Page 316 - Disaster Accident
Three students killed in blast at China university lab
An explosion ripped through a Chinese university laboratory here on Wednesday, killing at least three students, the city's fire department said. The explosion happened around 9:30am local time at the Beijing Jiaotong University in the western part of the city during a chemistry experiment, state television CGTN reported. Three students, who were doing an experiment on landfill leachate wastewater treatment in the lab, were killed in the accident, the fire department said in a statement. Videos of the scene showed large flames and plumes of smoke gushing out of the building in the university campus. About 30 fire engines were sent to the scene and took nearly an hour to get the blaze under control, the authorities said, adding that investigation is underway to find the cause of the accident, the statement said.
Fire in factory, worker killed
A 24-year-old worker was charred to death and another injured after a fire broke out at a helmet manufacturing factory in northwest Delhi's Swaroop Nagar, police said Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Devender, a native of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, they said, adding, the incident took place on Tuesday. "A call about the fire was received at 9.25 pm and 13 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire was brought under control by 12.10 am," a senior official from the Delhi Fire Service said. The victims were rushed to Safdarjang Hospital where Devender was declared brought dead while the injured, identified as Jitender (34), sustained 20 percent burn injuries, a senior police officer said. A case has been registered and the matter is being probed, Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) said. The officer said the factory was operating out of rented premises. After post-mortem, the body will be handed over to the family, police said. An inquiry has been
Rahul targets Modi over miners stuck in Meghalaya mine
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not offering the necessary help to rescue a group of miners trapped in a Meghalaya coal mine for the past two weeks.
Indonesia: Threat of another tsunami looms as volcano continues to erupt
Indonesia has sounded an extreme weather warning till December 27 and has asked people to beware of lightning, landslides and floods due to heavy rains and the continued eruption of the volcanic Mount Anak Krakatoa.Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) sounded the alarm on Twitter on Wednesday amid the devastation in the aftermath of the Sunda Strait tsunami that has left over 420 people dead in the region.The agency has further asked people to stay 500 metres away from the coastline in Sunda Strait. Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of BMKG further said that the wall of the volcano's crater is susceptible to collapse, according to Al Jazeera."The weather and continuing eruptions could potentially cause landslides at the cliffs of the crater into the sea, and we fear that that could trigger a tsunami," she said at a presser.Meanwhile, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesperson for the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) tweeted that heavy ...
10 dead in bus crash at Iran university
Ten people have been killed in a bus accident at one of Tehran's largest universities, Iran's conservative news agency Tasnim reported Wednesday. The bus was carrying 30 students along a mountainous road within the science research campus of Islamic Azad University in northwestern Tehran when it came off the road and hit a concrete column on Tuesday. Seven were killed instantly, state TV said, while an updated death toll of 10 was reported by Tasnim the day after the crash. Iran was the world's seventh deadliest country for drivers per capita, according to the World Health Organization's latest figures from 2013, and the only non-African country apart from Thailand in the top 10. Iranian authorities say over 16,000 died on the road in the last Iranian year (2017-18). Efforts to modernise Iran's ageing and highly polluting cars have been hampered by a lack of investment, and foreign companies such as Peugeot and Renault were again forced to withdraw this year by the return of US ...
Three students killed in China university lab explosion
Three students were killed in a Beijing university Wednesday in a laboratory blast, the city's fire department said. "There was an explosion at the experimental site during a scientific research experiment" on wastewater treatment in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory, the Beijing Fire Department said in a statement posted on its social media account. "The accident caused three students to die.
NIA raids in UP, Delhi over new IS module
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting searches at 16 locations in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, an NIA official said.The raids are in connection with a new Islamic State (IS) module styled as Harkat ul Harb-e-Islam, informed NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal.The officials of the terror investigating agency are carrying out the searches in Amroha, Mittal added.Further details in the matter are awaited.
4.8-magnitude quake hits Sicily
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday hit Sicily around Europe's most active volcano Mount Etna, injuring at least two people, Italian media reported.
Indonesia asks people to avoid coast near erupting volcano
Indonesian authorities asked people to avoid the coast in areas where a tsunami killed more than 420 people last weekend in a fresh warning issued on the anniversary of the catastrophic 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami. The big waves that followed the eruption of Anak Krakatoa, or "Child of Krakatoa" island volcano, hit communities along the Sunda Strait on Saturday night. The eruption is believed to have set off a landslide on the volcano, displacing the water that slammed into Java and Sumatra islands. Indonesia's Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency asked people late Tuesday to stay at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) and up to 1 kilometer (less than a mile) from the coastline along the strait, which lies between the two main islands. Government workers were monitoring Anak Krakatoa's eruptions and high waves and heavy rain were possible Wednesday, said agency head Dwikorita Karnawati. "All these conditions could potentially cause landslides at the cliffs of the crater into
Mexico helicopter crash: No trace of explosives found at crash site
No traces of explosives were found in the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed on Monday, causing the death of Puebla Governor Martha Erika Alonso, her husband Senator Rafael Moreno Valle and three other people, official sources have said.
NIA searches 16 places in Delhi, UP over new IS module
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday is carrying out searches at 16 places in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in connection with a new Islamic State module 'Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam', officials said.
2 killed in US fires
Two fires on Christmas Eve and Christmas in Houston in the US state of Texas, killed two persons and injured three others.
Remembering victims of 2004 Tsunami: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday remembered the victims of the 2004 Tsunami, that had devastated coasts of several south and southeast Asian countries on this day. Banerjee also had a word of praise for those who had shown courage in face of the disaster by volunteering to help the affected. "On the 14th anniversary of the #Tsunami2004, my solemn tribute to those who lost their lives due to the disaster. Salute to those who volunteered to help the affected across the regions," Banerjee tweeted on Wednesday morning. On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1, had struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra. The tsunami had witnessed killing of over lakhs of people across Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand besides inflicting massive damage.
Delta flight makes emergency landing on remote Alaskan island
Hundreds of passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight survived nervy moments on Christmas Eve as the plane made an emergency landing on a small and isolated island in Alaska due to a "potential engine issue".The flight, coming from Beijing, was bound for Seattle and had nearly 200 passengers on board when it made a sudden detour and landed at a US military base in Shemya, situated in the middle of an ocean in Alaska's Aleutians chain. No injuries were reported, USAToday reported.Apologising for the inconvenience, Delta Air Lines spokesperson Drake Castaneda said in a statement: "Delta apologises for the delay to our customers after Flight 128 from Beijing to Seattle diverted to Shemya, Alaska, due to a potential engine issue."The statement added that the US-based airline take safety of customers and crew members as a top priority.Castaneda further said that an alternate aircraft was pressed into service to take the stranded passengers to Seattle, adding that Delta also sent ...
Indonesia rescuers scramble to reach isolated tsunami-struck towns
Indonesian search and rescue teams Wednesday plucked stranded residents from remote islands and pushed into isolated communities still desperate for aid in the aftermath of a volcano-triggered tsunami that killed more than 400. Medical workers have warned that clean water and medicine supplies were running low -- stoking fears of a public health crisis -- as thousands of displaced survivors cram shelters and hospitals. Many were left homeless by the killer wave. The disaster agency said it has dispatched helicopters to drop supplies into a handful of hard-to-reach communities along the shattered coastlines of western Java and south Sumatra. Hundreds of residents still stranded on tiny islands in the Sunda Strait, which separates Java and Sumatra, will be airlifted or taken by boat to shelters, the agency said. Sniffer dogs are being used to find those still missing as grief-stricken relatives lined up at identification centres, but hopes of finding any survivors beneath the rubble ...
Indonesian tsunami rescue efforts continue as country marks 2004 disaster
Indonesian authorities on Wednesday resumed the search for 154 people missing after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait coasts as the country commemorates the anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that killed around 230,000 people.
Indonesia Tsunami: Death toll rises to 429
The death toll has mounted to 429 in the tsunami that hit the Sunda Strait beach on Saturday night.The death toll is expected to rise as the search and rescue operation is underway and the teams continue to find bodies in the water, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho in a press conference on Tuesday as quoted by the Jakarta Post."The data will change, as the joint search team is scouring Pandeglang, Serang, South Lampung, Penawaran and Tenggamus [regencies]," Sutopo said.As many as 154 people are still missing after the tsunami hit the beach.It is speculated that the tsunami was caused by activity around a volcanic island in the strait, Krakatoa, which is 156km west of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.The archipelago nation of Indonesia is situated in the Ring of Fire, an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, vulnerable to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Syria's air defences intercept missiles over Damascus
The Syrian air defences were triggered on Tuesday evening by what appeared to be a missile attack around the capital Damascus, state TV reported.
Couple injured as chemical spills on them from tanker
A couple received severe burn wounds when hazardous chemical spilled over them from a tanker here, police said Tuesday. The incident took place on Sunday night when the couple, residents of Kalyan, was travelling on a two-wheeler, they said. They suffered burn injuries when chemical leaked and fell over them when the tanker was passing by their vehicle near Waldhuni Bridge, the police added. The victims, Gouresh Salaskar (30) and his wife Gauri Salaskar (28), were admitted to a hospital, they added.
Moradabad: 8 injured after blast in export factory
As many as eight people got injured after a blast occurred in the paint booth of an export factory here on Tuesday.Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Mukesh Kumar said that the fire broke out due to a spark which might have occurred because of a short circuit or someone smoking in the factory premises.Kumar further informed that the injured people were rushed to the hospital by the factory management even before the firemen arrived at the spot.Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, "We got the information regarding the explosion around 12:50. We immediately sent three fire brigades to douse the fire. After reaching the spot we found out that the blast has occurred in the paint booth. The injured workers were sent to the hospital by the factory management even before we reached the spot.""Fire did not cause much damage but the blast was so powerful that the surrounding windows were damaged. The blast occurred due to spark in the paint booth which might have generated due to short circuit or someone ...