Page 766 - Disaster Accident
MeT Department to add 30 doppler radars in country
The Met Department will add 30 doppler radars in the next two-three years across the country, of which several will be in the northeast, a senior IMD official said. A doppler radar are a tool to provide precise information about thunderstorms, dust storms, hailstorms, rainfall and wind patterns. With a radius of 250 km, they help in issuing nowcasts 2-3 hours prior to severe weather events. By the next year, Jammu and Kashmir will get four doppler radars, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh three each, Additional Director General (ADG) Devendra Pradhan said. "We plan to add 30 doppler radars in the next two-three years. The plan is also to have a total number 14 radars in the north east region, including the existing three that are already installed," Pradhan said. Right now, the IMD is working on selecting locations in hilly states to install these radars, Pradhan added. The hilly states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir witness erratic patterns like thunderstorms .
UP: Patna-Kota Express engine derails near Barabanki
The engine of Patna-Kota express train derailed after it hit a fallen tree in Dariyabad town here on Saturday night.The accident happened when the train moving towards Lucknow from Patna via Faizabad, collided with a tree that had fallen on the track due to the thunderstorm that struck Uttar Pradesh a few days ago.The passengers who were inside the train escaped unhurt. Relief operations have been sent to the spot from Lucknow.Train operations have been affected due to the incident.Several states in north India have witnessed erratic weather pattern over the fortnight. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have alone witnessed over 120 deaths due to thunderstorm and violent winds in the first week of May.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday predicted that the hill-states are likely to witness thunderstorm accompanied with squall, over the next 48 hours. Their subsequent effect on plains in north India will also be witnessed.The states of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and ...
Seven killed in road accident in Himachal Pradesh
Seven people were killed and twelve were seriously injured when a private bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Naeneti on Solan-Rajgarh road, about 70 km from here, today, police said. The ill-fated vehicle was on its way to Rajgarh from Manav when it fell into the gorge. Villagers rushed to the spot and informed the police. Seven people were killed and 12 were seriously injured in the accident, they said. Rescue operations were underway and the injured were taken to nearby hospital even as the bodies were being recovered, police said.
Seven killed as bus rolls down hill in Himachal
At least seven persons were killed and 12 injured when a bus skidded off the road and rolled down the hill in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, an official said.
Five killed in car-lorry collision in TN
Five people were killed and two injured in a collision involving a car and a lorry near here today, police said. The incident occurred when the occupants of the car were returning from Tiruchendur, they said. When the vehicle reached Pattukottai ring road at Keezhavastha Chavadi in the district, the driver lost control and hit a stationary lorry, they said. While four occupants of the car were killed on the spot another died on the way to the hospital, they said. Two persons who sustained injuries were admitted to the government hospital here. A case had been registered in this connection.
Family of 73-yr-old road accident victim gets Rs 23 lakh compensation
The family of a 73-year-old man, who died in a road accident involving a rashly-driven mini bus, has been awarded a compensation of over Rs 23 lakh by a claims tribunal here. Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) presiding officer Hemani Malhotra directed National Insurance Company Ltd, insurer of the vehicle, to pay Rs 23,13,000 to the wife and three daughters of Ram Avtar Sikka, who was hit by the speeding vehicle in 2015 when he was crossing the road in west Delhi. The tribunal, while deciding the petition in the victim's favour, relied on the relevant documents placed on record including the FIR, charge sheet, post mortem report of the victim and statement of an eyewitness of the accident. The tribunal also noted that the driver of the offending bus did not cross examine the eyewitness or lead any evidence in his defence. "Since, respondent/driver of the offending vehicle chose not to cross-examine the eyewitness and did not lead any evidence qua his noninvolvement in the ...
Ethiopia on high alert following Ebola outbreak in DRC
The Ethiopian government said on Saturday that it is on high alert to counter the Ebola virus disease following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this week.
Torrential rains kill 11 people in Pak
Torrential rains and windstorm killed at least 11 people and left 14 others injured today in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, officials said. As many as six persons were killed and 16 others injured when the roof of a religious seminary collapsed in the country's northwestern Bajaur agency. Two persons were killed in Mamond area in rain-related incidents. In Khyber agency, two persons were killed. Several vehicles were swept away in flood. Officials said that a total of 11 people have been killed and 14 others injured in rain-related incidents. Authorities and security forces have launched relief and rescue operations.
Pakistan bars US diplomat from leaving country
A US diplomat involved in a fatal road accident in Pakistan was not allowed to leave the country today, officials said, a day after Islamabad imposed "reciprocal" restrictions on the movement of American envoys after Washington took similar measures. The latest move is likely to further strain ties between the two countries. Local media showed footage of a US plane at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi near Islamabad that reportedly arrived earlier today to fly back defence attach Colonel Joseph Emanuel Hall. A security official said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) refused to give clearance to Hall flying out of the country as his name was on the blacklist and he could not leave Pakistan. The plane later went back without the passenger it was sent to bring back, according to officials. The development came a day after Islamabad High Court passed a judgement that the US diplomat did not enjoy absolute immunity. It also ordered the government to decide about adding his name to ..
WFP chief senses N Korea 'turning a new page'
The head of the UN's World Food Programme said today it appeared North Korea was "turning a new page in history", following a four-day visit to the country. David Beasley said he had enjoyed unprecedented access to the secretive state, spending two days in the capital Pyongyang and two in the countryside, accompanied by government minders. He said there was undoubtedly a hunger problem in North Korea but it was not on the scale of the 1990s famine. North Korea's economy has been devastated by its own mismanagement and crippling international sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme. However, its relations with the rest of the world are rapidly changing, with leader Kim Jong Un on a charm offensive. Beasley told BBC radio that North Korea's leaders had a "sense of optimism". Dialogue brokered by Seoul has seen US-North Korea relations go from trading personal insults and threats of war last year to a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump due in Singapore on June 12. "There
Bus falls into ditch, 21 injured
At least 21 passengers were injured when a Shillong-bound bus fell into a roadside ditch beside NH-37 in Assam's Kamrup district today, police said. The accident occurred at Lampara under Bako police station area after the driver lost control of the bus coming from Siliguri in West Bengal. The seriously injured passengers were sent to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, while others were admitted at hospitals at Boko and Bamunigaon police said.
TMC workers ride bikes without helmets during panchayat poll campaigning
While campaigning for the forthcoming Panchayat Elections in West Bengal's Siliguri, Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers were seen riding motorcycles without helmets.Scores of motorcycles can be seen in images that surfaced in the media today, with riders unbothered about their breach of traffic rules.In India, 16 people die every hour in road accidents which results in one death in every four minutes, according to the recently published National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.The West Bengal Panchayat Polls, earlier scheduled to be conducted between May 1 and May 7, had been postponed to May 14.
Thunderstorm, squall likely in UP in next 2 days
Thunderstorm and squall are likely to hit Uttar Pradesh in the next two days, the meteorological department has warned. According to the MeT department, the wind speed may reach up to 50 to 70 kilometres per hour. In its forecast, the department said rain and thunderstorm are very likely at a few places over western Uttar Pradesh and at many places over eastern parts of the state. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall is very likely in parts of the state between 8.30 am tomorrow and 8.30 am the day after, it said. Several parts of the state were hit by severe storm this week leaving 18 dead and 27 others injured. On Wesnesday, five people died in Etawah district, three each in Mathura, Aligarh and Agra, two in Firozabad and one each in Hathras and Kanpur Dehat. Last week, storm had killed 134 people and injured over 400 in five states. Uttar Pradesh was the worst affected, accounting for 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district in western part.
Lightning kills one in J&K
One person was killed and two others were injured on Saturday when lightning struck Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.
10 dead, 32 injured in tempo-tanker collision in Maha's Nanded
Ten people were today killed and 32 injured when a tempo and a tanker collided on the Latur-Mukhed road in Maharashtra's Nanded district, around 580 kilometres from here, police said. The incident happened today morning at Jamb village in Nanded when a fuel tanker collided with a tempo carrying people to a marriage ceremony, S B Choube, Senior Police Inspector of Mukhed told PTI. Among the dead were eight women, and of the 32 injured, 10 persons were critical, the official said. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Mukhed and Latur district, he said. Police said that those dead and injured were passengers travelling in the tempo. Latur deputy superintendent of police Ganesh Kindre said that the people in the tempo hailed from Kharosa village in Latur's Ausa tehsil.
3 killed in landslide in Mizoram
At least three people, including a minor girl, were killed when a landslide hit Mizoram's Zemabawk area, police said. Aizawl District SP C Lalzahngova told PTI that three persons were confirmed dead in the incident and efforts were on to recover the bodies. The number of casualties could rise as people are still feared trapped in the landslide, police said.
China marks 10th anniversary of devastating earthquake
China marked the 10th anniversary Saturday of a massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands in southwest Sichuan province and left scars on the nation that have yet to fully heal. More than 87,000 were left dead or missing when a 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan on the afternoon of May 12, 2008, including 5,335 school pupils. The disaster provoked widespread grief in China, but also outrage after it emerged 7,000 schools were badly damaged, triggering accusations of shoddy construction, corner-cutting and possible corruption, especially as many other buildings nearby held firm. A decade on, the government has still never released an official investigation into the accusations. Even now campaigners and parents are seeking answers on how the quake destroyed so many schools when it struck during afternoon classes. They became known as "tofu schools" in China, likening their structural instability to the soft bean curd dish. A remembrance ceremony was due to take place Saturday ...
Odisha records 1,256 lightning deaths since 2015
A staggering 1,256 lightning deaths have occurred in Odisha during the last three years from 2015-16 to 2017-18, said an official on Saturday.
Escalator malfunctions, moves in 'reverse direction'; 3 hurt
At least three passengers were injured when an escalator at the Thane railway station loaded with commuters malfunctioned last night, the Railway Police said. The three were given first aid at a medical centre and discharged, they said. The escalator, installed at platform No 1, all of a sudden started moving in the "reverse direction", leading some of the passengers riding on it to lose balance and fall, they said. Three of them, identified as Kuldeep Ware, Tejashri Mishra and Sunil Thakur - received injuries, the police said. The escalator has been shut for repairs. Station officials could not be reached for comments on the incident.
5.1 magnitude quake hits Japan
An earthquake measuring 5.1-magnitude on the Richter scale hit Japan's Nagano on Saturday, the Met said. No major damage or injuries were reported.