Page 700 - Disaster Accident
3 killed as ambulance knocks down bikers
Three people, including a couple, were killed on Monday as a speeding ambulance lost control and knocked down a bike and a bicycle in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said.
Train services affected in flood hit Tripura
The overall flood situation has been improved in Tripura, barring a portion of the worst hit Uanakoti district, but passenger train service is has been under suspension in two sections for six days, officials said. The Badarpur-Silchar section in Assam and Manu-Ambassa-Agartala section of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in Tripura have been suspended from Jun 13 due to landslips at several locations. "Although train running has been restored in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section, some portions of railway track are still under flood water in between Badarpur-Silchar and Manu-Ambassa-Agartala affecting passenger train service severely," Chief Public Relations Officer of the NFR, PJ Sharma, said. Three pairs of passenger trains - Agartala-Silchar, Silchar-Dharmanagar and Agartala-Dharmanagar - could not run in the two sections because of the landslips caused by flood, Chief Public Relations Officer of NFR, PJ Sharma, said. "Efforts are on to restart the train services ..
Monsoon rains fill Karnataka reservoirs
Heavy and incessant rains, since the onset of the southwest monsoon in Karnataka this month, have raised water levels in the state's reservoirs, said an official on Monday.
Odisha govt orders probe into Chilika boat tragedy
The Odisha government today ordered a probe into the boat capsize incident in Chilika Lake that claimed six lives and injured nine people two days ago. Nrusingha Charan Sahu, the state's commerce and transport minister, said Director of Port and Inland Water Transport Subrat Rout has been asked to visit the site to investigate into the circumstances that led to the mishap and submit a detailed report to the government. The incident occurred around 6 pm on Saturday when a country boat, with 15 people on board, capsized due to strong winds and rain while returning to Balugaon in Khurda district from Kalijai Temple, located on a small island in the lagoon. One boatman was arrested last evening for flouting safety norms in connection with the incident. The transport minister said Rout would find out if the boat had life jackets or tubes as mandated by the government. "Based on his (Rout's) probe report, appropriate action would be taken to ensure that a similar accident does .
Rlys plans to carry out major maintenance works on Sundays
Travelling by train over the weekend may get cumbersome as the railways has decided to undertake major maintenance works across all its zones on Sundays. However, if a train gets delayed during meal times, passengers with reserved tickets will get free food and water, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said today. The maintenance drive would be launched once the Indian Railways reworked its time-table by August 15 and identified the trains which could be affected due to it, officials said. "We will be combining the works from across the zones and try to carry out maximum maintenance work on Sundays. "We will work towards passenger engagement, creating awareness among the passengers, informing them in advance. Whenever a train gets delayed during a meal time, we will provide free food and drinking water to the passengers," Goyal told a press conference here. He added that while small blocks for maintenance and safety-related works will continue to be taken throughout the week, on Sundays, ..
Any work related to safety will be given highest priority: Railway Ministry
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday pitched for safety in Railways and said "any work related to safety will be given the highest priority."Addressing the media here, Goyal said, "Punctuality, cleanliness and catering were three issues on which we've done reviews of seven zones. While efforts to improve punctuality will be taken without compromising our efforts on safety; any work related to safety will be given highest priority."The Railways Minister further said that the Centre wanted Indian Railways to be active participant in promoting cleanliness across network."We want Indian Railways to be active participant in promoting cleanliness across network. We'll work towards passenger engagement and creating awareness among passengers. Wherever train is delayed during meal time, we'll ensure food and water is provided for passengers," he said.With an aim to provide facilities to passengers, Goyal said wherever train is delayed during meal time, the ministry will ensure that ..
Three dead, 200 hurt as strong quake jolts Japan's Osaka
A powerful earthquake rocked Japan's second city of Osaka today, killing three people including a nine-year-old girl and injuring more than 200, according to an official tally. Television images showed buildings swaying and burst pipes spewing water after the quake, which struck at the height of rush hour in the city of around two million. However, there was no large-scale destruction and no tsunami warning issued after the earthquake, although commuters were stranded and tens of thousands were left without power. Among the casualties was a nine-year-old girl who died in the city of Takatsuki north of Osaka, reportedly trapped by a collapsed wall following the 5.3-magnitude quake. Local officials told AFP that the other two dead were an 80-year-old man -- killed by a collapsing wall -- and a 84-year-old man trapped under a bookcase in his home. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 200 people were injured in total. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the ...
Bus crash in Poland kills 2 people, injures 27 retirees
Officials in Poland say two people have been killed and at least 27 others injured when a bus carrying retirees on a seaside holiday veered of the road and into a grassy ditch in central Poland. The head of the regional firefighters, Janusz Halak said the crash took place shortly after 7 a.m. today in Konstantynowo on the road leading to the Baltic Sea cities of Gdansk and Sopot. The injured were taken to hospitals in the region. Officials said some had serious injuries. Province governor Mikolaj Bogdanowicz said the bus with 50 people on board was taking retirees from the village of Bodzanow on a holiday to Sopot. The police are investigating the site for clues about what caused the crash.
One killed, 40 injured in Odisha bus accident
One woman was killed and at least forty others were injured today when a bus in which they were travelling in skidded off the road on National Highway 16 and turned turtle near Panapana village in Odisha's Balasore district, a police officer said. The accident occurred around 7am when the bus, with around 50 Muslim pilgrims on board, was on its way to a religious site at Dhamnagar in Bhadrak district from neighbouring West Bengal, he said. "The driver lost his control on the wheels while trying to avoid a collision with another vehicle coming from the opposite direction and skidded off the road before turning upside down," the officer said. The deceased was identified as 45-year-old Nasiama Begum, he said, adding that all injured have been admitted in a nearby hospital in the district.
Kerala govt to probe whether check dam triggered landslide
The Kerala government today said a probe would be conducted to ascertain whether a private check dam atop a hill was the cause of the massive landslide that struck Kattipara in Kozhikode district leaving 13 people dead. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the state assembly that a panel had been constituted and it would soon submit a report on whether the collapse of the check dam had caused the destruction in the region. He was replying to a notice for an adjournment motion by the Congress-led UDF opposition on the monsoon calamity and the allegation that the overflowing of the check dam and its impact had led to the devastation at Karinchola in Kattipara. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the Kattipara incident was a "man-made-disaster" and the damage of the check dam, with a storage capacity of four lakh litres of water, had resulted in the "mammoth devastation" in the hilly region. He also sought an explanation from the state government over the .
5.6 magnitude quake jolts Guatemala
An earthquake measuring 5.6 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Guatemala's Escuintla province at around 8It struck at a depth of around 97 km near Guanagazapa. The epicentre of the quake was situated almost 70 km from Guatemala City, as per media reports.According to the National Coordination for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (CONRED), the disaster management agency of the Guatemalan government, no damage of properties or loss of casualties were reported, CNN reported.The massive earthquake comes after over 100 people were killed and a hundred others were injured and found missing after the Fuego Volcano erupted on June 4.Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales had earlier declared a national emergency and urged people to stay calm and not wander around the affected areas.Meanwhile, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake rattled the city of Osaka in western Japan on Monday morning, leading to partial building collapses.Two people, including a nine-year-old girl and over 200 people were injured in ...
Landslides, flash floods as monsoon batters southern Myanmar
Flooding in southern Myanmar has caused a landslide at a famed Buddhist pagoda, submerged homes and displaced hundreds of people as monsoon rains batter the country. Several parts of Myanmar's southern Mon state are facing flash floods due to heavy rains since the weekend with no relief in sight, according to a report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar today. Rains triggered a landslide that damaged the hilltop Kyeik Than Lan pagoda, whose golden stupa towers over state capital Mawlamyine. AFP correspondents on Monday saw workers helping to relocate Buddha statues and novice monks helping clean up debris at the religious site after a wedge of hillside slipped away. Bo Win, a resident helping with the flood response, told AFP that around 1,000 people were sheltering in several sites around Mawlamyine. "This is the worst flood in the state that I have ever seen," said Nyan Soe, another local resident. About 150 residents further south of Mawlamyine were evacuated to a ...
7 killed in Punjab accident
At least seven people were killed on Monday when the sports utility vehicle (SUV) they were travelling in rammed into a truck near Punjab's Amritsar city, police said.
Rain, thunderstorm to hit western UP
Thunderstorm and rain accompanied with a dust storm are likely to occur during next two hours in several areas of Western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.As per the IMD, the monsoon is hovering over Maharashtra in the west and parts of Odisha, West Bengal and Assam in the east and northeast India.Last week, a deadly thunderstorm hit parts of Uttar Pradesh, killing 10 people and injuring 28 others.Meanwhile, the residents of Delhi are facing an intense heat wave and reeling under a haze of dust brought by winds from Rajasthan, eventually raising the level of air pollution to severe category.The national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 36 degrees, while the minimum temperature stood at 28 degrees on Sunday.
7 killed as SUV rams into a stationary truck
Seven persons were killed and a child was injured when their SUV rammed into a stationary truck on the national highway here today, police said. The accident occurred near Khalchian on the highway, they said. Among the dead were three women and two children, police said. The victims hailed from Delhi and Hisar in Haryana.
Four killed as car hits auto-rickshaw in Nashik
Four people were killed when a speeding car hit the auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling in the district, the police said today. The auto-rickshaw carrying several passengers was going to Umbarkon village last evening when the car coming from the opposite direction collided with it on Sinnar-Ghoti road, about 40 km from here, an official at the Ghoti police station said. Four passengers of the auto-rickshaw died on the spot in the mishap, he said. The car driver fled and a search was on to nab him, he said. The deceased were identified as Avinash Dalbhagat (22), Bhaskar Korde (65), Shivram Sarukte (42) and Arjun Sarukte (40), he said. The bodies were sent to a hospital in Ghoti for postmortem, he said, adding that a case was registered in connection with the mishap.
3 dead, dozens injured by quake in Osaka in western Japan
A strong earthquake knocked over walls and set off scattered fires around metropolitan Osaka in western Japan today, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. The Osaka prefectural government's disaster management department said two people were found dead, while the Ibaraki city official confirmed a third victim. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 40 were injured in Osaka and nearby prefectures of Hyogo and Kyoto. One victim was a 9-year-old girl who was knocked down by a concrete wall at her elementary school as she walked by. A man in his 80s died in the collapse of a concrete wall in Osaka city. An 84-year-old man in nearby Ibaraki died after a bookshelf fell on top of him at home, according to city officials. The magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck shortly after 8 a.m. north of Osaka at a depth of about 13 kilometers (8 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The strongest shaking was north of Osaka, but the quake rattled large parts of western ...
Mag 5.6 quake hits deep below Guatemala; no damage reports
A strong magnitude 5.6 earthquake has shaken Guatemala, though there are no early reports of damage or injuries. The US Geological Survey says the quake was 99 kilometres below the surface Sunday night. Great depths tend to lessen a quake's shaking at the surface. The earthquake's epicenter was 53 kilometres from the Central American nation's capital, Guatemala City.
6.1 magnitude earthquake hits Japan, 2 dead
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake rattled the city of Osaka, western Japan on Monday morning, leading to partial building collapses.Two people, including a nine-year-old girl, died. At least 37 people are reportedly injured, as per NHK World.Areas like Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara are also affected.Shinkansen bullet train services have been partly halted.Some areas in Osaka are reportedly experiencing power shortage.The Japan Meteorological Agency said no tsunami warning has been issued yet.
One dead after strong quake shakes Japan's Osaka
A nine-year-old girl was killed and one other person feared dead after a strong quake rocked Japan's second city of Osaka during today's morning rush hour. There were no immediate reports of major damage and no tsunami warning was issued after the powerful quake, which stranded commuters and left tens of thousands without power. Local police said a girl, aged nine, had died in the city of Takatsuki, north of Osaka city. Media reported she had been trapped when a wall collapsed on her at school following the 5.3-magnitude quake. Public broadcaster NHK said an 80-year-old man had been killed, also by a collapsing wall. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the government was "working united, with its first priority on saving people's lives." Abe said he had instructed his staff to "swiftly collect information on damage, make utmost efforts in rescuing and saving lives... (and) provide timely and appropriate information to the public." - Local officials said they had not received ...