130 aircrafts, two Super Puma helicopters, five navy ships, and a six-man Autonomous Underwater Vehicle team assisted in the search operations, SAF said.

Monday 19 January 2015

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/singapore-ends-search-for-crashed-airasia-flight/article6799289.ece

http://itar-tass.com/en/world/771862

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