Page 371 - Disaster Accident
Cyclone toll rises to 45, protests surface over relief
The toll in cyclone Gaja has touched 45, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said Sunday and appealed to all political parties to join in the relief efforts while protests erupted in some districts over alleged failure to provide assistance to the affected people. Palainiswami said 1.7 lakh trees had been uprooted, 735 cattle died, 1.17 lakh houses damaged and 88,102 hectare agricultural land affected in six districts due to the cyclone that crossed the Vedaranyam coast, near Nagapattinam, over 300 km from Chennai, early Friday. Relief and rehabilitation efforts continued in the districts affected by the cyclone while the worst-hit Vedaranyam town Sunday saw more people seeking refuge in the 60 cyclone relief centres, leading to shortage of relief materials in some places. A report from Pudukottai said people in Kotthamangalam village affected by the cyclone went on a rampage, protesting alleged failure of officials to provide them relief and set ablaze five ...
Over 6,000 participate in Tata Steel-organised 'Run-a-Thon'
Over 6,400 participants from 16 states on Sunday turned up for the 'Jamshedpur Run-a-Thon 2018' at J R D Tata Sports complex here, the organisers said. The 10-km and 7-km race events were open to all Indian nationals, while the 5-km run was for under-16 boys and girls, Tata Steel said in a release. Harmanjot Singh, winner of the 10-km (male) category, finished the race in 32 minutes and 04 seconds, whereas the winner of 10-km (female) Puja Mondal completed the race in 37 minutes and 54 seconds to win a cash prize of Rs 51,000 each. The 7-km male and female winners finished the race in 22 minutes and 57 seconds, and 26 minutes and 48 seconds, respectively, the release said. Jamshedpur SP Prabhat Kumar also took part in the run, it added.
Three killed as bus overturns in Bihar
Three persons standing beside a national highway were killed and 12 passengers injured when a private bus skidded off the road and overturned in Bihar's Darbhanga district on Sunday, police said. The accident occurred near Basaila More under the jurisdiction of Sadar police station when the bus driver lost control over it while giving side to a motorcycle coming from the opposite direction. It skidded off NH 57, and overturned in the field beside the road before hitting three persons who were waiting beside the road to catch another bus, police said. These three persons, who were in the age group of 50-60, died on the spot. All the 12 injured persons have been admitted to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital here. The bus was on its way to Laukaha in Madhubani district from Delhi. District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh announced payment of Rs 4 lakh as ex-gratia to family members of each of the deceased. The driver and the cleaner of the bus fled from the spot after .
Pope prays for those stricken by California wildfires
Pope Francis has prayed for victims of California's wildfires and freezing weather on the US East Coast. Addressing tens of thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square Sunday, including pilgrims from New York and New Jersey. Francis prayed that "the Lord welcome the deceased into his peace, comfort family members and sustain all those involved in rescue efforts." Francis said he wanted to offer a "special prayer to all those stricken by the fires that are scourging California, and now also for the victims of the freeze of the east coast of the United States." At least 76 people perished, and hundreds are unaccounted for in the California wildfires. In the eastern US, an unusually early winter snowstorm last week was blamed for at least seven deaths.
Oil spill occurs off Chennai port as hose of tanker ship snaps
An oil spill of "less than two tonne" off the Chennai coast was caused due to a rupture in a hose of a tanker ship berthed at Kamarajar Port here early Sunday, officials said. The incident occurred at 4.03 AM this morning when the ship, MT Coral Stars was discharging fuel oil through the 'flexible hose' at the Marine Liquid Terminal 1 at the port. The hose from the berth side got ruptured due to which there was an oil spill in the Bay of Bengal, a Coast Guard official said, adding two Coast Guard vessels have been despatched to assess the damage. "A helicopter carried out two sorties. A Pollution Response Vessel is on the way from Vishakapatnam. It has been called as a precautionary measure," the official told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Meanwhile, Kamarajar Port said, the flexible hose got snapped from the berth side and the discharge of the fuel oil was stopped by operating the emergency control button. Fuel that was mostly contained in the hose got spilled in the .
14 killed as bus rolls down gorge in Uttarakhand
Fourteen persons were killed and as many injured Sunday when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a 150-metre deep gorge in Uttarkashi district, an official said. The private bus was on its way to Vikas Nagar from Jankichatti, near the Himalayan shrine of Yamunotri, when it fell into the gorge near Damta, District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. Twelve people died at the spot and two succumbed at a hospital, he said. A search and rescue operation by police with the help of locals is underway, the official said, adding that some bodies could be stuck in the bushes. Six people seriously injured in the accident were flown in a chopper to AIIMS, Rishikesh and Jolly Grant Hospital in Dehradun for treatment, Chauhan said. Eight others were also brought to Dehradun, he added. The bus, after plunging into the gorge, landed a few metres away from the Yamuna river, Chauhan said. The number of fatalities could have been higher if the bus had fallen into the river, he said. Uttarakhand
Five injured in 65th Macao Grand Prix
Five people were injured in a crash on the last day of the 65th Macao Grand Prix on Sunday, the organisers confirmed.
TN cyclone toll rises to 45, opposition alleges poor relief work
The death toll due to the severe cyclone Gaja that devastated several districts in Tamil Nadu two days ago has risen to 45 and damaged 117,624 houses, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said in Sunday.
Uttarakhand: 12 killed as bus falls into gorge
At least 12 persons were killed and several others injured on Sunday after a bus carrying them plunged into a gorge near Damta on Uttarkashi-Yamunotri Highway.The authorities are carrying out a rescue operation.In another road accident, four people lost their lives while one person was injured after an ambulance hit a parked lorry at Hosur Main road in Bengaluru on Sunday morning.The ambulance was coming from Trichy.All persons in the ambulance, except the driver, have lost their lives. The injured driver is undergoing a treatment at a hospital.
12 dead in Vietnam floods, landslides
Flash floods and landslides killed at least 12 people in central Vietnam, officials said Sunday, as hundreds of troops were dispatched to clean up destroyed villages and washed out roads. Heavy rains pounded the central Khanh Hoa province over the past few days as tropical depression Toraji blew in from the South China Sea, triggering landslides that wiped out houses and destroyed a small reservoir. At least a dozen people have been killed so far while a search was ongoing for several others, an official from the provincial disaster office told AFP, refusing to be named. "We have mobilised hundreds of army troops to help people restore lives and clean up damaged roads," he said. The main highway linking north and south Vietnam was temporarily blocked and some railway routes were interrupted, while images on state media showed destroyed houses buried under debris and vehicles submerged in floods. Panicked residents told of running from their homes as landslides rumbled down nearby ...
Oil spill at TN port
An oil spill was reported in Tamil Nadu's Kamarajar Port on Sunday while an oil tanker was discharging fuel, said a top port official.
Bengal determined to curb road accidents: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the state government is committed to minimising the number of road accidents and its initiatives have already reduced such cases significantly.
California wildfires toll reaches 78
The death toll from the devastating wildfires in California has increased to 78 with 1,276 people still unaccounted for, authorities said.
2 killed in bus-truck collusion in Kota
Two persons were killed when a bus collided with a truck in Bundi district of Rajasthan, police said Sunday. The drivers of both the vehicles died on the spot after the collision on the KotaLalsot mega highway on Saturday, they said. The deceased were identified as Rakesh Saini (34) and Hemraj Bairwa (42), Station House Officer at Keshoraipatan police station Abhishek Pareek said. The bodies were handed over to families after post-mortem, police said. A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered in this connection, the SHO said.
California wildfires: 5 bodies found, death toll now 76
The death toll in the raging California wildfires, rose to 76, as five more sets of human remains were found during the ongoing rescue operations.United States President Donald Trump, who undertook a visit to the state, to survey the damage, oversaw the operations by rescue and fire teams on Saturday. He was accompanied by California Governor Jerry Brown and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom, CNN reported."We're all going to work together and we'll do a real job, but this is very sad to see," Trump said.The massive blaze, US's deadliest and most destructive wildfires to ever strike California, has ravaged over 9,800 homes and torched 149,000 acres since it began on November 8 at Camp Fire in northern California. Till Saturday evening, the fire was 55 per cent contained.There is a list of missing people, comprising almost 1,300 names. Officials have hoped that they would be able to trace those people in the coming days.Three deaths were reported from Woolsey Fire in Southern California, ...
WB govt committed to reducing road accidents: Mamata
The West Bengal government is committed to curbing traffic offences, its initiatives have significantly reduced road accidents in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted on Sunday. On the occasion of 'World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims', the CM said her campaign - 'Safe Drive, Save Life' - has earned the praise of the Supreme Court. "Today is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Our government is committed towards reducing incidents of road accidents in #Bangla. Our #SafeDriveSaveLife campaign has reduced such incidents significantly, earning praise of the Supreme Court," Banerjee tweeted. The state government launched the campaign in 2016 as part of its initiatives to inculcate a "sense of safe driving and responsible road behaviour" among people. The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is observed on the third Sunday of November every year in memory of millions of people who died in road crashes and their families.
WW II-era fighter plane crash kills 2 in Texas
A World War II-era fighter plane crashed on Saturday into a Texas parking lot, killing a veteran and one other person, local media and officials said. The US National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the crash of "a North American P-51D" in the city of Fredericksburg. The P-51 Mustang served in the Pacific and other theaters of World War II, as well as during the Korean War. Fredericksburg is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War, which said on Twitter that there were two victims, one of whom was a veteran. "At this time we have no further information," the museum tweeted. According to the museum website, an outdoor show about the "equipment and weapons" used in the Pacific theater, including a battle re-enactment, was to take place Saturday. Attempts to reach the museum for further comment were not immediately successful. Pictures from the San Antonio Express-News showed wreckage of the silver plane in a parking lot, where vehicles appeared damaged.
Bengaluru: 4 killed, 1 injured in road accident
Four people lost their lives while one person was injured after an ambulance hit a parked lorry at Hosur Main road on Sunday morning.The ambulance was coming from Trichy.All persons in the ambulance, except the driver, have lost their lives. The injured driver is undergoing a treatment at a hospital.On Saturday, at least six tourists from Mumbai died and more than 10 were critically injured in a road accident near Hubli on National Highway 63.The accident took place when a bus, carrying a team of Mumbai based travellers, had a head-on collision with a lorry. Six of the tourists, who were headed to Hampi, had died at the spot.
Death toll rises to 76 in California fire as Trump visits
Nearly 1,300 people remain unaccounted for and the death toll from the country's deadliest wildfire in a century climbed to 76, authorities said Saturday, hours after President Donald Trump surveyed what remained of a decimated Northern California community. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea pleaded with fire evacuees to check the roster of people reported as unreachable by family and friends and to call in if they are safe. Deputies have located hundreds of people to date, but the overall number keeps growing because officials are adding names, including those reported as missing during the disaster's chaotic early hours, Honea said. "It's really very important for you to take a look at the list and call us if you're on the list," he said. The remains of five more people were found Saturday, including four in the decimated town of Paradise and one in nearby Concow, bringing the number of dead to 76. Honea said among the dead was Lolene Rios, 56, whose son Jed tearfully told KXTV in ...
Norwegian warship under NATO Command sinks in fjord
The multi-million dollar KNM Helge Ingstad sank in a fjord in Norway after rescue efforts went awry.The battleship had earlier collided with Sola TS, a Malta-registered oil tanker, on November 8, that had left a massive hole on the frigate's side, according to CNN.The 5,500-ton battleship, one of the five in Norway's fleet, sunk after rescue attempts failed when cables attached to the ship snapped, leaving only the antennas and the radars visible above the waterline.The incident involving the under NATO command frigate left eight of the 137 on board injured, as a joint Norwegian-Maltese investigation regarding the initial collision is underway.The loss will be a major setback to national and NATO capabilities in the region as hundreds of millions of dollars will be required for ship repairs. Experts have noted that the total cost of repairs would be equivalent to the cost of buying a new ship.The incident has forced the shutdown of a North Sea crude export terminal and numerous ...