Page 984 - Disaster Accident
Four killed in Moscow as bus drives into underpass
At least four people were killed and nine others injured after a bus ran over them in a pedestrian underpass here on Monday, Russia's Interior Ministry said.
4 killed in Moscow when bus crashes into underground passage
Russian authorities say a bus today careened off a road and onto steps leading into an underground passageway in Moscow, killing at least four people and leaving 13 others injured. Moscow police said passengers and pedestrians were among those killed in the crash. Police immediately ruled out a possibility of it being an attack, saying that they suspect a mechanical fault or that the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police were questioning the driver. Photos taken at the scene show the bus on the steps leading into the underground passageway. Russian news agencies reporting from the scene quoted Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin as saying that he has ordered all city buses to be checked in the aftermath of the crash.
3-yr-old girl falls into borewell, rescued in 6-hr operation
A three-year-old girl fell into a borewell in Odisha's Angul district today, following which she was rescued after a six-hour operation, an official said. The girl, identified as Radha Sahu, was rescued by the fire service and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) staff after she fell into the borewell in a village in Handapa area this morning, he said. She was shifted to a hospital immediately after being rescued and her condition was stated to be stable, the official said. Director General of Police, Fire Service, B K Sharma said fire personnel from Bamur and Angul took part in the rescue operation along with several others under close supervision of senior officers. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the fire service staff and ODRAF team for their "wonderful work" of successfully rescuing the girl, an official in the chief minister's office said. "Heartiest congratulations to all whose sincere efforts led to the rescue of 3-year-old Radha Sahu from ...
Vietnam evacuates hundreds of thousands ahead of storm
Hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam's Mekong Delta were evacuated as the region braced for the arrival of Typhoon Tembin after the storm left more than 160 people dead in the Philippines. Weather forecasters were expecting the delta's southern tip to be in Tembin's path, and said heavy rain and strong winds starting tonight could cause serious damage in the vulnerable region, where facilities are not built to cope with such severe weather. National television station VTV reported that several hundred thousand people were evacuated from their houses, which are mostly made from tin sheets and wooden panels. In Vung Tau city, thousands of fishing boats halted their monthslong fishing trips to return to shore. Typhoons and storms rarely hit the Mekong Delta. But in 1997, Tropical Storm Linda swept through the region, killing 770 people and leaving more than 2,000 others missing. Over the weekend, Tembin unleashed landslides and flash floods that killed at least 164 ...
Indian dies in Nepal hut fire
An Indian national has died in a fire that broke out at a hut with metal roof in Nepal's Panauti Municipality-5 of Kavre district.The deceased has been identified as a construction worker Sujit Jaiswal, The Himalayan reported.The fire was caused due to the heater, which Jaiswal had kept switched on while sleeping inside the hut near a leather factory in Mizar Tole, on Sunday night.Meanwhile, further investigation into the incident is underway.
Over 30 bodies found, criminal probe into Philippine mall fire
Firemen today found the bodies of "around" 36 people after a deadly blaze at a shopping mall in the southern Philippines, a fire official said as the government launched a criminal investigation. The discovery raised to 37 the confirmed death toll from the NCCC shopping mall fire in the city of Davao on Mindanao island. The Davao region chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection, Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu, told weeping relatives of the missing that he personally counted "around 36" bodies in an office lobby at the gutted mall. City mayor Sara Duterte, a daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, said earlier that 38 people were missing and feared dead in the fire, with one other unidentified body recovered yesterday. "I personally counted them before I gave the information to our honourable mayor... around 36 in number," Kwan Tiu told weeping relatives, who clutched long-stemmed white flowers as they attended a mass. "As the ground commander of this operation my deepest ...
Fire breaks out at residential building in Mumbai
A major fire broke out on the 17th floor of a high-rise residential building in Walkeshwar in Mumbai, on Monday.Ten fire tenders rushed to extinguish the flames. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained.However, there are no reports of casualties yet.Further details are awaited.
Fire breaks out in Mumbai multi-storey
A major fire broke out in the 32-storeyed building here on Monday evening, an official said.
Ahead of ASEAN summit, Delhi govt to beautify roads
With Delhi playing host to ASEAN summit next month, the AAP-led city government has directed beautification of all its roads on a war-footing by resurfacing road stretches along with ensuring adequate safety measures. The Public Works Department (PWD) has chalked out a plan under which its officials will carry out several works, including filling of potholes, repair of the central verge, footpaths and drains, among others. The ASEAN summit is scheduled to take place between January 19 and 30 in the national capital. According to an official, all road safety measures like road reflective delineators, cat eyes, bollards and other road safety fixtures will also be installed on immediate basis. "Besides resurfacing roads, respective area officials have been directed to ensure all roads and bus lanes are properly marked as per the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) standards," he said. Around 1,260-km roads are owned by the PWD in the city. Last week, a CPCB-led task force had ...
A dozen kids hurt as truck hits school bus
Over a dozen schoolchildren were injured, three of them critically, in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district on Monday when a speeding truck hit their school bus from behind, police said.
Fire at 17th floor duplex flat in South Mumbai high-rise
A fire broke out at a duplex flat in a 32-storey residential building in the upscale Walkeshwar area of South Mumbai today afternoon, a fire brigade official said. "Our control room received a call at 4.17 pm. Our team reached the high-rise, Regal Tower, at 4.26 pm and is busy dousing the fire," the official said. The fire broke out in a duplex flat on the 17th and 18th floors, he said. Fire Brigade chief P S Rahangdale said, "The fire is confined to a residential flat on 17th and 18th floors of this ground-plus-31 storey building. Fire-fighting and rescue operation is in progress.
China exceeds target for household gas projects, but some left freezing
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Ministry for Environmental Protection (MEP) said it had completed coal-to-gas and coal-to-electricity projects for 3.9 million households or 25,220 villages, exceeding a target of 3.1 million houses for 2017 in northern Chinese regions.
One dead, 10 hurt in explosion at Ecuador restaurant
A child died and 10 people were injured on Christmas Eve following an explosion at a restaurant in Ecuador's capital Quito, authorities said today. The blast, which occurred yesterday, was thought to have been the result of a gas tank exploding at the restaurant located in the north of the city. Those impacted were inside the restaurant at the time of the explosion and were transferred to hospital, authorities said in a statement. Officials added the "number of people injured may rise," but confirmed that nobody is trapped in the building, which partially collapsed. The conditions of those injured remain unknown.
20 dead as bus collides with van in northern Philippines
A passenger bus collided with a van carrying pilgrims to Christmas Mass at a church in the northern Philippines today, leaving 20 people dead and more than two dozen injured, police said. Police Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula said all those killed in the pre-dawn collision in La Union province's Agoo town were in the van, known as jeepneys. Another 10 van passengers, along with the driver and 17 other occupants of the bus, were injured. The van's engine was ripped off due to the impact of the crash. The van passengers were bound for Our Lady of Manaoag, a Roman Catholic church in northern Pangasinan province that has long been popular among pilgrims and Catholics praying for the sick and impoverished, police said. Rickety passenger buses and jeepneys, lack of safety signs, poor law enforcements and reckless driving have been blamed for many road tragedies in the Philippines.
Twenty killed in head-on collision in Philippines on Christmas
Twenty people have died in a road accident while travelling to Christmas Day mass in Philippines.According to a report in Sky News, a bus carrying pilgrims met with a head-on collision at 3.30 am (7pm GMT on December 24).A five-month-old baby, a seven-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl are also among the ones killed, said reports. The dead are believed to be a part of the same extended family.The local police said the family was travelling in a small bus, called Jeepney, to an early morning service at the famous 'Our Lady of Manaoag' church in northern Philippines.The Jeepney crashed into a larger bus in the town of Agoo, La Union, 125 miles north of the capital Manila, the police added.Chief Inspector Roy Villanueva said the smaller vehicle had diverged out of its lane to overtake. The driver and 19 passengers had died on the spot, he added.Ten more passengers have been seriously injured and admitted to a local hospital.Nobody, from the other bus, died, however, about 15 passengers .
17 train cancelled, 26 delayed due to fog in north India
At least 17 trains were cancelled while several others arrived late here as fog enveloped parts of north India today. According to a Northern Railway spokesperson, at 6 am, 17 trains stood cancelled, 26 were delayed and six others were rescheduled due to poor visibility. Over the last week, a dense fog covered several parts of north India, with the temperature dropping in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
Philippines storm death toll climbs to 240, scores missing
The death toll from a storm that unleashed landslides and floods across the southern Philippines has climbed to 240 with scores of others still missing, officials said today. Tropical Storm Tembin on Friday struck the country's main southern island of Mindanao, which often escapes the 20 or so storms that batter the rest of the archipelago nation each year. Civil defence officials said the number of confirmed deaths from Tembin on Mindanao's Zamboanga peninsula had risen to 78, while the death toll in Lanao del Sur province on the island went up to 27. The storm killed 135 others in the northern section of the island, police said today, a figure that was unchanged from a day earlier. Rescuers are still looking for 107 people in these three areas. Many were feared killed by mudslides and flash floods that buried or swept away hundreds of houses last weekend. Civil defence officials said some 13,000 Mindanao families -- at least 52,000 people -- remained in evacuation ...
Philippines launches criminal probe after deadly mall fire
Philippine authorities ordered a criminal investigation today into a shopping mall fire that authorities said likely killed 37 people, including call centre staff from an American firm. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre announced the inquiry as firemen prepared to enter what remained of the NCCC mall in the southern city of Davao where they hope to retrieve those who perished in Saturday's blaze. The fire compounded the Christmas misery in the south of the mainly Catholic nation where tens of thousands were also displaced by floods and landslides from a storm that also killed more than 200 others on Friday. "The loss of lives and the resulting damage... underscore the need to determine if someone is at fault and should be held criminally liable," Aguirre said in a statement. "By punishing those responsible, we can set an example to others so that, hopefully, there will be no repetition of those tragedies," he added. Deadly blazes occur regularly in the Philippines, ...
36 safe after two ships collide in Vietnam
At least 31 Chinese tourists, including four crew members and a tourist guide, had a minor scare after their ship collided with a cargo vessel, near Ti Top Island in Ha Long Bay, located in northern Vietnam.According to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the collision took place late on Sunday when the tourist ship on its way to the port, after touring the bay, collided with the oncoming vessel, en route from Hai Phong city to Hon Net seaport in Quang Ninh province.All the 37 people on board the ship were brought to the shore safely.The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Thousands spend Christmas in shelters after Philippine storm
Thousands of villagers in the southern Philippines spent their Christmas morning in emergency shelters today as the region dealt with the aftermath of one of the deadliest storms to hit the country this year. Tropical Storm Tembin unleashed landslides and flash floods that left more than 120 people dead and 160 missing, mostly in the hard-hit provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur and on the Zamboanga Peninsula. It strengthened into a typhoon before blowing out of the country yesterday and into the South China Sea. "We're really sad that we have this news especially because our countrymen were looking to celebrate Christmas," Marina Marasigan of the government's disaster-response agency told a televised news conference. Intense rainfall in the mountains most likely caused landslides that blocked rainwater, Marasigan said. When the naturally formed dams broke from the pressure, torrents of rainwater smashed into the villages below. Mayor Bong Edding of Sibuco ...