Page 386 - Disaster Accident
7 dead, 22 injured in separate road accidents in Assam
At least seven persons were killed and 22 others, including two children, were injured in two separate road accidents in Kamrup and Nagaon districts of Assam, police said on Friday. Four persons died on the spot and seven others were seriously injured when two speeding vehicles collided on NH-37 in Kamrup district, said Jogendra Barman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Boko police station. Barman said the injured were first rushed to Boko health centre and then to Gauhati Medical College Hospital. In Nagaon district, three persons died and 15 others suffered injuries when a mini bus and a truck collided on Koliabhumura bridge Thursday night, police said. Most of the injured persons were taken to Tezpur Kanaklata Civil Hospital and Mission Hospital, and some of them were later shifted to Guwahati for further treatment, they said.
Fire breaks out at plastic godown in Kolkata
A fire broke out at a plastic godown on Friday night in Anandapur area on the southern fringes of the city, police said. Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot, they said. The incident took place in Anandapur's Chawbhaga area at around 9.30 pm. The exact cause of the fire was not yet known, a senior officer said, adding that nobody was injured. "The situation is under control but we are trying to douse the fire so that it does not spread further," the officer said.
J&K govt declares Nov snowfall as 'special natural calamity'
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday declared the heavy snowfall earlier this week as state-specific "special natural calamity" to streamline providing relief and assistance to farmers affected by the unexpected event, an official spokesperson said. The State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) headed by Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam took stock of the extensive damage caused due to the intense snowfall on November 3 and 4 in Kashmir division, the spokesperson said. The SEC approved notifying the snowfall as a state-specific-special natural calamity, he said. On Tuesday, Subrahmanyam said preliminary assessment suggested that nearly 53,000 hectares of horticulture and 9,000 hectares of agriculture crops have been damaged and the losses were estimated at over Rs 500 crore. On Friday, the SEC enhanced the relief amount from Rs 18,000 per hectare to Rs 36,000 per hectare for damage to perennial crops, the spokesperson said. It also decided to ...
Carcass of blackbuck found in Kabisurya Nagara forest range
The carcass of a blackbuck was found on Friday in Ganjam district, the only habitat of the endangered animal in Odisha, forest officials said. Forest officials recovered the carcass of a three-year old female blackbuck at Kandha Kharida under Kabisurya Nagara forest range, about 50 km from here. The animal might have died due to some ailments on Thursday. Some stray dogs have eaten parts of the carcass. Forest officials rushed to the spot and sent it for post mortem, said forest ranger Ramesh Chandra Sahu. With this at least 11 blackbucks have been died in Bhetanai area of the forest range in the last two months, officials said. While most of them died due to different diseases, two died in road accidents and two others due to old age, they said. At least 28 blackbucks have died in the area since March this year. As many as 18 and 21 blackbucks had died in 2016-17 and 2015-16 respectively, the officials added.
Convoy carrying UK, Belgium PMs in 'accident', two officers injured
Two police officers escorting British Prime Minister Theresa May and Belgium's Charles Michel were flung to the ground after an accident on a motorway in Belgium, local media reported Friday.
Alert sounded in Kullu due to heavy rainfall, snowfall warning
The Kullu district administration has sounded an alert in view of a forecast of heavy rainfall and snowfall, urging people not to go the high reaches of Himachal Pradesh, an official said Friday. The MeT Department has predicted heavy rainfall and snowfall from November 10 to 12, he said. In a statement issued here, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus has appealed to the public to avoid going to high reaches in view of the prediction of snowfall and rainfall. In case of emergency, district disaster management authority (DDMA) can be contacted at toll free number '1077', the official added.
5 killed in separate accidents in Rajasthan
Five people including a 10-year-old boy died and 29 were injured in separate accidents in Rajasthan, police said Friday. In the state's Dungarpur district, four people including two women and a boy were killed in a collision between an ambulance and a private bus on Thursday night, police said. A total of 10 people were injured in the accident that happened near Chhapi village following which agitated villagers set the bus on fire, they said. The deceased were identified as Lalita (35), Sahil (10), Than Singh (29) and Kokila (40), assistant police inspector Vandan Singh said, adding that a case was registered against the bus driver who fled the spot. In the second incident in Udaipur, a man was killed and nine others were injured on Friday when their cars rammed into each other on the Iswal bridge on National Highway 27. Hitesh Joshi (45) died after his car collided with the other vehicle, being driven on the wrong side of the road, police said. Five occupants in Joshi's car and four .
Southern California fires force evacuation of 75,000 homes
Portions of Southern California remain under siege as two large brush fires are threatening numerous communities. ABC7.com reports that one of the fires has now scorched 8,000 acres as winds picked up early Friday, with some 75,000 homes under evacuation orders along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Los Angeles Fire Department Public Information Officer Erik Scott says the blaze has destroyed or damaged many buildings. A second fire has been burning in the Santa Rosa Valley east of Camarillo, west of Simi Valley near Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks. By Thursday evening, it had scorched up to 7,000 acres and sent residents of more than 1,200 homes fleeing, the Los Angeles Times reports. No injuries have been reported in either fire.
Indian, Pakistan troops exchange fire on LoC
Indian and Pakistan troops exchanged fire on the Line of control (LoC) on Friday in Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district, official sources said.
Imran Hussain meets environment ministry officials to discuss deteriorating air quality
Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain met his ministry officials on Friday to discuss the deteriorating air quality in the national capital which slipped to "severe plus emergency" category after Diwali. A thick haze engulfed Delhi on Thursday as it recorded its worst air quality of the year the morning after Diwali, with the pollution level entering "severe-plus emergency" category or ten times the permissible limit due to rampant bursting of toxic firecrackers in gross violation of a Supreme Court order, authorities said. Hussain met officials of the Environment Ministry to discuss the deteriorating air quality and plan action if the air quality remains hazardous, officials said. The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority on Thursday said it was closely monitoring the situation and if the pollution shows an increasing trend then emergency measures will be imposed in the national capital. The emergency measures would be implemented as ...
Wheat sowing picks up; acreage up 20 pc so far
Wheat sowing has started picking up as the acreage under the crop rose by 20 per cent to 15.19 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season, but pulses and oilseeds area was lagging behind the corresponding year-ago period, the agriculture ministry said Friday. Sowing of rabi crops begins from October and harvesting from March. Wheat is the main rabi crop. Wheat was sown in 12.65 lakh hectares in the year-ago. According to the ministry's latest data, maximum increase in wheat sowing was reported from Madhya Pradesh, where farmers have planted the crop in 6 lakh hectares so far this season, much higher than 2.17 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Wheat acreage in Punjab remained at 4.68 lakh hectares and Uttar Pradesh at 1.73 lakh hectares so far this season. However, pulses sowing has not picked up as the area under the crop remained lower at 28.22 per cent at 39.05 lakh hectares so far this season as against 54.34 lakh hectares in the same period last season. Pulses ...
Delhi's air quality to remain 'severe' till Saturday: SAFAR
Delhi's air quality would remain in the severe category till Saturday and the already toxic situation caused by smoke from fireworks is likely to aggravate further due to intensified stubble burning in neighbouring states, government-run agency SAFAR said Friday. Delhi's air quality showed "significant" improvement as compared to Thursday when it went off the charts to the "severe plus emergency" category. The city recorded the overall air quality index of 642, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). On Friday, the AQI was recorded in the severe category at 426. "As per satellite images, heavy fire counts were recorded in the last 24 hour and the latest SAFAR model results show a movement of cold front carrying heavy air mass towards Delhi region," SAFAR said. Elaborating on it, the weather forecast system said the air in the surrounding stubble-burning areas is already heavy due to increased moisture and pollutants.This heavy air will travel ..
Boeing jet crash-lands at Guyana airport, six injured: Minister
A Boeing jetliner carrying 126 people crash-landed at the airport in Guyana's capital Georgetown on Friday, injuring six people, the transport minister said. The Fly Jamaica Airways plane was bound for Toronto when it suffered a hydraulic problem shortly after takeoff and returned to the airport, crashing and skidding off the runway, Transportation Minister David Patterson said.
Kim Kardashian forced to evacuate her home
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian-West was forced to grab much of what she could in an hour and flee her home on Thursday night.
Eight killed in accident in Sambhal
Eight people were killed and 11 others injured when a roadways bus collided with a SUV on the Moradabad-Agra Highway on Friday, police said. The incident took place in Ginnaur area. The injured were rushed to a hospital, where two of them died during treatment while the condition of others was stated to be stable. The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem.
30,000 evacuated following California wildfire
Some 30,000 people were evacuated after a wildfire broke out in California and engulfed houses and public buildings such as churches and schools in the town of Paradise.
Powerful underwater quake off Norwegian Arctic island
A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck in the Arctic Ocean Friday, northwest of a largely uninhabited and remote Norwegian island, officials said. No injuries or damage were immediately reported. The Norwegian earthquake center NORSAR says the quake was recorded at 2:49 a.m. in the sea between the volcanic island of Jan Mayen and Greenland, a Danish territory. The tremor was centered some 120 kilometers (74 miles) off Jan Mayen at a depth of approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), NORSAR said. Norway's news agency NTB said there were 18 people on the island military and meteorological institute staff who were woken by the quake. Silje Wennesland told NTB that "I had my heart in my throat when I woke up because the mirror and the cabinets shook." NORSAR said aftershocks are expected but no tsunami warning was issued. "Fortunately, no one was injured, and everyone is fine, but we noticed it," Wennesland told NTB. "It has happened before, and this was quite ..
Wildfire displaces thousands in California
A fast-moving wildfire in Chico, North California, burned a hospital, hundreds of homes and led to the displacement of thousands on Thursday.Quoting sources, Khaleej Times mentioned that the wildfire was driven by strong winds and dry conditions. The blaze swept through the town of Paradise and threatened nearly 26,000 residents, residing in the area with flames measuring 50-foot high.The blaze which began early on Thursday would further add to the list of worst wildfires that have been occurring in California over the past years.The flames have already destroyed 621,743 acres (251,610 hectares), nearly twice the amount during the same period of 2017 and nearly triple the five-year average, Khaleej Times reported.The situation is gradually getting worse with time. Escape routes near the city have been blocked leading to more traffic accidents in the area. No deaths have reported till now.
Uttar Pradesh: 6 dead, 13 injured in Gunnaur accident
At least six people were killed and 13 seriously injured in a road accident in Gunnaur located in this district on Friday.The head-on collision took place between a Bolero and a Roadways bus. The bus was heading towards Delhi while the SUV was moving towards Nanital. As many as 19 people were in the SUV when the accident occurred.The district police rushed to the spot and the injured were sent to a Moradabad hospital.Police sub-inspector Yamuna Prasad cited low visibility due to fog as the main reason for the accident.Investigation into the accident is underway.
Chemical leak that sickened 52 in China nearly cleaned up
Authorities say a chemical leak that sickened 52 people this week has nearly been cleaned up at a wharf in eastern China. Investigators said around 7 tons of the common additive C9 leaked while workers were loading barrels onto a ship Sunday in Fujian province. The province's Department of Environmental Protection said the victims displayed symptoms including dizziness, nausea, vomiting and throat discomfort. Ten people remained in the hospital under observation. The statement said water clean-up operations had largely concluded by Thursday afternoon, but media reports cited residents as saying that a foul and pungent odor remained in the air near the wharf causing sore throats and dizzy spells. Industrial accidents occur frequently in China, where industry and manufacturing are key drivers of the economy.