Page 75 - Disaster Accident
Construction of pillars for 66-km Metro rail over: Official
: The construction of all the pillars for the 66-km Metro rail here has been completed, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) officials said Sunday. The construction for the phase-I of the project began in April 2012, HMRL managing director N V S Reddy said in a press release here. Except the 6-km stretch in the old city, all the pillars have been built thereby setting a new world record for the construction by a single company L&T in this manner, Reddy claimed. The pace of construction was also significant as on an an average one pillar was constructed per day, he said. Depending upon the technical requirement and locational constraints, different shapes have been adopted for the pillars. Totally, there are 2,599 pillars, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in November 2017 inaugurated the 30-km stretch between Miyapur and Nagole out of the 72-km-long elevated Metro rail project. On March 20, the 10-km stretch between Ameerpet and Hi-Tec City was inaugurated, ...
Coltan mine collapse kills nine in Burundi: official
Nine miners were killed and another 20 injured when an unregulated coltan mine collapsed following torrential rains in northern Burundi, an official and witnesses said Sunday. The disaster occurred on Friday near the town of Kabarore, the sources said. Four of the injured are in serious condition, a local official told AFP, requesting anonymity. They were transported to local hospitals, the official said. Residents, civil security officials and the Red Cross were involved in rescue operations until Saturday. "Torrential rains had hit the region for several days," a witness told AFP. Kabarore, in Kayanza province, is some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Bujumbura, the capital of the central African country. Several mines operate in the region, extracting coltan -- a key component in cell phones and other electronic equipment -- as well as tin oxide and tungsten. Such incidents occur regularly in Burundi but local authorities are discouraged from reporting them.
Rohtang Pass reopens after 6 months
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Sunday opened the Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul and Spiti valley, after a gap of six months. A large number of Lahaul residents, living in the Kullu-Manali area had a sigh of relief as one has to travel through the Rohtang Pass to commute between Kullu and Lahaul valley. Meanwhile, the district administration has restricted the movement of tourist vehicles towards the Rohtang Pass for safety reasons. They have been allowed to go up to Gulaba. "We are allowing the movement of Lahaul-Spiti residents towards Lahaul from the Manali side. The tourists can go up to Gulaba only for snow-related activities," Manali sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Ashwani Kumar said. According to the BRO, they opened the road despite several challenges in sub-zero temperature. A BRO official said despite all odds like heavy snowfall, landslides and rough weather, the BRO has been able to connect Lahaul valley with Manali through the Rohtang Pass around 4 am. As the .
Theory phone caused Egyptair crash 'improbable': Expert report
It is improbable that an exploding smartphone or tablet caused the crash of an Airbus jet operated by EgyptAir three years ago, according to an expert report commissioned by French authorities and seen by AFP on Sunday. The plane, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to Cairo, crashed over the Mediterranean between Crete and the northern coast of Egypt on May 19, 2016 killing all 66 people on board. But the aftermath of the crash has been marked by tension, with the Egyptian authorities pointing to a terror attack as the likely cause but their French counterparts insisting on technical issues. Paris investigating magistrates ordered separate expert reports on two subjects, the first looking at the maintenance of the plane and the second specifically at the phone issue. There had been speculation that a thermal runaway -- a drastic change in temperature -- in batteries in an iPhone or iPad in the cockpit could have been the cause of a fire that brought down the plane. But in the
Maha: Parched villagers damage dam gate for water
In an incident underlining severity of water crisis in drought-hit Maharashtra, some villagers allegedly damaged a gate of the Dhanoli dam in Nashik district to divert stored water, police said Sunday. The breach led to flooding of fields of farmers and wastage of lakhs of litres of water. Police have arrested four persons from Dalwat village for allegedly damaging the gate of the dam on Saturday evening. The incident has further worsened the water scarcity situation in the north Maharashtra district, with nearly 50 per cent of total 15 TMC feet water stock in the dam being wasted after the breach, said Irrigation department Executive Engineer Abhijit Roundal. "This is an unfortunate incident," he added. Several districts in Maharashtra are reeling under severe drought this year, with many villagers totally dependent on water tankers. Several villages have been receiving water tankers once in three days. According to police, some people lost their patience and damaged ...
Bangladesh factory safety monitors get court extension
Global clothing brands including H&M, Primark and Tesco won a Bangladesh Supreme Court case Sunday, allowing international factory safety monitors to operate in the country which has had a string of industrial disasters. The top court in the South Asian nation -- which became notorious after the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in which 1,138 people died -- ruled that the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety could continue its oversight of clothing factories for one more year. Bangladesh is the world's second biggest garment maker after China and the country's factory owners had been lobbying for the Accord monitors to leave, arguing that the programme's five-year mandate had expired. After a lower court backed the factory owners, ordering the monitors to wind up its operations, labour groups warned of the risk to workers' lives if the Accord, which is backed by about 200 mainly European clothing labels, was forced out. The Accord has played a big role in pushing through safety ..
Three dead as SUV hits truck
Three persons were killed and two others injured Sunday when the SUV they were travelling in rammed into a truck in Satara district of Maharashtra, police said. The mishap occurred at around 9.30 am near Khambatki ghat adjacent to Khandala village, over 260 kms from here, an official said. The SUV carrying five passengers was returning to Borivli in Mumbai from the Konkan region when it hit the truck from behind, he said. While three of the five passengers died on the spot, two others, including the SUV driver, sustained serious injuries, the official said, adding that they are admitted in hospital in Shirval village. Police have registered a case of accidental death.
Woman injured after her speeding BMW turns turtle
A woman who was on the wheels of a speeding BMW car, suffered injuries after it lost balance, flipped over several times and then overturned, hitting a divider on Akbar Road in central Delhi, a police officer said on Sunday.
Boeing acknowledges defects in 737 MAX flight simulator software
For the first time since two air crashes involving Boeing planes killed over 346 people within six months, the US aerospace company has acknowledged that it had to correct defects in its 737 MAX flight simulator, which are used to train pilots."Boeing has made corrections to the 737 MAX simulator software and has provided additional information to device operators to ensure that the simulator experience is representative across different flight conditions," Boeing said in a statement on Saturday cited by Al Jazeera.However, Boeing did not indicate when it first became aware of the problem, and whether it informed the regulators of the same.US airlines train their pilots flying the MAX on a simulator built for the 737 Next Generation (NG), the version preceding the 737 MAX in the 737 aircraft family.Oliver McGee, a former US deputy assistant secretary for transportation, said it's vital for pilots to have access to accurate training systems."These simulators are very important to the ..
7 French fighter jets make emergency landing in Indonesia
Poor weather has forced seven French navy fighter jets taking part in a training exercise to make emergency landings in northern Indonesia. Local air force base commander Col. Hendro Arief says the crews of seven Dassault Rafale combat planes landed safely at Sultan Iskandar Muda air force base in Aceh province on Saturday, 90 minutes after taking off from their aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Indian Ocean. Arief says the jets were holding a training exercise outside of Indonesian territory when bad weather forced them to land while returning to their carrier, which was about 100 nautical miles west of Sumatra island. He said Sunday that Indonesia's air force has completed a comprehensive inspection of the planes.
Four killed while cleaning water pumping station in Guj
Four sanitation workers died after inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning a storm water pumping station in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city, a police official said on Sunday. The mishap took place in Odhav locality late Saturday night when a worker went into the well of the civic-run Ambikanagar pumping station and fell unconscious after inhaling a toxic gas, he said. Three other labourers then rushed in to help him, but they also inhaled the gas and died on the spot, the official at Odhav police station said. The deceased were identified as Sarvjeet (25), Sunil (25), Ravji Chauhan (38), and Lalsinh Marwadi (26), he said. The bodies were sent for postmortem and a case of accidental death was registered, the official said. The police were investigating if there was negligence on part of a private contractor and whether the sanitation workers were provided the safety equipment before starting the cleaning work. The storm water pumping stations are cleaned as part of the pre-monsoon
6 killed, 5 injured in road accidents in Chhattisgarh
Six people, including two children, were killed and five others injured in two separate road accidents in Chhattisgarh, police said on Sunday. Two women and a 10-month-old boy died and five others received injuries when their car collided with a truck at Bhadri square in Janjgir-Champa district on Saturday night, Dabhra's sub-divisional officer of police Sadhna Singh said. The victims, all members of the same family, were returning from a marriage function when the mishap took place, she said. Three of them, identified as Neha Mahant (30), her son Tanmay and Kumari Mahant (60), died on the spot, she said. On being informed, a police team rushed to the spot and took the injured persons to a hospital in the nearby Kharsiya town of Raigarh district, Singh said. They were later referred to another hospital in Raigarh because of their serious health conditions, she said. The truck driver was arrested and his vehicle seized from the spot, the official said. In another incident,
6.8 magnitude earthquake rattles New Caledonia
An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hit the east coast of New Caledonia, according to the United States Geological Survey (UNGC).The quake occurred at 11.23 am (local time), at a depth of 14 kilometres. The epicentre of the quake was located 178 kilometres east of the town of Tadine, reported Xinhua.So far, no damage to property or casualties were reported.No Tsunami warning was issued.New Caledonia, which is a French Territory, lies on the "Ring of Fire", an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, which is vulnerable to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Boeing acknowledges flaw in 737 MAX simulator software
Boeing acknowledged Saturday it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes involving the aircraft that killed 346 people. "Boeing has made corrections to the 737 MAX simulator software and has provided additional information to device operators to ensure that the simulator experience is representative across different flight conditions," it said in a statement. The company did not indicate when it first became aware of the problem, and whether it informed regulators. Its statement marked the first time Boeing acknowledged there was a design flaw in software linked to the 737 MAX, whose MCAS anti-stall software has been blamed in large part for the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy. According to Boeing, the flight simulator software was incapable of reproducing certain flight conditions similar to those at the time of the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March or the Lion Air crash in October. The company said the latest "changes ...
2 trains collide in Philippines, 34 injured
At least 34 people were injured when a "runaway" train rammed into another train in Metro Manila of the Philippines, officials said on Sunday.
Polling official dies in Gorakhpur
An official on election duty died inside a polling booth on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur.
Nepal: 5 killed after bus plunges into river
At least five people were killed and 28 others sustained injuries after a bus veered off the road and fell into a River in Nepal's Dhading district.The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday when the bus, en route to capital Kathmandu from capital Kakarvitta, plunged 60 metres into the Trishuli River.Police superintendent Rajkumar Baidwar told ANI that one woman and four men lost their lives in the incident. The identity of the deceased is yet to be established. Of the 28 injured, 14 were sent to Kathmandu for treatment, while the others are being treated in Dhading district itself.The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. The driver of the bus reportedly fled the scene after the incident.
Fire breaks out at a car showroom in Betul
A fire that broke out at a car showroom in Betul in the early morning of Sunday was brought under control by firefighters.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.Fire fighting operations are underway.No loss of life or injury to any individual has been reported so far.Further details are awaited.
Coal supply to power sector rises marginally to 40.7 MT in Apr
Coal despatches by state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector rose marginally by 1 per cent to 40.7 million tonnes in April 2019 compared to 40.3 million tonnes in the year-ago month, according to official data. However, coal supply by Singareni Collieries Co Ltd (SCCL) declined by 2 per cent to 4.7 million tonnes (MT) last month compared to 4.8 MT in April 2018. The Singareni Collieries Company Limited is jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis. Public sector mining giant Coal India Ltd had supplied 488 MT of fuel to the power sector in 2018-19, registering an increase of 7.4 per cent over the previous year. The world's largest coal miner had dispatched 454.2 MT of coal to the power sector in 2017-18. Earlier, Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal had said that no power plant was facing fuel shortages. The minister had also claimed that none of the thermal power plants have reported any loss of generation due to supply ...
Five killed in Honduras plane crash, no survivors
Four Canadians and an American pilot died Saturday when their small plane plunged into the sea off the Honduran island of Roatan where they were vacationing, firefighters said. The plane crashed near the town of Dixon Cove, a few minutes after taking off from the island's airport, rescuers said. The dead were identified as Bradley Post, Bailey Sony, Tomy Dubler and pilot Patrick Forseth. The other Canadian pilot, Anthony Dubler, briefly survived the crash but died at the Roatan hospital of his injuries. The causes of the crash and the registration information for the aircraft were not immediately available. It occurred as the tourists were headed toward the city of Trujillo, about 77 kilometers (48 miles) from Roatan.