Page 937 - Disaster Accident
Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett dies in helicopter crash
Exiled Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett has been killed along with his wife Heather in a helicopter crash in the US state of New Mexico.Local police confirmed Bennett's death on Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico, reports the Guardian.The 60-year-old was a former treasurer general of the opposition MDC party and was a prominent figure in Zimbabwean politics and had served time in prison under former President Robert Mugabe.The crash killed five people including Bennett's wife Heather, and injured a sixth person who raised the alarm.The helicopter went down about 6pm on Wednesday about 15 miles (24km) east of the small city of Raton near the Colorado state line.According to the reports, in Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, a prominent opposition leader and a former finance minister, tweeted that the Bennett's "tragic passing" was "a blow to our struggle.""I have just confirmed from three separate ...
Freight car derails in Mexico, falls on house, killing 5
A freight car carrying bulk corn derailed today in the northern suburbs of Mexico City, rolled over and crushed part of a house by the side of the tracks, killing five people. The victims were apparently crushed as they slept before dawn. It was unclear if they were killed by rubble from a wall collapsed by the train car, by the car itself or by the large amount of corn that spilled out of the car. Mexico's Transportation Department said the derailment was under investigation and the train was operated under a private rail concession with Kansas City Southern de Mexico. The company has not commented. Photos of the scene showed the car's wheel-truck broken loose, rails separated from ties and the car resting on its side after partly falling down an embankment onto the house. Homes are routinely built on or very near railway rights of way in Mexico.
Pope Francis performs mid-air marriage
Pope Francis notched up another first by performing a wedding of two flight attendants from Chile's flagship airline at 36,000 feet during a flight from Santiago .Several media reports stated that Paula Podest Ruiz, 39, and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriga, 41, who had a civil union eight years ago, told the pope a religious ceremony that was to follow was cancelled after their parish church in Santiago was heavily damaged in an earthquake in 2010.The magnitude 8.8 quake caused widespread damage and triggered a tsunami, resulting in the loss of more than 500 lives."We told him that we are husband and wife, that we have two daughters and that we would have loved to receive his blessing. All of a sudden, he asked us if we were married for the Church too," said Ciuffardi."He liked us and he asked: 'Do you want me to marry you?'""Yes of course,' we said."The pope performed the brief ceremony in the front of the plane.An improvised marriage certificate was signed by the pope, the couple, and a ...
Dry spell in HP: Jaundice outbreak threat looms large in
Jaundice outbreak threat looms large in the state capital as water sources are dryingup due to the prolonged dry spell in the state and patients have already started reaching hospitals. Dry weather with no snow or rains in the past six weeks is causing worry among authorities here and the Shimla Municipal Corporation has advised people to boil water before use. The corporation has launched a drive to clean static water storage tanks as a precaution and samples are being drawn regularly to ensure that contaminated water is not supplied to people, a spokesman of the civic body said. Last year, jaundice had claimed 32 lives here after sewage entered the main water supply scheme.
Chopper crash: Body of 7th victim found, search ends
The Coast Guard said today that the body of the last passenger missing following the Pawan Hans- ONGC chopper crash on Saturday was recovered this evening. It said the victim has been identified as VKBL Babu. "The mortal remains of all passengers including the pilots aboard the chopper have been recovered," it said. According to the statement, "most of the aircraft debris, including critical components such as engines, landing gear, cockpit and flight data recorder, main and tail gear boxes had been collected by Coast Guard, ONGC and Naval ships and handed over for investigation." "The search for survivors and debris of the aircraft has been terminated by Commander Coast Guard Western Region," it said. Coast Guard officials said the force was maintaining a high-level of coordination with ONGC and other agencies to ascertain the reason for the helicopter crash that killed all seven people on board.
Mumbai chopper crash: Body of missing passenger recovered
Body of a missing passenger was recovered on Thursday after Indian Coast Guard continued its search and rescue operation for the fifth consecutive day at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) aircraft crash site off Mumbai.With this, mortal remains of all passengers, including Pilots onboard the chopper, have been recovered.Most of the aircraft debris, including critical components such as engines, landing gear, Cockpit and Flight Data Recorder, Main Gear Box and Tail Gear Box, have already been collected by Coast Guard, ONGC and Naval ships and handed over for investigation, read an official note.The search for survivors and debris of the aircraft has been terminated by Commander Coast Guard Region (W). However, Coast Guard is maintaining a high level of coordination with ONGC and other agencies to ascertain the reason for the crash, which has lead to the unfortunate demise of all passengers onboard, it added.On January 16, the ONGC announced to set up an institute a high-level .
Storm Friederike batters Germany
Storm Friederike brought powerful winds, heavy rain and snowfall to parts of Germany on Thursday, causing at least one fatality and severe disruption to railway lines.
5 killed in copter crash in US state
Five people were killed and one severely injured in the helicopter crash in US' New Mexico state on Thursday, police said
Five dead as violent storm hits Europe
At least five people have reportedly been killed in violent storm that hit north-west Europe on Thursday, causing traffic disruptions and power outages across the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.According to The Guardian, a 62-year-old man was killed in Netherlands central town of Olst after a branch of a tree fell on him, while he was removing debris from the road while another 62-year-old person died after a tree fell over his car in Enschede.In another similar incident, a 66-year-old man was reportedly killed after a fall due to the strong winds in Netherlands.A woman driver was reportedly killed after a tree fell on to her car while she was travelling in Belgium's Grez-Doiceau area.The violent gales also claimed a life in Germany as a 59-year-old man was killed by a falling tree in Emmerich.All long-distance train services were also cancelled in Germany, local media reports said.Air traffic was also suspended and several flights got cancelled for few hours in Netherlands as winds
Severe winds leave thousands of British homes powerless
Severe winds hit parts of Britain overnight, leaving about 47,000 homes and businesses without power on Thursday.
Six dead as huge storms batter Europe
Violent gales today battered northern Europe and beyond, snapping air and train links and leaving six people dead. Germany halted all long-distance rail traffic for at least a day, while numerous domestic flights were scrapped as hurricane-force winds lashed the country. A 59-year-old man was killed instantly when a tree fell on him in North Rhine-Westphalia state, German police said, as wind speeds attained a high of 203 kilometres an hour (126 mph) at the Brocken -- the highest peak of northern Germany. Another man, a 68-year-old truck driver, died in a traffic accident also in the western German state caused by the ferocious storm, while a firefighter lost his life as he was hit by a fallen tree in central Germany's Bad Salzungen. The strong gales also forced the cancellation of a ski world championship qualifier at Oberstdorf, in the Bavarian alps. In the Netherlands, which had borne the brunt of the severe winter storms earlier Thursday, two people were crushed by ..
Australian lifeguards use drone to rescue 2 teens
Two teenage swimmers were rescued on Thursday with the help of a drone recently launched by the lifeguard service in Australia.
One crew member dead as oil tanker catches fire off Guj coast
A crew member died and another sustained serious injuries after a diesel-laden oil tanker caught fire off the Gujarat coast yesterday, police said. Fire-fighting operations on the oil tanker M T Genessa were still underway, a defence official said, adding that water samples from the area showed that so far there was no oil leak from the ship. Merlin Fernando (35), an electrical engineer aboard M T Genessa, died during the treatment at a government hospital at Gandhidham, while another crew member, Nitin Madhukar, was shifted to Mumbai in a critical condition, a marine police station official said. There were in total 26 crew members aboard the tanker which caught fire while being anchored off Deendayal Port of Kandla at 6 pm yesterday. The tanker was carrying 30,000 tonnes of high-speed diesel. All the crew members were evacuated, and of them, two were admitted to a hospital in critical condition, the official said. Fernando died last night while Madhukar was today ...
Two teenagers drown in Ulhas river, one rescued
Two boys today died after being swept away in the Ulhas river, Kalyan-Dombivali Fire Brigade officials said. Officials said that a group of three boys, students of a nearby school, had entered the river in the vicinity of IDI company for a swim and were soon caught up in the current. While people who heard their shouts for help jumped in and managed to rescue one of them, the other two were swept away, fire brigade official Jagan Amle said. The two boys have been identified as Nitin Pappu Vishwakarma and Shubham Jaiswal, both 13 years of age and residents of Ulhasnagar, he said. Their bodies were taken to Central hospital for post-mortem, he said, adding that the incident took place around 4:30pm today.
Pub fire: commissioner's report also blames hookah embers
The inquiry report by the Mumbai municipal commissioner on the deadly fire at Kamla Mills compound here has confirmed the theory that flying embers from hookah served illegally at Mojo's Bistro was the trigger. Fourteen persons died, most of them at the roof-top '1 Above' pub next to Mojo's Bistro, in the fire on December 29. The report submitted by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has found that the blaze started due to flying charcoal embers from hookah, served illegally in Mojo's Bistro. It also proposed criminal action against the owner of the premises, owners of both the restaurants and concerned architects and interior decorators. A day after the fire, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked Mehta to conduct an inquiry. A preliminary report by the Mumbai fire brigade had suggested that flying embers from hookah at Mojo's Bistro may have started the fire. "The cause of fire was fire starting from the flying embers from the hookah being illegally ...
Human negligence likely cause of Dec fires at Kaas plateau
Human negligence, possibly a cigarette butt, could be the cause of two fires that ravaged a portion of the world-famous Kaas plateau in Satara in December, forest officials said today. The plateau, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site since 2012, attracts visitors from across the globe who come there to see hundreds of varieties of flowers growing over a 1,800 hectare area. "On December 21, a fire broke out at a portion of the Kaas plateau not frequented by tourists and an area of around four hectares was damaged. The fire was successfully doused by the forest officials along with local residents," a forest official from Satara division said. He said that a case under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 had been registered against unidentified persons. The second instance of fire was on December 30 and it destroyed an area of six hectares and a case had been registered in this incident as well, the official said. "We suspect that the fire were caused by human negligence or ...
Three killed in separate road accidents in Delhi
Three persons, including two boys, died in separate road accidents today in southeast and southwest Delhi, police said. In the first incident reported from southwest Delhi's Sagarpur area, three boys on a scooter were mowed down by a mini-truck, they said. The victims were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where two of them were declared brought dead, while the third boy is undergoing treatment, the police said. The deceased were identified as Firoz (17) and Monu (15). Their friend Rohit is undergoing treatment, they said. Firoz was riding the two-wheeler. The trio were without helmets, the police said. The accused driver was nabbed and the vehicle was seized, they said. In the second incident, a truck allegedly hit a man on a motorcycle and then dragged the victim under its wheels in southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar area. The deceased was identified as 41-year-old Gopal Prasad, the police said. Prasad, who was a resident of Faridabad, died on the spot. The accused .
Ambivli railway station gets a new foot overbridge
The Indian Army has successfully completed the construction of a foot overbridge (FOB) at Ambivli railway station and launched it on Thursday morning.The civil work for the pile foundation had commenced in November 2017, while the work on the fabrication of the piers, staircase and canopy had also started at the bridging site simultaneously, read an official note.As per the Nation Building project, the Indian Army was given the task of construction of three FOBs for the Indian Railways at Elphinstone, Currey Road and Ambivli railway stations. Of the three, the FOB at the Ambivli railway station has been successfully completed.The task of building the FOBs is being undertaken by the Bombay Engineer Group and Centre, Kirkee from the Indian Army as a part of aid to civil authority for safety and smooth functioning of essential public services, it added.The statement further noted that the FOB is planned to be complete by January 31 that will ensure safety and security of pedestrian ...
Five die in separate accidents in AP
Five persons, including two children, died in two separate road accidents in YSR Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh today, police said. In a first incident, three persons died and 20 others were injured when a tractor trolley they were travelling in overturned near Chinnasinganapalli village in Duvvur mandal. The deceased are identified as Bramhaiah (45), Dastigiramma (50) and Siddaiah (45), a district police official said. The injured persons were shifted to a hospital in Prodattur by police, he said. Another mishap occurred in Pengalur mandal when a boy (7) and a teenage girl (15) travelling in a tractor trolley fell into a pond after the vehicle tilted and drowned, sub-inspector Siva Prasad said. Cases of accidental deaths have been registered at different police stations.
3 killed, 1 injured in road accident in Himachal Pradesh
At least three persons were today killed and another was seriously injured when their car rolled down 150-feet-deep gorge in Chopal area of Shimla district, police said. The victims were going towards Kupvi when the accident took place and it was yet to be ascertained as to who was driving the car, Superintendent of Police Ompati Jamwal said. The deceased have been identified as Prakash (26) and Sandeep (27) while the injured has been identified as Balbir (27), who was referred to the Indira Gandhi Medical College, he said. His condition is stated to be critical, the official said, adding that a case has been registered and investigations were underway.