Coal mine accident kills 15

CHANGSHA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen miners were killed, and three others injured, following a mine-car crash Thursday morning in central China's Hunan province, local authorities said.

The accident happened around 12:30 a.m. in the Nanyang township of the Leiyang city, after six cars of an eight-car carriage carrying 18 miners unhooked and plunged into a tunnel rapidly in the Hongfa Coal Mine, according to the Hunan Provincial Administration of Coal Mine Safety.

The 15 were killed instantly in the crash, while the other three were injured after jumping or being thrown out of the car, according to rescuers.

An initial probe found that the miners had violated safety rules by riding in the mine cars, which are designed to transport coal only. Police have taken custody of the coal mine's managers.

Hongfa Coal Mine is a licensed coal mine.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/16/c_131413504.htm

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Inmate Blamed For 'Nightmare' Prison Blaze

A fire that killed at least 358 people at a Honduras prison was started deliberately by one of the inmates, according to a local politician.

Paola Castro, the governor of Comayagua, said: "One inmate got in touch with me just after 11pm to say another inmate had set fire to the prison in block number 6, presumably by setting fire to a mattress."

I only saw flames, and when we got out, they were being burned, up against the bars, they were stuck to them.

She called the Red Cross and the fire brigade after receiving the phone call on Tuesday but they were unable to enter the prison for 30 minutes because guards believed they were dealing with a riot or an attempted breakout.

Survivors told investigators that an unidentified inmate had set fire to his bedding after officials had earlier suggested that it was sparked by a short circuit.

The blaze spread through the locked barracks within minutes.

Inmates described how they climbed walls to break the sheet metal roofing and escape, only to see prisoners in other cell blocks being burned alive. Some were found stuck to the prison's metal roofing, their burned bodies fused to the metal.

"I only saw flames, and when we got out, they were being burned, up against the bars, they were stuck to them," said Eladio Chicas, 40, who was in his 15th year of a 39-year sentence.

"It was something horrible," he said. "This is a nightmare."

Honduran forensic workers remove burnt inmates from prison

Inmates were unable to escape as the fire spread through the locked barracks in minutes

In the block where the fire was started only four of the 105 prisoners housed there survived, Supreme Court Justice Richard Ordonez, who is leading the investigation, said.

Inmates' bodies were found piled up in the prison's bathrooms, where they apparently fled to turn on the showers and hope the water would save them from the flames.

Many victims were so charred, officials said they would need to use dental records and DNA to identify them.

The prison in the central town of Comayagua, 53 miles north of the capital Tegucigalpa was built in the 1940s for 400 inmates but was packed with more than double that number.

There were only 12 guards on duty when the fire broke out, state prosecutor German Enamorado said.

The prison, which was made up of 12 barrack units, had more than 850 inmates

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said on national television that he had suspended the country's senior penal officials and would request international assistance in carrying out a thorough investigation.

"This is a day of profound sadness," Lobo said.

He promised to "take urgent measures to deal with this tragedy, which has plunged all Hondurans into mourning".

In 2003, a blaze broke out after a riot in another prison in northern Honduras, killing 68.

An investigation found police and prison staff had shot and stabbed inmates in the melee.

The government pledged to improve the system but just a year later more than 100 prisoners were killed in a fire in San Pedro Sula. Survivors of that blaze said guards fired on inmates trying to escape or left them locked up to die.

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Honduras prison fire kills hundreds

At least 300 prisoners have been killed after a massive fire swept through a jail in Honduras, officials say.

Many victims were burned or suffocated to death in their cells in Comayagua, north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

The officials say at least 300 are confirmed dead, but a further 56 inmates, out of the 853 in the prison, are missing and presumed dead.

Relatives of prisoners clashed with police as they tried to force their way into the prison, desperate for news.

Police responded by firing shots into the air and tear gas.

An inquiry is under way whether the blaze was caused by rioting or an electrical fault.

Honduran President Lobo pledged a "full and transparent" investigation into the "lamentable and unacceptable" tragedy.

He said local and national prison authorities would be suspended while the inquiry was conducted.


Police fired tear gas as relatives tried to break into the prison's main building
'Hellish' scenes
The fire broke out late on Tuesday night and took more than an hour to be brought under control.

Dozens of prisoners died trapped in their cells and were burned beyond recognition.


Fire survivor: 'We had to break on to the roof to be able to get out'
Comayagua firefighters' spokesman Josue Garcia said there were "hellish" scenes at the prison and that desperate inmates had rioted in a bid to escape the flames.

"We couldn't get them out because we didn't have the keys and couldn't find the guards who had them," he said.

One prisoner, who managed to escape, later told reporters that he first had heard "the screams of the ones (inmates) on fire and everyone just started fearing for their lives".

"The only thing that we were able to do was start breaking the roof apart so we could go out from above. We started ripping apart the ceiling above us."

Lucy Marder, who heads the forensic services in Comayagua, said that 356 people on the prison roster were unaccounted for.

It was feared many inmates had fled the prison in Comayagua, about 100km (60 miles) north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

Amid the confusion, relatives gathered outside the prison to try to get information.

"I'm looking for my brother. We don't know what's happened to him and they won't let us in," Arlen Gomez told Honduran radio.

Local hospitals are treating dozens of people for burns and other injuries.

Authorities have yet to establish a cause of the fire
Some of the injured have been taken to Tegucigalpa for treatment, among them 30 people with severe burns.

Firefighters said they had struggled to enter the prison because shots had been fired.

Honduran media reported that there had been a riot in the prison before the fire broke out.

Prison service head Daniel Orellana denied this.

"We have two hypotheses. One is that a prisoner set fire to a mattress and the other one is that there was a short-circuit in the electrical system," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Prisons in Honduras, which has the world's highest murder rate, are often seriously overcrowded and hold many gang members.

Recent deadliest prison fires

Dec 2010 - 81 are killed at Santiago's jail in Chile. The fire started during a fight between rival gangs
Nov 10 - 16 die at Ilobasco's juvenile prison, El Salvador, in the blaze blamed on an electrical short-circuit
May 04 - 107 die at San Pedro Sula's jail, Honduras. An electrical fault reportedly caused the fire
Sept 03 - 67 inmates die at Riyadh's prison in Saudi Arabia. The cause is unknown
"The majority could be dead, though others could have suffered burns, escaped or survived," Ms Marder said.

15 February 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17038259

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Analysis technique could help to identify bodies more reliably

A new corpse-analysis technique could help forensic scientists identify bodies more reliably and cheaply than with current methods.

Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain developed a method of comparing a set of reference points on a skull and those on a picture of the subject while they were alive to see if they match.

Lead researcher on the project Fernando Merino said this craniofacial superimposition technique was faster and more reliable than other forensic identification methods.
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‘As this technique is much less expensive, forensic scientists might use it firstly and, only when necessary, resort then to other techniques.

‘This technique can be complementary to other techniques, as it can serve to discard potential identities before using more expensive or slower identification techniques, such as DNA analysis.’

In particular, the researchers think the new technique could be useful for identifying a corpse from among multiple bodies, for example following a mass disaster, by significantly reducing possible candidates.

To carry out the study, the researchers used a sample of CAT scan images from 500 people and determined the spatial relationship between each point on both the skull and the photo of the face to obtain a vector between them that could be applied to any sample.

The researchers then applied this technique to real cases where only a skull was available in order to verify their results using a 3D virtual model of the skull.

15/02/2012

Read more: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/medical-and-healthcare/news/analysis-technique-could-help-to-identify-bodies-more-reliably/1011702.article#ixzz1mRwYScE1

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Missing War Victims Identified in Zagreb

[ZAGREB] Nine exhumed victims of the war in Croatia were identified on Monday by their families in Zagreb, leaving a total of 1,768 missing persons yet to be found in Croatia.

Victims identified yesterday at Zagreb Judiciary medicine institute were exhumed in the Vukovar and Sisak areas of Croatia as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ten families were invited to identification, but one did not come.

Five of the identified men were Croatian soldiers during the war. The status of the other victims wasn't revealed, nor it was explained what happened to those exhumed in Bosnia.

Croatian veterans minister Predrag Matic was at the identification, expressing condolences to the families. "We won't leave off until we have found the last missing person," Matic said.

"All hopes that your relatives could be found alive have vanished, but you have bravely carried that burden. The government and war veterans ministry will support you in all your difficulties. We are here to help you," Matic said.

Of a total of 1,768 missing from the war in Croatia, 984 disappeared in the second half of 1991 and first half of 1992, when Serb forces were expelling Croatians from their homes. Most of those missing are of Croatian nationality.

From the period May to August 1995, when the Croatian army retook Serb-controlled territories, 784 persons, mostly Serbs, remain missing. For years Croatia didn't recognize those people as equal victims, but that has changed in recent years under international pressure.

According to the war veterans ministry, at the climax of war in 1991, about 18,000 people were missing in Croatia. Today, the fates of more than 16,000 have been solved one way or another.

Until today, from 143 mass graves and more than 1,200 individual graves 3,780 victims of the war in 1991/1992 have been exhumed, of whom 3,189 victims were identified.

In addition, 809 victims from Croatian army operations Flash and Storm in 1995 have been exhumed, out of which 489 were identified.

14 February 2012

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/nine-missing-war-victims-identified-in-zagreb

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PNG ferry death toll likely to rise to at least 200

THE death toll from the sinking of the passenger ferry MV Rabaul Queen off the Papua New Guinea coast two weeks ago is likely to be more than 200 - double the previous official estimate - according to the director of the disaster response effort.

A preliminary list of 183 missing was published in a national newspaper yesterday, together with an appeal to relatives and friends for help in confirming the final tally.

With the search for survivors and bodies likely to be called off tomorrow, 14 days after the overloaded ferry sank in heavy seas on the way from Kimbe, on the island of New Britain, to the mainland port of Lae, officials are still trying to reconcile reports of missing passengers with the ''defective'' passenger manifest provided by the shipping company, said Patilias Gamato, director of the disaster response and deputy administrator of Morobe Province.
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Three life rafts from the MV Rabaul Queen float above the sunken hull of the ferry in the open waters off Papua New Guinea's east coast.

Life rafts from the MV Rabaul Queen float above the sunken hull of the ferry. Photo: AP

Mr Gamato said that according to witness accounts there were more than 560 passengers on the ferry, which was licensed to carry 310 people.

Similar reports have been running hot on PNG's social media sites, where distress and anger over the tragedy is compounded by continuing political chaos, concerns over eroding safety systems and the failure of regulators to enforce rules.

Yesterday, the Morobe Disaster Centre published an unconfirmed list of 183 names of missing passengers in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier.

''This is a preliminary list because the manifest is not accurate, so we are inviting relatives to contact us,'' Mr Gamato said. He told The Age that he expected that the final list of missing, presumed drowned would total more than 200. Mr Gamato said 234 rescued people had been confirmed as survivors. Despite an extensive search, just four bodies have been recovered so far: that of a two-year-old boy, and those of three young women. ''This week we've found only debris and clothes.''

Kimbe buried the first of its dead in an emotional service last weekend. Belinda Kembu, 28, had been on a visit home to Kimbe to tell her family of her betrothal, according to local reporter Alexander Nara. Having gained her parents' blessing she sent a text message to her fiance when she boarded the ferry back to Lae, saying: ''I will bring you to Kimbe sooner than you expect.'' Six days later, he escorted her body home.

According to survivor accounts, many people travelling on lower decks would have been trapped when the vessel capsized and sank in three to four-metre swells. Mothers, infants and small children dominate the list of the known missing. Many of the survivors were students and teachers on their way to the mainland for the new school year.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has asked the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to investigate the tragedy. ''We can't engage our own people, mainly because they will be subjected to the investigation too,'' he said. ''Those that are found to be negligent in this disaster will face the law, this is the biggest and worst sea disaster we have had in the country.''

Mr O'Neill has also announced an independent inquiry by retired Australian judge Warwick Andrews.

In the days after the sinking, PNG Transport Minister Francis Awesa said he could have predicted the disaster given the state of the country's vessels and complacent attitudes over safety.

February 15, 2012

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/png-ferry-death-toll-likely-to-rise-to-at-least-200-20120214-1t450.html#ixzz1mRsQ22Fw

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‘Keep records of moles, scars, tattoos’

A leading forensic pathologist has urged families, especially those living in disaster-prone areas, to keep files on each member’s distinguishing marks such as scars, tattoos and moles, and have copies of fingerprints and dental records on hand to make identification easier in case tragedy strikes.

Dr. Raquel del Rosario-Fortun of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine pathology department said the suggestion was prompted by the experience of a group of UP alumni who went to Iligan City last month to help find survivors of Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

Fortun said she was haunted by the photos of missing persons and the numerous corpses in varying states of decomposition awaiting identification that she saw in two funeral parlors.

Had there been more detailed descriptions accompanying the photos, it was possible the authorities would have been able to make faster matches with the corpses, she said.

Fortun, who joined Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III at the Kapihan sa Senado media forum last week, was part of a five-woman forensic team that volunteered their services in Iligan City for three days.

“All details (on one’s body) can potentially help. You cannot anticipate (incidents like this). Once the bodies are fragmented and markedly decomposed, details found in soft tissues, like moles and tattoos, are the first to go,” she said.

Other descriptions such as body piercings, height, weight, build and hair color can help. Even medical histories could provide vital leads.

“Locations of fractures are significant, especially when the soft tissues (are gone). A healed fracture could give us clues, so could postoperative scars,” Fortun explained.

“Once a body is retrieved, a possible match could be made (more quickly). Even a person’s handedness could help. An anthropologist could help us determine even (left- or right-handedness) of a headless body. These details taken altogether (could), at least, give presumptive identification clues,” she said.

Geologist and geohazard expert Mahar Lagmay, another UP alumnus, said Fortun’s suggestions were applicable even to families not living in known disaster-risk areas.

Lagmay said natural calamities had become so unpredictable that even those who believe they are out of harm’s way should take precautions.

Fortun said “definitive” information such as fingerprints, dental records and DNA samples provided the best clues.

Fingers gone

However, as in the case of a family that brought along a missing relative’s NBI clearance that had his fingerprints, it would not be much help if the fingers had decomposed.

Fortun also recalled the case of a family that showed a photo of a missing man with decayed front teeth and a large mole near his lower lip.

“Obviously, since he had dental caries that were visible in photos, it could mean we could do away with dental records. But pictures of smiling people that show obvious facial characteristics are a big help,” she said.

Fortun noted that children comprised a large number of the flood victims.

Newborn DNA

“Children usually do not have fingerprint records. This is where dental records can become crucial. Although now I think that with mandatory newborn screening, they have DNA records on file,” she said.

Fortun said the authorities retrieving cadavers should also record where and how the bodies were found.

“Those areas should be treated as crime scenes since they could provide vital clues. In the case of Iligan, it would have helped if those who retrieved the bodies also noted the flow of the water, where the bodies had come from and, if possible, how many kilometers from the communities the bodies were found,” she said.

Fortun noted that while the National Bureau of Investigation was involved in national disaster efforts, it seemed that it was not coordinating with the Philippine National Police in collecting details about missing persons.

“Antemortem information would be useless if it cannot be compared with an examination of the dead. Here is where coordination comes in,” she said.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:14 am | Monday, January 9th, 2012

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Unusual rise in piano sales linked to earthquake

The number of pianos, other than electronic pianos, sold in the country last year totaled 18,164, up 11 percent from the previous year, marking the first rise in 17 years, according to an instrument manufacturing association in Shizuoka Prefecture.

The Hamamatsu-based association, which takes statistics of domestic piano sales and production, said piano sales increased as a result of robust demand for replacements after many pianos were destroyed or damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Piano sales in 1992, when the association started taking such statistics, stood at 113,500. However, sales began to drop since 1995, with only 16,356 sold in 2010. The association said the slump was due to a low birthrate and an increase in the number of people buying low-priced and high-quality electronic pianos.

Asked about the recent surge in piano sales, an official of Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co. in Hamamatsu said, "Piano sales in Sendai and other disaster-hit areas [in 2011] exceeded those of the previous year because of replacement demand after many pianos were destroyed by the disaster."

An official of Yamaha Corp., another major musical instrument manufacturer in the city, said customers shifted into the piano market as the production of electronic organs and other electronic musical instruments fell because makers of parts for such products were damaged in the disaster.

The Sendai Nagamachi Mall branch of Shimamura Music, a musical instrument retailer, which closed temporarily after it was damaged in the disaster, said there has been a significant increase in the number of customers who bought pianos since it reopened in May.

By the end of January, piano sales at the store had tripled compared to usual years. Most customers bought new pianos because their pianos were lost or damaged by the disaster, the store said.
(Feb. 10, 2012)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120209005943.htm

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‘Politicking’ in relief distribution slammed

GUIHULNGAN CITY, Negros Oriental—The parish priest of a Negros Oriental town ravaged by earthquake and landslides has deplored politicking in the distribution of assistance to victims.
Fr. Felipe Luis Ferolina of the San Sebastian parish in La Libertad town also lambasted those who took advantage of the disaster for personal gain.

He cited business owners who significantly increased the prices of their products after the calamity stuck.

“This is an emergency. Instead of taking advantage, we must be united in helping and sharing what we have,” Ferolina told the Inquirer.

La Libertad, along with Guihulngan City, was the worst hit in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake and landslides that struck Central Visayas on February 6.

The death toll in the disaster was 41 as of 2 p.m. Sunday. Fifty-six residents remained missing—18 in Barangay (village) Planas in Guihulngan and 38 in Barangay Solonggon in La Libertad.
Ferolina said “politics came into play” in the distribution of food packs citing those with stickers with the name of politicians. The practice came to the priest’s attention from accounts of evacuees and other victims. But he clarified that the stickers were not of officials of La Libertad.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo has come under fire after food packs distributed to victims had stickers that read: “DSWD Magdegamo Rescue.” Degamo has explained that the markings in the food packs were meant to inform the public that the provincial government was doing its job.

Delays
Some victims in Guihulngan City complained of the delay in the delivery of food assistance and the concentration of distribution of the goods in the house of Mayor Ernesto Reyes in the city proper.

One victim of a village spoke to the Inquirer on condition of anonymity that relief assistance arrived in their barangay Friday evening or four days after the earthquake struck.
“We learned that the relief goods were already at the mayor’s house but it didn’t reach us until Friday,” the victim said.

Reyes denied that he was controlling the distribution of relief assistance.
“Anyone or any group can distribute their assistance to the victims. You can confirm that with media organizations and other donor groups,” Reyes told the Inquirer. He said the assistance was channeled to barangay officials and since Thursday, these have also been given directly to the victims. “There are some people who are spreading wrong information including those that I have received cash when in fact these were bottled water and rice. They just want to ruin me,” Reyes said. He, however, declined to identify them.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged local officials not to politicize the distribution of relief goods after receiving complaints from residents about the delay.
“Spare the victims of the earthquake from politics, prioritize the people,” said Christian Tuayon, secretary general of Bayan in Negros. He called on government agencies and the private sector to deliver the aid directly to the people so relief goods wouldn’t go through politicians.

Landslide
On Saturday night, around 200 evacuees in Barangay Tinayunan Beach in Guihulngan were again evacuated in military trucks after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued a landslide alert in the village.

MGB team leader Abraham Lucero Jr., said in a letter to Tinayunan Beach village chief Monica Aranas that the landslide susceptibility rating in the area was “high.”

9:42 pm | Sunday, February 12th, 2012

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/144389/%E2%80%98politicking%E2%80%99-in-relief-distribution-slammed

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Reaching Out To Save Lives - Haredi Rescue Group Builds Interfaith Cooperation

ZICHRON YAAKOV, ISRAEL — The image of Israel’s Haredim has taken a public battering over the past few months, particularly over the issue of discriminatory conduct toward women, which even a few Haredi groups have disavowed. But in an unusual act of outreach, some of these ultra-Orthodox Jews have recently found an original way of engaging with people outside their own closed religious world: cooperating to save lives.

Leaders of ZAKA, an Israeli medical and rescue organization best known for its work in the aftermath of suicide bombings, has launched a program that seeks to work with Muslim and Christian counterparts on emergency rescues.

In January, ZAKA announced its own interfaith platform. It came just as tensions between religious and secular society were boiling over the issue of gender segregation. At the tensions’ peak, some Haredim rioted in the town of Beit Shemesh, even donning death camp outfits to dramatize their own sense of victimhood. Against this backdrop, ZAKA has assembled two dozen of Israel’s most respected religious leaders — from Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger to Muafak Tarif, head of Israel’s Druze community, and Mohamad Kiwan, who leads an association of imams in Israel — to sign a declaration committing themselves to a shared humanitarian vision.

The the declaration, signed on January 4 in Zichron Yaakov, reasons that because man is created in God’s image, people of all religions are obliged to “respect each and every person as he is, and to educate and transmit values and messages of peace.” On a practical level, this means that ZAKA will increase minority involvement — with outreach programs like a first aid course for Arab women — and increase the number of volunteers from Israel’s non-Jewish communities.

ZAKA’s chairman, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who himself was once a leader in the anti-Zionist fringes of the Haredi world, told the Forward that this new initiative represents a more sustainable form of interfaith relations than dialogue. “Every dialogue without actual action doesn’t have a future,” he said. Greek Melkite priest Touma Haddad, a signatory to the declaration, commented, “Sometimes talking is just not enough.”

Looking a little out of place in his Haredi clothes and side curls, Meshi-Zahav has spent the weeks since the declaration touring Arab villages, asking sheiks to support it by encouraging their followers to become ZAKA volunteers. Though the effect has not yet led to an increase in participation, he expects that it will do so over the next few months.

ZAKA already has 350 volunteers from Israel’s minority religions, who serve alongside the organization’s 1,150 Haredi volunteers and 350 non-Haredi Jews. When many of them gathered for the January interfaith declaration, the warm embraces and intimate conversations among them were testament to strong friendships formed over shared — and sometimes harrowing — experiences. Haredim chaired the proceedings, the Christians who provided the hall for the evening did the (strictly kosher) catering and a Muslim volunteer took photographs. “It’s the same God and the same values that make us volunteer together,” said Salach Badir, a volunteer from the Arab city of Kfar Kassem, which is located near Tel Aviv.

ZAKA was established in 1995 by Meshi-Zahav, who until a few years prior was known as the public face of the Eida Haredit, one of the most hard-line and extremist Haredi groups. He established ZAKA (the Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim Identification) primarily to pick up body parts that were strewn about at the scene of terrorist attacks. ZAKA’s yellow-jacketed volunteers became a common sight on news reports from Israeli bomb scenes.

ZAKA expanded to provide medical and search-and-rescue services, and established an international unit that has helped after disasters occurred in Haiti, Japan and elsewhere. Its domestic operation relies on volunteers who, tapping into networks for Israel’s state emergency services, can often be first on the scene.

Since setting up ZAKA, Meshi-Zahav’s ideology has mellowed — to the extent that he is now a vocal critic of the extremist camp to which he once belonged. “I believe that as long as we in the Haredi community do not stand up and reject the actions of those extremists who are now tarring the reputation of the wider ultra-Orthodox community, we condone their unacceptable behavior with our silence,” he told the Forward in relation to the recent violence. On his Facebook page he has even likened Haredi extremists to “terrorists.”

As ZAKA expanded, its volunteer base grew beyond the Haredi community. It attracted Jews of all religious stripes, as well as people of every other religion. Volunteering became especially popular in outlying Bedouin villages. With ZAKA training, individuals can provide quick responses for their community and for others nearby, while state emergency services can take some time to arrive. In one of ZAKA’s newest programs, Haredi and Muslim volunteers have started running a course in accident prevention and first aid for women in Arab towns.

With its new declaration, ZAKA resolves to capitalize on the interfaith aspect of its work and “have ZAKA volunteers as opinion formers within their communities, working to encourage co-existence, helping and assisting others and instilling values of peace and co-existence.”
The declaration acknowledges that the imperative of various religions to “honor the living and the dead” has attracted many of ZAKA’s volunteers and should be capitalized on to increase ZAKA’s membership and further promote this interfaith ideal. It says that “with more and more volunteers working together, the barriers will come down, people’s outlook on life changes, and we become more united, focused and better people, bringing closer the prospect of peace.”

Badir said that barriers have already come down in his community — the first to run the women’s course, which he facilitated. Badir said that when he first volunteered with Haredim, “some people thought it was strange, but now it’s totally accepted.”

12 February 2012

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/151040/#ixzz1mCdytvmr

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Remains of another 9/11 victim identified

Remains of another 9/11 victim have been identified.

The New York City Chief Medical Examiner's Office announced Friday that it had identified remains of Karol Ann Keasler.

She was 42 when she died in the terrorist attack a decade ago. She worked in the World Trade Center at investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.

The new identification was made when officials retested remains gathered during the initial recovery efforts.

More than 2,750 people were reported missing in the attack on the twin towers. The newest identification brings the number of victims to have some portion of their remains identified to 1,633.

Another 1,120 never had any remains recovered.

February 10, 2012

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/remains_of_another_victim_identified_m8MxMu1JaBElCI5Qx0DiDJ#ixzz1mCd77Oge

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Archaeologists find the bodies of 21 tragic World War One German soldiers in perfectly preserved trenches where they were buried alive by an Allied shell

The bodies of 21 German soldiers entombed in a perfectly preserved World War One shelter have been discovered 94 years after they were killed.

The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when a huge Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918, causing it to cave in.

Thirteen bodies were recovered from the underground shelter, but the remaining men had to be left under a mountain of mud as it was too dangerous to retrieve them.

Nearly a century later, French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front in eastern France during excavation work for a road building project.

The bodies of 21 German soldiers entombed in a perfectly preserved First World War shelter have been discovered in France 94 years after they were killed inside the buried shelter parts of the tunnel remain intact.

Three beds, a bottle and a helmet have been preserved in the shelter

The soldiers were buried alive in mud inside the underground shelter (left) which contained items including beds, a bottle and a helmet (right)

Some 7.5million men lost their lives on the Western Front during World War One.

The front was opened when the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in 1914 and then moved into the industrial regions in northern France.

In September of that year, this advance was halted, and slightly reversed, at the Battle Of Marne.

It was then that both sides dug vast networks of trenches that ran all the way from the North Sea to the Swiss border with France.

This line of tunnels remained unaltered, give or take a mile here and a mile there, for most of the four-year conflict.

By 1917, after years of deadlock that saw millions of soldiers killed for zero gain on either side, new military technology including poison gas, tanks and planes was deployed on the front.

Thanks to these techniques, the Allies slowly advanced throughout 1918 until the war's end in November.

Many of the skeletal remains were found in the same positions the men had been in at the time of the collapse, prompting experts to liken the scene to Pompeii.

A number of the soldiers were discovered sitting upright on a bench, one was lying in his bed and another was in the foetal position having been thrown down a flight of stairs.

As well as the bodies, poignant personal effects such as boots, helmets, weapons, wine bottles, spectacles, wallets, pipes, cigarette cases and pocket books were also found.

Even the skeleton of a goat was found, assumed to be a source of fresh milk for the soldiers.

Archaeologists believe the items have been so well-preserved because hardly any air, water or lights had penetrated the trench.

The 300ft-long tunnel was located 18ft beneath the surface near the small town of Carspach in the Alsace region of France.

Michael Landolt, the archaeologist leading the dig, said: 'It's a bit like Pompeii. Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time.

'Here, as in Pompeii, we found the bodies as they were at the moment of their death. Some of the men were found in sitting positions on a bench, others lying down. One was projected down a flight of wooden stairs and was found in a foetal position.

'The collapsed shelter was filled with soil. The items were very well-preserved because of the absence of air and light and water.

'Metal objects were rusty, wood was in good condition and we found some pages of newspapers that were still readable. Leather was in good condition as well, still supple.

'The items will be taken to a laboratory, cleaned and examined.'

French engineers stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front near the town of Carspach in the Alsace region of eastern France during excavation work for a road building project

A drinks cup and the remains of a rifle that have survived almost intact for a century. Archaeologists believe the items have been so well-preserved because hardly any air, water or lights penetrated the trench

A drinks cup and the remains of a rifle that have survived almost intact for a century. Archaeologists believe the items have been so well-preserved because hardly any air, water or lights penetrated the trench

A German newspaper from 1918 lies partly preserved inside the shelter with a large hammer possibly used to help dig the tunnel

Archaeologists also uncovered the wooden sides, floors and stairways of the shelter.

The dead soldiers were part of the 6th Company, 94th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Their names are all known - they include Musketeer Martin Heidrich, 20, Private Harry Bierkamp, 22, and Lieutenant August Hutten, 37, whose names are inscribed on a memorial in the nearby German war cemetery of Illfurth.

The bodies have been handed over to the German War Graves Commission but unless relatives can be found and they request the remains to be repatriated, it is planned that the men will be buried at Illfurth.

The underground tunnel was big enough to shelter 500 men and had 16 exits.

It would have been equipped with heating, telephone connections, electricity, beds and a pipe to pump out water.

The French attacked the shelter on March 18, 1918 with aerial mines that penetrated the ground and blasted in the side wall of the shelter in two points.

It is estimated that over 165,000 Commonwealth soldiers are still unaccounted for on the Western Front.

See article for more images of the excvated trench..

10 Febr 2012

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099187/Bodies-21-German-soldiers-buried-alive-WW1-trench-perfectly-preserved-94-years-later.html#ixzz1lzipSYS1

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21st International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences, 23-27 September 2012, Tasmania

On behalf of the 2012 Organising Committee, we are delighted to invite you to participate in the 21st International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences of the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society (ANZFSS), to be held in Hobart from 23 to 27 September 2012 at The Hotel Grand Chancellor, Tasmania

More info: http://www.anzfss2012.com.au/

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The XX files: The hunt for victims of Guatemala's 36-year war

The discovery of a vast hidden archive may finally bring closure to those whose relatives 'disappeared' after being detained by the police or military.

Alejandra Garcia's most treasured memento of her father is a faded, black-and-white photo from 1984. A handsome 27-year-old, in jeans and a check shirt, he grins contentedly while holding his wife, Nineth, who in turn is cradling their newly born first child.

Not long after the portrait was taken, Alejandra's father, Fernando, disappeared. On 18 February, he failed to turn up to a celebration at the family home in Guatemala City. Nineth spent days frantically searching the local streets. But he was never seen again.

At the time, Guatemala was in the throes of a 36-year civil war which ranks as one of the most brutal conflicts of the 20th century. More than 200,000 people died, from a population which at the start of hostilities was about four million. Roughly 80 per cent of the casualties were suspected left-wing dissidents. Many were executed, without trial, by soldiers or police officers loyal to the country's ruling military junta.

Fernando Garcia, a student activist whose only crime was taking part in several demonstrations against the government, was one such victim. In the days after his disappearance, witnesses came forward to claim he had been snatched off the streets by men who appeared to be out-of-uniform police officers. Then he was bundled into an unmarked pick-up truck and driven away.

It has been 28 years since Fernando went missing, and almost 16 years since peace accords which turned Guatemala into a functioning, if somewhat troubled, democracy. But Alejandra and her family are only now on the verge of nailing those responsible. Hector Bol de la Cruz, the country's former police chief, is about to face a belated trial for ordering his detention and apparent killing.

The charges against Bol de la Cruz, now 71, represents a landmark moment in Guatemala's long-running effort to draw a line under its past. In a country which remains hobbled by corruption, with a track record of treating dishonest officials with impunity, he becomes the first police chief to ever be prosecuted for his actions.

"I think about how my dad would feel," Alejandra said, with regard to Bol de la Cruz's imminent trial. "He would be happy to finally see a little bit of justice in this country."

The forthcoming prosecution stems from a remarkable detective story which began by accident in 2005, when investigators looking into an explosion at a dilapidated munitions dump near Guatemala City stumbled upon a series of vaults holding a vast collection of official documents and photographs.

The paperwork alone ran to about 80 million pages. Much of it had been soaked by rainwater from leaky windows. But it soon became clear that it represented a large portion of the National Police Force's official archives relating to the civil war.

This was a surprising and potentially game-changing discovery. During the 1996 peace process, the National Police Force had angrily denied the existence of a formal record of its operations. Since the hidden archive suggested otherwise, human rights groups in 2005 began the laborious process of sifting through the paperwork for clues that might help bring about prosecutions.

Seven years on, their work is starting to bear fruit, with records being cross-checked with evidence from the cemetery where security forces often dumped bodies in mass graves, identifying them as "XX". So far, families of some 45,000 of the "disappeared" have asked for information which might relate to their loved ones. Searching for it is gradually becoming easier, thanks to an online database created by the University of Texas at Austin, which currently holds about 12 million of the documents.

Although some of the war's victims were guerrillas killed in combat, many were civilians put to death for simply being suspected of harbouring sympathy for the revolutionaries. The exact circumstances of their deaths are now starting to emerge.

Fernando Garcia is a case in point. Shortly after he went missing, Bol de la Cruz claimed to know nothing of his disappearance. But documents from the archives reveal that in early 1984, he signed a letter praising a senior officer called Jorge Gomez for ordering the arrest of "subversive criminals" on 18 February, in the exact location where Mr Garcia went missing.

Records show that Mr Gomez ordered a patrol car with four officers to monitor the street where Mr Garcia vanished. Those arrested were never seen again. Two of the policemen were prosecuted in 2010, and sentenced to 40 years in prison, largely thanks to the archive; the others have been declared fugitives.

Human rights groups now hope the archive can be used to establish that knowledge of unlawful killings ran to the top of Guatemala's police force. "These documents have been fundamental," said Alejandra Garcia, now a 29-year-old attorney.

Lawyers for Bol de la Cruz, who ran the force from 1983-1985, are currently trying to prevent one of the judges in the 2010 trial from presiding over his case. The former police chief continues to protest his innocence.

If cases like this begin to stick, then it could prove awkward for senior figures in government. In November, the country elected as its new president Otto Perez Molina, a retired, right-leaning general who served during the civil war as head of military intelligence.

Molina has always denied any involvement in war crimes and has publicly stated he will do nothing to impede any prosecutions related to the era. But rumours about his past persist. One case the President will no doubt be keeping a close eye on is the murder trial of Efrain Rios Montt, who (backed by the Cold War-era US) was the country's leader during 1982 and 1983, when some of the worst atrocities of the civil war were committed.

Last month, it emerged that Montt will be tried for genocide and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering his army to massacre indigenous Mayans suspected of supporting left-wing guerrillas. Prosecutors accuse Montt of "planning, designing and overseeing the military counter-insurgency plans against the indigenous population," and say they have documents to prove it. Lawyers for the former president deny responsibility, saying he was "never on the battlefield".

Molina, as a senior officer in the army, very much was on the battlefield during Montt's reign, however. Only time will tell whether his name will crop up in this, or any of the wave of other trials related to Guatemala's bloodiest era.

Timeline: In the wars

1960 Guatemala's brutal 36-year civil war begins as battles between left-wing guerrillas and government military forces escalate.

1982 A military coup sees General Efrain Rios Montt installed as dictator. He is overthrown in another coup led by General Mejia Victores and an amnesty for guerrillas is declared.

1984 Fernando Garcia, a 27-year-old student activist, disappears on 18 February. He is never seen again. In 2012, former police chief Hector Bol de la Cruz stands trial for masterminding the kidnapping.

1989 Civil-war death toll reaches 100,000 and 40,000 are missing.

1993 President Jorge Serrano Elias resigns after his authoritarian measures spark protests.

1996 Alvaro Arzu is elected president. He purges senior military officers and signs an agreement with the rebels, finally ending the civil war.

1999 Security forces were behind 93 per cent of all civil-war atrocities, according to a UN-backed report.

2004 The state pays $3.5m to victims of civil war, after admitting guilt in several human-rights crimes.

2006 A Spanish judge issues an arrest warrant for Montt.

2009 An ex-paramilitary officer is the first to be jailed for civilian disappearances during the civil war.

2012 A court rules that Montt will face trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Friday 10 February 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-xx-files-the-hunt-for-victims-of-guatemalas-36year-war-6699789.html

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Duikers 'redden' teddybeer uit cruiseschip [in Dutch]

Teddy beer saved from Costa Concordia cruiseship. Demonstrates the sentimental value of personal effects in disasters..

ISOLA DEL GIGLIO - Duikers van de Italiaanse brandweer zijn opnieuw het half gezonken cruiseschip Costa Concordia ingegaan om een teddybeer te 'redden'. Een jongen had het knuffelbeest op de noodlottige vrijdag 13 januari in zijn hut achtergelaten.

Sindsdien bleef het jongetje uit Verona naar de teddybeer vragen als hij moest gaan slapen. De jongen en het knuffelbeest waren onafscheidelijk sinds hij zijn moeder had verloren.

De halfwees en zijn vader werden na de ramp opgevangen door een gezin op het eiland Isola del Giglio. De vader had het in een bedankmail ook erover hoe het jongetje zijn knuffel miste. Het gezin stapte naar de burgemeester van Isola del Giglio. Die vond deze week snel duikers bereid om nog eens af te dalen in het cruiseschip, dagen nadat de zoektocht naar vermisten was gestaakt. De teddybeer is inmiddels onderweg naar Verona, aldus Italiaanse media donderdag.

09 February 2012

http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/11481042/__Beer_gered_uit_cruiseschip__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

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Experts identify critical factors in CTV collapse

Intense ground shaking, non-ductile columns and the asymmetrical layout of shear walls were the critical factors contributing to the collapse of the CTV building during the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a Department of Building and Housing technical investigation has found.

The Government ordered the investigation in March 2011, along with investigations into the failure of the Pyne Gould Corporation, Forsyth Barr, and Hotel Grand Chancellor buildings, following the 22 February 2011 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which claimed the lives of 184 people, including 115 in the CTV building.

The Department of Building and Housing established a group of leading engineering consultants to conduct the investigations, which were peer reviewed by an expert review panel, chaired by construction law expert Sherwyn Williams.

The comprehensive investigations included eye witness accounts, photographs, site examinations, sampling and testing of materials, structural analysis and testing of various hypotheses using established engineering models.

The investigation into the 1986 CTV building was conducted by Hyland Consultants and StructureSmith.

Three critical factors were found that contributed to the building’s collapse:
1. Intense horizontal ground shaking.
2. Lack of ductility in the columns, making them brittle.
3. Asymmetrical layout of the shear walls, making the building twist during the earthquake, placing extra strain on the columns.
4.
The ductility of the columns (and strength) and the asymmetrical layout of the shear walls were found to have not met the building standards of the day (1986).

Other factors that may have contributed to the CTV collapse included:
• Low concrete strengths in some of the critical columns.
• Exceptionally high vertical ground movement.
• Possible interaction of columns and concrete spandrel panels (on the external face of the building), making the columns less flexible.
• Separation of floor slabs from the north core of the building.
• Structural influence of the concrete masonry walls, making lower floors more rigid than upper floors, which placed additional stress on the upper columns during the earthquake
Although it is not possible to be definitive on the sequence of the building’s collapse, the common denominator in all collapse scenarios identified by the Expert Panel was the failure of one or more columns on the east face of the building. This is consistent with eye-witness accounts of the building during the earthquake.

Current building requirements are more stringent now than in the 1980s when the CTV building was constructed. Standards have progressively improved over time as more is understood about how buildings respond in earthquakes.

Department of Building and Housing Chief Executive, Katrina Bach, said the Department has already taken action on some of the Expert Panel’s recommendations, and will implement the others working with the building and construction sector and local government over the coming months and years.

“The findings of the investigations and the learnings from 22 February will make a difference to the way the buildings are designed and constructed in the future – both in New Zealand and internationally.”

Ms Bach said the technical investigation would inform the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of Inquiry.

“Copies of the Expert Panel report have been provided to the Police and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand for their consideration and action as appropriate.”

Ms Bach said she expected Territorial Authorities (councils) to take close notice of the reports as they developed there own programmes of work to address earthquake risks.

She also encouraged property owners and building users to seek information about the standard of their buildings.

To view the final reports visit http://www.dbh.govt.nz/canterbury-earthquake-technical-investigation

09 February 2012
http://www.dbh.govt.nz/news-2012-canterbury-earthquake-investigation

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Philippines earthquake toll rises as dig continues for landslide casualties

Rescuers have found no further survivors among dozens of people buried by landslides on a central Philippine island after an earthquake. The death toll has climbed to 15, with more than 70 people missing.

Houses flattened in remote villages on Negros island that have been cut off by fallen bridges and damaged roads

The 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Monday also collapsed bridges and damaged roads on Negros island. Soldiers and firefighters had to hike into mountains to reach remote villages. Most of the confirmed deaths were in Planas village, a part of Guihulngan town, where about 30 houses were flattened.

The Guihulngan mayor, Ernesto Reyes, said crews were using earthmoving equipment in the search for casualties.

The damage may be worse than officials first realised because the quake cut off communications to some villages, Reyes said. "We have no water and power because electric posts were toppled. Many of our roads were damaged, including bridges, and stores are closed. We're isolated."

In the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, an unknown number of people were trapped under about 100 houses.

The president, Benigno Aquino, sent air force helicopters and navy and coastguard vessels to the aid of rescuers, some of whom had been digging with picks and shovels. Workers were clearing roads and fixing and bridges to bring in equipment, food and medicine.

The undersea quake was centred 44 miles north of Dumaguete, capital of Negros Oriental province, about 400 miles south-east of the nation's capital, Manila.

The Negros Oriental police chief, Edward Carranza, said at least 73 people remained missing in the province.

The casualties could top a 2004 quake on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, in which 78 people died, about half of them in a quake-triggered tsunami. A local tsunami alert was issued following Monday's quake but was soon cancelled.

Reyes said 13 residents died and at least 29 remained missing in the landslide in Planas, where an army platoon was digging for survivors. Meanwhile the landslide had blocked a mountain river that was threatening to back up and swamp houses along its banks. Residents had been told to leave.

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 February 2012 05.08 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/philippines-earthquake-toll-landslide

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Philippine quake kills 43, dozens missing

Rescuers in the Philippines are digging through rubble with shovels and their bare hands after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.

The 6.8-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu around lunchtime on Monday with more than 200 aftershocks, some nearly as strong, causing further panic throughout the day.

Local military chiefs said 43 people were confirmed killed but officials warned the death toll may rise.

Dozens of others are feared injured or are missing with landslides having blocked roads for rescuers in mountainous areas.

"Heavy equipment we've requested from the provincial government has not arrived yet, because the roads and bridges are impassable," said Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan, police chief of Guihulngan town on Negros that was among the most heavily damaged.

"We are using our hands and shovels to search in the rubble," he told AFP.

Thirty-nine people were reported killed in Guihulngan, a coastal city of 100,000 people flanked by mountains that was close to the quake's epicentre.

The city's public market, courthouse and private homes in the area had collapsed or were damaged, while landslides buried some houses completely, according to Futalan.

He said the city's overwhelmed 42-man police rescue squad had been joined by hundreds of army troops and volunteers in clearing debris as they raced against time to find people still believed missing.

"The army (troops) had to walk about 50km from the last stop reachable by vehicle to reach us," Futalan said.

Guihulngan is about 90km to the north of Dumaguete, the capital of Negros Oriental province that covers the southeastern edge of Negros where the worst impacts of the quake were felt.

With rescuers still to reach remote hinterland communities, Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo said he feared there could be more unreported casualties.

"Sadly, we expect the death could still rise," Degamo told AFP.

Degamo said telephone communications in some parts were also cut off, leaving information from remote regions unobtainable.

He said the public was still in a state of shock and fearful of returning to their homes after dozens of aftershocks.

"We've also had to stop our search efforts from time to time and run to safety because of the aftershocks," he said.

Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city with 2.3 million residents and a popular tourist destination, was 50km from the epicentre and shook violently during the initial tremor but no deaths were reported there.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

February 7, 2012 - 12:14PM

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/philippine-quake-kills-43-dozens-missing-20120207-1r297.html

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Lahore Building Collapse: Death Toll Set To Rise

Two more bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a factory that collapsed in Pakistan, raising the death toll to 17.

The three-storey building in Lahore, which used to manufacture veterinary medicines, was destroyed after a suspected boiler and gas cylinder explosion.

Rescue workers have spent the night digging through the debris with their bare hands, hammers, axes and chisels.

"We hope to clear most of the rubble by tonight," rescue chief Rizwan Naseer said.

He added that workers were digging tunnels under the rubble to pull out more injured and dead bodies.

"It is a very slow and difficult operation," he said.
"We have to be very careful because it involves human lives."

At least 13 people have been pulled out alive and 17 bodies found - that of 11 women, three young girls and three boys between the ages of 12 and 16.

The death toll is expected to rise further with dozens of people still believed to be trapped under the concrete mass.

Police said the factory was illegal. Local residents said it had been shut down twice since 2008, but that the owners re-opened the premises each time.

"The owners violated the court orders and broke the seals," administration official Ahad Cheema said.

The accident at the Orient Labs (Private) Limited factory, in the Multan Road area of the city, has highlighted poor safety procedures among Pakistani manufacturers and the use of child labour.

9:23am UK, Tuesday February 07, 2012

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16164654

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17 dead, 13 rescued after migrant boat capsizes

SABANA DE LA MAR, Dominican Republic (AP) — Rescuers scouring the white-capped waters off the Dominican Republic's coast have found 17 bodies and 13 survivors from a boat overloaded with migrants that capsized almost two days ago, officials said.

The boat carrying about 70 migrants from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico capsized before dawn Saturday morning and rescuers said hopes were fading for finding more survivors as search efforts were suspended because of darkness late Sunday.

"Tomorrow the sea will start to return the bodies," said Jeffrey Pimentel, head of firefighters at Sabana del Mar, 95 miles (150 kilometers) northeast of Santo Domingo.

Luis Castro, intelligence director of the Dominican Navy, said the bodies of 12 men and five women have been found. Thirteen survivors were rescued. The suspected captain of the smuggler's boat has been detained, he said.

Castro said that rescue efforts would resume Monday morning, but "it is difficult for anyone to survive two days swimming" under a burning sun.

Survivors said dozens of people plunged into the water when the boat, known as a "yola," capsized. Passengers grabbed at anything that might help keep them afloat.

The illegal migrants apparently were all Dominicans, but authorities could not rule out that a few Cubans or Haitians might also have been on the boat.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which had helped Dominican rescuers by sea and air since mid-Saturday, suspended its search at noon Sunday "after Dominican authorities said they no longer needed our assistance," said Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad in Puerto Rico.

Arismendy Manzueta, a 28-year-old farmer from the northern town of La Jagua who survived the journey, said the hopes of better economic prospects in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico made him risk his life aboard the overloaded boat. Puerto Rico is a common destination for Dominican migrants.

"Things are very bad here. A person works and works and never has nothing," Manzueta said in a public hospital in Sabana de la Mar.

Manzueta said he did not tell his wife, who sat by his hospital bed, that he would try to sneak into the relatively wealthy Puerto Rico.

Maria Sobeida Guzman, a 28-year-old mother of three who also survived the journey, said she paid just over $1,000 for the illegal trip to Puerto Rico, where a cousin promised to get her a job giving manicures.

"What is one going to do? A person wants to improve," said an exhausted Guzman from her hospital bed.

Guzman said there was no warning when the boat overturned and began to break apart in the pre-dawn darkness. She remembered swimming for the shore with every bit of strength she had.

Another survivor, Luis Cortorreal, a 31-year-old painter who swam for six hours until he made it to land, said there were at least 10 women on the overloaded boat, including a pregnant woman he is convinced sank beneath the waves.

Survivors told the northern region's public prosecutor Fremy Reyes that the boat overturned about four hours after setting sail Friday just before midnight.

On Sunday, taxi driver Nicolas Moreno joined several other people congregated on Sabana de la Mar's main beach hoping for word about a missing loved one. Moreno said he believes that two close friends left on the doomed smuggler's boat.

"They wanted a better life for their children," Moreno said.

Thousands of poor Dominicans try to reach Puerto Rico in open boats that are ill-suited to the treacherous journey across the 160-mile (260-kilometer) Mona Passage. Many Haitian and Cuban migrants also regularly risk their lives trying to cross the often-stormy passage.

Associated Press writer David McFadden in Kingston, Jamaica contributed to this report.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

http://hosted2.ap.org/COGRA/APWorldNews/Article_2012-02-05-CB-Dominican-Migrant-Deaths/id-ae440626f5534cdabde5c97e0716637a

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