Page 742 - Disaster Accident
Child dies of 'extreme heat' in train
A six-month-old child died due to extreme heat wave conditions on Friday in an overcrowded train in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
IBM to invest in tech to predict floods, cyclones in India
IBM today said it will invest in technologies to predict natural disasters like floods and cyclones in India, as part of a USD 30-million global programme aimed at disaster relief. The global tech major has joined hands with the United Nations, American Red Cross, David Clark Cause and the Linux Foundation for a global initiative to use technology to predict and effectively respond to natural disasters, its managing director for India, Karan Bajwa, said. "The Indian subcontinent is highly vulnerable to cyclones, droughts, earthquakes and floods, affecting millions of lives and impacting the economy every year," he said in a blog post. Some of the disasters in India which the five-year programme may focus on would be floods, earthquakes, drought, tsunami, cyclone storms, avalanches and landslides, a company spokesperson said. As part of the global programme, it is calling on software developers, including its employees, to create the required solutions using cloud, data,
NDRF team to be deployed in Panchkula permanently as Regional
The Union Home Ministry has given its nod to a proposal seeking permanent deployment of an NDRF team in Panchkula as a Regional Response Centre (RRC), an official said today. The team, consisting of a gazetted officer, seven subordinate officers and 40 other personnel would provide prompt emergency response in case of a disaster in the region. "The Disaster Management Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, (the nodal division in MHA for disaster management) has approved the permanent deployment of one NDRF team at Panchkula as a Regional Response Centre," a spokesperson of Haryana's home department said. The state government has asked the deputy commissioner, Panchkula, and the director general of police (DGP) to identify land measuring above two acres or 10,000 square feet of built up area set up the NDRF centre, he said. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has approved a proposal in this regard, the official said. The centre should have adequate space for parking of a light vehicle, a ..
50 dead in boat accident in northwest DR Congo
Fifty people died in a boat accident on a river in remote northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said today. The accident happened on the Momboyo river Wednesday night, Richard Mboyo Iluka, vice governor of Tshuapa province, told AFP, saying: "We found 49 bodies on Thursday and another one this morning." The boat had been transporting passengers and a large amount of goods from the town of Monkoto to the city of Mabandaka in Equateur province, local residents said. "The causes of the sinking and the number of people missing are not yet known. The provincial government has already sent a team there to find out more," Mboyo said. He added, however, that the boat had been travelling by night -- something that is illegal under government safety measures -- and did not have lights. Accidents are a frequent hazard on the DRC's rivers and lakes, due to decrepit boats, overloading, lack of safety equipment and the fact that few Congolese know how to swim. In February, at ..
Will prosecute those responsible for downing MH17: Malaysia
Malaysia said on Friday that it was determined to "prosecute those responsible" for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine and has "resolved to seek justice for the victims".
'Reliance Kavach' for RIL employees
With an alarming average of 16 deaths every hour in road accidents, Reliance Industries has rolled out a first of its kind scheme to provide riding gear to its employees at discounted rates. Under 'Reliance Kavach', a US Department of Transport (DOT) certified helmet, a jacket that protects one's shoulder and elbows, rubber gloves and knee guards costing Rs 50,000 will be given to RIL employees at Rs 12,000. Company sources said RIL employees can avail a soft loan, or take the EMI route, to pay for the kit. RIL, founded in 1977, employs over 2,50,000 people now. As many as 1,46,377 deaths in road accidents were reported in 2017, according to a report by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety. The number of road accidents was at least three times more than these. Two-wheelers have the highest share with over 30 per cent. "Studies on road accidents reveal that most incidents could be prevented if two-wheeler riders, including pillion riders, wore a set of good quality safety gear ...
Infant among three killed as truck crashes into house
Three members of a family, including a nine-month old boy, were killed after a truck crashed into their roadside house in Mandval village in neighbouring Chhotaudepur district early today, police said. "The driver of the truck apparently lost control over the vehicle and crashed into the house, killing three members of a tribal family sleeping inside. The accident occurred around 5 am," inspector of Chhotaudepur police station K P Gameti said. The victims were identified as Santosh Rathwa, his wife Kailash and their nine-month old son Avinash, he said. "The bodies were sent to a hospital for post-morterm. The driver of the truck fled from the spot, leaving the vehicle behind," the inspector said. Residents of the area later gathered at the spot and damaged the vehicle, he said adding that efforts were on to nab the driver. Chhotaudepur is a tribal-dominated district, around 100 kms from Vadodara.
Fifteen injured in cylinder blast
Fifteen people were injured in a LPG cylinder blast in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar, said an officer from the Delhi Fire Service. The incident happened last night. A call was received at 9.40 pm about the blaze and two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, he said. The fire was doused within an hour. The injured people are undergoing treatment at Hedgewar and GTB hospitals, he added.
Lava from Hawaii volcano enters ocean from 3 flows
Lava entered the ocean from a third flow, marking the third week of a Hawaii volcano eruption that has opened up nearly two dozen vents in rural communities, destroyed dozens of buildings and shot miles-high plumes of ash into the sky. Low lava fountains were erupting from a nearly continuous 3.22-km long portion of the series of fissures that have opened up in the ground, scientists said yesterday. The fountains were feeding channelized lava flows down to the coast. The eastern-most channel split, creating three ocean entries Wednesday. Since the eruption began on May 3, Hawaii County has ordered about 2,000 people to evacuate from Leilani Estates and surrounding neighbourhoods. Hawaii officials have said they may need to evacuate a thousand more people if lava crosses key highways and isolates communities in the mostly rural part of the island where the Kilauea volcano is erupting. A blocked highway would cut people off from the only route to grocery stores, schools and ...
Another forest fire in Uttarakhand
As the mercury continues to rise in Uttarakhand, the forest fires are occurring one after the other in the state.In the latest incident, a major fire broke out in forests in Pithoragarh's Berinag hill station on Thursday.Firefighting operations are underway, according to sources.According to some media reports, at least 295 incidents of forest fires were reported on Wednesday from different parts of Uttarakhand.
Second black box located from Cuba plane crash
Specialists from Cuba, the United States and Mexico have located the second black box from a plane crash last week that left 111 people dead. Armando Daniel Lopez, president of Cuba's civil aeronautics institute, told local media the Boeing 737's box was identified yesterday by its numbering, and discovered following a search aided by video footage and sworn statements from locals. The first black box from the flight, which crashed shortly after taking off from Havana's Jose Marti airport with 113 people on board on May 18, was found last weekend. The accident killed 100 Cubans, the six Mexican crew members, and five foreign passengers: two Argentines, one Mexican and two passengers from Western Sahara. The only two survivors remain in a critical condition in a Havana hospital. According to Daniel, investigations into the cause of the crash will take months due to the strict international protocols that must be followed. The 39-year-old plane, leased from Global Air, a Mexican ...
Cuba retrieves second black box of crashed plane
Cuban authorities have retrieved the second black box containing flight data of the Boeing 737-200 plane that crashed near the Havana international airport on May 18.
Low intensity quake in Himachal
An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale was felt in Himachal Pradesh early on Friday, an official said here. There was no loss of life.
5 killed in Jammu accident
Five persons were killed and eight injured on Friday in a road accident on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway.
15 injured in LPG cylinder blast in Delhi
At least 15 persons were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded in Gandhi Nagar area here on Thursday night.
It was a daunting task: Wing commanders on dousing Katra's forest fire
A day after the Indian Air Force doused a forest fire in Trikuta Hills of Katra district, Wing Commander Vikram Singh said it was a 'daunting' task to fly with Bambi buckets carrying 2500-3000 litres of water."We have been able to control the fire. It was a daunting task, more so when we are flying with Bambi buckets that carry 2500-3000 litres of water. At present we are on standby," said Singh.Another Wing Commander, Rahul Sharma informed of all areas being cleared apart from harmless patches of fire in some areas."All populated areas are clear of fire but there are small patches of fire, which are not a threat to the population. We are always prepared for such roles and to launch operations at short notice," said Sharma.Indian Air Force helicopters doused a forest fire that broke out in Trikuta Hills of Katra district yesterday, using under-slung Bambi buckets, following which the new battery car track for Vaishno Devi pilgrimage was suspended.Fire tenders were trying to contain ...
Car catches fire, none injured
A car was gutted in a fire on Thursday in central Delhi, though none was injured, a fire official said.
2 pilgrims among 3 killed in road accidents
Three people including two pilgrims were killed in separate road accidents on Yamuna Expressway here, police said today. The two accidents took place last night in areas falling under Mant police station. Two women pilgrims were run over by a speeding vehicle when they were trying to cross the expressway after paying obeisance at Radha Rani Temple in Mant," a police officer said. They have been identified as Pravesh Kumari (50) and Vimla Mishra (42), hailing from Shahjahanpur district. In another accident, Durga Singh, a driver, was hit by a speeding vehicle when he was going to a hotel for dinner after parking his vehicle on the roadside. He died on the spot, the police officer said.
Fire breaks out at junk godown
A fire broke out at a junk godown in east Delhi's Dallupura area today, an officer from the Delhi Fire Service said. No casualty was reported in the blaze, he said. The fire was reported at 2.40 am and 28 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, he said, adding it was completely doused by 8.30 am. A hospital located near the barn also extended help by providing more than two lakh litre of water from the hospital premises, a hospital staff said.
Indigo, IAF planes avert mid-air collision over Chennai
A mid-air disaster was averted last week when an IndiGo plane which was on a collision course with an Indian Air Force (IAF) in Chennai airspace steered away to safety following an auto-generated warning, a source said. The two aircraft were just "300 ft" away from each other at the time of the incident on May 21 which set off a Resolution advisory (RA) for the IndiGo pilot to steer the aircraft to a safer distance, the sources said. RA is an auto-generated warning in the cockpit for the pilot to manoeuvre the aircraft and avoid collision. IndiGo confirmed the incident, which is now being investigated by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, there was no response from the IAF. "IndiGo aircraft VT-ITW operating on the Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru route and an Indian Air Force jet were on a collision course as the two aircraft were at a distance of just 300 ft from each other. The planes were at an altitude of 24,000 ft in Chennai airspace. IndiGo Airbus .