Page 412 - Disaster Accident
Ten injured in stampede at Bengal railway foot overbridge
At least 10 people, including two children, sustained severe injuries on Tuesday in a stampede at a railway foot overbridge at Santragachhi station in Howrah, police said.
Centre not allocating coal, says Karna CM
As a power crisis looms large in Karnataka in the wake of acute coal shortage, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy Tuesday said the Centre was not allocating the state's share of coal despite repeated requests. Kumarawamy also pulled up the state electricity department officials for not acting in time and for failure to inform him about the situation in advance. Karnataka is staring at a power crisis in the wake of zero coal reserve in Raichur Thermal Power Plant. Talking to reporters here, the chief minister said requests had been sent to the Centre in the last two months for coal supply and he had also drawn the attention of the Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal recently through a tweet to the situation. Kumaraswamy said he had convened a meeting of electricity department officials to take corrective measures to minimise loadshedding due to power shortage.
Five tourists from Bengal killed in Sikkim road accident
Five tourists from West Bengal died and three others sustained critical injuries after a vehicle carrying them plunged into a 100m-deep gorge near Reshi in West Sikkim, a police officer said. The tourists - residents of North 24 Parganas district in Bengal - were on their way to Gangtok from Pelling in a hired car when the accident occurred around 10pm on Monday, he said. The names and identities of the victims were being investigated at the moment, but it seems they were members of one family, the officer said. "Two of the five tourists killed in the accident are women. The three injured, including the driver, have been admitted at Namchi District Hospital," he said, adding that the district administration officials have reached the accident site to monitor the situation.
Magisterial probe begins into Amritsar train accident
The Jalandhar divisional commissioner has initiated a probe into the tragic Amritsar train accident which left nearly 60 people dead and many injured, officials said Tuesday. B Purushartha, who has been appointed as special executive magistrate by the state government for inquiring into the incident, reached Amritsar on Monday, they said. He has appealed to the people that any eyewitness or other person having any information pertaining to the incident that occurred on October 19 can record his/her statement or can provide evidence appearing in person on October 25 and October 29 at Improvement Trust Office, Ranjit Avenue here. Nearly 60 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilt onto railway tracks while watching the burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said. The train was coming from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak. At least 300 people were at the spot watching 'Ravana dahan' ..
Another Japan firm admits falsifying data for quake shock absorbers
A Japanese company supplying equipment to protect buildings from earthquakes has admitted falsifying data, authorities said Tuesday, a week after a Tokyo-based firm revealed a similar fraud. Kawakin Holdings' oil damper unit altered data for products installed at 93 education facilities, government buildings and offices, the land ministry said. "I deeply apologise for causing great concerns and trouble," Kawakin president Shinkichi Suzuki told reporters. The ministry has instructed the company to immediately change affected parts and to investigate why the data manipulation happened. The company will disclose the names of the buildings once owners agree to do so. The admission comes after Tokyo-based parts maker KYB and its unit Kayaba System Machinery announced it had falsified oil dampers data used in nearly 1,000 buildings across Japan. Local media reported they may include the Tokyo Skytree -- one of the world's tallest buildings at 634 metres (2,080 feet) -- as well as the Tokyo
Dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Willa closing in on Mexico coast
Authorities rushed to evacuate low-lying areas and set up shelters as an "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Willa with winds of 215 kms an hour headed toward a Tuesday afternoon landfall along a stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast dotted with high-rise resorts, surfing beaches and fishing villages. Farther south, meanwhile, Mexican officials reported late Monday that there had been 12 deaths related to heavy rains from Tropical Storm Vicente. Willa briefly reached Category 5 strength, then weakened a bit to Category 4. But the US National Hurricane Centre warned that it still was likely to bring "life-threatening storm surge, wind and rainfall" to parts of west-central and southwestern Mexico. Workers taped up windows in hotels and officials ordered schools closed in a low-lying region where towns sit amid farmland tucked between the sea and lagoons. A decree of "extraordinary emergency" was issued for 19 municipalities in Nayarit and Sinaloa states, the federal Interior Department ...
Bhalswa fire: Mayor, NDMC commissioner to visit landfill site
The mayor and commissioner of north Delhi will visit the Bhalswa landfill site Tuesday to take stock of the situation there, even as fire continued to rage in parts of the leviathan garbage dump, officials said. Mayor Adesh Gupta and Municipal Commissioner Madhup Vyas are expected to arrive at the site shortly. "They are on their way to the landfill site to take stock of the situation," a senior NDMC official told PTI. Bhalswa landfill site falls under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). The nearly 50 metre-high heap at Bhalswa got saturated way beyond its capacity several years ago. Fire incidents keep taking place at the humongous site on and off, caused by natural factors or triggered by some incendiary material. Fire has been raging at Bhalswa landfill site since October 20, which has raised concerns about the air quality in the national capital region further deteriorating. The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) department had on Monday night said that the ...
Bhalswa fire: Mayor, NDMC commissioner visit landfill site
The mayor and commissioner of north Delhi visited the Bhalswa landfill site Tuesday to take stock of the situation there, even as a fire continued to rage in parts of the huge garbage dump, officials said. Municipal Commissioner Madhup Vyas said he visited the site in the afternoon, accompanying Mayor Adesh Gupta. "The mayor and the commissioner are currently visiting the landfill site to take stock of the situation," a senior NDMC official told PTI. The Bhalswa landfill site falls under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). The nearly 50-metre-high heap at Bhalswa got saturated several years ago. Fire incidents keep taking place at the humongous site on and off, caused by natural factors or triggered by some incendiary material. A fire has been raging at the Bhalswa landfill site since October 20, raising concerns about the air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) further deteriorating. The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) department had on Monday night ...
Nokia, BSNL to explore public safety initiatives in India
Telecom equipment maker Nokia and public sector telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore opportunities in the public safety arena in the country.
6.0 magnitude quake jolts Taiwan
An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale struck off Taiwan's Hualien County in the country's eastern coast on Tuesday.According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the quake occurred at 12:34 pm (local time) and struck at a depth of 30 kilometers.Tremors were also felt in the capital Taipei and its surrounding regions. However, there are no reports of damage and casualties so far. No tsunami warning has been issued.In February, Taiwan was hit by a 6.4 magnitude temblor which claimed 17 lives and left over 250 wounded.
OMC measures to help cyclone-affected people in Odisha:
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that oil marketing companies (OMC) have taken a slew of measures to assist the people affected by cyclone Titli and the subsequent floods in Odisha. The OMCs deployed all the resources at their command and ensured uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in the areas affected by floods, the Union Minister said in a letter to Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister S N Patro on Monday. Pradhan said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and public sector oil marketing companies had immediately taken stock of the damage due to the cyclone and the floods in Odisha. "I myself visited the flood-affected areas in Ganjam and Gajapati districts," he said. Patro in a letter had urged the Union Petroleum minister to provide LPG cylinders free of cost to beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) in calamity-hit Gajapati, Ganjam and Rayagada districts. "The OMCs will make arrangements for providing ...
Seven burnt to death as van with smuggled petrol collides with truck in Pak
A van carrying smuggled petrol collided with a truck on Tuesday in Pakistan's Balochistan province, killing at least seven persons and burning three cars parked nearby and a police check post, authorities said. The accident occurred a day after 20 people were killed when two buses collided head on in Pakistan's Punjab province that also left 30 others injured. The smuggled petrol was hidden in the makeshift tank of the van. The van was travelling from the provincial capital of Quetta to Sibbi, police officials were quoted as saying by the Khyber news. After the collision, five persons died on the spot and the two injured were shifted to a hospital where they succumbed to their injuries, police said, adding three cars, parked nearby, also caught fire along with the police check post. Two policemen who were posted at the Mach check post also suffered burns while trying to put the fire out, the report said. After the accident, officials reached the spot and tried to control the blaze. It
Driver in fatal Taiwan train crash suspected of speeding: court
A train that derailed and killed 18 people in Taiwan was speeding when it flipped off the tracks, a court said Tuesday, with the driver suspected of "professional negligence" for switching off a speed control system. The crash on the popular east coast line injured 187 people Sunday and left the Puyuma Express lying zig-zagged across the tracks in the island's deadliest rail accident for a quarter century. The injured driver, identified by his family name Yu, was released on bail Tuesday after being interrogated by prosecutors and returned to hospital where he was being treated for injuries including a fractured rib. A statement from Yilan district court, which had reviewed evidence and questioned Yu as part of the bail hearing, said he had admitted to turning off the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system used to monitor speed due to problems with the train's power supply. As the train approached Xinma station, the site of the crash, it was travelling at 140 kilometres per hour (87 .
Army disposes 555 bombs buried underground for past 14 years
An Indian Army bomb disposal team has successfully extracted and destroyed 555 unexploded bombs that were buried underground for the past 14 years here, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
China emergency crews struggling to rescue 18 trapped miners
Emergency crews are struggling to rescue 18 coal miners trapped underground in eastern China following a collapse inside the shaft three days earlier. Three miners were killed by falling rocks in Saturday's accident in Shandong province that also destroyed part of a drainage tunnel. State media on Tuesday showed ambulances standing by at the mine entrance and crews equipped with oxygen tanks heading underground. More than 300 people were working inside the mine at the time of the collapse, and most were successfully lifted to safety. China long had the world's deadliest coal mines but safety has improved considerably with more modern equipment, better training and the closure of most of the smallest, most dangerous mines. China relies heavily on coal for energy and heating.
3 killed in Uttarakhand accident
Three persons were killed in Uttarakhand's Dehradun district when a vehicle fell into a deep gorge in Khadamba, police said on Tuesday.
5.7 magnitude earthquake off east Taiwan, felt strongly in Taipei
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted Taiwan Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, and was felt strongly in the capital Taipei. The quake struck around 104 kilometres off the coast of Hualien city, in the east of the island, at a depth of 34 km at 12:34 pm (0434 GMT). There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Taiwan's central weather bureau measured the quake at 6.0 magnitude.
'Extremely dangerous' hurricane nearing Mexico's Pacific coast
An "extremely dangerous" category 4 hurricane is nearing the Pacific coast of Mexico, bringing in the potential for life-threatening storm surge, wind and torrents of rain, according to weather authorities.
3 climbers die in Mexico
Three climbers have been killed and a fourth injured in separate accidents while scaling the volcanic peak of Mexico's highest mountain, emergency management officials said.
17 killed due to heavy rains in Nicaragua
At least 17 people have died when trying to cross flooded rivers in Nicaragua in the last few days, said Vice President and presidential spokesperson Rosario Murillo.