After they were found by divers last week, huddled in darkness on a ledge and cut off from the outside world for nine days, the race began to get them out before the weather deteriorated even further.
The first eight boys to be rescued, on Sunday and Monday, are still in hospital but said to be in good mental and physical health.
They have undergone X-rays and blood tests, and will remain under observation in hospital for at least seven days.
How were they rescued?
A team of 90 expert divers – 40 from Thailand and 50 from overseas – worked in the caves.
They guided the boys and their coach through darkness and submerged passageways towards the mouth of the Tham Luang cave system.
Getting to and from the trapped group was an exhausting round trip, even for experienced divers.
The process included a mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving along guide ropes.
Wearing full-face masks, which are easier for novice divers than traditional respirators, each boy was accompanied by two divers, who also carried his air supply.
The toughest part was about halfway out at a section named “T-Junction”, which was so tight that the divers had to take off their air tanks to get through.
Beyond that a cavern – called Chamber 3 – was turned into a forward base for the divers.
There the boys could rest before making the last, easier walk out to the entrance. They were then taken to hospital in Chiang Rai.
In an indication of how dangerous the journey was, a former Thai navy diver died in the caves on Friday. Saman Gunan was returning from a mission to provide the group with air tanks when he ran out of oxygen.”
….
Remembering diver Saman Gunan
Petty Officer Saman Gunan, a former Thai navy diver in his late thirties, died on 6 July while helping to re-supply the cave with new air tanks.
He ran out oxygen and lost consciousness.
BBC Thai spoke to his family after his death.
“I really loved him,” his wife Waleeporn Gunan said. “Every day before he left for work, we said we loved each other. At midday, we’d text to see if the other had had lunch.
“I want to tell you honey, you are the hero in my heart, you always were and always will be.” – BBC News
Summary
All 12 members of a Thai youth football team and their coach have been brought safely out of the cave in northern Thailand
The final five members rescued join eight team members taken to hospital on Sunday and Monday and said to be doing well
Each person was pulled through the cave by expert divers
The 12 boys and their coach were trapped by floods more than two weeks ago
One former Navy diver, Petty Officer Saman Gunan, died last week carrying oxygen in the cave ahead of the rescue
The last Navy Seals – three divers and a doctor – are out of the cave, the rescue chief says
Charities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will use this year’s fund to purchase 14 new lifeboats and maritime equipment including lifejackets, helmets, boots, ropes, knives and torches.
Today (7 November 2017), Maritime Minster John Hayes is visiting the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA), an organisation in the west of England which has received a grant of more than £110,000.
Based in Gloucestershire, the charity operates lifeboat and water rescue services, helping those around inland and inshore waterways, and carrying out flood rescues. The SARA will use the funds towards a new lifeboat to add to its existing fleet and continue their efforts to keep river users safe.
Maritime Minister John Hayes said:
Every day water rescue volunteers risk their safety to protect the lives of people across the UK. Their dedication and highly specialised skills are absolutely crucial to providing inshore and inland rescue services.
This extra money means that the volunteers and charities can purchase the lifeboats and equipment they need. It means that assistance is never far away for those in need or in distress on or around our waterways.
Since its launch in 2014, the grant has provided water rescue services up and down the UK with funding for new boats, vehicles and equipment.
A total of 62 organisations will receive a share of the £1 million funding for 2017 to 2018 after their bids were considered by an expert panel.
Chaired by the Department for Transport and made up of representatives from DfT, DEFRA, devolved administrations, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, RNLI and the Royal Yachting Association, the panel assessed bids taking into account:
how the equipment listed supports or enhances the organisation’s rescue capability
evidence that the items funded represent good value for money
applicants were also required to match fund 10% of the costs of funded items, and to provide a letter of support from the authority that tasks them to rescues
Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said:
These smaller, independent charities are the lifeblood of our communities, playing a vital role in supporting the daily lives of thousands of people across the UK.
We often need to remind ourselves that these brave women and men may be called at any time of the day or night to assist persons in difficulty. Those persons may be lost or injured, in trouble at sea, or needing to be rescued from fast-flowing water or floods.
It’s essential that funding like this is available to independent lifeboats so that they have the proper emergency equipment to aid in rescues. This funding will help meet their goals and ease their financial burden.
An overdue diver has been located safe and well by the UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay after a large search operation was launched earlier today.
Rescue 924 (based at Newquay) on another tasking.
Just after 1pm today (9 August) UK Coastguard received a VHF Radio broadcast on Channel 16 – the VHF distress frequency – from the diving vessel reporting that the diver was 15 minutes overdue.
The diver, who was with a group of seven other divers, was last seen 1nm north of Mannacles, Cornwall.
An extensive search and rescue operation was launched involving Porthoustock and Mullion Coastguard Rescue Teams, Falmouth and Lizard RNLI Lifeboats and the UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay. Devon and Cornwall Police were also informed.
The missing diver was located safe and well by the Coastguard helicopter just after 2pm on the shoreline. Despite being exhausted, he required no medical treatment and has been airlifted to Porthoustock.
Lee Duncan, Duty Controller for the UK Coastguard said: ‘We commend the actions of the crew of the diving vessel who called us when the diver was overdue. The diving vessel had all the right equipment on board including a VHF Radio in case anything went wrong – which is what they used in this case to raise the alarm with us. Thankfully, the UK Coastguard helicopter was able to locate the missing diver on the shoreline and take his safety. It was very clear that the dive vessel had a plan in place if anything should go wrong and they did exactly the right thing to contact the Coastguard quickly so we could task our Coastguard, the RNLI Lifeboats and our Coastguard helicopter to assist.
‘Remember if you’re planning on diving in the sea, make sure you are adequately qualified and experienced for the dive that you plan to undertake, keeping a close eye on weather and sea conditions, and making your own fitness a top priority for safe diving.
‘Familiarise yourself with new or different gear before planning deep dives and to always dive within your limits. In an emergency contact the Coastguard immediately.’ – Hm Coastguard
Most hillgoers unprepared for emergencies, Ordnance Survey study reveals
“A study by Britain’s national mapping agency has revealed many hillgoers are clueless about what to do if things went wrong.
Ordnance Survey said one in eight of people asked would not know how to deal with a mountain emergency if they had no phone signal.
And three-quarters of recreational walkers don’t plan their route properly or pack the right gear, the survey found.
The figures were released as OS announced it was teaming up with Mountain Rescue England and Wales, the umbrella body for voluntary teams south of the border, to try to reduce outdoor incidents.
There were only 14 days last year where a mountain rescue team in England and Wales wasn’t called out.
In 2016 MREW attended 1,812 callouts, up 170 on the previous year, of which 360 were serious or fatal. Mountain bike incidents also continued to rise in 2016, though not at the same rate as previous years.
OS’s survey of more than 2,000 adults from across Great Britain who enjoy recreational walking and hiking highlighted the need for a more safety-minded approach when venturing outdoors.
A total of 83 per cent of those questioned admitted that if they were in trouble on a mountain and had no phone signal they wouldn’t know what to do. It also revealed how more and more walkers and hikers, especially those from younger generations, are not carrying paper maps, compasses or whistles, and are relying entirely on the functionality of their mobile phones, even though only 28 per cent of all respondents would think to check in advance the availability of a mobile phone signal in the place to where they are heading…..” – Bob Smith, Editor of grough magazine
Thursday 29 June 2017 06:39 PM GMT Click for full story
Calling the emergency services from a mobile phone (Advice from Dartmoor Rescue)
The short video gives important information about dialing the emergency services from a mobile phone in the event of an accident. It answers important questions such as:
what�s the difference between 999 and 112?
How can you call when your mobile phone is showing no signal?
Or if somebody in your party is unconscious and their�s is the only mobile, �how can you bypass the phone security to make that important call and potentially save their life?
All this and more is explained simply and clearly.
So be prepared and watch the video as it could save the life or a family member of friend.
�Help Me� The Secrets of using 112 on a mobile phone in an emergency/accident
You need to register your mobile phone before being able to alert the emergency services, including mountain and cave rescue, via SMS text message. �This is best done�before�you need help. You can register by sending an SMS text message from your mobile phone as follows:
(Goaty: Suggest better to register with 112 rather than 999 � why? see video, but why not both)
“Help Me” The Secrets of using a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) in an emergency/accident
General Mountain/Moorland Advice from Mountain Rescue England & Wales:
Mountains and moorlands can be treacherous places without proper care and there are many, many ways to enjoy the mountain environment, be it walking, climbing, running, cycling or skiing. There�s no subsititute for experience, but there are steps you can take to minimise the chances of getting lost or hurt.
Prepare and plan
Develop the mountain skills you need to judge potential hazard, including the ability to read a map.
Think about the equipment, experience, capabilities and enthusiasm of your party members, taking into account the time of year, the terrain and the nature of the trip � and choose your routes accordingly.
Learn the basic principles of first aid � airway, breathing, circulation and the recovery position. It could make the difference between life and death.
Wear suitable clothing and footwear
Wear suitable footwear with a treaded sole, and which provides support for ankles.
Clothing should be colourful, warm, windproof and waterproof and always carry spare, including hat and gloves (even in summer the tops and open moorland can still be bitingly cold, and it�s always colder the higher you climb).
Carry food and drink�
Take ample food and drink for each member of the party. High energy food such as chocolate and dried fruit are ideal for a quick hit.
In cold, wet weather a warm drink is advisable, and always carry water � even in cool weather it�s easy to become dehydrated.
Of course, large quantities of water can weight heavy in the rucksack, so take a smaller water bottle and top up when you can � streams on hills are drinkable if fast-running over stony beds.
�and the right equipment
A map and compass are essential kit and should be easily accessible � not buried in the rucksack!
A mobile phone and GPS are useful tools but don�t rely on your mobile to get you out of trouble � in may areas of the mountains there is no signal coverage.
Take a whistle and learn the signal for rescue. Six good long blasts. Stop for one minute. Repeat. Carry on the whistle blasts until someone reaches you and don�t stop because you�ve heard a reply � rescuers may be using your blasts as a direction finder.
A torch (plus spare batteries and bulbs) is a must. Use it for signalling in the same pattern as for whistle blasts.
At least one reliable watch in the party.
Cllimbers and mountain bikers should wear a helmet. In winter conditions, an ice-axe, crampons and survival bag are essential.
Emergency survival kit comprising spare clothing and a bivvi bag.
Charge your phone battery! Many accidents occur towards the end of the day when both you and your phone may be low on energy.
Check the weather forecast and local conditions. Mountains can be major undertakings and, in the winter months, night falls early.
Eat well before you start out.
Leave your route plan including start and finish points, estimated time of return and contact details with an appropriate party.
On the hill
Keep an eye on the weather and be prepared to turn back if conditions turn against you, even if this upsets a long planned adventure.
Make sure party leaders are experienced. Keep together, allow the slowest member of the party to determine the pace, and take special care of the youngest and weakest in dangerous places.
Watch for signs of hypothermia, particularly in bad weather � disorientation, shivering, tiredness, pale complexion and loss of circulation in hands or toes, discarding of vital clothing. Children and older people are especially susceptible.
If you prefer to go alone, be aware of the additional risk. Let people know your route before you start, stick to it as far as you can and notify them of any changes.
If you think you need mountain rescue, get a message to the Police (112/999) as soon as possible and keep injured/exhausted people safe and warm until help reaches you.
Dangers you can avoid
Precipices and unstable boulder.
Slopes of ice or steep snow, and snow cornices on ridges or gully tops.
Very steep grass slopes, especially if frozen or wet.
Gullies, gorges and stream beds, and streams in spate.
Exceeding your experience and abilities and loss of concentration.
Dangers you need to monitor
Weather changes � mist gale, rain and snow may be sudden and more extreme than forecast.
Ice on path (know how to use an ice-axe and crampons).
Excessive cold or heat (dress appropriately and carry spare clothing!).
Exhaustion (know the signs, rest and keep warm).
Passage of time � especially true when under pressure � allow extra time in winter or night time conditions.
Check out the Safe in the Hills website � pioneered by the Kirkby Stephen MRT, for more information about how you can keep safe whilst walking in the hills.
Soften any tough skin (which are subject to hard to treat deep blisters)
Rest feet when walking
�Avoiding and treating foot blisters for hikers�, as well as giving some useful advice on how to treat blisters, highlights the importance of changing your (decent walking) socks when they get wet
Make sure you have a decent pair of boots
Take plenty of decent hiking socks
Change your socks when they get damp (if you do this as early as possible you have a fighting chance to dry them in your sleeping bag)
Regularly let your feet rest and breath
Regularly apply talc to your feet
If it is raining or very damp, wear gaiters to stop water getting into your boots
Do this and your feet, the most important hiking equipment you have, will thank you!
Do not use any information on this site for life or death decisions. All information is intended as supplementary to official sources. Kindly refer to your country’s official weather agency/government website for local warnings, advisories and bulletins.
“At 10.30am, volunteer Crew Members from Criccieth’s RNLI Lifeboat Station were requested to launch following multiple reports of a yacht aground at the northern end of Harlech beach.
RNLI/Ifer Gwyn
The yacht, named Thimble and approximately 30ft in length, had gotten into difficulties near the mouth of the Porthmadog Estuary whilst attempting to navigate upriver.
Following initial calls, members of both Criccieth and Harlech HM Coastguard Teams had been deployed to assist, however with the yacht unable to refloat, it was decided to call Criccieth Lifeboat.
The Station’s Atlantic 85 Lifeboat, Doris Joan, was quickly on scene. However, the Crew were unable to attach a towline due to the ebbing tide and large waves at the foreshore. During this period, HM Coastguard had received further calls reporting a yacht in difficulty further south and requested that Barmouth RNLI launch their lifeboats. It quickly became apparent that these reports related to the same vessel; accordingly Barmouth Lifeboat’s inshore rescue boat was returned to Station whilst the all-weather Lifeboat continued towards Harlech in the hope that they could attach a rocket-line to tow the yacht. Once on-scene and following discussion with the Criccieth’s Lifeboat Crew it was decided that both vessels stood-by until high water, as the occupant was safely ashore.
After being afloat for 3 hours, the Crew of Criccieth Lifeboat were stood-down and returned to shore.” -RNLI
Do not use any information on this site for life or death decisions. All information is intended as supplementary to official sources. Kindly refer to your country’s official weather agency/government website for local warnings, advisories and bulletins.
“Two men have been rescued off the Devon coast after their motor vessel broke down and they began drifting out to sea.
At 1.18pm Brixham Coastguard was alerted to a faint VHF radio broadcast from the motor vessel Flying Fox calling Hello Hello. Brixham Coastguard spoke with the caller who said they had broken down and were drifting out to sea and believed they were in a position one or two nautical miles off Blackpool Sands, Devon but the vessel was finally located some five miles from this location.
Brixham Coastguard was contacted by the skipper of a nearby vessel called Shiraz who agreed to go the position and locate the motor boat but was unable to find it.Dartmouth Coastguard Rescue Team was called out to search from the shore for the boat.The VHF radio contact had been lost and a PAN PAN message was broadcast to all vessels in the area to keep a look out.
The casualty used a mobile phone to call Brixham Coastguard who asked them to use red flares which were not spotted.Brixham Coastguard asked the casualty to use their buoyant orange smoke floatand requested that the merchant vessel NCC Najem, which was transiting the area, look for the smoke ahead of them on their port side but in fact the crew of the tanker NCC Najem spotted the smoke five miles in the opposite direction and to their stern.
Once located, the motor vessel was towed to Dartmouth by the fishing vessel William Harvey.
Deputy Watch Manager at Brixham Coastguard, Matt Thornhill says,
Be well prepared when you set out to sea and make sure you have the right communications equipment and know what to do in an emergency.Knowledge of emergency radio procedures are important to ensure your broadcast is recognised as a call for help.
The two men on this boat could not give an accurate location to the Coastguard when they got into difficulty and this hampered efforts to find them.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency recommend using a VHF DSC radio linked to a GPS on your boat which can quickly give an accurate position in an emergency. – MCA
At least two tornadoes were spotted in the Sioux City region Friday night. Extensive damage was reported outside Wayne, Neb.
The storm tore down power lines and broke trees in the northwest corner of Dakota County, near Dixon County, in Nebraska, but officials weren’t aware of any structural damage by 8 p.m.
The Dakota County Sheriff’s Office sent a deputy to help with the situation in Wayne.
Saturday, 05 October, 2013 at 03:58 (03:58 AM) UTC RSOE
Injuries were reported in Wayne, Neb., where a tornado hit about 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET). Providence Medical Center said it was treating seven “walking wounded” and seven others who were injured in auto accidents.
A trauma patient was being treated at a second hospital, it said. At least four homes and the city’s softball complex were destroyed, The Weather Channel reported, and all roads into the city were closed, the Nebraska State Patrol said.
Several people were trapped in a building, and a hazardous materials crew was en route to evaluate a gas leak at a supply company, Jodie Fawl, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, told The Omaha World-Herald. “The tornado ripped through the east side of town” about three blocks from Wayne State College, Jay Collier, a spokesman for the college, told the Omaha paper. “We are doing everything we can to assist the city.” Lucinda Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, told NBC News that a tornado was also reported to have touched down in rural Woodbury County. Woodbury County Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Wingert said parts of the area were heavily damaged. “It’s a mess,” Wingert told the Argus Leader newspaper of nearby Sioux Falls, S.D. “We have more than 30 rural homes destroyed, farms destroyed. We don’t have a number for the number of cars destroyed.” So far, no injuries had been reported, he said.
Saturday, 05 October, 2013 at 04:03 UTC RSOE
A storm left a path of damage from Sloan, Iowa, up through the Moville, Iowa, area, said Woodbury County Disaster Services Manager Gary Brown.
He said the storm damaged and destroyed homes, buildings and crops. Crews were assessing the damage. Pea-sized hail was reported in Moville, Iowa, where the National Weather Service said a mile-wide tornado touched down. It was seen just before 7 p.m. Early witness reports indicated that the town had seen major damage. Rural residents ran for their basements after a tornado ripped through a portion of Climbing Hill. Several houses, barns and garages were hit. One home, in the 2700 block of 230th Street, had windows blown out but was left standing. A nearby garage was demolished, and debris was left impaled in one of the barns still standing on the property. The twister stripped trees of bark and limbs, and ripped a hedgerow in half down the road. Garrett Little, who saw the twister touch down in Climbing Hill, said the property belongs to his father-in-law, Ping Davis. Davis was not injured, he said.
Saturday, 05 October, 2013 at 03:59 (03:59 AM) UTC RSOE
A ‘Tornado Emergency’ was declared after reports ofcatastrophic damage in #QUIMBY and the still moving NE towards Cherokee.
Tornadoes cause damage, injuries across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota
This story was originally published by nbcnews on Fri Oct 4, 2013 8:24 PM EDT
KTIV-TV
A tornado in Wayne, Neb., ripped roofs off several structures and injured more than a dozen people Friday.
By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News
Multiple tornadoes one of them a mile wide struck Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota on Friday, injuring up to 15 people and causing significant damage, meteorologists and local authorities said.
The Weather Channel counted 17 reports of tornadoes across the three states. The National Weather Service reported late Friday that it had confirmed six of the reports four of them in Iowa.
The injuries were reported in Wayne, Neb., where a tornado hit about 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET). Providence Medical Center said it was treating seven “walking wounded” and seven others who were injured in auto accidents. A trauma patient was being treated at a second hospital, it said.At least four homes and the city’s softball complex were destroyed,The Weather Channel reported, and all roads into the city were closed, the Nebraska State Patrol said.
Several people were trapped in a building, and a hazardous materials crew was en route to evaluate a gas leak at a supply company,Jodie Fawl, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency,told The Omaha World-Herald.
“The tornado ripped through the east side of town” about three blocks from Wayne State College, Jay Collier, a spokesman for the college, told the Omaha paper. “We are doing everything we can to assist the city.”
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman declared Wayne a disaster area.
Lucinda Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, told NBC News that a tornado was also reported to have touched down in rural Woodbury County.
Woodbury County Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Wingert said parts of the area were heavily damaged.
Major damage was also reported in Quimby, Iowa, after a twister touched down around 7:30 p.m., the National Weather Service said. And preliminary assessments indicated significant damage in the town of Moville, Iowa, where a tornado estimated at a mile wide hit at 6:57 p.m.
The National Weather Service, citing local firefighters, said damage was also reported in Jefferson, S.D., where Steve Stouffer told The Sioux City Journal that he was outside when the storm hit his neighborhood.
“I saw a wall of water coming, and then the wind switched from the east to the south real fast,” he said. “Then I decided it was time to go into the house.”
While scattered tornado watches remained in effect at 10:30 p.m. ET, most advisories across the region had been downgraded to severe thunderstorm warnings.
The National Weather Service said the tornadoes were part of a “supercell” storm system that moved into the Midwest after it dumped almost 3 feet of snow on parts of Wyoming and South Dakota.
At least three deaths have been blamed on the snow after a pickup truck skidded and went out of control Friday morning on snow-slickened U.S. Highway 20 in Dawes County in northeastern Nebraska, investigators said.
Gil Aegerter and Christopher E. Nelson of NBC News contributed to this report.
Videos
Tornadoes Touch Down In Nebraska, Iowa Reports Of Damaged homes, Vehicles Flipped
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A storm system that buried parts of Wyoming and South Dakota in heavy, wet snow on Friday also brought powerful thunderstorms packing tornadoes to the Great Plains.
A storm dumped at least 33 inches of snow in a part of South Dakota’s scenic Black Hills, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Helgeson said Friday afternoon. Later in the day, thunderstorms rolled across the Plains, and witnesses reported seeing tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. There were no reports of deaths from any of the tornadoes.
Earlier in the day, snow was blamed for the deaths of three people who were killed in a traffic accident on snow-slicked U.S. 20 in northeast Nebraska.
Forecasters said the cold front would eventually combine with other storms to make for a wild, and probably very wet, weekend for much of the central U.S. and Southeast.
Some of the greatest damage from tornadoes seemed to be in Wayne, Neb., a town of 9,600 where witnesses said at least four homes were destroyed. Mayor Ken Chamberlain said all of the residents in town were accounted for, but the storm caused millions of dollars in damage to an area that includes businesses and the city’s softball complex.
At least 15 people were hurt in Wayne, but Chamberlain said none of the injuries was considered life-threatening, Chamberlain said. Seven of the injuries stemmed from two separate automobile accidents.
In Iowa, the state’s Iowa Department of Homeland Security said a mile-wide tornado touched down near the town of Cherokee, cutting a 2- to 3-mile path through farmland but missing any population centers.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said they were still trying to figure out exactly how many twisters touched down Friday evening from storms that also brought large hail and heavy rain.
The snow in South Dakota prompted officials in Deadwood to postpone their annual Octoberfest, including Friday night’s dancing-and-singing pub crawl and Saturday’s Wiener Dog Races and Beer Barrel Games
10/4/2013 Wayne, NE Tornado Footage from the TWC Storm Riders
Brand new footage from Simon Brewer and Juston Drake of The Weather Channels “Storm Riders” show. B-Roll footage of a large multi-vortex transitioning into a mega wedge tornado near Wayne, NE on 10/04/2013 at around 5 PM CDT
Nebraska Tornadoes Wipe Out Farms Debris Found miles away Corn field path of destruction
Nebraska Tornadoes Wipe Out Farms Debris Found miles away Corn field path of destruction. Multiple tornadoes — one of them a mile wide — struck Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota on Friday, injuring up to 15 people and causing significant damage, meteorologists and local authorities said. The Weather Channel counted 17 reports of tornadoes across the three states. The National Weather Service reported late Friday that it had confirmed six of the reports — four of them in Iowa. The injuries were reported in Wayne, Neb., where a tornado hit about 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET). Providence Medical Center said it was treating seven “walking wounded” and seven others who were injured in auto accidents. A trauma patient was being treated at a second hospital, it said. At least four homes and the city’s softball complex were destroyed, The Weather Channel reported, and all roads into the city were closed, the Nebraska State Patrol said. Several people were trapped in a building, and a hazardous materials crew was en route to evaluate a gas leak at a supply company, Jodie Fawl, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, told The Omaha World-Herald. “The tornado ripped through the east side of town” about three blocks from Wayne State College, Jay Collier, a spokesman for the college, told the Omaha paper. “We are doing everything we can to assist the city.” The Wayne Daily News reported late Friday that many buildings in the town’s main industrial park were destroyed or heavily damaged, along with several homes south of the city. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman declared Wayne a disaster area. Lucinda Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, told NBC News that a tornado was also reported to have touched down in rural Woodbury County. Woodbury County Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Wingert said parts of the area were heavily damaged. “It’s a mess,” Wingert told the Argus Leader newspaper of nearby Sioux Falls, S.D. “We have more than 30 rural homes destroyed, farms destroyed. We don’t have a number for the number of cars destroyed.”
Lebih dari seribu pencari suaka tewas saat mencoba untuk sampai ke Australia dengan perahu . Tapi berapa banyak dari mereka bisa diselamatkan ? Pencarian Australia dan otoritas penyelamatan berdiri terdakwa dari penundaan yang tidak perlu , mengabaikan panggilan marabahaya dan melewati tanggung jawab Indonesia , yang tidak dilengkapi untuk melakukan operasi penyelamatan . Jess Bukit menyelidiki .
Sejak tahun 2001 , hampir 1.400 pencari suaka telah tenggelam antara Indonesia dan Australia . Lebih dari 300 telah tenggelam dalam 12 bulan terakhir saja . Mengapa begitu banyak pencari suaka tenggelam dalam perjalanan mereka ke Australia , dan kita bisa berbuat lebih banyak untuk menyelamatkan mereka ?
Latar Belakang Briefing telah melihat keadaan sekitar tenggelamnya empat kapal selama dua tahun terakhir , di mana lebih dari 400 pencari suaka tenggelam . Apa yang muncul adalah pola mengganggu penundaan , menutup- up dan kemacetan komunikasi .
Pada bulan Juni 2012, sebuah kapal nelayan sepanjang 20 meter dengan nama kode yang SIEV 358 tenggelam setengah jalan antara Indonesia dan Pulau Christmas . Perahu itu sudah penuh sesak dengan lebih dari 200 laki-laki dan anak laki-laki , sebagian besar warga Pakistan dan Afghanistan yang melarikan diri dari Taliban dan Al Qaeda . Penumpang telah membuat 16 panggilan untuk membantu otoritas keselamatan maritim Australia selama dua hari . Penelepon semakin tertekan mengatakan kapal rusak di satu sisi dan mengambil air , dan memohon untuk diselamatkan .
Pada awalnya saya tidak bisa percaya bahwa perahu kami telah tenggelam , tapi aku melihat mainan yang datang dari dalam perahu , melainkan datang dengan air. Ketika datang dekat dengan saya , saya menyadari bahwa tidak, itu bukan mainan . Itu masih kecil .
Esmat Adine , Hazara pencari suaka
Tapi tidak ada bantuan datang . Perahu itu sudah di Indonesia penelusuran dan zona penyelamatan , yang mencakup sebagian besar laut antara Indonesia dan Pulau Christmas , sehingga otoritas keselamatan maritim Australia mengalihkan tanggung jawab dengan mitra di Indonesia , BASARNAS .
Tiga puluh dua jam setelah panggilan darurat pertama dibuat , orang yang membuatnya – dan 101 lainnya – tewas .
Pengacara George Newhouse , yang telah bekerja pada tiga inquests coronial tenggelamnya kapal suaka , kata mendelegasikan ke BASARNAS tidak dapat diterima .
“Bagaimana bisa seorang otoritas keselamatan di tangan hati nurani yang baik alih tanggung jawab untuk menyelamatkan nyawa orang untuk sebuah organisasi yang mereka tahu tidak mampu memenuhi peran itu?” Katanya .
Kantor BASARNAS Indonesia di Jawa Barat , yang merespon kapal dalam kesusahan di pantai yang biasa digunakan oleh para penyelundup manusia , putus asa sakit-siap untuk melakukan laut terbuka menyelamatkan . Kepala operasi di sana , Rochmali , mengatakan semua yang mereka miliki mereka adalah perahu karet dan kapal-kapal nelayan tradisional, yang tidak bisa pergi lebih dari lima mil laut dari pantai .
Artikel ini merupakan bagian dari latar belakang yang lebih besar Briefing penyelidikan . Dengarkan laporan lengkap Jess Hill pada hari Minggu di 8:05 atau gunakan tautan di atas setelah siaran podcast .
Mantan diplomat Tony Kevin , yang telah menjadi kritikus vokal pencarian Australia dan otoritas penyelamatan sejak 353 orang tenggelam di perahu yang dikenal sebagai SIEVX , lebih langsung dalam kutukannya terhadap otoritas keselamatan maratime Australia .
” Apa yang menjadi perhatian saya sangat sekarang adalah bukti dari doktrin sistemik , terutama di dalam Otorita Keselamatan Maritim Australia ( AMSA ) – apa yang Anda sebut budaya sistemik skeptisisme dari pencari suaka klaim marabahaya . Sebuah semangat ” Kami lebih baik menunggu dan melihat apa yang terjadi ini, jika mereka benar-benar dalam kesulitan , karena kita sangat sering bahwa mereka tidak tahu ” . ‘
AMSA sangat menolak pernyataan ini dari Tony Kevin . Namun, pertanyaan tentang kapan panggilan dianggap panggilan darurat asli berada di jantung pemeriksaan coronial baru-baru ini ke para pencari suaka yang meninggal pada SIEV 358 .
Tapi ini bukan satu-satunya suaka kematian di laut Australia bisa dicegah .
Di tengah malam pada tanggal 17 Desember 2011, sebuah kapal pencari suaka yang disebut Barokah meninggalkan pantai Jawa dengan sekitar 250 pria, wanita dan anak-anak di atas kapal. Salah satunya adalah etnis Hazara pria , Esmat Adine . Perahu itu begitu penuh sesak , Adine bahkan tidak bisa menemukan tempat untuk duduk . Barokah adalah hanya 40 mil laut dari Indonesia ketika itu runtuh .
” Pada awalnya saya tidak bisa percaya bahwa perahu kami telah tenggelam , ” kenang Adine . “Tapi saya melihat mainan yang datang dari dalam perahu , melainkan datang dengan air. Ketika datang dekat dengan saya , saya menyadari bahwa tidak, itu bukan mainan . Itu masih kecil . Itu adalah anak bernama Daniel . Daniel adalah dengan ibunya , mereka duduk di depan saya , di samping saya, sementara kami datang dengan bus . Ketika saya melihat tubuh Daniel , aku menyadari bahwa perahu kami telah tenggelam , dan tidak ada harapan lagi bagi kita untuk hidup . ‘
Delapan jam kemudian , pada pukul 3 sore , sebuah perahu nelayan yang lewat menemukan sekitar seratus orang di laut lepas , sangat menempel ke puing-puing . Itu hanya bisa menyelamatkan 34 orang . Adine berteriak kepada orang-orang di dalam air , ” Bersabarlah – kami akan membawa Anda lebih banyak kapal , dan mereka akan menyelamatkan kamu . ”
Di Canberra malam itu , lembaga Australia menyadari Barokah itu tenggelam . Mereka mengatakan kepada pihak berwenang Indonesia , karena perahu itu dalam pencarian mereka dan zona penyelamatan .
Beberapa bulan kemudian , petugas bea cukai akan menceritakan Perkiraan Senat mendengar bahwa Indonesia awalnya menolak tawaran Australia untuk membantu upaya pencarian dan penyelamatan .
Tapi insiden waktu resmi, yang Fairfax diperoleh berdasarkan undang-undang kebebasan informasi , mengungkapkan bahwa BASARNAS , cari di Indonesia dan lembaga penyelamatan , telah meminta AMSA untuk mengkoordinasikan penyelamatan respon – AMSA menolak .
Selama dua hari , sedangkan laki-laki , perempuan dan anak-anak berjuang untuk bertahan hidup dalam gelombang hingga enam meter , Indonesia dan Australia tidak melakukan apa pun .
Akhirnya , pada 19 Desember , BASARNAS bertanya lagi untuk bantuan . Kali ini , AMSA setuju , dan dikirim aset angkatan laut dan Bea Cukai ke TKP .
Tapi itu sudah terlambat . Dua ratus dan satu orang tewas .
Pada bulan April tahun ini , pencari suaka lagi yang tersisa untuk tenggelam sebagai AMSA dan BASARNAS gagal untuk berkolaborasi efisien . Dilansir dari Indonesia , ABC koresponden George Roberts mengatakan , ” Semua kita sudah bisa mengetahui sejauh – kecuali hal telah berubah sejak malam – AMSA terakhir tidak membantu belum atau pihak berwenang Australia tidak membantu dan Indonesia belum hadn ‘ t meluncurkan pencarian sendiri . ‘
“Jadi , tampaknya menjadi jenis yang sama dari stand-off kami tahun lalu di mana Australia tahu ada masalah, Indonesia tidak mampu untuk dapat membantu dan sebagai hasilnya orang yang tersisa di dalam air selama berjam-jam . ”
Lima puluh delapan orang masih hilang .
Pada bulan Juni tahun ini , perahu lain tenggelam , kali ini mudah dijangkau dari kapal patroli Australia . Sebuah pesawat Bea Cukai terlihat itu 28 mil laut dari pulau – hanya empat kilometer di luar zona intersepsi nya . Sekitar 55 pria, wanita , dan anak-anak terlihat di geladak , melambai pesawat.
Setelah acara tersebut , pemerintah mengklaim perahu tidak menunjukkan tanda-tanda visual marabahaya . Tapi dokumen resmi dari Pusat AMSA Rescue Koordinasi ( RCC ) , yang Fairfax lagi diperoleh berdasarkan undang-undang kebebasan informasi , menunjukkan bahwa Bea Cukai telah melaporkan perahu sebagai ‘ mati di dalam air ‘ , dan telah khawatir tentang perahu dari saat mereka melihat itu .
Seperti jam berlarut-larut , laksamana yang bertanggung jawab atas Komando Perlindungan Perbatasan menjadi semakin prihatin untuk keselamatan kapal , dan meminta RCC untuk memulai pencarian . Tapi AMSA menolak , mengatakan mereka masih menilai bukti. Ketika puing-puing terlihat , AMSA mengatakan , pengawasan kemudian akan pindah ke fase SAR .
Dua hari kemudian , kapal itu ditemukan , terbalik . Tiga belas mayat ditemukan . Tidak ada yang selamat .
Dengarkan laporan lengkap Jess Hill hari Minggu ini , ketika Background Briefing akan mengambil melihat forensik di belakang layar di AMSA dan bertanya : apakah kematian lebih dari 400 orang mudah dicegah ?
Maersk Line can confirm that the Maersk Kampala is presently fighting a fire in two containers within the foremost bays on deck. The vessel is fully maneuverable, but drifting south of the Suez Canal.
All crew are accounted for and no injuries reported and communication with the vessel is ongoing.
Tugboats with fire-fighting capability are on the scene fighting the fire. In addition, a fire fighting team will arrive this evening to provide further assistance.
Friday, 30 August, 2013 at 08:54 (08:54 AM) UTC RSOE
Three people were missing after a helicopter carrying 18 people crashed into the sea off the coast of Scotland on Friday.
The Coastguard said 15 people had been rescued and were taken to hospital, but three are unaccounted for.
The incident happened near the Shetland Islands, northeast of Edinburgh, and involved a Super Puma helicopter taking 16 passengers and two crew members to and from oil and gas platforms.
The Department of Transport issued an statement on behalf on the Air Accidents Investigation Branch stating it was “aware of incident” and has deployed a team. An air and sea search is continuing, with three helicopters and two lifeboats involved.
“Our two lifeboats are searching for those three unaccounted for,” said Tim Ash, a spokesman for Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Wreckage from the crash has been spotted, said Ash, who added that rescue teams were dealing with strong tides and poor visibility. “Winds are not particularly strong but visibility is not good. Those are the circumstances that our volunteers are facing,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Coastguard said two life rafts from the helicopter were located and found empty.
Saturday, 24 August, 2013 at 04:21 (04:21 AM) UTC RSOE
Other reports
Helicopter Crash: Four Dead In North Sea
SKY NEWS 2:46pm UK, Saturday 24 August 2013
The helicopter suffered a “catastrophic loss of power” and ended up upside down in the North Sea, triggering a massive rescue.
“Police have named the four oil workers who died after a helicopter ditched into the sea on its way to Shetland.
The victims are: Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland; Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin; Gary McCrossan , 59, from Inverness; and George Allison, 57, from Winchester.
The Super Puma L2 went down at approximately 6.27pm on Friday, around two miles west of Sumburgh airport as it was returning to Shetland from the Borgsten Dolphin platform.
The helicopter was carrying 16 workers and two crew.
“The bodies of three people have been recovered and work is underway to recover the body of the fourth person,” Police Scotland said in a statement.
At least three of the dead had trouble escaping the upturned helicopter
The body of the fourth victim is understood to be in the wreckage of the aircraft.
All the families have been informed.
A search operation involving coastguard, police, RAF and local lifeboats was able to rescue 14 people from the sea, including the two crew. They were taken to Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick.
“Five were discharged and nine detained overnight either for observation or suffering from exposure,” the police statement said.
The helicopter is reported to be in several pieces but the wreckage has now been secured by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).
One of the rescued workers is moved on a stretcher
Helicopter operator CHC, which operates in 30 countries, said on its website that it was temporarily suspending all Super Puma L2 flights worldwide as a precaution.
It has also suspended flights in Aberdeen “as a mark of respect”.
Amanda Smith, the mother of one of the workers, Sam Smith, said that her son had telephoned her from hospital after suffering cuts in the crash.
She told Sky News: “He said it seemed to lose power and there was no time to brace, they just dropped into the sea.
“He was by the window so he was able to escape that way as it rolled over.
“He said he had come off better than a lot of people. It didn’t seem real, I would say two hours later it’s just beginning to sink in.”
CHC said it was flying for French oil company Total and that the aircraft had lost communication as it approached the airport on the southern tip of Shetland’s main island.
Some of those rescued were able to walk unaided after the rescue
The four people who died were working for Total through contractor organisations.
A CHC spokesman said: “The aircraft was on approach to Sumburgh Airport at approximately 6.20pm when contact was lost with air traffic control.”
Mark Abbey, regional director for CHC, expressed his “heartfelt sympathies to all those involved” but said the company would not be speculating about the cause of the crash.
Investigators from the Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch are looking into the incident.
The helicopter was upside down in the water when rescuers arrived, said Sky’s James Matthews in Aberdeen.
“At least three of the four who died had trouble getting out of the wreckage. One body remains in there this morning,” said Matthews.
The survivors were aided by waterproof immersion suits that helped keep them afloat and warm in the North Sea.
The tide – which was heading towards the land – also helped survivors.
Jim Nicholson, RNLI rescue co-ordinator, said: “There appears to have been a catastrophic loss of power which meant the helicopter suddenly dropped into the sea without any opportunity to make a controlled landing.”
Last year, two Super Puma helicopters ditched in the North Sea only six months apart.
All passengers and crew were rescued in both incidents, which were found to be caused by gearbox problems.
Several helicopters have been involved in the search operation
However, the latest incident marks the fourth in four years involving Super Puma aircraft.
In April 2009, 16 people died when a helicopter returning from BP’s Miller platform crashed 11 miles from Peterhead after a “catastrophic failure” in part of its main gearbox.
The Unite union’s Scottish Secretary, Pat Rafferty, said the safety record was “unacceptable” and called on the oil and gas industry to use “every means at their disposal to demonstrate that its fleet is fit for purpose”.
Bob Crow, head of the RMT union, said he expected an “outpouring of anger” after the latest incident.
“The entire Super Puma fleet must remain grounded until the causes of this latest event are established,” said Mr Crow.
CHC has set up a helpline for concerned relatives on 01224 296 866.
They were Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness, and George Allison, 57, from Winchester.
Three of the four bodies have been recovered. Police Scotland confirmed 14 others were rescued.
The Super Puma L2 helicopter crashed west of Sumburgh Airport at about 18:20 BST on Friday.
An investigation into the cause of the tragedy is under way.
RNLI rescue co-ordinator Jim Nicholson said the helicopter – carrying workers from an oil rig – apparently suffered a “catastrophic loss of power”.
He said it appeared the aircraft had “suddenly dropped into the sea without any opportunity to make a controlled landing”. Amanda Smith, whose son Sam was on the helicopter, told Sky News it suddenly lost power and those on board had “no time to brace”.
“He was by the window so he was able to escape that way as it rolled over,” she said.
“He said he had come off better than a lot of people, [those] were his words.”
Tim Ripley, an aviation expert with Jane’s Defence Weekly, told the BBC there were “many possible scenarios” behind the helicopter crash.
He said: “The most common one at low level for aircraft and helicopters is bird strikes.
“If one of these helicopters ingested a bird it would cause a very, very nasty accident.
“But it doesn’t seem like that because we have no reports of collisions, which points towards a failure of the engine and the mechanical systems on the helicopter.”
A total of 18 people were on board the helicopter.The 14 survivors, including the two crew members, were taken to Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick for treatment.
Police Scotland said five were discharged a short time later and nine were detained overnight either for observation or suffering from exposure.
The ditched helicopter was found broken into several pieces up against rocks.
Boats, including a ferry and a cargo ship, joined lifeboat crews from Lerwick and Aith and helicopters from the coastguard, RAF Lossiemouth and two Bond rescue helicopters to search for survivors.
The AS332 L2 helicopter, carrying passengers crew from the Borgsten Dolphin oil rig in the North Sea, was operated by CHC for Total, taking people to and from oil and gas installations.
Oil firm Total confirmed that the three men and one woman who died all worked for contract organisations.
‘Lost power’ Earlier, Mr Nicholson told the BBC the helicopter had been in a “fairly inaccessible position… near the cliffs”, with weather in the area not “particularly good”. A CHC spokesman confirmed that an L2 aircraft landed in the water, approximately two miles west of Sumburgh on Friday.
“The aircraft was on approach to Sumburgh Airport at approximately 6.20pm when contact was lost with air traffic control,” he said.
In a later statement, the company said the cause of the incident was unknown but Super Puma L2 flights would be suspended worldwide.
“Also, in deference to the incident and the investigation, we are suspending all flights [on] Saturday by our UK operations,” the company added.
Bond Offshore Helicopters also said it would not be operating any of its Super Puma aircraft fleet, with the exception of its Jigsaw rescue aircraft which would be available for life at risk missions.
Michael Bull, whose son Samuel was rescued, said: “We understand he was on his way back from a rig and the helicopter lost power suddenly and immediately ditched into the water.
“He managed to escape straight away because he was right by an exit and I understand soon afterwards that the helicopter turned over.”
Aith RNLI Lifeboat crew retrieve helicopter wreckage in Shetland
Aith Lifeboat crew tow Super Puma helicopter which crashed into the sea off Sumburgh, Shetland, on the night of 23/24 August 2013. Four lives were lost from the helicopter.
“At 06h15 on Sunday the 4th of August NSRI East London volunteers were activated following reports of the 36 foot yacht BOUNDLESS reporting to have run aground at Cebe, approximately 450 km by road from East London, on the Transkei Coast.
Geoff McGregor, NSRI East London station commander, said: The crew, a husband and wife, Graham and Sheryl Anley, and their Jack-Russel dog Rosie, all wearing life-jackets (the dog wearing a specially tailored dog life-jacket which has its own emergency strobe light attached), had managed to swim to shore safely after their boat hit a reef in the early hours of this morning and they raised the alarm after reaching shore.
Graham is an NSRI Plettenberg Bay volunteer.
We dispatched an EC Government Health EMS rescue helicopter and on arrival on-scene they found the crew and dog safely ashore and not injured and the yacht severely damaged and high and dry on the high water mark.
Sherryl and Rosie were airlifted by the EMS rescue helicopter to our East London sea rescue base and a family back-packers lodge near to the scene are assisting Graham.
The EMS rescue helicopter crew had assisted to secure the yacht to the shore and personal belongings have been recovered from the yacht prior to departing for East London.
Efforts will be made by the couple to to arrange to salvage what they can of their yacht.
Sheryl and Rosie will return to the scene today and they will be assisted by the family of the back-packers lodge and take a few days to assess the situation and salvage what they can of the yacht.
Graham and Sheryl have respectively requested not to be contacted by media and NSRI will field any questions.
Graham told us they were headed on a 3 month break to Madagascar. Off Transkei they ran into very rough weather with wave heights of 7 meters which, despite their lowering sails and going onto motor power, eventually dragged their boat ashore and onto a reef.
As the incident happened Graham sent a Mayday radio distress call and activated the EPIRB (Global Positioning Distress beacon) but they were immediately forced to abandon ship and he first swam Rosie ashore safely before returning for his wife whose safety line had snagged on the steering gear.
Once safely ashore he raised the alarm by cell-phone.
Graham admits it is humbling, after 22 years as an NSRI volunteer, to have the shoe on the other foot and need to be rescued.
NSRI have expressed our delight that they are safe.” – NSRI
36 foot yacht BOUNDLESS (Photo: NSRI)
“The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is a voluntary non-profit organization in South Africa tasked with saving lives at sea. It consists of 32 coastal stations and 3 inland stations serviced by 980 volunteers equipped with 92 rescue craft and 27 vehicles. [1]
Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs, trapping people in their vehicles as a storm swept down an interstate highway while commuters tried to beat it home.(Photo: breakingnews.ie)
Five people were killed, including a mother and baby killed near Union City, Oklahoma.
Another person died at El Reno, the first city struck by the storm, said Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner.
Circumstances involving the other two deaths weren’t immediately known, Elliott said.
About 50 (G: Now at least 71) people were hurt, five critically, hospital officials said. Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm’s fury didn’t match that of a deadly twister that struck suburban Moore last week.
Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area, ripping part of the roof off a suburban casino. Friday’s broad storm in Oklahoma hit during the evening rush hour and stuck around, causing havoc on Interstate 40, a major artery connecting suburbs east and west of the city, and dropping so much rain on the area that streets were flooded to a depth of 4 feet.
To the south, a severe storm with winds approaching 80 mph rolled into Moore, where a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May 20. Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, said that while the storm packed a powerful punch, it wasn’t as strong as the Moore tornado.
Saturday, 01 June, 2013 at 09:37 (09:37 AM) UTC RSOE
Other Reports
New Oklahoma tornadoes ‘kill five’
1 June 2013Last updated at 11:07BST (10:07Z GMT/UTC)
Journalist Brad Gibson: “Tornadoes are these beasts that come out of nowhere”
A new series of tornadoes has swept through the US state of Oklahoma, killing at least five people, including a mother and child, officials say.
The tornadoes struck near the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where 24 people were killed by a violent tornado nearly two weeks ago.
The latest storm struck during Friday’s evening rush hour, trapping many people in cars and causing traffic chaos.
More than 60,000 homes lost power and heavy rain has caused severe flooding.
Many streets were inundated with up to 4ft (1.2 m) of water.
Storms also swept through Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Centre said the severe weather was shifting eastward on Saturday, towards Ohio and the Mississippi River Valleys.
‘Power flashes’
A police spokeswoman said the mother and child who died were in their car on a major highway – Interstate 40 – near Oklahoma City.
Many vehicles were overturned on Interstate 40
Dozens of lorries were overturned on the highway.
Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said that two of the deaths occurred in Union City and one was in El Reno, west of Oklahoma City.
Dozens of people have been hurt, with five of them in a critical condition.
Among those who took to the roads to flee the storm was 30-year-old Brandi Vanalphen.
“What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,” she told Reuters.
“I started seeing power flashes to the north… I started driving on the shoulder. People started driving over the grass.”
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said: “For reasons that are not clear to me, more people took to the roads, more than we expected. Everyone acted differently in this storm, and as a result, it created an extremely dangerous situation.
“I think we are still a little shaken by what happened in Moore. We are still burying children and victims, so our emotions are still strong,” he added.
Meteorologists said the tornadoes were less severe than the one that struck Moore two weeks ago.
That tornado – ranked as an EF5, the most powerful – destroyed some 1,200 homes. About 33,000 people were affected and the damage has been estimated at $2bn (£1.32bn).
Oklahoma is in part of the US Midwest known as Tornado Alley. Some 1,200 tornadoes strike each year, though most are relatively small.
Six people have died and many others have been injured in an incident where a shoe factory collapsed in Cambodia.
The incident happened on Thursday in Kampong Speu Province, west of the capital, Phnom Penh. “There were about a hundred people inside the factory when it collapsed at about 7 a.m.,” said trade union member, Sum Sokny. She added that five women and one man died in the incident.
According to a report, about 50 people were trapped inside the single-storey building. “I was so shocked I saw blood in the debris,” Sokny said. During the recent years, Cambodias shoe and garment sector has witnessed a rush of investment with its low-cost labor attracting Western and Asian firms. Over half a million people are employed in the garment industry, which is Cambodias biggest employer and export earner. However, the minimum wage of workers rose in May from $61 to $75 a month.
Thursday, 16 May, 2013 at 08:35 (08:35 AM) UTC RSOE
Part of a shoe factory has collapsed in Cambodia, leaving at least two people dead, officials say.
The concrete roof at the factory in Kampong Speu province, west of Phnom Penh, crashed on to employees as they were working, a police spokesman said.
At least six people were injured, police said. Rescue workers combed through the rubble for several hours before finishing operations.
The garment industry is Cambodia’s biggest employer and export earner.
More than half a million people are employed in the industry, for which the minimum wage rose this month from $61 (£40) to $75 a month. Many of the factories make clothes for the US and European markets.
Workplace safety in nations at the heart of the global garment industry has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, following the collapse of a commercial building housing garment factories in Bangladesh.
More than 1,100 people died in the disaster, which was Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident.
‘Brick and iron’
Map
Minister of Social Affairs Ith Sam Heng was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that no one else remained trapped inside the building.
One report said the weight of equipment stored on the roof caused the collapse.
“We were working normally and suddenly several pieces of brick and iron started falling on us,” injured 25-year-old Kong Thary was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
The shoe factory is owned by a Taiwanese company Wing Star Shoes, which makes trainers for Japanese sports brand Asics, reports say.
In the wake of the Bangladesh tragedy, more than a dozen European companies, including discount clothing company Primark and UK supermarket chain Tesco, have signed up to a new legally-binding deal aimed at improving factory conditions in Bangladesh.
But many key US companies, including Gap Inc and Walmart, are not on board.
Part of a shoe factory has collapsed in Cambodia, leaving at least two people dead, officials say.
The concrete roof at the factory in Kampong Speu province, west of Phnom Penh, crashed on to employees as they were working, a police spokesman said.
At least six people were injured, police said. Rescue workers combed through the rubble for several hours before finishing operations.
The garment industry is Cambodia’s biggest employer and export earner.
More than half a million people are employed in the industry, for which the minimum wage rose this month from $61 (£40) to $75 a month. Many of the factories make clothes for the US and European markets.
Workplace safety in nations at the heart of the global garment industry has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, following the collapse of a commercial building housing garment factories in Bangladesh.
More than 1,100 people died in the disaster, which was Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident.
‘Brick and iron’
Minister of Social Affairs Ith Sam Heng was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that no one else remained trapped inside the building.
One report said the weight of equipment stored on the roof caused the collapse.
“We were working normally and suddenly several pieces of brick and iron started falling on us,” injured 25-year-old Kong Thary was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
The shoe factory is owned by a Taiwanese company Wing Star Shoes, which makes trainers for Japanese sports brand Asics, reports say.
In the wake of the Bangladesh tragedy, more than a dozen European companies, including discount clothing company Primark and UK supermarket chain Tesco, have signed up to a new legally-binding deal aimed at improving factory conditions in Bangladesh.
But many key US companies, including Gap Inc and Walmart, are not on board.
Russias Emergency Ministry confirms missing helicopter found destroyed in Irkutsk (Photo: en.trend.az)
Fragments of the fuselage found in the Irkutsk region in the past hour may belong to the missing Mi-8 helicopter.
A source from “Angara” airline said that “Fragments that may belong to the missing helicopter had been discovered from an aircraft. We reported the discovery to all authorities. Hopefully, the Emergency Situations Ministry will assign search parties within minutes”.
Mi-8 Helicopter just gone missing in Irkutsk transported 2 tons of explosives.
The Mil Mi-8 helicopter assigned on a search mission in Russia’s Irkutsk region went missing itself with almost two tons of explosives and 10 people on board.
The helicopter belonged to the aircarrier “Angara” and was engaged in anti-flood works in the area.
Monday, 06 May, 2013 at 13:34 (01:34 PM) UTC RSOE
Other Reports
Russian helicopter carrying nine crashes
(Photo: en.rian.ru) Mi-8 helicopter. (Archive)
“A Russian helicopter carrying nine people including senior rescue service officials as well as almost two tonnes of explosives has crashed in the Irkutsk region of southern Siberia, regional officials said.
“The remains of the missing helicopter were found … six kilometres from the village of Preobrazhenka,” the Irkutsk regional emergency situations ministry said in a statement.
“There were nine people on board,” it said, listing the region’s acting emergency situations chief, Stanislav Omelyanchik, among those missing along with five other rescue officials and three crew.
The helicopter took off from the nearest village Preobrazhenka and was bound for the Nizhnyaya Tunguska river when it stopped responding, the ministry said on its website on Monday.
The region’s deputy emergency minister Valentin Nelyubov told the RIA Novosti news agency that the helicopter was carrying 1.9 tonnes of explosives for breaking up ice blocking the river
The Preobrazhenka village had been in a state of emergency as water level rose almost nine metres after the ice blocked the water flow and 125 homes were flooded, the regional government said earlier.
The helicopter had flown out to take part in a flood rescue operation near the village in the north of the vast Irkutsk region, which is around 5,000 kilometres from Moscow.
The wreckage was discovered around 4 1/2 hours after the aircraft disappeared from the radar.
The multifunctional Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter is used by the military and by UN peacekeepers.
The crash took place a day after hunters located the wreckage of a small plane that crashed killing all 13 aboard in June last year, but had gone undiscovered for 11 months in an impassable bog in the Urals region.” – theaustralian.com.au
Russias Emergency Ministry confirms missing helicopter found destroyed in Irkutsk
“Mi-8 helicopter that disappeared on Monday in the Irkutsk region is found destroyed, spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry Irina Rossius confirmed to reporters, RIA Novosti reported.
“Mi-8 helicopter is detected in 7 kilometers from the Preobrazhenka settlement with signs of destruction,” she said. No official information has been reported yet on the fate of ten people on board the helicopter.
Meanwhile, a source in law enforcement agencies told RIA Novosti earlier that among those experts on board the helicopter was the Acting Head of the Regional Emergency Department Omelyanchik.” – en.trend.az
A woman has been flown to hospital after falling overboard from a yacht off Nash Point in the Vale of Glamorgan, say Swansea coastguards.
The skipper of the 35ft yacht sent a radio and mayday message at 07:10 BST reporting the emergency.
The woman was struggling to get back on board but was wearing a lifejacket and was attached to the boat.
An RAF search and rescue helicopter from Chivenor in Devon pulled her from the water.
She was flown to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where coastguards later said she was making a good recovery.
David Jones, Swansea Coastguard duty watch manager, said: “We cannot stress enough how important it is for people to be well prepared when they head out to sea.
“These crew members were well equipped. I believe the correct use of DSC radio no doubt assisted in the swift recovery of this casualty…
An eight-storey block housing garment factories and a shopping center collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people (Sky News states 82 killed, local media reports 100 killed) and injuring more than 500.(Sky News states 700 injured)
Fire fighters and army personnel were working at the Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (19 miles) outside Dhaka, to rescue people who were trapped inside, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, officer in charge of the areas police station said. He said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow workers into the building after a crack was detected in the block the previous day. Bangladeshs booming garment industry has been plagued by fires and other accidents for years. In November last year, 112 workers were killed in a blaze at a factory in an industrial suburb of Dhaka.
Wednesday, 24 April, 2013 at 06:20 (06:20 AM) UTC RSOE
SKY NEWS 10:12am (BST) UK, Wednesday 24 April 2013
Emergency services near Bangladeshi capital Dhaka search for up to 1,000 people trapped after a building collapses.
It is thought some 2,000 people were in the building when it collapsed.
At least 82 people have died after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladeshs capital, Dhaka.
Another 700 are reported to have been injured in the buildings collapse which involved several garment factories, a senior emergency ward doctor at a nearby hospital revealed, while many remain still trapped inside the building.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members.
Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, in charge of the recovery operation, said 600 people had been rescued but the death toll could rise.
Clothing factories are usually staffed 24 hours a day.
Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which fell into itself, leaving it about two storeys tall.
Hundreds of factory workers were trapped inside the building
The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a clothing factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nations garment industry.
That fire at the Tazreen factory drew international attention to the conditions workers toil under in the $20bn-a-year (13bn) textile industry in Bangladesh.
The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers the industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.
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Tazreen did not have emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.
Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.
The factory made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands.
Factory workers were forced to return to work after warnings about cracks in & movement of, the building were ignored by owners.
The army has now been drafted in to help Search & Rescue efforts.
Building collapse legal action will be taken: Minister
Savar multi-storied buildings collapsed after an incident at the home of Rana Plaza Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said. The present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker.
(Photo: bartabangla.com)
He said, Those who would endanger public life, building construction, and measures will be taken against them.
He said, The committee will investigate the incident. Uddharakaja and treatment of the wounded had to be carried from the treasury.
Army, RAB, Fire Service, Ansar, police and Awami League activists took part in the rescue tatparataya. He told them to thank.
Blood is needed to treat the injured, he said.
Savar multi-storied buildings collapsed after an incident at the home of Rana Plaza Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said. The present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker.
He said, Those who would endanger public life, building construction, and measures will be taken against them.
He said, The committee will investigate the incident. Uddharakaja and treatment of the wounded had to be carried from the treasury.
Army, RAB, Fire Service, Ansar, police and Awami League activists took part in the rescue tatparataya. He told them to thank.
positive blood needed for labourers injured in Savar tragedy
Seven labourers who received severe injuries at the garments factory collapse at Savar urgently need O positive blood.
Dhaka, April 27 (BDNEWS) Seven labourers who received severe injuries at the garments factory collapse at Savar urgently need O positive blood.
They have been undergoing treatment at Orthopaedic Hospital.
The labourers who are fighting for life at the hospital are Kamal Hossain, Manjurul Islam, Mozaffar, Rafiqul Islam, Md Nure Alam, Motaleb and Safiqul Islam.
The persons who want to donate blood are requested to contact at the Ward I/J, Ward A/B, Ward C and Ward Para.
BDNEWS/2026 hrs
Large volumes of blood needed
Staff Correspondent
Natunbarta.com
Dhaka: Major General Chowdhury Hasan, General Officer Commanding of the 9th infantry division, have called upon all government and private hospitals to store large volumes of blood that are needed to treat victims of Savar tragedy.
He also called on voluntary blood donors to donate blood by going to hospitals.
Hundreds of people were wounded in Savar when an eight-storey building suddenly collapsed at around 09:00am.
The wounded persons were admitted to the local Enam Medical College & Hospital, National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
natunbarta/MI
25 April 2013:
Bangladesh: Factories Ignored Evacuation Order
Clothing factories apparently ignored police instructions to leave a building that collapsed a day later, leaving 175 people dead.
SKY NEWS 9:39am (BST) UK, Thursday 25 April 2013
A building in Bangladesh was ordered to be evacuated a day before it collapsed but clothing factories there continued working and ignored police instructions, officers claim.
The order was made after deep cracks became visible as the death toll from the tragedy rose to at least 175 and it emerged a Primark supplier was based at the premises.
After the cracks were reported on Tuesday, managers of a bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.
But the garment factories continued working, ignoring the instructions of officers, said police spokesman Mostafizur Rahman.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting on Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.
After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed, said Atiqul Islam, the groups president.
Thousands gathered on the streets where the building collapsed
Survivors say they were made to carry on working in the eight-storey block despite apparent concerns about its safety.
The building, in Savar on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.
The high street giant Primark has confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.
Bosses at the retailer say they were shocked and saddened by the collapse.
In a statement released on the companys website, a Primark spokesman said: The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved.
Primark has been engaged for several years with NGOs and other retailers to review the Bangladeshi industrys approach to factory standards. Primark will push for this review to also include building integrity.
Meanwhile Primarks ethical trade team is at this moment working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from, and to providesupport where possible.
Army Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said late on Thursday that many people were still trapped in the building.
The disaster came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladeshs garment workers.
Workers said they had hesitated to enter the building on Wednesday morning because it had developed such large cracks a day earlier that it even drew the attention of local news channels.
Just hours later the building came tumbling down.
Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members.
Searchers worked through the night to get through the jumbled mess of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to those pinned inside the building.
I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry. We cant leave them behind this way, said fire official Abul Khayer.
Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.
After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly, MrRahim said.
The next thing he remembers is regaining consciousness outside.
On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that the culprits would be punished. Sky News
A garment factory building in Bangladesh that collapsed, killing at least 175 people, had been ordered to be evacuated due to deep cracks but the factories flouted the order and continued working, officials say.
One day after Wednesdays collapse, as hundreds of rescuers clawed through the rubble, the cries of trapped survivors could still occasionally be heard, with the screams of a woman pinned between concrete slabs mingling with the wails of distraught relatives waiting for news or collecting bodies.
An enormous section of the concrete structure appeared to have splintered like twigs.
The disaster in the Dhaka suburb of Savar came less than five months after a blaze killed 112 people in a garment factory.
The incidents underscore the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladeshs garment workers, who produce clothes for global brands worn around the world.
After the cracks were reported on Tuesday, managers of a local bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.
However, the garment factories continued working, ignoring the instructions of the local industrial police, said Mostafizur Rahman, a director of the industrial police.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.
After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination but they did not pay heed, said Atiqul Islam, the groups president.
On Thursday morning the odour of rotting bodies was evident as rescue workers continued to search for more survivors and victims.
Junior minister for Home Affairs, Shamsul Haque, said that by late Thursday morning a total of 2000 people had been rescued from the wreckage.
Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing army rescue teams, said the death toll had climbed to 175 on Thursday afternoon.
Dozens of bodies, their faces covered, were laid outside a local school building so relatives could identify them.
The garment manufacturers group said the factories in the building employed 3122 workers but it was not clear how many workers were in the building when it collapsed.
Searchers worked through the night to probe the jumbled mass of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to people pinned inside.
I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry, said fire official Abul Khayer.
Abdur Rahim, an employee who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.
After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly, Rahim said.
The next thing he remembered was regaining consciousness outside.
On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that the culprits would be punished.
Abdul Halim, an official with the engineering department in Savar, said the owner was originally allowed to construct a five-storey building but he added another three storeys illegally.
Local police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the governments Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner.
Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of the Dhaka district, identified the owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami Leagues youth front.
Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories. - Julhas Alam, AAPApril 25, 2013, 5:38 pm (Australia)
Workers protest in Dhaka over factory deaths
Thousands take to streets day after building collapse leaves at least 161 dead, as hunt for survivors continues.
Thousands of garment factory workers have protested in the capital, Dhaka, over the death of more than 150 workers in building collapse, as rescuers continued to hunt for survivors, local media have reported.
Al Jazeeras special correspondent, whom we are not naming for security reasons, said on Thursday that thousands of protestors took to the streets of Dhaka with sticks in their hands chanting slogans such as we want execution of the garment factory owners.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association building office has been attacked, our correspondent said.
Workers have blocked road and indulged in vandalism at some places, the Daily Star newspaper reported. aljazeera.com25 Apr 2013 08:46
Tessel Pauli, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said the latest disaster was symptomatic of problems in Bangladesh where foreign buyers are accused of jeopardising safety in their search for profit.
These accidents represent a failure of these brands to make safety a priority. They know what needs to be done and they are not doing it, Pauli said.
Bangladeshi unions and rights activists have also reacted furiously, calling for an end to the impunity the countrys garment manufacturers enjoy.
Among the textile businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd., Phantom Tac Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd. According to their website, the New Wave companies make clothing for major brands including U.S. retailers The Childrens Place and Dress Barn, Britains Primark, Spains Mango and Italys Benetton. Benettons communications department said in an email to The Associated Press that people involved in the collapse were not Benetton suppliers.
Jane Singer, a spokeswoman for The Childrens Place, said that while one of the garment factories located in the building complex has produced apparel for The Childrens Place, none of our product was in production at the time of this accident.
Dress Barn said that to its knowledge, it had not purchased clothing from the factories involved since 2010. Primark, a major British clothing retailer, confirmed that one of the suppliers it uses to produce some of its goods was located on the second floor of the building.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Primark said it was shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident. It added that it has been working with other retailers to review the countrys approach to factory standards and will now push for this review to include building integrity. Meanwhile, Primarks ethical trade team is working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from and provide support where possible.
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Mango denied reports it was using any of the suppliers in the building. However, in an email statement to the AP, it said that there had been conversations with one of them to produce a batch of test products.
Kevin Gardner, a spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the second-largest clothing producer in Bangladesh, said the company is investigating to see if a factory in the building had been producing for the chain at the time of the collapse. heraldsun.com.au
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25 April 2013 Extract from bloomberg.com:
Loblaw Cos. (L)’ Joe Fresh and Associated British Foods Plc (ABF)’s (ABF) Primark, which yesterday said that their suppliers made garments at the collapsed factory, both vowed to help improve working conditions in Bangladesh.
The disaster is another black mark on Bangladesh’s industrial safety record, which made headlines after a fire at a plant producing garments for companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) that killed at least 100 people in November. More than 700 garment workers have died since 2005 in Bangladesh, according to the International Labor Rights Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group.
“Labor rights groups around the world have been asking, indeed imploring, major retailers to address the grievous safety hazards in their Bangladesh factories and the response is always the same: vague promises and public relations dodges, while the pile of corpses grows ever higher,” Scott Nova, executive director of the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium, said yesterday in a statement.
Joe Fresh, the clothing brand owned by Brampton, Ontario- based Loblaw, had a “small number” of items produced at the complex, Julija Hunter, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.
Regular Audits
The company is “saddened” by the tragedy and will work with its vendor to see how it can help, she said. Loblaw has standards for suppliers to make sure that products are produced in a socially responsible manner and conducts regular audits to ensure compliance, Hunter said.
“We hope to hear more from the authorities about the status of this situation and we are committed to supporting them,” she said.
One of Primark’s suppliers occupied the building’s second floor, the company said in a statement. The budget fashion chain owned by London-based Associated British Foods said it was “shocked and saddened” by the accident and has worked with non-governmental organizations to help improve factory standards in Bangladesh.
Supply Chain
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is investigating its supply chain to see if a factory in the building was producing for the company, Kevin Gardner, a spokesman for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer, said yesterday in an e- mailed statement.
“We are sorry to learn of this tragic event,” Gardner said. “We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues.”
The number of deaths rose to 153 today, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, who’s in charge of Savar Model Police Station, said in an interview from the scene. Officers have handed over 92 bodies to relatives, according to Aminur Rahman, a senior police officer. The remaining 46 bodies with bruises and cuts on their faces and bodies are laid out in the corridor of a school building.
The accident at the eight-story building injured about 800 people working in the plants, the Bdnews24.com website reported without citing anyone. As many as 6,000 people were employed in the facilities housed in the building 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Dhaka, the news website reported. A few shops and a bank also had an office in the area, Health Minister A.F.M. Ruhal Haque said in a briefing yesterday.
“It will take a lot of time to get a full picture of the devastation,” Nilufa Yasmin, a duty officer at the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, said in a phone interview. “The top five floors of the building collapsed on top of each other, trapping many inside.”
Mangled Concrete
Rescue operations continued through the night at the disaster site surrounded by hundreds of onlookers. Families of the workers were seen wailing for their loved ones while the others were in frantic search for them from hospital to hospital. Injured workers were being carried on stretchers into a crowded emergency room at a nearby hospital.
Rescuers struggled to help free people from the mangled pieces of concrete, rods and bricks. The government has deployed the army, the elite Rapid Action Battalion and police to help fire officials in the rescue effort.
Surging wages and inflation in China, the largest apparel supplier, have prompted retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) to shift production to Bangladesh. In response, an $18 billion manufacturing industry has sprung up, marred by factories operated in buildings with poor electrical wiring, an insufficient number of exits and little fire-fighting equipment.
The collapsed building had developed cracks the previous day, prompting BRAC Bank Ltd. to order its employees to vacate the premises, said Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, a spokesman.
“We evacuated our staff yesterday,” Huq said. “Other commercial units did not do the same.”
Safety Standards
About half of the Bangladesh’s garment factories don’t meet legally required work safety standards, and those that have improved working conditions have done so under pressure from Western apparel makers, said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a non- governmental organization founded by two former garment child workers to promote safer factories.
Bangladesh’s labor law requires safety measures such as fire extinguishers and easily accessible exits at factories.
Workers-rights advocates are petitioning companies to sign a contractually enforceable memorandum that would require them to pay Bangladesh factories enough to cover costs of safety improvements.
So far, PVH Corp. (PVH), owner of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and German retailer Tchibo are the only ones to sign the agreement, which also would require companies to provide accurate and regularly updated lists of their approved suppliers and subcontractors in Bangladesh. It won’t take effect until four major retailers sign on.
Factory Conditions
“These accidents are a huge reason why we’ve created the agreement,” Akter said. “It’s not just about fires, it’s about all factory conditions. This building has collapsed. There are many more buildings waiting to collapse.”
Textiles contribute more than 10 percent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product and about 80 percent of the nation’s exports, mainly to the U.S. and the EU, according to the manufacturers’ association.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a statement that she was shocked at the tragedy. Bangladesh will observe a day of mourning tomorrow, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters in Dhaka.
Dhaka building collapse: Dozens found alive in rubble
BBC NEWS 25 April 2013Last updated at 17:54
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Dozens of people have been found alive in a room in the ruins of a building outside the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, a day after it collapsed.
Bangladeshi television broadcast images of the operation at the site of the collapse in the Savar area, which killed at least 250 people.
It is thought many more people may still be unaccounted for.
Police said the owners of factories in the building had ignored warnings about cracks appearing on Tuesday.
Some 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar, some 30km (20 miles) outside Dhaka, when it collapsed suddenly on Wednesday morning.
At the scene
Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka
Rescue teams have been frantically searching for survivors as they are aware that they are racing against time.
The heat and the dust could take its own toll. The broken concrete blocks are precariously placed and there are concerns for rescue workers as well.
When more people are pulled out alive, that gives lots of encouragement to the rescue workers, many of whom are local volunteers.
The collapse has already triggered anger among garment factory workers who were holding protests in some places in Dhaka. Garment factory owners and Western retailers are likely to face tough questions from labour rights campaigners in the coming weeks.
The High Court has summoned the Rana Plaza building owner and senior managers of the factories to appear before judges on 30 April, local media report.
The factory owners are said to have gone into hiding.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said those thought to be responsible for the disaster, including the owner, would be prosecuted.
Wherever he is, he will be found and brought to justice, she told politicians.
Bangladesh is holding a day of national mourning for the victims.
I want to liveTeams from the army, the fire service and border guards have been working around the clock at the site to find survivors, using heavy lifting gear, tools and their bare hands.
Officials say they have now found 250 bodies in the rubble. Thousands of people have gathered at the site, waiting for news of relatives.
On Thursday, Brig Gen Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is heading the rescue mission, said 40 people had been located in the rubble, trapped inside one room.
The news was greeted with jubilation at the scene, the BBCs Anbarasan Ethirajan reports.
However later reports put the number found at 24.
The military said at least 12 of the group had since been pulled free.
One rescue official told the BBC that the group was found after they were heard screaming in the rubble.
Search teams have been dropping water bottles and food items to other survivors who are still trapped.
One trapped man, Mohammad Altab, was able to speak to an Associated Press reporter, telling him he had two children.
I want to live. Its so painful here, he said.
Another man, trapped deeper in the rubble, begged for rescue, telling the reporter: Its hard to remain alive here. It would have been better to die than enduring such pain to live on.
Local hospitals have been overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.
Are London shoppers concerned about where there clothes come from?
Industry criticisedOur correspondent says the rescuers intend to continue their operation for several days, but that they are aware time is now running out.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.
Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza, and said it would work with other retailers to review standards.
US discount giant Wal-Mart said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.
A company called New Wave, with two factories in the building, supplies firms from around Europe, the US and Canada, while Spanish retailer Mango said it had been in production talks with a supplier at the factory.
Labour rights groups say the companies have a moral duty to ensure their suppliers are providing safe conditions for their employees.
These are billion dollar companies. They have a huge amount of power to change the way that building safety is accepted here, Gareth Price-Jones, Oxfams country director for Bangladesh, told Reuters.
Thousands of garment workers in other areas of Dhaka have taken to the streets and blocked roads to protest about the deaths of the workers in Savar.
Bangladeshs Daily Star newspaper reported that protesters had clashed with police, resulting in some injuries.
Update 26 April 2013:
Dhaka building collapse: Fears for hundreds still missing
BBC NEWS 26 April 2013Last updated at 10:10BST
Police fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters, who are angry at poor safety standards in factories
Hundreds of people are still missing after Wednesdays collapse of a building in Bangladesh which killed at least 273 people, local officials say.
More than 40 people have been rescued since Thursday from the Rana Plaza building near Dhaka, which housed clothes factories.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for special prayers to be held across the country later for the victims.
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Angry protesters have taken to the streets of Dhaka for a second day.
They are demanding the authorities arrest the owner of the collapsed building and improve conditions for garment workers.
Police said that at least ten thousand people had gathered for the demonstrations and described the situation as volatile.
Police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to break up the crowds, which had blocked roads, torched buses and attacked textile factories.
Bangladesh media reaction
The Daily Sun asks: Have the garment factories become a death valley for poor workers?. It says the sense of impunity around such disasters has left factory owners with the feeling they can get away with every violation of the basic rules of workers safety and are accountable to nobody.
The New Age also pulls no punches, saying it is a clear case of mass murder committed by greedy rich people and accuses the government of protecting such people by making misleading public statements.
The Holiday points out that factory owners owe their opulent lifestyles to some 3.5 million workers, mostly women, whose lives are wretched. The accumulation of wealth should not be at the cost of exploitation, it says.
The Daily Star praises peoples reaction to the disaster and hopes that when the dust has settled and the rubble cleared the authorities will get their act together in addressing loopholes in the system that allow for disasters like this to happen.
The owner of the building, according to police, ignored warnings about cracks appearing earlier this week. He is said to be in hiding, but Sheikh Hasina has promised that he will be punished.
I want to liveSome 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar when it collapsed suddenly on Wednesday morning.
Teams from the army, the fire service and border guards are still working around the clock at the site to find survivors, using heavy lifting gear, tools and their bare hands.
Search teams have been dropping water bottles and food items to other survivors who are still trapped.
The local command centre said families had given the names of 372 people who were still unaccounted for.
However, reports suggest the number of missing is much higher.
One trapped man, Mohammad Altab, was able to speak to journalists, saying: I want to live. Its so painful here.
Footage shot by a fire service volunteer shows the scene inside the building
Another man, trapped deeper in the rubble, begged for rescue, said: Its hard to remain alive here. It would have been better to die than enduring such pain to live on.
Local hospitals have been overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.
Industry criticised
The rescuers intend to continue their operation until Saturday, but correspondents say they are aware time is running out.Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.
Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza, and said it would work with other retailers to review standards.
US discount giant Wal-Mart said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.
Labour rights groups say the companies have a moral duty to ensure their suppliers are providing safe conditions for their employees.
These are billion dollar companies. They have a huge amount of power to change the way that building safety is accepted here, Gareth Price-Jones, Oxfams country director for Bangladesh, told Reuters.
Death toll rises to 294; about 2400 rescued alive; still about
800 feared missing
More than 11 people rescued alive in the last 10 minutes, rescuers are pulling more people out minute by minute.
Lines of ambulances are waiting to carry the survivors; rescuers are pulling out survivors every moment.
A group of 8 people will be rescued from the 7th floor within minutes: rescuers informed.
UPDATE 2040 UTC:
Death toll rises to 312
Rescue activities were being hampered as a fire broke out on the ground floor around 12:30am. Some volunteers claimed that it would be difficult to rescue the trapped workers because the firefighters were failing to identify the source of the fire. The flame could not be doused as of 1:30am today.
24 rescued together 34 hours into collapse; rescue goes on with no break
Wasim Bin Habib, Akram Hosen and Pankaj Karmaker
Altaf Hossain raised his arm and pleaded the photographer to lift the pillar on his back just a little so that he could slip out and live. Unable to bear the pain he was in, he couldnt speak anymore. He was yesterday found in the rear end of Rana Plaza, which is just rubbles at Bazar bus stand in Savar. Photo: Amran Hossain
Around 34 hours after the collapse of Rana Plaza, 24 trapped people were rescued alive from beneath the rubble of the nine-storey building yesterday evening, keeping alive the hope that more lives can be saved as the rescue operation continues.
The death toll in the tragic incident in Savar rose to 258 as of 2:00am today, with 108 more bodies extricated from the debris throughout the day. Of the bodies, at least 216 have been handed over to their relatives, police and district administration officials said.
So far some 1,400 survivors have been pulled out, with about 1,000 more believed to be still trapped inside.
Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star that 24 survivors and a dead body had been found at one point under the third floor.
Between 1:30am and 2:05am today, another 20 trapped workers were rescued and sent to hospitals.
About the rescue operation, he said a decision would be made depending on the situation. But we hope to go on with it till tomorrow night [tonight].
Major Sharif Mohammad Aman Hossain, a rescue leader, told the media around 12:15am today there were around a few hundred people alive in the collapsed building.
Also, the rescue activities were being hampered as a fire broke out on the ground floor around 12:30am.
Some volunteers claimed that it would be difficult to rescue the trapped workers because the firefighters were failing to identify the source of the fire.
The flame could not be doused as of 1:30am today.
Anisur Rahman Raihan, one of the 24 rescued, said those trapped in the debris had severe difficulties breathing inside. We could hear people working outside, but none heard us screaming.
According to firemen, the lack of oxygen was the main threat to the lives of those trapped alive.
Rescue workers are making frantic efforts to save more lives. But they are facing difficulties in speeding up the operation due to the precarious situation the survivors are in. Shortage of equipment is also slowing down their efforts.
Moreover, the presence of the crowd that gathered on the road stretching for more than a kilometre from the collapsed building is badly affecting the rescue job.
Curious people in their thousands came just to have a glimpse of the crumbled building. Others came to help the rescuers or donate blood for the victims in makeshift blood donation centres. Hundreds of others brought in drinking water and saline.
Although the firefighters, army personnel, Rab members and policemen are running the rescue operation, the general people, locals and even outsiders, are also working round the clock.
The road from Hemayetpur to Savar, which was closed yesterday, will remain so until the rescue operation ends.
Babul Mia, a day labourer, is one of them. He joined the rescue efforts around 6:00pm on Wednesday and was seen working side by side with the professional rescuers yesterday evening without any safety gear on.
I pulled out 23 trapped workers and 21 bodies from the rubble, he told The Daily Star.
A strong stench of decomposing bodies is already seeping through the cracks and crevices of the concrete jumble.
Inside a crevice, the corpse of a young man lies on his belly in the dust as if he was in deep sleep.
A girl was rescued around 11:50am by cutting off her hand, which was trapped under the debris. Rescuers later rushed her to a hospital.
Survivors like her are still calling out for help.
A pillar has fallen over me. Someone please save me. Cut my hands to free me, Aftab, another trapped man, cried out as The Daily Star correspondents went near the building in the morning.
Hundreds of relatives and neighbours still wait in the hope that they will get some news about their loved ones. As bodies are pulled out and carried to a nearby school ground, they rush for identification. Photos of dozens of victims are pasted on the boundary walls of the school.
But the relatives have to go from one place to another in desperate search of their loved ones due to the absence of a central coordination team that will keep the records of the victims.
I have been waiting here since yesterday [Wednesday] noon, but I am still clueless about my sisters fate, says Abu Taher, whose red swollen eyes do not produce any more tears.
I went to every clinic here but did not find her. Can you tell me where to go? said Taher, who had come all the way from Mymensingh on hearing of the tragedy.
Some people, agitating at the disaster site, alleged the bodies were being transferred to unknown places. They were shouting for the return of their relatives, dead or alive.
Meanwhile, cracks developed yesterday in another eight-storey building owned by Sohel Rana, owner of Rana Plaza. The building, Rana Tower, which houses business offices, has been closed down.
The cracks developed in a pillar on the ground floor of the building, about half a kilometre from Rana Plaza.
Another six-storey building housing a readymade garment factory Fatema Garments Ltd in nearby Sobhanbagh area developed cracks on its third, fourth and fifth floors.
Local residents forced the building owner, Abdur Rahman, to have it vacated early yesterday, said Anisur Rahman, who runs a medical chamber close to the building near Savar City Centre.
The Upazila Nirbahi Officer and police later visited the building and declared it unsafe.
Meanwhile, the government has formed a five-member committee to investigate the collapse of Rana Plaza.
The committee will probe the reasons for the collapse and find out those responsible for the disaster, said Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir at a press briefing at his secretariat office yesterday.
The minister added the authorities would take action against the Savar UNO if he was found guilty of issuing a no-objection certificate to Rana Plaza. The UNO has no such authority.
Update 27 April 2013 1300 UTC:
Death toll continues to rise; 347 people are confirmed dead so far; many dead bodies to be recovered.
Bangladesh Building Collapse: Five In Custody
Rescuers continue to pull out trapped workers alive more than three days after the factory complex collapsed killing 340 people.
SKY NEWS 11:23am (BST) UK, Saturday 27 April 2013
Rescue crews are still trying to find survivors in the collapsed building
A survivor is pulled out alive on Saturday
Police in Bangladesh have arrested two clothing factory bosses based at the eight-storey building near the capital Dhaka that collapsed killing 340 people.
Two engineers Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali involved in approving the design of the structure have also been detained for questioning.
Junior home minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, the company chairman. It is the largest of the five factories in the complex.
Police have filed a case against them for death due to negligence, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the owners forced the workers to return to work after cracks appeared in the building.
The wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building who has not been seen since the tragedy has also been detained.
(Latest: Owner & MD of 2 garmentfactories are remanded for 12 days each; 2 engineers remanded for 8 days each @ShahbagInfo)
Protesters set fire to furniture from a police control room on Saturday
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked the factories based in the structure to shut down on Wednesday morning, hours before the building came down.
After we got the crack reports we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed, said association president Atiqul Islam.
The arrests came after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of clothing workers who took to the streets on the outskirts of Dhaka to protest over the deaths as clashes also erupted in the southeastern city of Chittagong.
There was no sign of the rescue operation being called off with authorities pledging to continue the search after 19 people were pulled out alive on Saturday more than three days after the building came down.
With time running out to save workers still trapped in the collapsed building, rescuers have been digging through mangled metal and concrete to find more survivors.
The rescued described hearing a loud crack just before the eight-storey building collapsed, with each level pancaking on top of those below.
The building housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.
High street giant Primark confirmed one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.
A Primark spokesman said: The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved.
Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of workers walked out of their factories in solidarity with their dead colleagues.
Some workers leaders attacked Western firms, whom they accused of turning a blind eye while using Bangladeshis as money-making machines.
Clashes reported in Chittagong city, as police detain five over building collapse tragedy that left more than 300 dead.
Al Jazeera Last Modified: 27 Apr 2013 12:05
Protests in Bangladesh have spread to a second city with hundreds of people throwing stones and setting fire to vehicles, as authorities made arrests in connection with the collapse of factory building that killed more than 300 workers.Police said on Saturday they had arrested two owners of the garment business and two engineers involved in approving the design of the shoddily constructed eight-story building which collapsed on Wednesday.Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash, the company chairman.He told reporters that police had also detained the wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, for questioning. The top three floors of the eight-story building were illegally constructed.Everyone involved including the designer, engineer, and builders will be arrested for putting up this defective
building, Haque said.Dhaka police superintendent Habibur Rahman said Rana was a local leader ofruling Awami Leagues youth front.
Officials said Rana Plaza, on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, had been built without the correct permits, and the workers were allowed in on Wednesday despite warnings the previous day that it was structurally unsafe.
Manypulled out alive
At least23 people were pulled out alive from under the tangled mess of concrete, bricks and steel on Saturday, more than 72 hours after the building came down that has claimed the lives of at least 340 people.
The death toll in the factory collapse has risen to 340, but people are still being pulled alive from the rubble [AFP]
We must salute the common people who dared to enter the wreckage to rescue them, as even our professionals didnt dare to take the risk, Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire service, told Reuters.
As many as 900 people could still be missing, police said.
Police in riot gear formed a cordon around the site to keep away hundreds of protesters who have vented their anger at the situation since Wednesday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed there would be justice in the worst tragedy to hit Bangladeshs poorly regulated garment industry that supplies clothes to top Western brand names.
Anger has grown and protests have spread across Bangladesheven as protesters clashed with the police in Savar, thesite of the accident, for the second day.
Worker safety
Police said on Saturday thatclashes haderupted in other parts of Dhaka and in the southeastern city of Chittagong where hundreds of garment workers took to the streets, blocked roads and vandalised vehicles.
Authorities shut garment factories in Dhaka for fear of violence,which has persisted over demands that authorities take stern action against the guilty.
Wednesdays collapse was thesecond major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world.
Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages, and could taint the reputation of the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports.
There is anger over the working conditions of Bangladeshs 3.6 million garment workers most of whom are women -who toil for $38 a month.
Human Rights Watch said the tragedy showed there was an urgent need to improve Bangladeshs protections for worker health and safety.
Source:
Al Jazeera And Agencies
Update 1st May 2013:
Bangladesh building collapse: Death toll passes 400
BBC NEWS 1 May 2013Last updated at 15:11
The BBCs Anbarasan Ethirajan reports from Dhaka on the fallout from last weeks building collapse
The number of people killed in the collapse of a building in Bangladesh which housed garment factories last week has passed 400, officials say.
At least 149 people are still believed to be missing underneath the remains of the eight-storey Rana Plaza in Savar, a town on the outskirts of Dhaka.
At May Day parades in the capital, workers demanded the death penalty for the buildings owner.
The Rana Plaza collapse is the nations worst industrial disaster.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers.
Police officials confirmed on Wednesday that 399 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, and that another three people had died in hospital.
An army general said the list of the missing had been drawn up by local officials and was confirmed by Dhaka district administrator Zillur Rahman Chowdhury.
Earlier estimates had put the figure far higher, but this may have been as a result of duplications. Some 2,500 people were injured in the disaster.
Hang the killers
The building was turned into 600 tons of rubble in the disaster, about 350 tons of which has now been cleared.
The number of people at the main Dhaka protest was put at about 20,000, with other demonstrations in separate parts of the capital and in other cities.
Mass graves are prepared to receive bodies of unidentified garment workers
Some in Dhaka held banners with the words: Hang the killers, Hang the Factory Owners.
One protester blared through a loudspeaker: My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless.
Kamrul Anam, of the Bangladesh Textile and Garments Workers League, said the building collapse was murder, telling AFP: We want the severest punishment possible for those responsible for this tragedy.
The protesters also demanded better working conditions.
Garment worker Mongidul Islam Rana told Associated Press: We want regular salaries, raises and absolutely we want better safety in our factories.
Rana Plaza owner Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of the youth wing of the ruling Awami League party, is in police custody.
A total of eight people have been arrested, including factory owners and engineers, and they have been accused of negligence.
Cracks had appeared in Rana Plaza, in the Savar district, the day before the collapse but the staff were reportedly told to continue work.
Some 350 tons of the 600 tons of rubble has so far been cleared at the Rana Plaza collapse
Many factories have been closed since the disaster, with regular street protests.
On Tuesday night, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged people to return to work.
She said in parliament: I would like to tell the workers to keep their head cool, keep mills and factories operative, otherwise you will end up losing your jobs.
Speaking at his regular morning Mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis called the working conditions of those who died in Bangladesh slave labour.
Not paying a fair wage, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking to make a profit, that goes against God, he said.
Meanwhile, the European Union said it was considering appropriate action to encourage improvements in working conditions in Bangladesh factories.
It said its actions may include the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to EU markets.
Bangladeshs garment industry makes up almost 80% of the countrys annual exports provides employment to about four million people.
However, it has faced criticism over low pay and limited rights given to workers, and for the often dangerous working conditions in factories.
Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 700
7 May 2013Last updated at 08:14 GMT/UTC
Rescue officials say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing after the disaster
The death toll from the collapse of an eight-storey factory building near the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has passed 700, officials say.
The announcement came after workers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble. Many people are still missing.
Several people, including the buildings owner, have been arrested.
The collapse of the Rana Plaza on 24 April stands as Bangladeshs worst industrial disaster. It sparked outrage among workers in the country.
The previous most deadly structural failure in modern times excluding the 9/11 terror attacks in New York was the Sampoong department store in Seoul, South Korea, in 1995, in which 502 people died.
The death toll from Bangladesh now stands at 705. Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and that 2,437 people have been rescued.
Rescue officials also say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing as factory owners have not given them precise figures.
Working conditions
It came as hundreds of garment workers who survived the collapse protested by blocking a highway close to the accident site demanding unpaid wages and benefits.
Reports say many of them were working in some of the factories housed in the illegally constructed building.
Local government administrator Yousuf Harun told the Associated Press news agency that they are working with a garment industry body to ensure the workers are paid.
The disaster put the spotlight on conditions in the countrys garment sector.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers.
The EU has said it is considering appropriate action to encourage an improvement in working conditions in Bangladesh factories.
This includes the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to markets in member states.
On Monday the government announced a panel that would inspect garment factories for building flaws.
A fire in a garment factory in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has killed at least eight people, police say.
Officials said the blaze happened overnight in the Mirpur industrial district.
It came with the issue of industrial safety in Bangladesh under intense scrutiny after the collapse of an eight-storey building last month.
On Thursday officials confirmed that at least 912 people had died in that disaster.
Reports suggested that a police officer and the owner of the factory were among the eight killed in Wednesdays blaze.
They were believed to be holding a meeting in the 11-storey building, which belongs to garment exporter Tung Hai Group, when the fire broke out.
It was a big fire but we managed to confine it on one floor, Mahbubur Rahman, operations director of Bangladeshs fire service, told AFP news agency.
The victims had suffocated after becoming overwhelmed by toxic smoke from burnt acrylic clothing, he said.
Fire officials said it took around two hours to tame the blaze.
Most of the workers had already gone home when the fire started, reports said.
It is not clear to us how the accident happened, but we are trying to find out the cause, Mohammad Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters news agency.
Regulations ignored
Two weeks ago Bangladesh was hit by its biggest industrial disaster, with the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24 April, which provoked outrage among workers.
The search for bodies is continuing at the complex, where there were several garment factories.
Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and 2,437 people were rescued.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh announced a shutdown of 18 garment factories for safety reasons.
We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations, the Bangladeshi textile minister, Abdul Latif Siddique, told reporters.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some clothes produced in the Rana Plaza building were made for Western retailers.
The industry employs about four million people and contributes almost 80% of the countrys annual exports. However, it has faced criticism over low pay and the often dangerous working conditions in factories.
Update 10 May 2013:
MIRACLE IN BANGLADESH – Woman Found Alive After 17 Days
(Photo: Sky News) Bangladesh building collapse: Reshma Begum found alive after 17 days trapped under rubble as rescuers were about to call off the search
“Workers clearing a collapsed building site in Bangladesh rescue a woman from the rubble of a Muslim prayer room in the complex.
Rescuers in Bangladesh have found a survivor in the rubble of a clothing factory that collapsed 17 days ago.
Bangladeshi television channels broadcast live footage of emergency service workers pulling the woman out from the debris, as onlookers burst into cheers.
The woman, called Reshma Begum, 19, was discovered on the second floor of the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in the capital Dhaka, where crews had been focusing on recovering bodies, not rescuing survivors, for much of the past two weeks.
“I heard voices of the rescue workers for the past several days.
“I kept hitting the wreckage with sticks and rods just to attract their attention,” she told a TV company from her hospital bed.
The woman is carried by rescuers to an ambulance on a stretcher
“No one heard me. It was so bad for me. I never dreamed I’d see the daylight again,” she said.
“There was some dried food around me. I ate the dried food for 15 days. The last two days I had nothing but water. I used to drink only a limited quantity of water to save it. I had some bottles of water around me,” she said.
She was discovered in the wreckage of a Muslim prayer room in the building and army officials immediately ordered the cranes and bulldozers to stop work.
Once Reshma finally got their attention, the crews ordered the cranes and bulldozers to immediately stop work and used handsaws and welding and drilling equipment to cut through the iron rod and debris still trapping her.
Rescuers have been using diggers to move debris from the site
They gave her water, oxygen and saline as they worked to free her, using handsaws to cut through the rubble, as hundreds of people who had been engaged in the grim job of removing decomposing bodies from the site, raised their hands together in prayer.
“Allah, you are the greatest, you can do anything. Please allow us all to rescue the survivor just found,” said a man on a loudspeaker leading the prayers. “We seek apology for our sins. Please pardon us, pardon the person found alive.”
Abdur Razzak, a warrant officer with the military’s engineering department who first spotted her in the wreckage, said she was in a remarkably good condition and could even walk.
“She was fine, no injuries. She was just trapped. The space was wide,” said Lt Col Moyeen, an army official at the scene.
The building was in Savar, near the capital, Dhaka
Reshma told her rescuers there were no more survivors in her area. Workers began tearing through the nearby rubble anyway, hoping to find another person alive.
Sky’s Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lisa Holland said: “What’s really remarkable about the story … is that the authorities had said that they were going to call off the search for survivors at the end of today and send the bulldozers in as from tomorrow.
“So, with the clock against them, they heard the remarkable cries for help of this woman who somehow had become trapped between a fallen beam and a column and that somehow gave her some sort of pocketed protection and enabled her to survive for 17 days.”
More than 2,500 people have been rescued in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. However, the death toll has now risen to more than 1,000.
The collapse is already the world’s deadliest garment industry disaster and one of the worst industrial accidents.
The disaster has raised alarm about the often deadly working conditions in Bangladesh’s $20bn (£13bn) garment industry, which provides clothing for major retailers around the globe.” – Sky News
Bangladeshi rescuers have found a woman survivor in the rubble of a garment factory complex which collapsed and killed more than 1,000 people on April 24, the country’s fire service chief told AFP news agency.
One of the rescuers said that the woman had cried out for help as recovery teams sifted through the wreckage more than 16 days after the nine-storey Rana Plaza complex collapsed on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
“As we were clearing rubble, we called out if anyone was alive,” the unnamed rescuer told the private Somoy TV channel.
Army officials ordered workers to stop clearing the site Friday as they tried to free a person they said might still be alive.
More than 2,500 people were rescued in the immediate aftermath of the building collapse.
Twitter: For latest information follow @ShahbagInfo
Transfer of the casualty from the beach to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary via RAF helicopter (Photo: RNLI/James Donnell)
Morecambes RNLI team were requested to assist the North West Ambulance Service this afternoon in recovering a horse rider with spinal injuries stranded after being thrown from her horse. The incident occurred near Hest Bank, Morecambe.
Morecambes volunteer RNLI crew members were paged by Liverpool Coastguard at 15:50pm onSaturday 20th April 2013 after Liverpool Coastguard received a 999 call from the riders friend who was out on the sands.
Immediately the Morecambe RNLI Inshore Rescue Hovercraft The Hurley Flyer was tasked to the area along with the Morecambe and Arnside Coastguard Rescue Teams to support the North West Ambulance Service. An RAF Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley, Anglesey also attended the scene.
The person had been riding approximately a mile from shore when she had fallen from the horse, injuring her back.
Upon arrival on scene Morecambes RNLI Inshore Rescue Hovercraft crew assisted the RAF and ambulance service paramedics in transferring the casualty from the beach to the Sea King helicopter. Once the person had been stabilised she was immediately transferred to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.
Today (Monday 15 April), the RNLI is announcing five more RNLI lifeboat stations earmarked to receive the charity’s latest and most advanced class of lifeboat – the Shannon class – which is 50% faster than the lifeboats it will replace.
(Photo: maritimejournal.com) Shannon class Lifeboat
RNLI Lifeboat Stations Amble in Northumberland, Douglas on the Isle of Man, Workington in West Cumbria, Fleetwood in Lancashire and Wells in Norfolk have been earmarked to receive the Shannon, as their current all-weather lifeboats are reaching the end of their planned 25-year life span. Fleetwood will be in receipt of the Shannon in 2015, Douglas, Wells and Workington in 2016 and Amble in 2017.
(Photo: exmouthjournal.co.uk)
Each new Shannon class lifeboat costs £2M and the RNLI is currently working to identify whether the funding for the new lifeboats, their launch and recovery vehicles and associated shoreworks (if needed) can be raised from legacy gifts or whether fundraising activity is needed. The RNLI will make a local announcement once the funding strategy has been identified.
(Photo: theengineer.co.uk)
The Shannon is the first modern RNLI all-weather lifeboat to operate with water jets, not propellers. Capable of 25 knots, the Shannon is 50% faster than the classes it has been designed to replace, which have a lower maximum speed of 17 knots. The Shannon class will also improve safety for the charity’s volunteer crews, thanks to its shock absorbing seats and on-board computer system, which allows the crews to operate and monitor the lifeboat from the safety of their seats.
(Photo: exmouthjournal.co.uk)
Michael Vlasto, RNLI Operations Director says:
‘I have had the privilege of being involved with the RNLI for over 38 years. In that time I have witnessed great advances in the charity’s lifeboats and seen many new vessels arrive on station. However, I have never seen our volunteer crews quite as excited as they are about the Shannon. This all-weather lifeboat is half as fast again as the lifeboats it has been designed to replace and using water jet propulsion, the manoeuvrability is exceptional. Most importantly though, the Shannon has been carefully developed with the safety of the volunteer crews at the very heart of the design, allowing them to shave life-saving moments off the time it takes to reach those in trouble at sea.’
(Photo: RNLI)
The Shannon has been developed by the RNLI’s in-house team of naval architects, marine engineers and operators to replace the majority of Mersey and some remaining Tyne class lifeboats as they reach the end of their operational life (subject to the RNLI’s 5yr-rolling review of lifesaving assets). Once the Shannon is rolled out across the UK and Ireland, this class of lifeboat will make up a third of the RNLI all-weather lifeboat fleet, at which point the RNLI will have reached its aim of operating a 25 knot all-weather lifeboat fleet.
(Photo: RNLI)
The majority of the 50+ Shannon class lifeboats to be stationed throughout the UK and Ireland will be built at the RNLI’s new All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, which is currently under construction. Bringing all-weather lifeboat production in-house, will save the charity £3.7M annually.
(Photo: iwitness24.co.uk)
• To date (April 2013) the RNLI can confirm that it plans to provide the following stations with a Shannon class lifeboat: Amble, Douglas, Dungeness, Exmouth, Fleetwood, Hoylake, Ilfracombe, Llandudno, Lowestoft, Montrose, Scarborough, Skegness, Selsey, St Ives, Swanage, Wells and Workington. All other stations are yet to be confirmed.
• The Shannon is designed to lie afloat or launched and recovered from a beach using a bespoke launch and recovery vehicle (L&RV), which has been designed in conjunction with Supacat Ltd. It operates in many different beach and sea conditions and allows a faster launch and recovery time compared with the Mersey system (10 and 25 minutes respectively on average) thanks to a turntable system which cradles and rotates the lifeboat ready for its next launch. Every L&RV costs £1.5M.
• The naming of the Shannon class follows in a 45-year tradition of naming the charity’s lifeboats after rivers or stretches of water, but it will be the first time that the name of an Irish river has been used, which reflects the fact that our volunteers save lives at sea around Ireland and the UK.
• Replaced lifeboats are sold to other rescue organisations, private companies or individuals. The RNLI sells old lifeboats to fellow members of the International Lifeboat Federation around the world, including Iceland, Finland, Chile and Madeira. The money raised helps the RNLI to meet its aims.
• More information on the new Shannon class lifeboat can be found online: http://www.rnli.org/newlifeboatappeal
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. Our volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland from 236 lifeboat stations, including four along the River Thames and inland lifeboat stations at Loch Ness, Lough Derg, Enniskillen and Lough Ree. Additionally the RNLI has more than 1,000 lifeguards on over 180 beaches around the UK and operates a specialist flood rescue team, which can respond anywhere across the UK and Ireland when inland flooding puts lives at risk.
The RNLI relies on public donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. As a charity it is separate from, but works alongside, government-controlled and funded coastguard services. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 our lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved at least 140,000 lives. Volunteers make up 95% of the charity, including 4,600 volunteer lifeboat crew members and 3,000 volunteer shore crew. Additionally, tens of thousands of other dedicated volunteers raise funds and awareness, give safety advice, and help in our museums, shops and offices.
“A Lion Air plane carrying 108 people has crashed into the sea after overshooting the runway as it came into land at Balis Denpasar International Airport.
Officials said that all passengers and crew were safe, although at least seven people had been taken to Denpasars Sanglah Hospital with head wounds and broken bones. (BBC: 15 injured taken to hospital)
Many passengers arrived with wet clothes and bruises.
The Boeing 737-800 had been attempting to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport at about 3.50pm local time (5.50pm AEST) on Saturday when it overshot the runway.
Photographs shown on Indonesian television showed the planes fuselage had split into two parts just behind its wings, and the plane half submerged in shallow water.
Andis, a passenger who was on the flight, said there was a loud bang as the plane hit the water, prompting panic.
I looked down. It was suddenly sea, Andis said.
I realised that the plane was flying too low, but we still stayed calm until we heard a bang. There was panic.
A spokeswoman with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said efforts were being made to find out whether any Australians were on the flight.
The Australian Consulate-General in Bali is making urgent inquiries to determine whether any Australian citizens may have been involved in air crash is Bali on Saturday afternoon, the spokeswoman said.
At this time we are not aware that there are any Australian victims.
The Lion Air fight 904 was due to arrive at Denpasar at 3.40pm local time (5.40pm AEST) after leaving from Bandung about two hours earlier.
Initial reports suggested there were about 130 people on the flight.
But Eko Diantoro, an official from Bandung Airport, later said the flight manifest showed that the plane was carrying 101 passengers, including five children and one baby, as well as seven crew.
Lion Air commercial director Edward Sirait confirmed that some passengers had been taken to a hospital in Denpasar.
All passengers and crew are safe, 101 passengers and seven crew. Theyve been taken to the nearest hospital, he said.
Mr Sirait said that the plane was new, and began operating last year.
The plane is Boeing 737-800 NG, Next Generation. Its a new one, a 2012 product, he said.
Lion Air started operating in 2000 and services more than 36 destinations, mostly in Indonesia.
The airline last month agreed to buy 234 Airbus planes and announced that it planned to target new routes in Asia, as well as a venture in Australia.”” – afr.com
“BALI, Indonesia A Lion Air plane carrying more than 100 passengers and crew overshot a runway on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday and crashed into the sea, injuring nearly two dozen people, officials said.
I Made Krisna Maharta, an official with Balis search and rescue agency, said all of the passengers and crew were safely rescued and that 22 people were taken to three different hospitals with various injuries. He said initial reports showed there were 101 passengers and seven crew members aboard the plane.” - wapo
The RNLI has announced that Clifden lifeboat station in county Galway is to receive an all-weather class lifeboat for a trial period of 12 months. It will operate in conjunction with an existing inshore lifeboat service.
Mersey class lifeboat (Photo credit: RNLI)
The decision which will see the volunteer crew take delivery of a carriage launched Mersey class lifeboat, was made this week when the charitys Trustees accepted the recommendation of its Operations Committee. It follows an in-depth review of lifeboat cover in the area.
(Photo: Dennis Smith/wikimedia.org) Example of a Mersey class lifeboat on carriage Wells lifeboat Doris M. Mann of Ampthill ON1161, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.
The RNLI carries out a five yearly review of lifeboat stations, looking at the incidents they launch to and the changing pattern of marine activities to ensure the existing and future lifeboat coverage is appropriate.
All-weather lifeboats can be operated safely in all-weather while inshore lifeboats usually operate closer to shore, in shallower water, close to cliffs, among rocks or even in caves.
Introduced as the RNLIs first fast carriage lifeboat, the Mersey class has a top speed of 17 knots. Designed to operate from a carriage, slipway or lie afloat, this class of lifeboat is also capable of being self-righted in challenging conditions. The Mersey which can carry a lifeboat crew of six also has an X boat aboard, a small unpowered and manually launched inflatable daughter boat to allow the crew to access areas where the lifeboat cannot reach.
Last year, Clifden RNLI launched eight times bringing seven people to safety. Of those launches, two services were in the dark. In all, some 82 service hours were spent at sea.
A lifeboat station was established in Clifden in early 1988 and the station currently operates two inshore lifeboats.
Responding to the announcement, John Brittain, Clifden RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: We are delighted that the trustees have decided to trial an all-weather lifeboat at Clifden to be co-located with our existing inshore lifeboat service. The new boat will allow us to provide lifesaving cover in all weathers up to 100 miles off the Connemara coast. This is a significant investment by the RNLI and we are excited to be trialling a Mersey class lifeboat.
Meanwhile, Owen Medland, RNLI Divisional Operations Manager said: Our charitys priority is to save lives at sea and by conducting regular reviews of lifeboat cover around our coastline, we can ensure we provide the best possible search and rescue service.
After careful scrutiny, the RNLI feels that an all-weather lifeboat may be suited to the service launches that Clifden volunteers get tasked to. The co-location of the new lifeboat for a trial period of 12 months will allow us to assess the long-term value for this type of lifeboat while ensuring that any change at Clifden means the right type, balance and capability of the lifeboats are operating in this location to respond to emergencies.
The timescale for the arrival of the all-weather lifeboat has yet to be confirmed but will coincide with the training of the volunteer lifeboat crew to meet the demands of the new vessel.
Mersey-class lifeboat
(From Wikipedia)
Mersey class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. They are capable of operating at up to 17 knots (31km/h) and can be launched from a carriage.
The class name comes from the River Mersey which flows into the Irish Sea in north west England.
History
During the 1960s and 1970s the RNLI introduced fast lifeboats capable of considerable greater speeds than the 8 knots (15km/h) of existing designs. The first of these were only able to be kept afloat as their propellers would be damaged if launched using a slipway or carriage. In 1982 the steel-hulled Tyne-class came into service which could be launched down a slipway but weighed 25 tons so was not suitable for being moved across a beach on a carriage. The answer was to build a smaller boat with an aluminium hull, which became the Mersey Class.[1]
The first, unnamed, Mersey was built in 1986 and undertook trails during 1987 and 1988. It was then taken out of service and sold the following year. It was working as a trip boat in Westport, County Mayo in 2008 carrying the name Spirit. Two more boats were built in 1988, with the first one to take up active service going to Bridlington Lifeboat Station the following year.[2]
In 1989 12-11 Lifetime Care was built with a fibre-reinforced composite (FRC) hull. Boats built in 1990 continued to use aluminium but from 1991 FRC became the standard hull material.[3][2]
Description
The Mersey is designed to be launched from a carriage, but can also lie afloat or be slipway launched when required. Its propellers are fully protected from damage when launching or in shallow water by partial tunnels and two bilge keels. Its low height can be further reduced by collapsing its mast and aerials which then allows it to be stored in a boathouse. A sealed cabin gives it a self-righting ability.
Power comes from two Caterpillar 285hp turbo-charged engines. It carries 1,110 litres (290USgal) of fuel to give it a range of 240 nautical miles (440km). It has a crew of six and can carry a X Boat inflatable which it can deploy at sea. Its survivor compartment can carry 43 people, but more than 21 prevents self-righting should the boat capsize.[3][4]
“A GROUP of 14 asylum seekers has been rescued by fishermen in Indonesia after their boat sank in the Sunda Strait on its way to Australia, but at least five others are believed to have drowned.
(Image: wikipedia.org) Sunda Strait (Click image for source)
There are also fresh details about the unfolding tragedy with one of the survivors revealing that boat actually sank on Wednesday, and not on Friday morning as initially reported by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
Habibullah Hashimi, one of 14 men plucked from the water by fishermen off the coast of Sukabumi in West Java, said he was in the water for about 24 hours before help finally came.
The 29-year-old said there were 72 people aboard the vessel. All were ethnic Hazara from Afghanistan.
At least five asylum seekers had perished, Mr Hashimi said.
The death toll could rise further.
”The ship just broke,” he told AAP.
”We saw about five people dead. They were in the water.”
Mr Hashimi’s group had linked arms as they struggled to survive.
”The sea kept moving us around,” he said.
Mr Hashimi, who was on Friday afternoon recuperating in Bogor, also confirmed that the boat sank at about 8am on Wednesday.
The development came after a spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) initially reported that a boat may have sunk in the Sunda Strait at about midnight (3am AEST) on Friday.
”A people-smuggling vessel may have sunk in or near the Sunda Strait around 3am AEST today. Some passengers may have been rescued by a fishing vessel,” the spokeswoman said earlier on Friday.
The information was in turn passed on to the Indonesian national search and rescue agency BASARNAS.
But BASARNAS was unable to locate the area where the incident was believed to have occurred, prompting a scramble for information.
Provincial search and rescue offices in Jakarta and Lampung on the island of Sumatra also had little idea of what had happened, or where to look for survivors.
”We don’t have the coordinates for the area where we could search. Do you have that information? Please share it with us,” an officer with the Jakarta search and rescue office said when contacted by AAP.
”We only received information from BASARNAS that it’s in south of Sunda Strait and they’ve been rescued by local fishermen. But where is it? We’re now contacting local ports and others if they have such information.”
And Indonesia still hasn’t launched a rescue mission because the location of the sunken vessel hasn’t been found.
The search and rescue authorities were criticised last August when more than 100 asylum seekers drowned when their boat foundered in the Sunda Strait.
An aerial search was not launched until more than six hours after a distress call was received by the AMSA.
It was almost 24 hours before the first survivors were pulled from the water.
Hundreds of asylum seekers have perished in recent years while making the perilous crossing from Indonesia to Christmas Island.” – news.com.au
“JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said on Friday it was investigating a report from Australian authorities that an asylum seeker boat carrying scores of people may have sunk.
“We received information there were 72 people on board, and that 14 have been rescued by fishermen” after the vessel sank in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands early Friday, said agency official Tatang Zaenudin.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement it had passed information to the Indonesian authorities that a boat may have gone down in the strait, but it had not been requested to provide assistance.
A seven-strong team was heading by road to the Sukabumi area, in West Java, where those rescued were believed to have been taken, Indonesian officials said.” – straitstimes.com
Indonesian:
“Sebuah GROUP dari 14 pencari suaka telah diselamatkan oleh nelayan di Indonesia setelah kapal mereka tenggelam di Selat Sunda dalam perjalanan ke Australia, tapi setidaknya lima orang lainnya diyakini telah tenggelam.
File: Selat Sunda peta v3.png
(Gambar: wikipedia.org)
Selat Sunda
(Klik gambar untuk sumber)
Ada juga rincian baru tentang tragedi berlangsung dengan salah satu korban mengungkapkan kapal yang benar-benar tenggelam pada Rabu, dan bukan pada Jumat pagi sebagai awalnya dilaporkan oleh Otoritas Keselamatan Maritim Australia (AMSA).
Habibullah Hashimi, salah satu dari 14 pria dipetik dari air oleh nelayan di lepas pantai Sukabumi di Jawa Barat, mengatakan ia berada di air selama sekitar 24 jam sebelum bantuan akhirnya datang.
The 29-tahun itu mengatakan ada 72 orang di kapal. Semua adalah etnis Hazara dari Afghanistan.
Setidaknya lima pencari suaka telah tewas, Mr Hashimi kata.
Jumlah korban tewas bisa meningkat lebih lanjut.
” Kapal hanya patah,” katanya kepada AAP.
” Kami melihat sekitar lima orang tewas. Mereka berada di air.”
Kelompok Mr Hashimi telah dihubungkan lengan saat mereka berjuang untuk bertahan hidup.
” Laut terus bergerak kami berkeliling,” katanya.
Mr Hashimi, yang berada di memulihkan diri hari Jumat sore di Bogor, juga menegaskan bahwa perahu tenggelam di sekitar 8 pagi pada hari Rabu.
Perkembangan datang setelah seorang juru bicara dari Otoritas Keselamatan Maritim Australia (AMSA) awalnya melaporkan bahwa perahu mungkin telah tenggelam di Selat Sunda di sekitar tengah malam (3 am AEST) pada hari Jumat.
” Sebuah penyelundupan manusia kapal mungkin telah tenggelam di atau dekat Selat Sunda sekitar 3 am AEST hari. Beberapa penumpang mungkin telah diselamatkan oleh sebuah kapal penangkap ikan,” kata juru bicara sebelumnya pada hari Jumat.
Informasi itu pada gilirannya diteruskan ke pencarian nasional Indonesia dan BASARNAS penyelamatan lembaga.
Tapi BASARNAS tidak dapat menemukan daerah di mana insiden itu diyakini telah terjadi, memicu perebutan informasi.
Pencarian provinsi dan kantor penyelamatan di Jakarta dan Lampung di pulau Sumatera juga memiliki sedikit gagasan tentang apa yang telah terjadi, atau di mana untuk mencari korban yang selamat.
” Kami tidak memiliki koordinat untuk daerah di mana kita bisa mencari. Apakah Anda memiliki informasi itu? Silakan berbagi dengan kami,” kata seorang perwira dengan pencarian Jakarta dan kantor penyelamatan saat dihubungi oleh AAP.
” Kami hanya menerima informasi dari BASARNAS bahwa itu di selatan Selat Sunda dan mereka telah diselamatkan oleh nelayan setempat. Tapi di mana itu? Kami sekarang menghubungi pelabuhan lokal dan lain-lain jika mereka memiliki informasi tersebut.”
Dan Indonesia masih belum meluncurkan misi penyelamatan karena lokasi kapal tenggelam belum ditemukan.
Pihak berwenang pencarian dan penyelamatan dikritik Agustus lalu ketika lebih dari 100 pencari suaka tenggelam ketika perahu mereka kandas di Selat Sunda.
Sebuah pencarian udara belum diluncurkan sampai lebih dari enam jam setelah panggilan darurat diterima oleh AMSA tersebut.
Itu hampir 24 jam sebelum korban pertama ditarik dari air.
Ratusan pencari suaka telah tewas dalam beberapa tahun terakhir sementara membuat persimpangan berbahaya dari Indonesia ke Pulau Christmas “- news.com.au.
“JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia pencarian dan penyelamatan lembaga Jumat mengatakan pihaknya sedang menyelidiki laporan dari pemerintah Australia bahwa pencari suaka kapal yang membawa puluhan orang mungkin telah tenggelam.
“Kami menerima informasi ada 72 orang di kapal, dan 14 telah diselamatkan oleh nelayan” setelah kapal tenggelam di Selat Sunda antara pulau Jawa dan Sumatera Jumat pagi, kata lembaga resmi Tatang Zaenudin.
The Maritime Safety Authority Australia (AMSA) mengatakan dalam sebuah pernyataan bahwa pihaknya telah menyampaikan informasi kepada pihak berwenang Indonesia bahwa perahu mungkin sudah turun di selat tersebut, tapi belum diminta untuk memberikan bantuan.
Sebuah tim tujuh yang kuat sedang menuju melalui jalan darat ke daerah Sukabumi, Jawa Barat, di mana mereka diselamatkan diyakini telah diambil, para pejabat Indonesia mengatakan “-. Straitstimes.com
One of the Lagos State popular markets, Alade Market, Ikeja, was on Sunday engulfed in flames .
Although the cause of the inferno could not be established as of press time, eyewitnesses told our correspondents that the fire was extensive.
Alade is popular in Lagos for its bureau-de-change activities and boutiques.
Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Razaq Fadipe, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that officials of the service were battling to put out the fire.
He said, “We got a distress call this evening that Alade Market was on fire. We have deployed a team from Alausa station to the place. The fire is extensive, but as I am talking to you, we are working hard to put it out.”
Also, a source in the state Emergency Management Agency said LASEMA had mobilised its officials and were at the scene of the inferno to assist in…
Five people died and 53 others injured when a tour bus travelling from Udon Thani to Chiang Mai plunged down a roadside cliff in Phitsanulok early Monday, police said.
The bus, with the Udon Thani licence plate No 30-0365, belonged to Jakkrapong Tour company.
Pol Capt Saneh Promrat, duty officer at Nakhon Thai police station, said the vehicle was heading to Chiang Mai,about 650 kilometres north of Bangkok.
The driver lost control and it plunged down a roadside cliff on the Nakhon Thai – Dan Sai road in Phitsanulok’s Nakhon Thai district about 2am.
One of the five people who died was a foreign woman tourist named as Marain Sofie, 21, a Belgian national. The four others were Thais – two women, one man named as Pornsak Sawekwong, 33, and a baby boy, Chaimongkol Charoensaen, aged seven months.
Thirty-nine of the injured were taken to Dan Sai hospital and 11 others were taken to Nakhon Thai Crown Prince hospital.
One of the injured passengers is a foreign woman tourist named as Magdalena Jaworska, who is four months pregnant.
The bus driver is among the injured. Police have not yet released his name.
Rescue units took over two hours to extricate the bus passengers from the mangled wreckage at the bottom of the ravine and send them to hospitals.
Pol Capt Saneh said the cause of the fatal accident was being investigated. It was possible the tour bus had a brake problem.
Monday, 08 April, 2013 at 06:59 (06:59 AM) UTC RSOE
Extract from bangkokpost.com:
5 die, 53 hurt in bus cliff plunge
“…”The bus had problems with its brakes and was speeding before it crashed over the cliff,”Pol Capt Sanehsaid.
Passengers had smelled something burning and the driver, who is also in a critical condition, had stopped to try and fix the problem before the crash, he said.”
A new series of Helicopter Rescue lands on BBC One Wales on 8 April and viewers will be able to experience the drama and suspense of thrilling rescue footage featuring… More information
(Photo: news.com.au) Firefighters take pictures of the Lamma IV passenger boat, with the back end of the vessel badly damaged after a collision, near the shores of Hong Kong’s Lamma island.
Thirty-one people were injured in a collision between a passenger ferry and another vessel off Hong Kong island late Friday, police said, in the latest accident to hit the city’s frenetic waters.
“The ferry crashed with another ship. Right now the injured people have been transported to the dock,” a police spokeswoman said, adding that 11 of the injured had been admitted to hospital.
The ferry, which was bound for the island of Cheung Chau, reached its destination but police were unable to provide details about the status of the other vessel, thought to be a barge.
Thirty-eight people were killed and scores injured when a ferry collided with a pleasure boat in October, Hong Kong’s worst maritime disaster in 40 years which raised questions about safety in one of the world’s busiest harbours.
Researchers say that while it remains one of the world’s safest ports, increased vessel traffic and risks associated with land reclamation works along the harbour front call for urgent government attention.
A government report into the October collision, which occurred near Lamma island, is due later this month.
Saturday, 06 April, 2013 at 04:00 (04:00 AM) UTC RSOE
News Reports
Thirty injured as Cheung Chau ferry collides with barge
(Photo: scmp.com) Members of the St John’s Ambulance wait at Cheung Chau ferry pier
New World First vessel collides with barge in foggy conditions on way to Cheung Chau
More than 30 people were injured when a passenger ferry collided with a barge as it approached Cheung Chau last night.
At least three passengers on the New World First Ferry vessel sailing from Central to the island were seriously injured, the company told Cable TV. At least one of the injured was late last night being returned to the city for treatment.
It was the first major collision at sea since the deadly National Day crash off Lamma Island last year, which claimed 39 lives.
A New World First Ferry spokeswoman told TVB: “Our vessel hit a barge Most injured passengers sustained minor injuries – only one or two have more serious injuries.”
Our vessel hit a barge Most injured passengers sustained minor injuries – only one or two have more serious injuries
New World First Ferry spokeswoman
The vessels collided in waters south of Hei Ling Chau shortly after 9.30pm, police said. The impact damaged the ferry’s bow.
The First Ferry III, left Central at 9pm and headed for Cheung Chau, a New World spokeswoman said.
Cheung Chau resident Martin Williams said a friend who was on the ferry told him he “couldn’t tell where the ferry was, as the fog was so thick, and wasn’t even really sure which harbour they had entered”.
Cheung Chau Rural Committee chairman Yung Chi-ming, who inspected the ferry when it reached Cheung Chau, said the bow of the vessel had been hit.
Passengers in the front rows were thrown from their seats and down the stairs, said Islands district councillor Lee Kwai-chun, who was on board. “Some were bleeding from injuries to their mouths and necks,” Lee said.
A passenger who was speaking by phone an hour after the collision said a relative was still bleeding from his forehead. “It was a big crash,” he said. ” Some passengers were thrown out of their seats.”
Lee said there might have been water coming into a compartment, but a watertight door had “worked”. The captain had asked passengers to put on their life jackets after the collision, she said. Pictures circulating online showed passengers wearing life jackets as they sat in the ferry waiting to be rescued.
At least 35 people were killed by flooding overnight in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, the governor said Wednesday, bringing the overall death toll from days of torrential rains to at least 41 and leaving large stretches of the provincial capital under water.
Gov. Daniel Scioli said many people drowned after trying to take shelter in their cars in Tolosa, an area of the provincial capital of La Plata.
Heavy rains had killed at least six people in the nation’s capital of Buenos Aires the day before. Cars were flooded to their rooftops and rainwater flowed over the windowsills into many houses in La Plata.
People waded out of their neighborhoods through chest-high water, and police and neighbors teamed up using rubber motorboats to evacuate families and pets to higher ground. “Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted.
We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes,” Scioli said. La Plata “has never seen anything equal” to this disaster.
The rains also flooded the country’s largest refinery, causing a fire that took hours to put out.
The La Plata refinery has suspended operations as a result, and Argentina’s YPF oil company said it has an emergency team evaluating how to get it restarted again.
The rains – almost 16 inches (400 millimeters) in about two hours – hit provincial La Plata after causing widespread flooding and power outages and killing six people in the city of Buenos Aires the day before.
“We lost family heirlooms, appliances, clothing,” said Natalia Lescano, who escaped with her family to a friend’s house on higher ground. She said they had to get out by themselves, and complained that authorities weren’t doing enough to rescue people.
About four more inches (100 millimeters more) of rain were expected before the bad weather passes on Thursday, the national weather service said.
At least 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes in the La Plata area, which is about 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of Argentina’s capital.
National Planning Minister Julio de Vido said about 280,000 people remained without power in the city and surrounding province of Buenos Aires, where most Argentines live.
“Our job is focused on restoring service, but we’re going to wait until the equipment dries to guarantee the safety of the electricity workers, because we don’t want any deaths,” De Vido said.
The flooding threatened to ruin food supplies across La Plata’s metropolitan area, which has nearly 1 million people.
“There’s no power in nearly the entire city,” Casals said, adding that the flooding “wiped out the downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods such as Tolosa, Elvira, Los Hornos, with as much as 2 meters (more than 6 feet) of water, and people are on their roofs.”
Many of the evacuees slept in their cars overnight. Transportation and business of all kinds in the city were at a standstill.
YPF said no injuries were caused by the refinery fire, which it blamed on “an extraordinary accumulation of rainwater and power outages in the entire refinery complex.”
The impact on Argentina’s chronically short fuel supplies wasn’t immediately clear.
The six killed in Buenos Aires included a subway worker who was electrocuted and an elderly woman who drowned inside her home.
Many still had standing water in homes, basements, parking lots and storage rooms on Wednesday.
The governments of President Cristina Fernandez and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri sought to blame each other for the chaos, and the nation’s divided media focused their coverage in ways that put one side or the other in the worst light.
Macri said Wednesday that the only solution is for the constantly warring governments to work together on expensive and long-term public works projects, creating huge underground drainage pipes to carry increasingly common torrential rains out to the Rio de la Plata.
Wednesday, 03 April, 2013 at 18:45 UTC RSOE
News Reports
Argentina floods ‘catastrophe’ for La Plata, Buenos Aires
BBC NEWS 5 April 2013 Last updated at 02:00
In La Plata alone, 50 people are known to have died
Emergency workers in Argentina continue to try to rescue residents stranded by flooding in Buenos Aires and La Plata.
More than 50 people are known to have died after one of the heaviest storms recorded caused flash floods.
Thousands were evacuated from their homes and dozens are still stranded on rooftops, treetops and the roofs of city buses, local media report.
The government has declared three days of national mourning after what it called “an unprecedented catastrophe”.
‘Death trap’
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” provincial governor Daniel Scioli said.
“People were taken by surprise, and some didn’t have time to escape this deadly trap,” Mr Scioli said, referring to the speed with which the waters rose.
Provincial officials said 40cm (16in) of rain fell on the city of La Plata in the space of two hours late on Tuesday night.
Earlier, the storm had dumped 15cm of rainfall on the capital, Buenos Aires.
Local officials said at least 48 people were killed in La Plata, six in Buenos Aires and two in its suburbs. The Red Cross said most of the victims had been elderly people who drowned in their homes.
So far, only half of the bodies have been identified and rescue workers fear the number of dead may rise as more bodies are found as the flood waters recede.
Fear of looting
Firefighter Federico Langone said in some areas of La Plata, the flood waters had reached a height of 1.5m (5ft).
The president visited some of the worst affected areas
More than 3,000 people had to leave their homes and 80,000 still do not have electricity, with two of La Plata’s hospitals also affected by the power cuts.
On Wednesday night, some of La Plata’s residents set up roadblocks to “protect their neighbourhoods from looters”.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Wednesday visited Tolosa, the worst affected neighbourhood of La Plata, where she grew up and where her mother still lives.
Ms Fernandez acknowledged residents’ fears and promised to increase security.
Before her arrival, dozens of people had looted a supermarket. Three police officers were injured in scuffles with people trying to break into two other supermarkets.
Officials said 400 extra police officers and soldiers would be deployed to La Plata.
Clean-up
In Buenos Aires, where the rains had been at their worst overnight Monday to Tuesday, the floods have begun to recede and residents have started the clean-up.
Damp clothes and furniture were piled by roadsides as neighbours assessed the damage to their homes.
Mayor Mauricio Macri said about 350,000 people had been affected by the torrents of rain. Hundreds are still in shelters.
Pope Francis, an Argentine, has called on the authorities to step up their assistance to those left homeless by the storm.
The Pope sent a telegram to his newly appointed successor as Buenos Aires Archbishop, Mario Poli, saying he was praying for those who died, their families and survivors of the disaster.
Tragic floods: relief work for victims continues
Friday, April 5, 2013
The Buenos Aires City Cathedral is one of the places where donations are received.
After the tragic storm and floods that devastated some areas of Buenos Aires and La Plata capital district and killed 51 neighbours, the number of people who remained evacuated today was decreasing while relief works continued.
The Buenos Aires City Cathedral was still working as one of the main donation centres. Hundreds of volunteers were contributing with clothes, matresses and food for the victims of the floods.
Buenos Aires provincial Governor Daniel Scioli said yesterday that the death toll had risen to 51 people in La Plata, following six deaths in the capital from flooding two days earlier.
Buenos Aires provincial Justice and Security Minister Ricardo Casal reported 514 people remained evacuated, adding that no more people were registered missing.
Spanish:
Al menos 35 personas murieron por las inundaciones durante la noche en Buenos Aires de Argentina provincia, el gobernador dijo el mircoles, con lo que la cifra total de muertos de das de lluvias torrenciales por lo menos a 41 y dejando grandes extensiones de la capital provincial bajo el agua.
El gobernador Daniel Scioli dijo que muchas personas se ahogaron tras intentar resguardarse en sus coches en Tolosa, un rea de la capital provincial de La Plata.
Las fuertes lluvias han matado al menos a seis personas en la capital del pas de Buenos Aires el da anterior. Los coches fueron inundados con sus tejados y el agua de lluvia se derramaba sobre las repisas de las ventanas en muchas casas en La Plata.
La gente se meti de sus barrios a travs de la altura del pecho del agua, y la polica y los vecinos se unieron utilizando lanchas de goma para evacuar a las familias y las mascotas a un terreno ms alto. “Esa intensa lluvia en tan poco tiempo ha dejado a muchas personas atrapadas en sus coches, en las calles, en algunos casos electrocutado.
Estamos dando prioridad al rescate de las personas que han sido atrapados en los rboles o en los techos de sus casas “, dijo Scioli. La Plata” nunca ha visto nada igual “a este desastre.
Las lluvias tambin inundaron la refinera ms grande del pas, provocando un incendio que tom horas para apagarlo.
La refinera de La Plata ha suspendido sus operaciones como consecuencia de ello, y de la empresa YPF de Argentina de Petrleo dijo que tiene un equipo de emergencia evaluar cmo lograr que se reinicie de nuevo.
– Las lluvias casi 16 pulgadas (400 milmetros) en cerca de dos horas – golpear provincial La Plata tras causar inundaciones y cortes de energa y mat a seis personas en la ciudad de Buenos Aires el da anterior.
“Perdimos herencias de la familia, electrodomsticos, ropa,” dijo Natalia Lescano, quien escap con su familia a casa de un amigo en una tierra ms alta. Ella dijo que tena que salir por s mismos, y se quej de que las autoridades no estaban haciendo lo suficiente para rescatar a la gente.
Hace unos cuatro centmetros ms (100 milmetros ms) de lluvia se espera que antes de que el mal tiempo pasa el jueves, el Servicio Meteorolgico Nacional, dijo.
Al menos 2.500 personas fueron evacuadas de sus hogares en el rea de La Plata, que es cerca de 37 millas (60 kilmetros) al sureste de la capital de Argentina.
Nacional El ministro de Planificacin, Julio de Vido dijo que unas 280.000 personas se quedaron sin electricidad en la ciudad y la provincia circundante de Buenos Aires, donde la mayora de los argentinos vive.
“Nuestro trabajo se centra en la restauracin del servicio, pero vamos a esperar hasta que se seque el equipo para garantizar la seguridad de los trabajadores de la electricidad, porque no queremos ninguna muerte”, dijo De Vido.
La inundacin amenazaba con arruinar el suministro de alimentos a travs del rea metropolitana de La Plata, que cuenta con cerca de 1 milln de personas.
“No hay poder en casi toda la ciudad”, dijo Casals, quien agreg que las inundaciones “acab con el centro y los barrios circundantes, tales como Tolosa, Elvira, Los Hornos, con hasta 2 metros (ms de 6 pies) de agua , y la gente est en sus techos. ”
Muchos de los evacuados durmieron en sus vehculos durante la noche. Transporte y negocios de todo tipo en la ciudad se encontraban en un punto muerto.
YPF dijo que no hubo heridos fueron causados por el incendio en una refinera, lo que atribuy a “una extraordinaria acumulacin de agua de lluvia y cortes de energa elctrica en el complejo de refinera entero”.
El impacto en los suministros de combustibles de Argentina crnicamente cortos no estaba claro de inmediato.
Los seis asesinados en Buenos Aires incluy un trabajador del metro que se electrocut y una anciana que se ahog en el interior de su casa.
Muchos todava haba agua estancada en las casas, stanos, aparcamientos y trasteros el mircoles.
Los gobiernos de la presidenta Cristina Fernndez y el alcalde de Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri trat de culpar a los dems por el caos, y los medios de comunicacin dividida la nacin centrado su cobertura de manera que pongan de un lado o del otro de la peor manera.
Macri dijo el mircoles que la nica solucin es que los gobiernos constantemente enfrentadas a trabajar juntos en costosos ya largo plazo de proyectos de obras pblicas, la creacin de enormes tubos de drenaje subterrneos para llevar las lluvias torrenciales cada vez ms comunes a la Ro de la Plata.
Mircoles, 03 de abril 2013 a las 18:45 UTC RSOE
Informes Noticias
BBC
Inundaciones Argentina “catstrofe” de La Plata, Buenos Aires
BBC Mundo 05 de abril 2013 ltima actualizacin a las 02:00
En La Plata solo, 50 personas se sabe que han muerto
Seguir leyendo la historia principal
Ms sobre el tema
En imgenes: inundaciones mortales de Argentina
Las lluvias causan derrumbes mortales Brasil
Per cientos daos inundaciones de viviendas Mira
Los trabajadores de emergencia en Argentina siguen tratando de rescatar a los residentes varados por las inundaciones en Buenos Aires y La Plata.
Ms de 50 personas se sabe que han muerto despus de una de las tormentas ms fuertes registradas inundaciones causadas flash.
Miles de personas fueron evacuadas de sus hogares y decenas siguen varados en los techos, copas de los rboles y los techos de los autobuses de la ciudad, el informe de los medios de comunicacin local.
El gobierno declar tres das de duelo nacional tras lo que calific como “una catstrofe sin precedentes”.
‘Death trap’
“Nunca hemos visto nada como esto”, dijo el gobernador provincial, Daniel Scioli.
BBC mapa
“La gente estaba tomado por sorpresa, y algunos no tuvieron tiempo de escapar de esta trampa mortal”, dijo Scioli, en referencia a la velocidad con que el agua suba.
Funcionarios provinciales dijeron 40cm (16 pulgadas) de lluvia cayeron sobre la ciudad de La Plata, en el espacio de dos horas en la noche del martes.
Antes, la tormenta haba arrojado a 15 cm de lluvia en la capital, Buenos Aires.
Funcionarios locales dijeron que al menos 48 personas fueron asesinadas en La Plata, seis en Buenos Aires y dos en sus suburbios. La Cruz Roja dijo que la mayora de las vctimas haban sido personas de edad avanzada que se ahogaron en sus casas.
Hasta ahora, slo la mitad de los cuerpos han sido identificados y los equipos de rescate temen que el nmero de muertos podra aumentar a medida que ms cuerpos son encontrados como las aguas de la inundacin.
El temor a los saqueos
Bombero Federico Langone dice en algunas zonas de La Plata, las aguas de la inundacin haba alcanzado una altura de 1,5 m (5 pies).
La presidenta argentina Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner (C) en Villa Mitre de Buenos Aires (3 de abril de 2013) El presidente visit algunas de las zonas ms afectadas
Ms de 3.000 personas tuvieron que abandonar sus hogares y 80.000 todava no tienen electricidad, con dos de los hospitales de La Plata tambin se ven afectados por los cortes de electricidad.
En la noche del mircoles, algunos de los residentes de La Plata levantaron barricadas para “proteger sus barrios de los saqueadores”.
La presidenta Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner visit el mircoles Tolosa, el barrio ms afectado de La Plata, donde se cri y donde su madre vive todava.
Sra. Fernndez reconoci los temores de los residentes y se comprometi a aumentar la seguridad.
Antes de su llegada, decenas de personas haban saqueado un supermercado. Tres policas resultaron heridos en enfrentamientos con la gente tratando de romper en dos otros supermercados.
Las autoridades dijeron que 400 policas y soldados adicionales seran desplegados a La Plata.
Limpieza y la recogida
En Buenos Aires, donde las lluvias haban sido en su peor momento durante la noche de lunes a martes, las inundaciones han comenzado a ceder y los residentes han comenzado la limpieza.
Ropa hmeda y los muebles estaban amontonados por caminos como vecinos evaluaron los daos a sus hogares.
El alcalde Mauricio Macri dijo que unas 350.000 personas han sido afectadas por las lluvias torrenciales. Cientos siguen en refugios.
Papa Francis, un argentino, ha pedido a las autoridades a intensificar su asistencia a los damnificados por la tormenta.
El Papa envi un telegrama a su sucesor recin nombrado arzobispo de Buenos Aires, Mario Poli, diciendo que l estaba orando por aquellos que murieron, sus familias y supervivientes de la catstrofe.
Trgico inundaciones: la labor de socorro a las vctimas contina
Viernes, 05 de abril 2013
La Catedral de Buenos Aires City es uno de los lugares donde se reciben las donaciones.
Despus de la tormenta trgica e inundaciones que devastaron algunas zonas de Buenos Aires y La Plata capital del distrito y mataron a 51 vecinos, el nmero de personas que permanecan evacuadas hoy fue disminuyendo mientras que el alivio obras continuaron.
La Ciudad de Buenos Aires Catedral segua trabajando como uno de los principales centros de donacin. Cientos de voluntarios estn contribuyendo con la ropa, colchones y alimentos para las vctimas de las inundaciones.
Buenos Aires provincial Gobernador Daniel Scioli dijo ayer que la cifra de muertos haba aumentado a 51 personas en La Plata, luego de seis muertes en la capital desde las inundaciones hace dos das.
Buenos Aires provincial de Justicia y Seguridad, Ricardo Casal inform de 514 personas permanecan evacuadas, y agreg que la gente no se registraron ms falta.
General Mountain/Moorland Advice from Mountain Rescue England & Wales:
Shattered lives
One of the Lagos State popular markets, Alade Market, Ikeja, was on Sunday engulfed in flames .
Photos by Chinawat Singha
The president visited some of the worst affected areas
Goaty's News (UK) 