Page 744 - Disaster Accident
Cyclone Mekenu pummels Yemeni island, seven missing
Seven people were missing and hundreds of others evacuated from their homes after Cyclone Mekunu hit the Yemeni island of Socotra, causing severe flooding and damage to houses, officials said. Four of the missing were crew on board a boat that sunk when the storm hit the island in the Arabian Sea, a fisheries ministry official told AFP. Another official said that 150 families had been evacuated and moved to government facilities after downpours caused houses and streets to flood, trapping people in their homes. Some residents carrying children tried to escape through the flooded streets, an AFP correspondent said. Authorities called on humanitarian organisations and the Saudi-led military coalition that is battling Huthi rebels in the country to help, according to state-run news agency Saba. In neighbouring Oman, authorities announced through the official news agency they were taking "necessary precautions" in case the cyclone hits the Gulf sultanate. Millions of Yemenis are living in
Train plows into truck stopped on tracks in Italy; 2 dead
A regional train plowed into a big-rig truck stopped on the tracks outside the northern Italian city of Turin, killing at least two people and injuring 18, authorities said. Rescuers worked through the night to make sure no passengers were trapped in the wreckage. The Italian news agency ANSA said the first fatality was the engineer of the train, which smashed into the truck near the town of Caluso at 11:20 p.m., about 50 minutes after the train began its run from Turin to the suburb of Ivrea. Later, one of two critically injured people who were flown by helicopter to a hospital died, ANSA said. One of the less seriously injured was reported to be a crew member, while the others were passengers. Ambulance dispatches said a total of 18 people were injured, most of them not critically. The truck driver escaped injury, ANSA said. The rig, which carried Lithuania license plates, was headed to a warehouse not far away, ANSA said. The truck's cargo wasn't immediately known. The Rfi regional
Fire breaks out near Delhi hospital
A massive blaze broke out near a hospital here on Thursday morning, a fire department official said.
1 dead in fireworks blast in Spain
One person was killed and 27 others were injured on Wednesday in an explosion of fireworks materials at a home in northern Spain, the Vice President of the Galicia region said.
Fire doused in Taimoor Nagar
A major fire broke out in Delhi's Taimoor Nagar on Wednesday afternoon, however, it was later doused with the help of over 20 fire tenders.Two coaching centers, a departmental store, a juice corner and several other shops have been gutted in the fire.About 100 students were present in the building, but all were evacuated safely.Up to 22 fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire.No casualties have been reported so far.
Water supply in Gurgaon to be disrupted tomorrow
The water supply in major parts of the city will be disrupted tomorrow due to upgradation work at Chandu Bhudhera water treatment plant, the main source of water supply in the city. The areas where the water supply would be affected are Sectors 46, 47, 34, 50, 51, Golf Course Road, Sohna Road and others. "On account of upgradation work at water treatment plant at Chandu Bhudhera, which is scheduled to be done on May 24, supply will be disrupted. Full shutdown of plant for six hours is required for execution of this work," an official said. During shut down, no supply would be possible from this plant, which supplies water to master supply zone-1 and zone-3, he said. "We will try to make alternative arrangements and try to getwater from Basai water treatment plant to the affected areas," the officer added.
MH370 hunt to end next week
The search for the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines MH370 plane will end on May 29, more than four years after it disappeared while carrying over 200 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.Malaysia's cabinet agreed to extend the hunt until May 29 to a request by Ocean Infinity, the American company which was operating the search.Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke Siew Fook told reporters on Wednesday, in Kuala Lumpur, that there would be no more extensions after that, CNN reported.On Tuesday, Peter Foley and Greg Hood from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau told a parliamentary hearing that the plane had likely crashed into the Indian Ocean after running out of fuel.Earlier, Australian investigators rubbished claims that the MH370's disappearance was due to an accident.Australia, China and Malaysia, which led the initial massive search called it off in January last year after failing to find any trace of the plane within a 710,000-plus square kilometre area of the Indian ...
Govt accelerates exploration, drilling of coal in North East
The government has accelerated exploration and drilling of coal in the northeastern states of the country, according to a coal ministry official. The ministry of coal is focussing on clean coal technologies for producing clean coal as it would stay on as a primary input for producing thermal power in near future, Anindya Sinha, project adviser in the Ministry of Coal, said. "Government has accelerated to explore and drill coal in northern eastern part of the country, particularly in states of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, given their prospective coal potentials," Sinha was quoted as saying in a release by PHD Chamber. The government has also issued directives to all coal companies to set up washeries at their coal mining plants to enable them generate 'Swachh Coal' or clean coal for energy generation as well as meet requirements of steel plants, he said in the release. "A phased manner time table has been given to national companies to produce clean coal to address the issue of ...
Delhi-bound bus hits divider in Mathura, 10 injured
Ten passengers were injured when a Delhi-bound Volvo bus coming from Lucknow rammed into a road divider and then fell on the service road on Yamuna Expressway today, a police officer said. The incident took place at Kilometer no 108 on the expressway. "The injured were rushed to a nearby private hospital at Vrindaban intersection of Yamuna expressway", SP (Rural) Aditya Kumar Shukla said. Of the injured, eight were discharged after receiving first aid treatment while two, including the bus driver, were seriously injured and have been referred for better treatment to Delhi, Shukla said. He said the accident apparently took place when the driver dozed off.
Boat ambulance service launched to treat fishermen at high sea
With a view to provide emergency medical treatment to fishermen in the high seas, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched '108' boat ambulance service here today. Along with the boat ambulance service, Rupani also launched a mobile application to streamline the operations of the '108' ambulance service in the state, run by a non-profit organisation - GVK EMRI. A release issued by the state government said, two boat ambulances have been deployed initially to respond to any medical emergency faced by the fishermen in the high sea. "Each boat ambulance will have five crew members, including a captain and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)," it said. This ambulance service, which will be available 24X7, would prove beneficial to around 1.40 lakh fishermen in the state, it added. Each ambulance will carry 32 types of basic medicines, four disposable medical consumables and 21 types of non-disposable equipments, such as automated external defibrillator (AED) machine ..
Odisha developing app for early warning on lightning
The Odisha government is planning to develop a smartphone application in order to disseminate early warnings regarding possible lightning strikes in specific areas, an official said on Wednesday.
Gurugram water supply to be hit on Thursday
Amid day temperatures touching 45 degrees in Gurugram, the water supply in parts of the city will remain disrupted on Thursday following shutdown of master water supply from main water treatment plant, an official said on Wednesday.
Fire in a four-storey building at Mullick Bazar
A fire broke out in a four-storey building near Mullick Bazar-Park Street crossing in the street in which a fireman was injured. Police officials said the smoke was first seen billowing from the top floor of the building near the Institute of Neurosciences on A J C Bose Road during the peak office hours. Ten fire tenders were pressed into service and the situation was brought under control in about four hours, fire services department officials said. Top two floors of the building had godowns of motor spare parts and housed some inflammable articles, which helped the fire to spread quickly, they said. The entire area was cordoned off and the traffic diverted during the fire fighting operation. A fireman received burn injuries in his hand while trying to control the blaze, the officials said. Reason for the fire or the extent of damage were yet to be ascertained, the police added.
Rains batter Sri Lanka, 10 killed
The death toll in Sri Lanka's monsoon rains has climbed to 10 while 27,621 people have been evacuated, officials said on Wednesday.
Indian Air Force douse forest fire in Trikuta Hills of Katra district
Indian Air Force helicopters doused a forest fire that broke out in Trikuta Hills of Katra district, using under-slung bambi buckets.The fire has broken out in the evening hours of Wednesday, following which the new battery car track for Vaishno Devi pilgrimage was suspended.Fire tenders were trying to contain the fire and two Mi-17s were put on standby for help in the case of fire going unruly.Also, a light utility helicopter of Indian Air Force was sent to the recce in Trikuta Hills, according to the Indian Air Force.
33 passengers of Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express fall ill after breakfast
At least 33 passengers in the Kolkata-bound 12278 Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express were taken ill allegedly after consuming the breakfast served on board on Wednesday morning, a senior railway official said.
Centre okays MoU between India, Denmark on cooperation in food security
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Denmark regarding cooperation in the area of food safety.The MoU was signed on April 16. It will help deepen bilateral ties, mutual understanding and trust, eventually strengthening both sides in their capacity building efforts towards food safety.The agreement will further promote understanding of the best practices in the areas of food safety in both countries and in faster resolution of issues related to food safety.The MoU will help improve food safety standard setting by getting access to best practices and facilitating food trade of important commodities.
J-K: 3 civilians killed in Pak firing
As many as three civilians were killed and several injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba sector on Wednesday.Due to constant firing in Samba and Kathua districts, a number of houses were damaged.According to reports, mortar shells were hurled at houses, leaving several persons injured. They were subsequently shifted to a medical college in Jammu."One woman and two children have died due to the firing. We are providing other people with all the facilities," said Deputy Commissioner of Samba, Rajinder Singh Tara.Earlier, one civilian was killed and two others were injured in a firing which took place in Kathua's Hiranagar sector.
Mobile app to be launched for advance info on lightning
The Odisha government has decided to introduce a special mobile application to provide advance information on lightning which has claimed at least 61 lives between April and May 22 this year, a senior officer said today. Information on lightning will be available on smartphones to help people move to safer places and save their lives, said special relief commissioner B P Sethi. The mobile application will be developed to alert smartphone users if they are in a lightning zone, he said. People using smart phone will get information regarding possible lightning in their areas at least one hour ahead of the calamity. They can move to safer places," Sethi told reporters here. He said a meeting headed by Chief Secretary A P Padhi some days ago decided to collaborate with the US-based Earth Network to install lightning detection system in the state. Replying a question, Sethi said the people not using smart phone can also get the informatuion through SMSs. The aim of the move .
Two killed as wall of under construction tunnel collapses
Two labourers died and 14 others were injured after the wall of an under construction tunnel being built for an irrigation project caved in on them in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana today, police said. The mishap occurred when a group of 16 labourers were engaged in preparatory works on the tunnel by taking up blasting works using explosive materials. According to a senior police official, it is suspected that lightning suddenly struck the explosive materials triggering a blast following which a part of the tunnel wall collapsed killing two workers and injuring the others. The injured have been shifted to different hospitals at Nagarkurnool and Hyderabad, he told PTI over phone. The workers hail from Jharkhand and Odisha and were engaged in taking up works for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme, the officer added.