Rescue

Rescue efforts underway in Nepal after floods kill 9, leave many stranded

Rescue efforts continued on Thursday in Nepal to evacuate people stranded in flood-hit areas, after monsoon rains triggered a river flood in Rasuwa district that left nine dead and nearly 20 missing, media reports said. We are fully deployed in the field. We rescued more than 150 individuals, including 127 foreign nationals, and airlifted them to Kathmandu, Arjun Paudel, chief district officer of Rasuwa, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post newspaper. Paudel said that electricity and telephone services were disrupted in the area, disrupting rescue and other operations. "We are currently maintaining limited communication through the Chinese border. Efforts are underway to restore telephone connectivity and resume electricity supply, he said. Search operations are also ongoing for the 19 people who went missing following the flood on Tuesday morning, Nepal Police said. Those missing include six Chinese nationals and two police personnel. The flash flood that hit parts of Rasu

Himachal rains: Rescue ops on to trace 30 missing, landslides in Mandi

Search and rescue operations are underway with drones and sniffer dogs being used to trace 30 people who went missing after cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides wreaked havoc in the Thunag, Gohar and Karsog subdivisions of Mandi district last week, officials said on Monday. About 250 personnel from the National and State Disaster Response Forces, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Home Guards, along with the administration and locals, are undertaking the search and rescue work. Besides, 20 teams are gathering information and distributing ration and medical kits in inaccessible areas, officials said. So far, 1,538 ration kits have been distributed to the affected people and immediate relief of Rs 12.44 lakh has been provided. An additional Rs 5 lakh each is being sent to the Thunag and Janjheli areas, they added. About 225 houses, seven shops, 243 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges and several roads were damaged in the disaster. A total of 215 cattle have perished, while 494

Himachal Pradesh battles monsoon fury: 63 dead, ₹700 crore loss, rescue operations ongoing

Pashamylaram reactor blast: 10 dead, several injured in Telangana fire

At least 10 dead, several feared trapped after reactor blast sparks massive fire at Sigachi Chemical unit in Telangana's Pashamylaram; rescue ops underway

UK evacuates nationals from Israel, urges Iran to de-escalate conflict

A Royal Air Force (RAF) flight evacuated 63 British nationals from Israel amid an escalating conflict in West Asia on Monday, as the UK called on Iran to take the off-ramp and come to the negotiating table following American strikes on its nuclear sites. In a statement in the House of Commons, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy revealed that the flight to transport vulnerable British nationals and their dependents took off from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport for Cyprus, from where they will board a civilian flight back to Britain. The UK also recommended that British nationals in Qatar shelter in place until further notice following a US security alert for its nationals in the region and the country closing its airspace amid Iran warning of retaliatory strikes targeted at American assets. While the situation in the Middle East remains volatile, we are working around the clock to secure more flights and bring more people home, said Lammy. We can and we must find a negotiated solution.

China thanks Indian Navy, Coast Guard for cargo ship rescue off Kerala

The Chinese Embassy in India has expressed gratitude to the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard for the "prompt and professional rescue" operation following a blaze on board a cargo vessel off the Kerala coast. Of the 22 crew members of Singapore-flagged MV Wan Hai 503 that caught fire following a container explosion on Monday, 18 were rescued by the Navy, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and other agencies. The crew members include eight Chinese, six Taiwanese, five Myanmarese, and three Indonesian nationals, the ICG had said in a statement on June 9. Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Yu Jing, in a post on X on Tuesday, mentioned the incident and expressed gratitude to the Navy and the ICG. "Our gratitude goes to the Indian Navy @indiannavy and the Mumbai Coast Guard for their prompt and professional rescue. We wish further search operations successful and the injured crew members speedy recovery," she wrote. The incident occurred at approximately 9.20 am IST, around 44 nautical miles off ...

59 tourists airlifted from north Sikkim as rescue ops resume

Fifty-nine tourists were brought back to Gangtok from the rain-ravaged north Sikkim on Thursday morning as the rescue operations resumed after the weather cleared, officials said. They were among the 109 tourists stranded in north Sikkim's Lachung for nearly a week. Two MI-17V5 helicopters left for Chaten in north Sikkim from Pakyong airport near state capital Gangtok in the early morning after the weather cleared. While 39 tourists returned on one copter, 20 returned on another, officials said. Among those rescued were two foreigners, they said. Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) has deployed buses to help these rescued tourists reach Siliguri in West Bengal. An additional helicopter has been kept on standby at Pakyong airport for those who want to travel to Bagdogra near Siliguri by air. The two helicopters flew to Chaten with personnel from the NDRF and Power Department, and engineers of Airtel, who would work in the region for restoring essential services, they said. These

Sikkim landslide: Rescue ops hit by bad weather, chopper aborts mission

A chopper with 9 NDRF personnel took off from Pakyong at 6 a.m. but returned mid-air due to poor visibility near Mangan and Chaten, making flying conditions unsafe

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta orders probe into Mustafabad building collapse

Arrangements have been made for proper treatment of all the injured, said the CM

Operation rescue teams increasingly relying on robots in disaster zones

A wireless flying robot inspired by bumblebees, another that mimics jumping insects, and one that can go beneath collapsed buildings will help rescue teams

T'gana tunnel collapse: Another body found, efforts underway to retrieve it

Eight workers were trapped in the accident. One of the bodies of trapped workers - Gurpreet Singh was recovered on March 9

Fire breaks out at hospital in J-K's Rajouri, 150 patients evacuated

A fire broke out at the Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of more than 150 patients from the hospital, officials said. The fire was noticed in the basement of the hospital in Rajouri town on Tuesday morning. It was controlled within one hour without reports of any casualty, assistant director of Fire and Emergency Services, Himanshu Gupta, said. The patients and their attendants were taken out of the hospital building as smoke filled the wards, he said. Three fire tenders were pressed into service to put off the blaze, the official said, adding that a probe is on to ascertain the exact cause of the fire Deputy commissioner of Rajouri, Abhishek Sharma, visited the hospital along with his team to assess the situation. "Our priority is to restore normal operations, including OPD services, at the hospital," Sharma said. On the alleged failure of the hospital's internal fire safety mechanism, the deputy ...

T'gana tunnel: Search ops continue for 25th day to locate 7 missing persons

The search operation to locate the seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel continued for the 25th day on Tuesday. Personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, rat miners, and others intensified the search efforts using the necessary equipment, officials said. The teams conducted search operations at the 'D1' and 'D2' points, which were identified as possible locations of human presence. On Monday, cadaver dogs inspected the 'D1' and 'D2' spots. Rescue personnel continued working to remove parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which were obstructing the search operation. The excavation process was accelerated with the help of personnel and an excavator, while de-watering efforts continued simultaneously. The body of Gurpreet Singh, a TBM operator, was recovered on March 9 and handed over to his family in Punjab. Seven others remain trapped inside the tunnel. A total of eight individualsincluding engineers and labourerswere trapp

Telangana tunnel collapse: Search ops underway to locate 7 missing persons

The search operation to locate seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here continued at a rapid pace for the 21st day on Friday. The personnel of different organisations involved in the operation went inside the tunnel on Friday morning, taking the necessary equipment with them, an official release said. Rescue personnel from state-run miner Singareni Collieries along with rat miners have been carrying out excavation at the points which have been identified as possible sites of the missing persons. The Kerala police's Human Remains Detection Dogs (HRDD) were also taken inside the tunnel to these points on Thursday, while robots of a Hyderabad-based robotics company were also on the job. The robots can access "dangerous places" (inside the tunnel), which humans cannot reach and can operate with 15 times greater efficiency, official sources have said. The search operation was going on round the clock, including de-watering. Teams from Army, NDRF, SDRF, HRD

Telangana tunnel collapse: Search for 7 trapped workers enters 19th day

The search for seven people trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here continued for the 19th consecutive day on Wednesday, with intensified efforts. Rescue teams including personnel from NDRF, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, rat miners and other agencies entered the tunnel along with equipment on Wednesday morning in a renewed effort to reach those trapped, official sources said. A team from a Hyderabad-based robotics company, along with a robot equipped with an AI-based camera, had entered the tunnel on Tuesday morning. Additionally, 110 rescue personnel were deployed. To minimise risks to rescuers, the Telangana government has decided to expand the use of robots as water and slush inside the tunnel pose significant challenges. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the tunnel on March 2, had suggested that officials use robots inside the tunnel if necessary to ensure the safety of rescue personnel. As part of efforts to locate the missing individuals, re

T'gana tunnel: Rescue underway, excavation ongoing to detect human presence

The rescue operation at the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel, where eight people have been trapped for the past 12 days, continued at a brisk pace on Wednesday, with excavation being carried out at locations suggested by scientists to look for human presence. The conveyor belt at the tunnel, which has been repaired and made operational, is assisting the rescue teams in shifting debris out, officials said. The belt was damaged after the accident on February 22. Rescue teams are also conducting drilling at other locations based on input from scientists at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad, who are using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to detect human presence. However, tough conditions inside the tunnel, including muck and water, have posed challenges for the rescue personnel. Earlier inspections at other locations identified by the scientists did not reveal any signs of human presence. Officials on Tuesday evening said the representatives of the Nationa

T'gana tunnel: Rescue underway, damaged conveyor likely to be operational

The rescue operation inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel was underway at a rapid pace on the 11th day of the accident on Tuesday and officials are confident that the damaged conveyor belt would be operational during the day. There was no breakthrough in the efforts to locate the eight trapped persons and rescuers are working in three shifts every day, an official told PTI. The process of removing debris and dewatering was going on, he said. The conveyor belt which suffered damage following the accident is expected to be operational today, he said. The belt would be useful in shifting the muck and other debris out of the tunnel with ease. A police official on Monday evening said the state government is exploring the option of deploying robots in the rescue operation to prevent any threat to the rescue personnel. Large quantities of slush and water inside the tunnel posed a challenge to the teams involved in the rescue operation. Eight persons -- engineers and labourers -- ha

Uttarakhand avalanche: 1 more body recovered, death toll goes up to 5

Fifty workers have been pulled out of snow from the site of an avalanche-hit BRO camp in Mana village in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, but four of them died on Saturday as rescuers raced against time to trace four more labourers feared trapped. According to latest rescue updates provided by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), five labourers were missing but one of them -- Sunil Kumar from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh -- has reached home safely on his own and now, the search is focused on the four remaining workers. The avalanche hit the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying 55 workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army. Thirty-three of them were rescued by Friday night and 17 on Saturday. Rain and snowfall hampered the rescue efforts on Friday and the operation was suspended as the night fell. As the weather cleared up on Saturday morning, the Army and Indo-Tibeta

T'gana tunnel collapse: Silt removal intensified at trapped workers' sites

Efforts to remove silt at locations where the trapped persons were detected inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here have been intensified with an increased deployment of personnel and equipment. The damaged conveyor belt, which was impacted by the collapse, is expected to be repaired by Monday, an official said on Sunday. Once restored, it will allow for easier removal of muck and debris from the tunnel. "The number of personnel and equipment at the identified locations is being increased," he said adding the process of silt removal and dewatering is ongoing continuously. A significant breakthrough in the rescue operation occurred on Saturday when the whereabouts of four of the eight people trapped inside were located. Scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and detected some "anomalies" inside the tunnel, providing a crucial lead in the operation. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will visit the tunnel site on S

Telangana tunnel collapse: Day 5 of rescue, no contact with trapped workers

Telangana tunnel collapse: On Day 5 of rescue efforts, no contact has been established with the 8 trapped workers as teams battle debris, water inflow and silt