Page 715 - Disaster Accident

Youth cricketer dies in lightning strike

A 21-year-old aspiring cricketer died on the spot after he was struck by lightning during practice at the Calcutta Cricket Academy here, the club's secretary said.

First monsoon rains pound Rohingya camps

The first monsoon rains have hit camps in Bangladesh housing around a million Rohingya refugees, triggering floods and landslides but no casualties or major damage so far, officials said today. Aid agencies have been warning that the monsoon season could prompt a humanitarian catastrophe in coming months at what is the world's biggest refugee camp, sheltering people fleeing violence in Myanmar. The sites in southeastern Bangladesh are predicted to be hit by powerful cyclones and by more than 2.5 metres (eight feet) of rainfall over the coming three months of monsoon -- roughly triple what Britain gets in a year. Bangladesh's meteorological office said the Cox's Bazar area where many of the refugees live in makeshift shelters on bare hillsides had 138 millimetres (5.4 inches) of rain since last evening. "Some areas like the football field areas are flooded. Some houses have been inundated with water. There have been a few landslides. The conditions are bad," UN refugee agency ...

Chernobyl disaster continues to contaminate milk in Ukraine

Milk in parts of Ukraine has radioactivity levels up to five times over the country's official safe limit - a consequence of the catastrophic Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion that took place over 30 years ago, scientists say. Scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK and the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology sampled cow's milk from private farms and homes in the Rivne region, about 200 kilometres from the site of the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. They found levels of radioactive caesium in milk above Ukraine's safe limit for adults of 100 Becquerel per litre at six of 14 settlements studied, and above the children's limit of 40 Becquerel per litre at eight sites. The highest levels found were about 500 Becquerel per litre - five times over the limit for adults and more than 12 times that for children. "More than 30 years after the Chernobyl disaster, people are still routinely exposed to radioactive caesium when consuming locally produced staple foods, ...

6 people killed as truck hits bus in UP

Six people were killed when a stationary Uttar Pradesh Roadways bus was hit by a truck on National Highway 91 near Maman village in this district early today, officials said. According to Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Arvind Mishra the incident occurred when the driver and conductor of the bus, which was going from Agra to Haridwar, were replacing a punctured tyre. A truck hit the bus from behind killing the six people which included four women, he said. Of the four women, three were from Agra and one from Aligarh, the ADM said. Mishra said that the according to the surviving passengers, the driver of the ill-fated bus was requested to park the vehicle away from the road, but he did not pay any heed to it.

Minor boy killed in house collapse in J-K

A 16-year-old boy was today killed and another teenager was injured in a house collapse in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a police officer said. The 'Kacha house' of Babu Ram collapsed at Karul village near Baji Morh in Kalakote area all of a sudden, trapping his son and a nephew under the debris, Station House Officer (SHO) of local police station Inspector Mushtaj Ahmad told PTI. He said the locals immediately launched a rescue operation and were later joined by a police party. While Vinay Kumar, the nephew of the house owner, was found dead under the debris, Ajay Kumar was rescued and shifted to a hospital, he said. Other members of the family escaped unhurt in the incident, he said.

2 sisters meet with watery grave

Two minor girls, both sisters, drowned while bathing in a pond near Mettupalayam, about 35 km from here today, police said. The girls, aged 12 and nine got caught in the slush and could not come out of the pond, they said. Their bodies were retrieved with the help of fire and rescue service personnel and sent for post-mortem, police said.

Three killed, 20 injured as truck hits mini-bus in Gujarat

At least three persons, including a woman, were killed and 20 others injured as the mini-bus in which they were travelling was hit by a truck at Vadal Chowk near Junagadh today, police said. The bus was returning from Una Gupta Prayag, a religious place in Gir Somnath district, and was on its way to Rajkot when the accident occurred, a Junagadh taluka police station official said. "Three persons in the mini-bus died on the spot, while 20 others sustained injuries in the incident. The driver of the truck fled from the scene after the accident," he said. The deceased were identified as Geetaben Chandreshbhai Lathigra (48), Sandipbhai Nagrecha (36) and Divyesh Rajpura (39), he said. The injured were shifted to different hospitals in Junagadh, police said.

Andhra: Traffic jam on NH 26 after oil tanker hits transformer

Fire broke out in the Ramabhadrapuram village in Vizianagaram district after an oil tanker rammed into a power transformer leading to a traffic jam on the national highway 26.Police has registered a case against the driver, who also suffered minor injuries in the incident.Three fire tenders were called after the oil tanker - carrying chemical - hit the power transformer in the wee hours of Sunday.Further investigation is underway.

Bad news becomes hysteria in crowds: Study

News stories about terrorism, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other potential threats become increasingly negative, inaccurate and hysterical when passed from person to person, a study has found. Even drawing the public's attention to unbiased, neutral facts does not mitigate this contagion of panic, researchers said. This is the first research ever to investigate the impact of dread on the social amplification of threat, and to examine the re-exposure of balanced information on the social diffusion of messages. "Society is an amplifier for risk. This research explains why our world looks increasingly threatening despite consistent reductions in real-world threats," said Thomas Hills from the University of Warwick in the UK. "It also shows that the more people share information, the further that information gets from the facts and the more resilient it becomes to correction," said Hills, who led the study. The results have important implications for contemporary society - ...

Youth dies in car crash

A 22-year-old youth died and another was injured after the car they were travelling in overturned after hitting a pole in Hyderabad's Raidurgam on Saturday.The deceased has been identified as Rahul Reddy. He was driving the car and died on the spot whereas the other occupant, Sai Charan, escaped with minor injuries, according to police.A case was registered under section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.Further probe is on.

5 injured in lightning strike

Five people working at a brickkiln were seriously injured when lightning struck them at a village here. The incident took place in Shakerpur village in the Purkazi police station area last evening, the police said. The injure people are recuperating at a hospital. Dust storms and lightning had hit several places in 11 districts of the state on Friday, resulting in the death of 26 people.

Knife attack on Japan bullet train leaves 1 dead, 2 hurt

A knife attack on a Japanese bullet express train near Tokyo left one passenger dead and two others injured, police said today, as they arrested a suspect who was on top of a man lying unconscious. Police said they apprehended Ichiro Kojima, 22, after the train made an unscheduled stop late Saturday at Odawara station west of Tokyo following an emergency call that there was a knife-wielding man. The Nozomi train was heading to Osaka from Tokyo. Kojima was on top of a man lying unconscious on the floor of the isle with a knife stuck in his thigh when officers arrived, police said. The 38-year-old victim was also stabbed in the neck and was later pronounced dead. Odawara police official Satoshi Oiye said the suspect admitted to police that he had attacked the passengers. Police are continuing to investigate his motives, Oiye said. Japanese media reported that Kojima said he made the assaults because he was irritated and felt like attacking anyone. Oiye said investigators also found a ...

Three coaches of Mumbai-Howrah Mail derail in Maharashtra

Three coaches of Mumbai-Howrah Mail were derailed in Maharashtra's Nashik district in the wee hours of Sunday.No casualties have been reported so far.However, 12 trains on the route have been cancelled while one short has been terminated following the repairing works.The incident took place at about 2 am in the morning, near Igatpuri railway station in the district.The cause for the derailment has not been ascertained yet.

Argentine trawler goes missing with crew of nine

An Argentine-flagged fishing trawler went missing today with a crew of nine aboard after sending a distress signal, authorities said. Searchers located a body in the area the boat went missing but it was not immediately clear if it was one of the missing crew. The 28-meter trawler Rigel sounded its distress signal off Chubut province's coast, 200 kilometres east of the city of Trelew. Two navy ships and a plane were combing the area where a life jacket from the boat was found; other ships in the area also were asked to try to help find the missing crew.

Thane: portion of Mumbra bypass collapses

A portion of Mumbra bypass collapsed on a house in a chawl near Uday Nagar area on Saturday following heavy downpour in the district.A fire brigade had reached the site for the rescue operation, however, no casualties and injuries have been reported so far.Earlier in the day, Mumbai witnessed severe water-logging on the streets after the city received heavy downpour, leading to traffic snarls and flight delays.The downpour, however, had a limited impact on flight operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport."There are no flight diversions or cancellations yet. The flights have delayed by 15-20 minutes," Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) said.Monsoon has already hit Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and North-East, and will move up north from Maharashtra in the upcoming days.

Heavy rain lashes parts of Kerala, 3 killed

Three people were killed after heavy rain lashed several parts of Kerala since the onset of monsoon. Out of the three, two people drowned in a river while taking bath in Kannur and Kasargod districts. One person was killed after a tree fell on him during heavy rain and gusty winds in Thiruvananthapuram district. The rain also caused damage to crops and property in Idukki, Kozhikode, and Kannur districts. Train services were disrupted in Kozhikode when a tree fell on a railway track near Kadalundi village in the district. Coastal areas and high range districts reported sea erosion and land slips due to heavy rain. The local authorities had to open shutters of a dam at nearby Kallar town after the water level in the reservoir reached its maximum capacity.

Dust storm: 35 flights diverted from Delhi

As many as 35 incoming flights were diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here on Saturday evening following a powerful dust storm and rain, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.

Monsoon hits Mumbai with a bang; flights, trains, road traffic hit

The monsoon officially arrived here on Saturday and hit the city and other parts of Maharashtra with full fury, disrupting flights, the suburban train system and road traffic, besides claiming two lives, officials said.

26 killed in dust storms, lightning strikes in UP; heavy rain lash Mumbai

Twenty-six people were killed in dust storms and lightning that struck parts of Uttar Pradesh yesterday, while two persons died today in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra. A downpour battered Mumbai, causing disruptions in rail and air traffic, and a dust storm hit the national capital and its surrounding areas that had been reeling under the scorching heat for a few days. There were reports of rains in Punjab, Haryana and some parts of Uttar Pradesh, which had been sweating it out in sweltering conditions. As many as 26 people were killed due to dust storms and lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh, a government spokesperson said today. Dust storms and lightning hit places in 11 districts of the state last night resulting in the death of 26 people, he said. While five deaths each were reported from Jaunpur and Sultanpur, four died in Unnao, three each died in Chandauli and Bahraich, two in Rae Bareli and one each in Mirzapur, Sitapur, Amethi and Pratapgarh, the spokesperson ...

27 flights diverted from Delhi airport

Up to 27 flights were diverted from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Saturday evening when the national capital was hit by dust storm, strong winds and rain and plunged the city skies into pitch darkness.The sky turned completely dark at 5 p.m., about two hours earlier than usual, when the city witnessed a sudden change in the weather condition.Though the operations were restored later, 27 flights were diverted between 5-6pm to nearby airports, according to IGIA authorities.However, the change in the weather has brought relief for the Delhiites from the scorching heat.The Meteorological Department, earlier today, predicted strong winds followed by light showers.Mumbai too witnessed heavy rain today, in the morning, leading to severe water-logging on the streets.In this regard, trains on Central Railways suburban are running with a delay of 10-12 minutes, though there is no cancellation at present.Monsoon has already hit Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and the .