Emergency Helpline

Massive blast at Weifang chemical plant shakes city, no casualties reported

A massive chemical explosion rocked an industrial park in Weifang city, eastern China, sending smoke high into the sky and shattering windows kilometres away

Zenzo rolls out 25,000 private ambulances in 450 cities across India

Emergency response service provider Zenzo on Monday launched a network of 25,000 private ambulances across 450 cities in India with ambulance response time of less than 15 minutes. The company has partnered with major delivery platforms, including Zomato, and many other e-commerce and mobility players to spread awareness about emergency responses, medical first aid, and CPR training, Zenzo told reporters. These collaborations aim to educate delivery personnel, who are often first responders, on life-saving techniques and public engagement. "Zenzo's core mission is to 'Make India Emergency Ready' by harnessing digital technology to build a robust medical emergency service infrastructure. We aim to provide the largest network of validated ambulances across the country available through a nation-wide toll free number 1800 102 1298," Zenzo co-founder and CEO Sweta Mangal said. Its a paid service with a standard pricing across the country, she told PTI, adding that for a basic ambulance

'Speak Kannada': Police mistake foreigner's call during burglary for prank

A Spanish national's emergency call for help went ignored by police due to language barrier in burglary incident in Bengaluru

T'gana DGP holds meets police commissioners after BRS workers' protest

Telangana Director General of Police Jitender on Friday held an emergency conference with the Commissioners of Police from Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda.The meeting aimed to address the law and order situation in the tri-commissionerates an official press release said.According to a police official, Jitender held a conference with the commissioners of police of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda in view of recent developments.The Director General of Police stressed that there should not be any compromise on the law and order situation in the Tri Commissionerates of Hyderabad.Anyone trying to disturb peace and law and order should be dealt with strictly as per law. There shall be Zero Tolerance against people trying to disturb the situation in Hyderabad and Telangana.The DGP appealed to all people not to take law into their own hands. Image of Telangana police be protected in all circumstances.The law and order situation escalated when several BRS leaders, including MLA Harish .

SpaceX Starlink to provide free emergency service for all phones: Elon Musk

Elon Musk said that the move was to ensure that no one is at risk due to an inability to pay for emergency services. The service would be available subject to approval from country governments

Bangladesh's worst floods in decades leave 5 mn stranded in low-lying areas

"People had no time to save anything," Ali said. "Entire villages, all of the families who lived in them, and everything they owned - homes, livestock, farmlands, fisheries - have been washed away."

EU estimate: Wildfire near Athens burned area twice the size of Manhattan

A European Union satellite mapping agency says 104 square kilometres (40 square miles) of land was burned northeast of Athens this week during a deadly wildfire that gutted scores of homes and prompted multiple countries to send assistance. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service announced the damage estimate Wednesday, a day after the wildfire was contained in a massive effort that ended on the outskirts of the capital. A factory worker was killed in the fire that swept through mountainous areas southward, covering an area almost twice the size of Manhattan and blanketing the Greek capital with a thick cloud of smoke. The fire damaged 22 businesses and rendered at least 78 homes uninhabitable, with nearly half of them completely destroyed, Greek officials said Wednesday. Inspections in fire-afflicted areas will continue in coming days. Nine countries, including neighbor Turkey, sent assistance to Greece to boost ground crews and water-dropping planes and helicopters operating

India evacuates non-essential staff from Bangladesh, releases helpline nos

Bangladesh political turmoil: All Indian diplomats have remained in Bangladesh, and the missions are continuing to operate in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Sylhet

NDRF to observe 2024 as year of CBRN preparedness, response

The NDRF has decided to observe 2024 as the year of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) preparedness and response and will undertake training and exercises to attain better capability to deal with such disasters, Director General of the force Atul Karwal said Friday. He was speaking at the Vigyan Bhawan here during the 19th raising day of the federal contingency force. The DG said the Union home ministry, under which the force functions, has sanctioned fresh equipments to it for CBRN combat. The force has procured seven HAZMAT (hazardous material) vehicles during the recently concluded G20 Summit in the national capital for tackling CBRN accidents and disasters. The force, Karwal said, also has trained three teams for tackling forest fires and new equipment for this task are being procured, a job entrusted to the NDRF in 2023. He said the ministry of home affairs has also sanctioned eight new regional response centres (RRCs) for stationing its rescuers in various

Cops book outsourced staff of UP helpline 112 after protests on salary hike

Police on Wednesday booked five named and 200 unidentified women outsourced employees of the emergency helpline UP 112, a day after they staged a protest outside its headquarters here demanding a salary hike and job security. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Police Sub-Inspector Dhirendra Pratap Singh at the Sushant Golf City police station. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, (South Zone), Shashank Singh, said that the protestors have been booked under the IPC sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member is of part of unlawful assembly) 188 ( assembly of more than five), 283 (obstruction to public passage) and 341 (wrongful restraint). Those named in the FIR include Harishta Srivastava, Pooja Singh, Reena Sharma, and Shashi while police are trying to identify the other unidentified mentioned in the FIR. The protesting employees continued their demonstration at Eco Garden in Lucknow on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the state government removed the Additional Director General (AD

Maui's emergency services chief resigns after facing criticism for inaction

The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned abruptly Thursday, a day after saying he had no regret about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people. That decision from the agency directed by Administrator Herman Andaya, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles, has brought intense criticism from many residents. The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, and The Associated Press reported that it was part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos. Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons, with no further details provided. Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible, Bissen said in the

29 crore calls handled by national emergency response helpline 112 so far

About 29 crore calls have been handled till now by the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) national helpline 112, officials said on Monday. An initiative under the Nirbhaya funds, the ERSS is a pan-India single number for citizens in emergencies established across states and Union Territories last year. According to Women and Child Development officials, the helpline has been made operational throughout the country and has till now handled 29 crore calls. On Nirbhaya fund, established after the brutal gang-rape of a physiotherapy intern in Delhi in 2012, the officials said, 42 projects at the cost of Rs 12,000 have been earmarked in the last nine years. Also, 25,000 officers have been trained in forensic evidence collection and analysis and 14,500 sexual assault evidence collection kits have been distributed, they said. The fast track courts established for cases including rape and sexual assault have disposed 1.6 lakh cases. The official also said that anti-human traffickin

Telangana Police sets up emergency helpline for people stranded in Manipur

At least 20 people have lost their lives in Manipur carnage since May 3, a government official said here on Saturday

Feds say cyberattack caused outage of 988 suicide helplines in US

A cyberattack caused a nearly daylong outage of the nation's new 988 mental health helpline late last year, federal officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Lawmakers are now calling for the federal agency that oversees the programme to prevent future attacks. On December 1, the voice calling functionality of the 988 Lifeline was rendered unavailable as a result of a cybersecurity incident, Danielle Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said in an email. The attack occurred on the network for Intrado, the company that provides telecommunications services for the helpline. The agency did not disclose details about who it believes launched the attack or what kind of cyberattack occurred. Intrado is working with a third-party assessor to investigate the incident and law enforcement agencies have been notified of the breach, SAMHSA said. The national 988 phone number, which can be reached by text, chat or voice calling, has beco

Uber adds safety net: Riders can now share live location updates with cops

Riders or drivers will be able to share their live location along with their name and contact details at the swipe of a button on the Uber app with the police

How a UP service is changing police response to citizens' emergency calls

Unlike the usual Dial 100 service, UP100 uses high-end networking and GIS technologies to make emergency responses much quicker and decidely more efficient

20 states join pan-India single emergency helpline number '112'

The 20 states and UTs include Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab