SAR ops for capsized barge victims to proceed, 12 still missing

The search and rescue (SAR) operation for the missing crew members of a barge which sank four days ago will continue today by extending the search into areas 15 nautical miles north and east and eight nautical miles south and west of Tanjung Punggai, Kota Tinggi.

Tanjung Sedili Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) operation director maritime commander Mustafa Kamal Abas said the search was still in underway despite the rough seas with waves as high as three metres accompanied by torrential rain.

"A total of 18 SAR operation personnel from MMEA, navy and police will be proceeding with the operation until tonight," he said when contacted by Bernama here today.

So far, two bodies have been found and efforts to find 12 more victims were being carried out.

In the 4.20 am incident, a barge carrying sand was believed to be hit by a giant wave before sinking at about 8.6 nautical miles from Tanjung Punggai, Kota Tinggi causing 14 crew members to go missing in the incident.

Saturday 23 May 2015

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/29-4-tile/554790-sar-ops-for-capsized-barge-victims-to-proceed-mmea.html

continue reading

240 Nepalis, 89 foreigners still missing

The Nepal Police has said 240 Nepalis and 89 foreigners were still missing since the April 25 earthquake in the country.

Spokesperson of Nepal Police Kamal Singh Bam said the search for the missing ones was underway, and they might have been buried in the debris. According to the Nepal Police's record, the number of earthquake casualties has reached 8,675 while those injured climbed to 21,845.

Among the dead, bodies of 8,598 have been handed over to the concerned relatives. Similarly, 5,613 quake survivors have been receiving treatment in different hospital across the country.

Saturday 23 May 2015

http://www.ekantipur.com/2015/05/22/top-story/240-nepalis-89-foreigners-still-missing/405557.html

continue reading

Heavy rains kill 60 in China

At least 60 people were killed in rain-related incidents in China, where large swathes in the south have been hammered by rainstorms this week, with 10 more deaths reported on Saturday.

Thirteen others remain missing following the heavy downpour in the country that has triggered rainstorms, mudslides and collapse of buildings.

Seven persons were killed and 40 others injured when a bus carrying over 50 passengers collided with a road barrier in Xinning County in central Hunan Province on Saturday.

A nine-storey building in Guiyang, home to 114 residents, collapsed due to landslides on Wednesday following heavy rains killing 16 people. Over 100 firefighters and soldiers combed the rubble to find the missing people. Three bodies were retrieved from the debris of the building on Saturday.

Also two children were killed and 21 others injured when a kindergarten bus fell into a pond in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday.

Rain had made driving conditions unsafe and the driver lost control over the vehicle, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The two incidents pushed the death toll in the rains in the last few days.

At least 35 people were killed 13 others missing in rainstorms that hammered large swathes of southern China this week, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Saturday.

The southwestern province of Guizhou reported 11 deaths, the highest toll so far, whereas in Fujian province, five people were killed by rain-triggered mudslides and four others drowned.

In Jiangxi province, one person was kill by lightening strikes, two by mudslides and five by collapsed buildings.

The rest of the deaths were reported in Hunan and Guangdong provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Heavy rain and occasional thunderstorms have battered China's southern regions in the last few days.

Saturday 23 May 2015

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-heavy-rains-kill-60-in-china-2088460

continue reading

Work on memorial for Bajpe air crash victims soon

The victims of 2010 Bajpe air crash were remembered on the occasion of fifth anniversary of the disaster with public representatives, officials and public paying homage at the international airport here on Friday.

In one of the worst aviation disasters of the country, Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft which arrived from Dubai overshot the runway and crashed while landing at the airport on May 22, 2010 at 6 am, killing 158 passengers. Eight passengers were survived miraculously.

Two minutes of silence was observed in respect of the victims. In the meet organised by the district administration, District-in-Charge Minister B Ramanath Rai, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and others offered tribute at the venue.

Rai said that he can still remember the charred bodies which were found in the place. He extended his sympathies to the families of the victims and said that one can only pray for the eternal peace of the souls. Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said that the district administration and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) will jointly develop a memorial park at 90 cents (0.75 acres) of land identified near Tannir Bavi, where 18 unidentified bodies were buried. The project is in work order stage, the works of first phase worth Rs 30 lakh would begin within a week with planning and fencing. Meanwhile, the DC said that compensation for the victims has been distributed, except few disputed cases.

The court will take decision about those cases, he said.

Saturday 23 May 2015

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/479135/work-memorial-bajpe-air-crash.html

continue reading

Ukraine says search operation at MH17 crash site ends

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Zubko said Friday that the team of international experts has finished its search and recovery operation at the site in eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed last July.

"The International Commission to investigate the disaster had completed the search operation," Zubko was quoted by the government's press service as saying.

The investigation team has found remains of 297 bodies of victims and 295 of them were identified and transported to the Netherlands, Zubko said.

Although the search and recovery operation at the site finished, the aviation and criminal investigations into the crash are still underway, he added.

The Boeing 777-200, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, went down on July 17, 2014 near Grabove village over the conflict zone in Donetsk region.

The search operation, which started immediately after the crash, was suspended in November last year because of harsh winter conditions and hostilities between government troops and pro-independence insurgents near the crash site.

The operation resumed on April 16, as a fragile truce was established in eastern Ukraine, allowing international experts to safely access the area.

Saturday 23 May 2015

http://english.eastday.com/auto/eastday/world/u1ai8488699.html

continue reading