Page 591 - Disaster Accident
Urbanisation, tree felling leading to surge in lightning strikes: IITM scientist
Unplanned urbanisation and felling of trees were behind a recent surge in lightning strikes and the number of deaths in such incidents in the country, a meteorologist of a Pune-based institute said. These days, lightning is more in the cities than in the rural areas of India, the senior meteorologist of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), said. "Around 3,000 to 3,500 people die every year in the country due to lightning. But the trend is little higher since the last five years. And this year we are expecting more lightning at stations over the foothills of Himalayas (starting from Jammu and Kashmir till the Darjeeling foothills) central and eastern part of the country," scientist of the Atmospheric Electricity Aerosol Physics of the IITM, Dr S D Pawar told PTI. Though there is no past official record on the number of deaths because of lightning strikes in India, Dr Pawar said a study conducted by them in this connection in the last 20 years shows that it is ...
4 paramilitary jawans killed in bus accident in KPK
Four personnel of the Frontier Constabulary were killed and 23 others injured in an accident in northwest Pakistan's Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa province today, police said. The accident happened when a Dikhan-bound bus turned turtle on the Daraban-Darazinda road after the driver lost control over the vehicle, they said. Four jawans of the Frontier Constabulary died in the accident, they said, adding that the bus was coming from Quetta. Police and rescue officials rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies and rushed the injured to hospital, they added.
Rains pound Kerala again, hamper relief works
After a brief lull, rains started lashing several parts of Kerala since this morning, posing problems to the relief operations undertaken by multiple agencies in the flood and landslides hit regions. However, the water level in the Idukki and Idamalayar reservoirs reduced, bringing some relief, with the authorities saying there was no need for any panic for people living downstream, officials said. There were no fresh casualties reported since yesterday and the toll in the rain-related incidents since the current monsoon fury from August 8 stood at 37, they said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake an aerial survey of some flood-hit areas and hold discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, camping in Kochi, later today. More than 60,000 people have been accommodated in relief camps set up in different areas, including in Wayand where over 14,000 people had been sheltered. Ten columns of Army, a unit of Madras Regiment along with personnel of Navy, Air Force and ...
'Coal import in June qtr rises 4% to 58 MT'
India imported 57.99 million tonne(MT) of coal in April-June, registering an increase of 4.1 per cent from the same quarter of 2017-18. Coal import in the year-ago period stood at 55.69 MT, as per the latest data from mjunction services, an online procurement and sales entity jointly floated by state-owned SAIL and Tata Steel. "Overall, coal and coke imports during the first 3 months (April-June) of 2018-19 stood at 57.99 MT, about 4.1 per cent higher than 55.69 MT recorded for the same period last year," it said. Steam coal import was up 3.6 per cent at 39.98 MT as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. "Coal import (all types of coal) in June 2018 stood at 18.75 MT (provisional), lower than 20.98 MT (revised) in May 2018," it said. Import in June declined mainly due to a slump in coking and non-coking coal shipments. mjunction CEO Vinaya Varma said:"Even as the power plants continued to face coal shortage, the multi-year-high prices in spot steam coal market restricted ..
8 killed in small plane crash in Indonesia
Eight people were killed and one other person injured after a small plane crashed in Indonesia's Papua province, an official said on Sunday.
Most landslides in Manipur caused by anthropogenic factors: Env ministry
Every year, during monsoon, landslides claim a number of lives and cause huge damage to property across the country, especially in the hilly region, and this time it was no different. Recently, landslides in rain-battered Kerala left a trail of destruction, while in Manipur, a massive landslip killed nine people last month. The northeastern state has witnessed six major landslides since May. The hill state of Himanchal Pradesh was also hit and in Uttarakhand, a number of pilgrims during the Kailash Mansarovar and the Kanwar yatras were left stranded due to landslides. Specifically for Manipur, the Environment Ministry has indicated that most landslides in the state were "anthropogenically" induced and were caused due to a host of reasons, including modification of slopes for construction and widening of roads. Experts stressed that there was an urgent need to clearly classify high-landslide prone regions and to update the reviews every decade. Manipur witnessed six massive landslides .
Eight bodies found in Indonesian plane crash
A 12-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed eight people in mountainous eastern Indonesia, authorities said today. The Swiss-made Pilatus aircraft lost contact with air traffic control Saturday during what was supposed to be a flight of around 40 minutes in remote Papua province. The wreckage of the plane was found in a heavily forested area on a mountain side in the Oksibil subdistrict on Sunday morning. "Eight passengers were found dead and one was found alive," Papua military spokesman Lieutenant colonel Dax Sianturi said. "At the moment the cause of the crash has not been confirmed," he told AFP, adding an investigation would be carried out by the national transportation safety committee. The plane, which was owned by private charter company Dimonim Air, was carrying seven passengers and two crew. Before the accident, villagers in nearby Okatem reported hearing a loud roar followed by an explosion. Search and rescue teams walked two hours to reach the crash
Lombok quake sends shudders through tourist industry
The powerful earthquakes that struck the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks killing some 400 people have sent holidaymakers fleeing, raising questions about how its lucrative tourism sector will bounce back. Two deadly tremors a week apart -- accompanied by dozens of aftershocks -- wrought widespread damage on homes and livelihoods, striking during the crucial tourism season, when hotels, local businesses and seasonal workers earn the bulk of their annual revenue. In the Gili Islands, a popular backpacker and diving destination just off Lombok's northern coast, thousands of terrified tourists jostled on powder-white beaches for departing boats. Lombok's airport was briefly crammed with holidaymakers rushing to get flights out, while the main tourist drag of Senggigi has been left deserted. Alfan Hasandi depended on peak season tourists to see his family through the rest of the year. He and his brothers ran a now shuttered business on one of the islands, Gili Air, offering ...
Water level at Kerala's Idukki dam further decreases
The water level in Kerala's Idukki dam further decreased on Sunday and now stands at 2,399.28 feet even as parts of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts still remain submerged.
Kerala flood: NDRF personnel obliged as people laud him for saving child
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescue officer Kanhaiya Kumar, who hogged the headlines for saving a child in Idukki district of flood-hit Kerala, thanked everyone for acknowledging his selfless act.The NDRF personnel, is being lauded on social media after a video of him, running across a submerging bridge with the child in his arm surfaced on media. The child was suffering from a high fever and had to be shifted to a nearby hospital.Kumar, who was deployed in Idukki district for the rescue mission, told ANI, "I have been in this profession for past six years and after this video went viral and people praised me, I feel my hard work paid off well."Minutes after the rescue officer crossed the bridge, it was submerged by the flood water released from the Cheruthoni Dam."I realised that I can help the child by taking him to the nearest hospital and I exactly did that. I didn't know that with just a small act of mine I would become famous. I would like to thank people who showed ..
Albania hit by magnitudes 5.4 and 5.1 tremors; homes crack
Northern Albania was struck by two earthquakes yesterday with preliminary magnitudes of 5.4 and 5.1, damaging scores of buildings, authorities said. Albania's Defense Ministry reported that the stronger struck quake at 1533 GMT with a depth of five kilometers (3.11 miles) near the village of Vinjoll in Mat district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Tirana. The Institute of Geosciences, Energy, Water and Environment reported that the other quake occurred at 5:38 p.m. local time (1538 GMT) some 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of Tirana. It said the quake had a depth of 24 kilometers (15 miles) near the town of Bulqize. The ministry reported 67 damaged houses in the town of Klos, Mat and Bulqize, but no human injuries. It added that authorities are coordinating work to assist the affected population. The quake was felt strongly in Tirana and most of the country, as well as in neighboring Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia. It was followed by 15 aftershocks. The U.S. .
Man dies in accident in southeast Delhi
A 29-year-old man died and three others were severely injured after a car collided with a tempo near ring road in southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, police said. The deceased, identified as Dharmender, a resident of Sangam Vihar, was travelling in a car and two of his co-occupants, identified as Praveen Singhal and Kapil Panwar, sustained severe injuries, they said. Police were informed about the accident at 3:50 am. On reaching the spot, they learnt that the car coming from the Ashram side hit the divider and collided with a tempo, which was coming from south extension, Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast), said. All the injured were admitted to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre. The tempo driver, identified as Hukum Dev Yadav, who is also admitted in the trauma centre is unfit for statement, the officer said. During inquiry, it was learnt that the car was at fault, he said. A case has been registered and further investigation is ...
Heavy rains; CM asks officials to be alert
With heavy rains lashing some parts of Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today asked officials to be alert and supervise relief measures in affected areas. Rao spoke to Chief Secretary S K Joshi on the situation arising out of heavy rains and suggested that special officials be appointeed in districts where the impact of rains was heavy, to guide relief operations, a release from the chief minister's office said. Accordingly, seven senior officials were appointed as special officers, it added. Normal life was thrown out of gear at some places in the state due to the rains and several rivulets are in spate. In its warning for the next five days for Telangana, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in several districts, including Adilabad, Mancherial, Jagitial, Warangal on August 12.
Man dies after car loaded with newspapers catches fire
A 23-year-old man died after his car loaded with newspapers allegedly caught fire in south Delhi's BRT road near Sheikh Sarai, police said today. The accident took place on the intervening night of August 10 and 11 at 1:50 am, they said. The deceased, identified as Sumit, was a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, the police said. He was on his way to Gurgaon to deliver newspapers from a printing press in Noida when the accident took place, a senior officer said. The front portion of the vehicle was damaged and it appeared that the car might have hit another vehicle, he said. He could not come out of the vehicle and sustained severe burn injuries. He was admitted to the Safdarjung hospital, where doctor declared him brought dead, the officer said. Sumit was driving the car for the last six months. It was found registered in the name of one Jaspreet Kaur, who is a resident of Jyoti Nagar in Delhi, he said. A case has been registered, the officer said, adding an investigation is underway.
'Suicidal' mechanic steals, crashes empty plane from Seattle airport
A young mechanic described as suicidal stole an empty passenger plane from Seattle-Tacoma Airport, took it on an hour-long flight that included a hair-raising loop as F-15 fighter jets gave chase, then crashed, killing himself. Officials ruled out any link to terrorism in the incident, which took place late on Friday, and saw the man holding a conservation with an air traffic controller in which he seemed to apologize for what he was doing. Video taken by a bystander showed the 76-seat plane making a big, slow loop-the-loop, then flying low over Puget Sound before crashing into Ketron Island, a sparsely-populated area in the northwestern US state of Washington. The crash sparked a fire in the dense forest. Flames lit up the night as they spread from the burning wreckage to nearby trees. Officials said there were no victims on the ground. The stolen plane was a twin-engine turboprop Q400 belonging to Horizon Air, its parent company Alaska Airlines said on Twitter. The Pierce County ...
Torrential downpour claims 37 lives in Kerala
As many as 37 people have lost their lives in flooding and landslides, following heavy and incessant rains in Kerala.In the wake of the situation, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, along with Tourism Minister KJ Alphons will visit flood-affected areas of the state on August 12.The Rajnath-led delegation is expected to carry out an aerial survey of the flood-affected regions and review the search, rescue and relief measures taken by the state government and central government agencies.During the current South-West monsoon season, various parts of Kerala have been affected by heavy rains and rain-oriented calamities of varying degrees.As many as 14 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) consisting of 404 rescuers and 31 boats were already deployed in various parts of flood-hit districts Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Idukki to assist the state administration in the relief and rescue operation as well as distribution of essential relief material and to
Man dies as car collides with divider, hits tempo
One person was killed and two others received severe injuries on Saturday after a car crashed into a divider and later collided with a tempo in the national capital, police said.
Authorities probe how 'suicidal' employee could steal plane
Investigators worked to find out how a "suicidal" airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International Airport and crashed into a small island in the Puget Sound after being chased by military jets that were quickly scrambled to intercept the aircraft. The last night crash happened because the 29-year-old man was "doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills," the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said. The man, who was believed killed, wasn't immediately identified. The man was suicidal, and there was no connection to terrorism, Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, said on Twitter. Video showed the Horizon Air Q400 doing large loops and other dangerous maneuvers as the sun set on the Puget Sound. There were no passengers aboard. Authorities initially said the man was a mechanic, but Alaska Airlines later said he was believed to be a ground service agent employed by Horizon. Those employees direct aircraft for takeoff and ...
Truck collides with bus, 8 injured
Eight people were injured following a collision between a truck and a bus here on Saturday, police said.
Toll in ship-fishing boat collision goes up to four
The body of a fisherman who went missing along with eight others when a vessel hit their fishing boat in the high seas five days ago was recovered today. With this the number of fishermen who died in the incident has risen to four. "As per a report received from Coast Guard Ship Samarth searching for missing nine fishermen, one body entangled in fishing net has been recovered by fishing boat 'Antony' and being brought to Munambam fishing harbour. Now eight are missing," a defence spokesperson said here. He said the body was located close to the position where collision took place. Vessels of the navy, coast guard and fishing boats are continuing to search for the missing fishermen, the spokesperson said. The fishermen went missing when their boat capsized after being hit by a ship about 24 nautical miles off Munambam harbour near here on Tuesday. At the time, 14 fishermen were on board the boat. Bodies of three fishermen killed were brought to the shore on Tuesday while .