Page 410 - Disaster Accident

Man arrested in connection with Shahdara bus collision that killed two

A 33-year-old bus driver was arrested Wednesday in connection with an accident in Shahdara two days ago in which two Delhi Transport Corporation employees were killed, police said. The accused, Nooruddin, a resident of UP's Aligarh, was arrested around 12.30 pm in Khoda village near the Delhi-UP border, they said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Meghna Yadav said the incident took place on Monday when a speeding private bus driven by the accused hit a school bus stationed at a red light, which, due to the impact, collided with a UP Roadways bus. The Roadways bus then hit a cluster bus. A motorcycle and two auto-rickshaws had got trapped in between vehicles as a result of the accident. DTC employees Satish Kumar (50) and Rupender Kumar (38) were on the motorcycle and were killed in the accident. Four others sustained injuries, police said.

Mevani seeks scarcity-hit status for his constituency

Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani on Wednesday demanded inclusion of Vadgam taluka, a part of his constituency, in the list of 'scarcity-hit' areas. He would launch an agitation if the government failed to include Vadgam in the list, he said. The Gujarat government has declared 51 talukas (tehsils), comprising 3,291 villages, as scarcity-hit owing to scanty rains, and announced that relief measures would be implemented in these areas from December 1. The list includes nine talukas of Banaskantha district but not Vadgam. "Why Vadgam was excluded from the list when nine other talukas of Banaskantha district were included?" Mevani asked in a press release. He accused the government of not following a manual on drought, issued by the Centre, which lays down criteria for declaring an area as affected. The government should inform how many villages in Vadgam taluka have rain-measuring instruments on the basis of whose readings a village is declared as drought-hit, he said. The ...

Maharashtra: Boat carrying senior officials capsizes near Shivaji Smarak

A Maharashtra government-owned boat on Wednesday capsized in the Arabian Sea near the Shivaji Smarak, a 212 metre-tall memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji.The boat which capsized was ferrying senior government officials. Another boat ferrying members of media was safe. A total of four boats had departed to inspect the construction work which was slated to begin today.The Coast Guard had dispatched a hovercraft and a helicopter to aid in the rescue operation.Most of the passengers of the capsized boat have been rescued as of now.Further information is awaited.

Willa weakens to tropical depression, still brings rain

Hurricane Willa weakened rapidly into a tropical depression on Wednesday after slamming into a stretch of beach towns, fishing villages and farms along Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm, though it continued to dump torrential rains over west-central Mexico. Damage assessments were scanty before dawn due to darkness and poor communications, but federal officials said power had been knocked out in some spots and there were early reports of flimsy structures with tin roofs sustaining damage from the 195 kph winds. Before hitting the mainland near Isla del Bosque in the state of Sinaloa, Willa swept over an offshore penal colony about 100 kilometers out in the Pacific. Authorities declined to comment on precautions that were taken at the prison, citing security concerns, but said the safety of inmates was a priority. The storm was rapidly losing punch over northern Mexico and was down to tropical depression status before dawn, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph down from ..

Mughal road opened for traffic after snow clearance operation in J-K

The Mughal road, an alternate link between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country, was reopened for traffic Wednesday afternoon, a day after it was closed as a precautionary measure due to fresh snowfall in some high altitude areas. The traffic on the Mughal road connecting the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu with south Kashmir's Shopian district was restored around 1 pm after completion of the snow clearance operation along the stretch passing through Peer Ki Gali, an official of the traffic department said. He said the snow clearance operation was started Tuesday evening soon after the weather improved to make the road traffic worthy. The stranded vehicles were allowed to move towards their destinations from both sides and the traffic was going on smoothly when last reports were received, the official said. Peer Ki Gali, along with some other high-altitude areas, witnessed fresh snowfall yesterday, forcing the authorities to suspend the traffic on the ...

Odisha reports 77 deaths in cyclone Titli

The Odisha government on Wednesday said they have received reports that 77 people died in the cyclonic storm Titli and the resultant flood.

Military contractors ask government to clear dues, threaten protest

Military contractors on Wednesday threatened to stall all defence construction work if their dues totalling Rs 1,600 crore were not cleared.

Indonesian woman delivers baby girl on board Etihad flight

An Indonesia woman delivered a baby girl on board an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta, early on Wednesday morning, officials said here.

Ensure no interruption in power supply: Kumaraswamy to officials

Amid reports of a looming power crisis, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Wednesday directed concerned officials to ensure there was interruption in power supply in the state. Holding the central government responsible for the power crisis, Kumaraswamy asked officials to utilise hydro and solar power facilities to avoid load-shedding. "As the supply of coal in the state was not in accordance with the agreement that was reached with the Centre, power generation at the Raichur Thermal Power Plant has suffered," an official release, quoting Kumaraswamy said. The chief minister had recently tweeted about the shortage in coal supply to the state and requested the Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to look into the issue. "Coal scarcity in the State's Thermal Power Stations: Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) with 1,720 MW capacity has zero coal stock. WCL, a Government of India Coal Company has short supplied about 6 Lakh MT of coal to RTPS this year against the Fuel Supply ...

Yahoo to pay USD 50 million in damages over 2013 data breach

Yahoo will have to pay millions in damages as part of a settlement in the 2013 and 2014 mega data breach case.As per the settlement filed earlier this week, Yahoo has been slapped a fine of USD 50 million. In addition to that, the company will also have to provide a minimum of two years of credit monitoring services for the 200 million people impacted by the breach, Cnet reported.Yahoo suffered global reputational damage when a security breach in 2013 affected 3 billion accounts. Another breach, a year later, affected 500 million accounts. The hack put to risk even encrypted passwords of users.The now parent company, Verizon, will pay half the settlement cost while Altaba, the remaining part of Yahoo after sale to Verizon will pay the other half.

Action would be taken based on probe report into Amritsar train tragedy: Punjab CM

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said that he would decide on taking action after receiving the report of a probe into the tragic Amritsar train accident in which 59 Dussehra revellers were killed after being mowed down by a train. Singh, who is on a five-day visit to Israel since Monday, said that the probe he has ordered into the Amritsar accident is underway and its report to ascertain where the responsibility lies is awaited. Asked if he considered cutting short his visit to Israel, the chief minister told PTI that his trip was planned a long time ago, "I definitely considered calling it off in the wake of the train accident". "I did postpone my departure by a couple of days and spent the whole of Saturday in Amritsar. Even before leaving on Sunday, I spent all my time reviewing the situation and discussing it with my Cabinet colleagues and officials, and left only after being satisfied with the way things were being handled on the ground. "Even after coming here, I am in

Kolkata stampede: South Eastern Railways to bear medical expenses of injured

A committee, comprising department heads of the South Eastern (S.E.) Railways, on Wednesday said it would bear the expenses of treatment of those who sustained injuries in the stampede on a foot over-bridge at Santragachi railway station.At least two people lost their lives while around 12 sustained injuries in incident which took place on Tuesday."Out of the 12 injured persons admitted to the Howrah General Hospital last evening, five have already been released. Two persons have been shifted to R.N. Tagore Hospital and one person has been shifted to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. The remaining injured persons will be shifted to S.E. Railway Central Hospital, Garden Reach," the statement from the South Eastern (S.E.) Railways said."The Committee formed to conduct the inquiry will also look into the allegation regarding a change of platforms of trains," it stated.The stampede took place when three trains simultaneously arrived at the station around 6:30 pm and passengers rushed to the ...

Railways form 4-member inquiry team into Santragachi station stampede

The Railways Wednesday formed a four-member committee to inquire into circumstances that led to a stampede at Santragachi Station, killing two persons and injuring 15 others, a South Eastern Railway (SER) spokesperson said. The stampede occurred around 6pm on Tuesday when an express train and two EMU locals arrived at the station at the same time and passengers rushed to the platforms to board the trains. The inquiry panel comprising SER principal chief commercial manager, principal chief engineer, principal chief security commissioner-cum-IG and chief safety officer will look into allegations of "negligence" levelled against the Railways into the mishap, spokesperson Sanjay Ghosh said. "Among other allegations, the committee will also probe claims of a last-minute change in platform for an incoming train, apparently leading to cross-movement of passengers on the Foot Over Bridge at the station," Ghosh explained. Taking lessons from Tuesday's mishap, additional railway personnel ...

FIR lodged in Bengal stampede case

An FIR was lodged on Wednesday against unknown persons for the stampede at a railway overbridge in Howrah's Santragachhi station that killed two people and injured a dozen, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official said.

Amritsar train mishap: Event organiser denies responsibility

Saurabh Madan Mithu, the organiser of the Dussehra event in Amritsar's Choura Bazar area, on Wednesday denied responsibility of the accident in which 59 people lost their lives after being crushed by a speeding train.He also added that a thorough investigation should be conducted into the matter at the earliest."I am not at all responsible for the accident as I organised the event within the permitted boundary. There was an 8-feet tall boundary wall between the event venue and railway land. People came and stood there. We even made the announcements and told them to move. Nobody realised that those two trains were moving in their direction," Mithu told ANI.The organiser also clarified that he had sought permission from the police to organise the event and urged the authorities to deploy more security personnel as they were expecting a good footfall."Both local and railway police were present at the spot. The fire department was also present there and all arrangements pertaining to ...

Indonesia woman delivers on-board Etihad flight

An Indonesian woman delivered a baby on-board an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta on Wednesday morning, officials said here.

Rome: Escalator malfunctions, 20 injured

At least 20 people were injured after an escalator at the Repubblica metro station in Rome malfunctioned and rapidly sped downward.The passengers were thrown to the bottom of the station by the speeding escalator, reported CNN.A spokesman with Italy's Fire Brigade said that most of the people, injured in the accident were the Russian football fans, who were on their way to attend a Champions League match between Roma and CSKA Moscow.The cause of the malfunction is being investigated. Posting a live video from the scene, Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi said that she stands in solidarity with those injured, adding that the authorities need to understand the cause of the malfunction.Raggi also said that it seemed that "some Russian supporters were dancing and jumping on the escalator."Rome's fire brigade Twitter handle asserted that the injured were taken to a hospital and the escalator was being repaired.

Death toll from Hurricane Michael climbs to 39

The death toll in Florida from Hurricane Michael, which hit the Panhandle earlier this month, has risen to 29, while the total number of people killed by the storm in the United States now stands at 39, the spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management told Efe on Tuesday.

UN warns of danger of widespread famine in Yemen

The United Nations has warned that Yemen was on the verge of widespread famine. "There is now a clear and present danger of an imminent and great big famine engulfing Yemen," UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said Tuesday. He urged a humanitarian ceasefire around facilities involved in food aid distribution, and infrastructure, at a meeting of the Security Council convened on the British initiative because of the deterioration in Yemen. "The parties to the conflict continue to violate international humanitarian law," and while earlier UN estimates put those in danger of famine at 11 million, the real number facing it now is 14 million people. Since the last UN warning in September, "the situation (on the ground) has gotten worse," Emergency Relief Coordinator Lowcock said. Yemen's brutal conflict has since 2015 left some 10,000 people dead and has created what the UN has dubbed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

6 children die at US rehabilitation centre

Six children were dead and 12 others sick following a viral outbreak at a rehabilitation centre in the US state of New Jersey.