Page 653 - Disaster Accident
Several missing as boat capsizes in AP river
Several people are missing after a country boat capsized in the Gautami river in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh this afternoon. More than 40 people, mostly students, were said to be travelling in the boat, state Disaster Management Department sources said. Rescue teams belonging to the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have rushed to the spot. At least 10 people are said to have been rescued by locals while efforts were on to trace the others. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed district officials to step up rescue operations, sources said. The Gautami river is a tributary of the Godavari.
Huge iceberg threatens Greenland village
A huge iceberg has drifted close to a village in Greenland, prompting a partial evacuation in case it splits and the resulting wave swamps homes, a media report said on Saturday.
4 killed, 6 injured as car falls into gorge in Champawat
Four people were killed and six others injured today when their car fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Champawat district, police said. The car carrying nine people apart from the driver met with the accident at Dhon about 12 kms away from the district headquarters, Champawat SP Dhirendra Gunjyal told PTI on the phone. Four people died on the spot while six others who sustained injuries were rushed to Champawat district Hospital, where their condition is stated to be critical, the SP said. They have been referred to Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani, he said. The injured also include two army men who are under treatment at the district hospital Champawat, the official said. The car was on its way to Pithoragarh from Khatima when the accident occurred, he said. The driver of the car jumped out of it as it began rolling down the gorge. He is also among the injured, the SP said. Though the exact cause of the accident has not been ascertained, prima facie it appears to have been ...
13 rescued from Thai cave to be released next week
The 12 school boys and football coach who were rescued from a cave in northern Thailand where they had been trapped over two weeks will be released from the hospital next week, the authorities said on Saturday.
One person killed, three injured as bus catches fire
One person was killed and three others were injured when a bus they were travelling in caught fire in Pakur district today, a police officer said. The incident occurred when a bicycle kept on the roof of the bus, came in contact with a high-tension overhead electric wire on Pokharia road, which led to the bus catching fire, said Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Maheshpur), Shashi Prakash. The bus was on its way to Dumka from Pakur, he said. The SDPO said three passengers suffered burns and were rushed to a nearby hospital.
Ryanair flight makes emergency landing in Germany
A Ryanair flight made an emergency landing at Frankfurt after a sudden loss of cabin pressure which sent 30 passengers to hospital, police and the Irish airline said today. The yesterday night flight from Dublin to Zadar in Croatia was carrying 189 passengers when oxygen masks dropped down. "The passengers complained of headaches and earaches and felt sick," a police spokesman told the Germany press agency DPA. In a statement quoted by DPA, the low-cost Irish carrier said the aircraft had suffered a sudden loss of cabin pressure, prompting the deployment of oxygen masks with the plane going into a controlled descent to Frankfurt-Hahn airport. Some 30 people were taken to hospital and all were released during the morning after a check-up, airport officials said. The passengers were due to continue their journey to Croatia aboard a second Ryanair plane, they said.
4 killed in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh
At least four people died and five other sustained severe injuries in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district due to lightning strikes, police said today. "Akhilesh Patel (24) and Sunil (10) died in Purainia in Kalinjar. Similarly, Savita (15) died in Chaisar village while Shobha Devi (52) died in Naraini. The deaths took place yesterday." Apart from this, five people sustained injuries.
China detains suspects after blast at chemical plant
Authorities have detained "several" suspects in wake of an explosion at a chemical plant in southwest China that left 19 dead and injured 12 others, state media said. The blast occurred at 6:30 pm (1030 GMT) Thursday at an industrial park in Sichuan province's Yibin city, according to a statement on the website of the local work safety administration. Photos on a local news website showed what appeared to be the burned out shell of a building surrounded by rubble. The building was owned by chemical manufacturer Hengda, which was "conducting illegal construction at the plant which had not passed safety and fire control checks", the official Xinhua news agency said late yesterday, citing local authorities. The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a team to further investigate the cause of the explosion, the agency added. China has been rocked by several industrial accidents in recent years. A septic tank explosion last November destroyed a wide swathe of a light industrial area in .
Maha govt to spend Rs 7,300 cr on repair of electricity poles
The Maharashtra government has prepared a plan to repair the electricity poles, wires and other systems at a cost of Rs 7,300 crore, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said. The minister, while replying to a query in the Legislative Assembly in Nagpur yesterday, claimed that maintenance of electricity poles, wires and other systems had not been carried out in the last 30 years. "The department has selected 21,000 accident-prone spots and immediate repairs will be taken up there to avoid any loss of life and property," he said. He added that Rs 4 lakh compensation is given to the kin of electricity-related accident victims as per the rehabilitation department of the government and that the injured are given the complete expenses of their medication. "To claim the compensation, signature of the head of the rural hospital will be sufficient for the incidents occuring in rural areas," he said. The minister added that the cheque of the relief amount to the kin of ...
Japan floods: 18,000 volunteers help in worst affected areas
Some 18,000 volunteers from all across Japan on Saturday participated
Telangana teen scales Mt. Kilimanjaro
Nineteen-year-old mountaineer Amgoth Tukaram from Telangana has achieved a milestone by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point and tallest free-standing mountain in the world that stands at an imposing 5,895m.His zeal to climb Kilimanjaro was meant to create awareness of benefits of wearing helmets, Tukaram said."My motive was to create awareness among people that they should wear helmets while driving. I was moved when I saw a road accident live and I felt extremely bad. So I thought of taking the awareness campaign forward by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro," he told ANI.Tukaram claimed that he has also broken the record by carrying a 18-metre-long tricolour to the Mount Kilimanjaro peak.
55 Hurt in train accident in Egypt
At least 55 people were hurt on Friday in a train derailment in the province of Giza, the Egyptian Health Ministry said.
Mild tremors felt in several areas in Maha's Thane district
Temors were felt in some parts of Thane district at around 9:30pm today with people rushing out of their homes in panic, local officials said. The tremors were felt in Dombivali, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi areas in the district, an official said. Asmita Nikam of the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation's district disaster management cell said that details about the tremors, and any damage it might have caused, were being verified.
Close shave for passengers as DTC bus submerges under Minto Road Bridge
Passengers aboard a DTC bus had a narrow escape as the bus got submerged under the Minto Road Bridge today, following heavy rains across the national capital, an officer from the Delhi Fire Services said. The bus was carrying seven-eight persons, including the driver and the conductor, and we were informed about the bus stuck in water around 4.15 pm, he added. The firemen rescued the occupants of the bus safely, the officer said, adding that the operation lasted for around half an hour. The city received 52.4 mm of rain between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm today.
Rain lashes Saurashtra; one dead, 250 evacuated
A four-year-boy drowned while around 250 people were shifted to safer places as rain lashed most parts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat yesterday and today. The water stock in most reservoirs in the region increased, which will ease the scarcity of water for drinking and irrigation. "A four-year-boy drowned at Lodhika in Rajkot district in flood waters. It was the lone rain-related casualty in the district," said district collector Rahul Gupta. "As a precautionary measure we have shifted around 150 people from low-lying areas in Shapar Industrial Zone on city's outskirts and nearly 100 people from Gondal town. They were put up at nearby government schools," he said. "A team of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) has been called from Jamnagar and would be stationed at Rajkot for emergencies," the collector said. Several parts of Junagadh, Jamnagar, Devbhoomi-Dwarka, Gir-Somnath and Amreli districts received moderate showers in the last 36 hours, officials said.
Wadala cave-in: Soil soft, prone to such incidents, IIT report says
An interim report on the Wadala wall-collapse incident, submitted in the Bombay High Court today by a team of experts from IIT-Bombay, said the soil in the area was mainly construction debris that allowed water ingress and hence, would be prone to such incidents in the future too. A division bench of justices A S Oka and Riyaz Chagla had, earlier this month, asked the IIT to form a team of experts to inspect the site of the incident and suggest interim as well as permanent remedial measures. The court was hearing a petition filed by the Dosti Blossom Co-operative Housing Society, challenging the permissions granted to Dosti Realty for constructing multi-storeyed buildings in the residential complex. The counsel of the society, Atul Damle, argued that the construction work was causing damage to the existing buildings. Referring to the incident of wall collapse last month, Damle sought a direction to the realty firm not to carry out any further construction. The IIT team submitted an ...
Washington D.C. residents advised to consume boiled water
The water regulating body of Washington D.C. has advised residents and businesses in a major portion of the city to avoid drinking tap water without boiling it, due of a contamination risk.A problem with the water system on Thursday night made it "possible for contaminants to enter the water," DC Water, the regulatory body, said in a statement, reported NBC.According to the officials, there is no information indicating that any water was contaminated and the "boil water advisory" is a precaution.DC Water stated that it is safe to bathe and shower, but have asked residents to avoid swallowing the running water.An estimated 34,000 DC Water customers are affected, spokesman Vince Morris said.Residents of an entire apartment complex can be counted as a single customer.The advisory in effect in parts of Northwest and Northeast Washington D.C. is expected to last for 24 to 48 hours.
Killer pothole claims another life in Kalyan
A man died today after being run over by an unidentified vehicle after he fell off his two-wheeler when it slipped on a pothole here, the fourth fatality related to potholes reported in Thane district since the onset of monsoon, police said. Kalpesh Jadhav (26), a sand supplier, was on his way to the railway station at around 4 am when the incident took place in Kalyan township of the district, an official of the Khadakpada police station said. "He lost his balance and fell when the two-wheeler he was riding skidded over a pothole near Gandhari bridge. An unidentified vehicle passing by crushed him under its wheels," the official informed. A case has been registered under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence) and efforts were underway to identify the vehicle and its driver, he added. Jadhav's is the fourth death caused by potholes in Kalyan township since the monsoons began in early June. On July 11, a 45-year-old man died after he fell into a water-filled ...
VP urges scientific organisations to work for improving
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today asked various scientific organisations in the country to work in synergy for improving people's lives. According to an official release, he interacted with scientists of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and the National Tsunami Warning Centre here. Naidu said he was extremely impressed with its capabilities and work being carried out by scientists in the areas of ocean observation, information and advisory services. At the National Tsunami Warning Centre, Naidu enquired about tsunami alerts and the ongoing research on tsunami detection. Director of INCOIS Satheesh C Shenoi gave an overview of the Tsunami Warning Centre's activities, it said. Lauding INCOIS for developing operational services for predicting oil spills, Naidu advised the institution to constantly interact with user agencies like the coast guard, maritime police and seek their feedback to improve advisories and services. "Glad that the Indian ...
DMK wants govt to make permission from police mandatory for
DMK today asked the government to make permission from district administration and police, among other measures, mandatory for conducting disaster management drills after a 19-year-old student died of head injuries. Lokeshwari died when she was allegedly prodded to jump off the second floor of her college building at Coimbatore during a disaster management drill. The government should issue an order to all state departments making permission from district administration and police mandatory to conduct such disaster management drills, DMK working president M K Stalin said in a statement here. Expressing condolences over the death, he said there should also be experienced trainers and safety measures in place to avoid such incidents in future. "I am pained by the fact that neither the trainer nor the college administration concerned took any precautionary or safety measures before conducting such drills," he said.