Page 931 - Disaster Accident

First International Dam Safety Conference begins tomorrow

The first International Dam Safety Conference will begin in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow, the government said in a statement today. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the two-day conference, which will be presided over by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal. The conference will discuss various safety-related issues of large dams. As many as 550 delegates from over 20 countries, including the US, Switzerland, Spain and Australia, will take part in the conference, Director (Dam Safety) of the Central Water Commission Pramod Narayan said, according to the statement. Seven dam safety manuals developed under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) will also be released for implementation during the conference, the statement said. Through the DRIP, the Centre aims to assist improvement of 223 large dams "which may be experiencing stress" in seven states at an outlay of Rs 2,100 crore. A software programme to document ..

Rabi Crops Sowing Crosses 617 Lakh Hactare

Wheat has been sown/transplanted in 298.67 lakh hectares, rice in 22.32 lakh hectares, pulses in 163.11 lakh hectares, coarse cereals in 54.58 lakh hectares and area sown under oilseeds is 79.11 lakh hectares.

Five killed, three injured in autorickshaw-truck collision

Five persons were killed and three others injured when the autorickshaw carrying them collided head-on with a truck in Odisha's Puri district, police said today. The accident took place on Jagannath Sadak in Satyabadi area last night when eight persons were returning to their village in an autorickshaw after attending cremation of a man at Swargadwar in Puri, the police said. Two persons died on the spot while three other died in hospital. The deceased and victims have been identified as the residents of Andalsingha village under Kanas block in the district. The condition of the injured persons is stated to be critical and they have been admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, they added.

Tokyo gets first 'heavy snow' alert in four years

Japan's weather agency today issued a heavy snow warning for Tokyo for the first time in four years, urging people to go home early amid fears of public transport chaos. Scores of domestic flights departing from and arriving at the Japanese capital were scrapped due to the snow, while some regional trains were also cancelled. Japan's northern regions frequently see heavy blankets of snow but such weather is rare in Tokyo. And with the snowfall expected to get heavier, Tsumoru Matsumoto, the agency's chief forecaster, urged people to cut short their working day. "There will be heavy snow this evening" in Tokyo, Matsumoto said, warning that "the snow is likely to affect public transport" when the evening commute begins. Large crowds battled through snow at Shinjuku, the world's busiest train station, as the nightly rush hour began. One Twitter user complained it was impossible to move in Shinjuku as it was so packed. The weather agency only issues a heavy snow alert when ...

2 persons charred to death, many shops gutted in fire

A major fire broke out in a market in Dum Dum area in North 24 Parganas district today in which two persons were charred to death and hundreds of shops were gutted, Fire Brigade said. The fire broke out in the Gora Bazar of Dum Dum at around 2 am today, they said. Twenty fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire brigade said adding that the fire has been brought under control. Two charred bodies have been recovered from the market, they said adding that the cause of the fire was not yet known. More than 300 shops have been gutted in the fire, they said.

7 dead in road accidents in Rajasthan

Seven persons have been killed and six others injured in two separate road accidents in Rajasthan, police said today. Five persons, including a woman and two children, were killed when their SUV overturned on the Jaisalmer-Barmer Highway near Devikot village under Sangarh police station area in Jaisalmer district today, they said. Six persons were injured in the incident, police said, adding the victims were returning to their house in Jalore. The deceased have been identified as Roshni Bai (28), Arban (4), Amina (12), Mahboob Khan (34) and Wasir Khan (42). "The bodies were handed over to family members without postmortem on their request," Assistant Sub Inspector Mukna Ram said. In the other incident, a car overturned near Kodamdesar last night, leaving Omprakash Ranga (55) and Surendra Swami (57) dead. The victims were working with the state public health and engineering department, police added.

Police: House fire kills 7 children in United Arab Emirates

Police in an eastern region of the United Arab Emirates say a house fire has killed seven children while they were sleeping at home. Police in Fujairah, one of the UAE's seven emirates, say the fire began this morning in the seaside village of Dhadna. Firefighters later extinguished the blaze. Dhadna is about 115 kilometers northeast of Dubai, along the Gulf of Oman. The police statement said the dead included four boys and three girls, their ages between 5 and 13. It says all suffocated in the smoke. Police say they are investigating what caused the blaze. They encourage citizens to install smoke detectors in their homes.

Six dead in road accidents in Odisha

At least six persons were killed and four others injured in two separate road accidents in Odisha on Monday.

13 dead in Colombia landslide

Thirteen persons, including two minors and two women, have died in a landslide in Colombia that dragged down a small bus near the Ecuadorian border, official sources said.

Dense fog in UP causes bus-truck collision, 36 injured

Three dozen passengers, travelling on a Uttar Pradesh roadways bus, were injured on Monday after the vehicle was hit by a speeding truck due to low visibility, police said.

Thane police lauded for saving lives in fire at skyscraper

The city's Naupada police claimed to have reached a fire mishap spot in just about three minutes, and rescued people, including children and elderly persons, trapped in the premises. Their efforts were appreciated at a private function organised by some city residents here yesterday. A 26-storey building in the Naupada area had caught fire on Friday afternoon. While a number of fire engines were pressed into service to douse the flames, the Naupada police personnel also rushed to the spot and managed to reach the premises in 3.31 minutes, inspector Sanjay Dhumal claimed. Senior police inspector Chandrakant Jadhav said taking into account the extent of fire, the first task before them was to keep at bay the large crowd which had gathered outside the building, housing around 100 families. Dhumal narrated how he kept encouraging the panic- striken families trapped in the building not to lose hope, and brought them out. He climbed up a scaffolding and rescued several people .

Oil slick off China coast trebles in size: official

The spill from a sunken Iranian tanker off China's east coast has more than trebled in size, just over a week after the ship sank in a ball of flames. Authorities spotted three oil slicks with a total surface area of 332 square kilometres, compared to 101 square kilometres reported on Wednesday, the State Oceanic Administration said in a statement late yesterday. The Sanchi, which was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, collided with Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter the CF Crystal in early January, setting off a desperate race by authorities to search for survivors and stave off a massive environmental catastrophe. The bodies of only three of the ship's 30 Iranian and two Bangladeshi crew members have been found. Three coast guard vessels were on the scene Sunday night assessing the spill, the oceanic administration said. The type of condensate oil carried by the Sanchi does not form a traditional surface slick when spilt, but is nonetheless highly ...

Blaze in industrial area in Mumbai; two fire men hurt

A massive fire broke out in an industrial area in suburban Andheri early today, leaving two fire men injured and gutting a part of the premises, a fire brigade official said. The fire brigade got a call around 1.16 am about the blaze in a ground-plus-one-floor structure in the Mistry Industrial Estate area near Marol, he said. The personnel along with eight fire fighting engines rushed to the spot, the official said. The flames spread over the electrical wiring and other installations, and gutted a part of the industrial area, he said. The fire brigade personnel managed to douse the flames after hectic efforts for a few hours, he said. Two fire men sustained minor injuries and were admitted to the nearby Cooper Hospital. They were discharged after being provided primary treatment, the official said. Earlier on January 19, a massive fire had broken out at the Navrang studio in the Todi Mills Compound in Lower Parel area. Prior to it, on January 6, a huge fire occurred at ..

Landslide kills 13 in Colombia

A landslide in southwestern Colombia has killed 13 people on a small public bus in a rain-soaked mountainous area, authorities said. The landslide struck an area not far from the town of Tuquerres in Narino on Saturday. Rescuers have so far found the bodies of 13 people, highway police officer Fernando Montana said. Rescuers will search today to see if other vehicles in the area could have been affected, the local office of disaster risk management said in a statement.

Fire breaks out at manufacturing unit in Mumbai

A fire broke out at a manufacturing unit in Mistry Industrial Estate in Mumbai's Andheri east area on late Sunday night.At least eight fire tenders rushed to the spot to douse the flame.There is no report of any casualties or injuries as yet.

Sydney train crash leaves several injured

A train hit a rail buffer at Richmond in Sydney's north-western outskirts on Monday morning, leaving several wounded.A New South Wales Ambulance spokesman said 17 ambulance crews and three rescue helicopters were responding to the accident at Richmond train station, reported the Guardian.According to the reports, Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said that he believed between 12 or 13 people had been injured, with the majority suffering "cuts and bruises."Witnesses reportedly labeled the scene as "chaotic," with the train apparently hitting the buffer at the end of the line "at speed."One caller to Sydney's 2GB radio, who saw the crash, said there was an "almighty bang".The caller said the train came in at speed and hit the buffer and rebounded."There was a huge amount of dust," he said.The cause of the accident is still unknown.

Civilian killed in Pakistan shelling, firing

A civilian was killed and three others injured in heavy overnight shelling and firing by Pakistan Rangers on the international border in Jammu district, officials said on Monday.

Saudi coalition announces $1.5 billion in aid for Yemen

Saudi Arabia has announced USD 1.5 billion in new aid for Yemen, where nearly three years of conflict has devastated the local economy and pushed millions to the brink of famine, causing what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The kingdom said today the coalition it heads in Yemen would also "lead the expansion of additional Yemeni ports" to receive cargo and humanitarian assistance, ensure multiple daily flights of cargo planes carrying aid from Saudi Arabia to Yemen's Marib province and establish "safe passage corridors" to ensure transportation of aid to non-governmental organisations operating inside Yemen. The expansion of ports will be supported with up to USD 40 million from the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition said that it would also allocate up to USD 30 million to cover transportation costs of non-humanitarian shipments intended for the port of Hodeida, in rebel-held territory, to "their intended destination in ...

Officials: Avalanche kills 5 soldiers, injures 12 in Turkey

An avalanche hit Turkish soldiers conducting military operations against Kurdish rebels in Turkey's southeast, killing five of them and injuring 12 others, officials said. The avalanche occurred near the town of Hizan in southeastern Turkey's mountainous Bitlis province yesterday, according to the governor's office for the region. The soldiers were conducting operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a Kurdish rebel group, the governor's office said. The private Dogan news agency said the troops were on a mission to locate and destroy shelters used by PKK fighters. Military units and search-and-rescue teams were dispatched to the area after the avalanche. The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Hizan and in the province's main city of Bitlis, but were not in serious condition, the governor's office said. The PKK has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey for three decades. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people.

Fire dept to conduct audit of factories in Bawana

Following a blaze that gutted a firecracker storage unit in Bawana yesterday and caimed 17 lives, the Delhi Fire Services has decided to undertake a fire safety audit of the factories in the area, a senior department official said today. Seventeen people, including 10 women, were killed in the fire that ripped through the "cold firecrackers" unit last evening. Three bodies, including that of a woman, are yet to be identified. G C Mishra, Director, Delhi Fire Services, said electric cables run haywire in the area where the blaze occurred. "An inquiry is being conducted and it will follow the due process of law. I will not offer any technical comment on the cause of fire. The electric cables were running haywire. The investigating agencies and forensic teams might look into it," he said. The department will also be checking other factories in the industrial area for fire safety measures. "After every fire incident, such measures follow," he added. Mishra said his officials