13-year-old among those killed in Cameron flood

 

The body of a 13-year-old student was one of two more dead victims found at the scene of the flash flood and landslide in Cameron Highlands, bringing the number of fatalities to three.

The bodies of R Punesh, a student of Sekolah Menengah Kampung Raja, here, and an Indonesian vegetable farm worker, Anipan, 48, were found at 8.45am and 9.20am, respectively.

Cameron Highlands district police chief Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu confirmed that to date, only three people were killed while five others were injured in the 6.30pm incident yesterday.

He said the body of the student was found by a security team and villagers about five kilometres from where he drowned in Sungai Telom, Kampung Raja.

Meanwhile, Anipan's body was found buried under a metre of earth.

"The victim is believed to have failed in his attempt to escape from the landslide," he said.

Wan Mohd Zahari said during the incident, Anipan's wife, known as Tsunami, 41, managed to escape and was unhurt.

He said the landslide also buried the kongsi house occupied by Anipan and his wife.

According to him, the flash flood affected 203 people from 47 families in Kampung Baru and Lembah Bertam, with 20 houses and 20 vehicles damaged.

"The management of the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam had announced to the police about releasing water via Sungai Bertam when the water level reached 35.9 feet due to heavy rain.

"To avoid any untoward incident, the residents were evacuated to the community hall in Ringlet and the operation was completed at 8pm.

"At the moment, the situation is under control and the weather is fine," he said.

Yesterday, a Nepalese vegetable farm worker, Md Yousuf Miya, 66, who also died in the incident, was found buried in Jalan Ulu Merah, Ringlet, at 8.30pm.

Wan Mohd Zahari said heavy rain over the area from 6pm to 7pm yesterday also resulted in the kongsi house shared by Md Yousuf and his friend Iswandi Nahrowi, 40, buried.

He said Yousuf's body was successfully removed from the mound of earth while his friend suffered a broken leg.

The dead bodies and those injured were sent to Sultanah Hajah Kalsom Hospital in Tanah Rata.

The search and rescue operation involved the police (37), Fire and Rescue Department (15), Civil Defence Department (24), Rela (35), Drainage and Irrigation Department (two), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (eight), and Cameron Highlands District Council (12), and would he aided by soldiers from the Tapah Camp.

Last year, Ringlet Lake in Lembah Bertam, here, overflowed, causing a mud flood, killing four people and damaging more than 100 houses.

- Bernama

Mud Floods In Camerons: One Killed, Four Injured, Child Missing

KUANTAN, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- A Nepali farm worker was killed while four others were injured and a child is missing in mud floods in Ringlet and Kuala Terla in Cameron Highlands tonight.

Pahang Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Morni Mamat said the disaster in Ringlet also forced the evacuation of 150 residents from 37 families to a multi-purpose hall in the small town, located about 10 kilometres from Tanah Rata, the main town in the highlands .

"A local man and two Indian nationals were almost buried alive at a car workshop in Ringlet but were rescued in time and sent to a nearby hospital for treatment of their injuries which were serious.

"An Indonesian man was also injured in the Ringlet incident while a boy is reported missing in Kuala Terlah near Kampung Raja at the opposite end of the highlands," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Morni said rescuers were frantically searching for the missing boy.

A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman in Cameron Highlands said heavy rain since late this afternoon cause mudslides and the water level in Sungai Bertam in Ringlet to rise fast resulting in a mud flood at around 7pm.

"However, the area where a similar disaster took place last year has not been affected till now," he said.

In Oct 24 last year, a controlled release of water from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam following continuous heavy rain resulted in a massive mudflow downstream which claimed three lives and left nearly 100 houses destroyed.

Meanwhile, Cameron Higlands police chief DSP Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said the search operation for the boy, aged 13, who is feared to have drowned, had been halted temporarily due to unfavourable weather and would resume tomorrow.

He said the identity of the boy had yet to be ascertained.

He identified the Nepali farm worker as Md Yousus Miya, 66, and the Indonesian as Iswandi Nahrowi, 40.

Wan Mohd Zahari said Md Yousus was buried alive in a mudslide in Jalan Ulu Merah in Ringlet at around 7.30pm.

"His body was recovered at 8.30pm," he said.

He said that water from the dam was released in stages since this afternoon and residents were ordered to move to higher ground for their safety.

Three workers feared trapped in MRT guideway collapse

Three men are believed trapped under rubble following an incident which occurred at the MRT worksite within the former Rubber Research Institute near Kota Damansara tonight.

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has revealed that "while construction of the parapet was being carried out on the elevated guideway, a span of the guideway had dislodged from its piers and fallen on the ground below."

The span, which was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders, was 38 metres in length and weighed 300 tons.

An emergency response team, police and the Fire and Rescue Services were mobilised to the site shortly after the 8.30pm incident.

The company confirmed that three workers are unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped underneath.

"The three workers are Bangladesh nationals Mohamad Faruk Khan, Mohammad Elahi Hossain and Mohammad Alauddin Mollik.

"Rescue efforts are currently on-going and an emergency response team is on standby at the site.

"No members of the public were involved in the incident as there is no access to the site. The location of the incident site is within the former RRI land near the future Kwasa Damansara MRT Station.

“Investigations are currently being carried out. An update will be issued with further details," MRT Corp said in a statement.

The company also informed that all work along Package V1, where the incident occurred, has been suspended until further notice. The work package contractor for Package V1 is Syarikat Muhibbah Perniagaan dan Pembinaan Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid expresses deep regret over the incident.

“Although investigations are under way, MRT Corp assumes full responsibility for the incident. Once investigations are completed, action on those responsible will be taken,” he said. – August 18, 2014.

Five Die In Car-lorry Collision

SABAK BERNAM, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Five people, including three from a family, were killed when a car and a lorry collided at Km70 of the Teluk Intan-Klang Road in Sekinchan, here, Monday.

The dead were car driver Yeap Chin Hing, 52, his son, Yeap Soon Keong, 19, his daughter, Yeap Chen Wee, 25, and their friends, Ling Siew Mooi, 26, and Ling Lee Min, 26.

Sabak Bernam police chief Supt Noor Mushar Mohamad said the incident took place at 2.30pm.

"The Honda City car driven by Chin Hing grazed a Honda CRV four-wheel drive before it went out of control and swerved into the opposite lane before colliding head-on with a three-tonne lorry," he said, here, Monday.

He said Chin Hing and three passengers of the Honda City died at the scene while Chen Wee died while receiving treatment at the Tanjong Karang Hospital, near here.

It was learnt that they were heading to the KL International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, to send Soon Keong, who was furthering his studies in Taiwan.

He said anyone who had information about the accident could contact Traffic Investigation Officer Inspector Muhamad Norizan Ramli at 03-32242222 extension 214 to help investigations.

Death Toll In Tanker Tragedy Rises To Three As Two More Bodies Found

LABUAN, July 27 (Bernama) -- The death toll in the tanker tragedy here has risen to three after the bodies of two crew members of the MT Bunga Alpinia were found floating not far from the wrecked tanker Friday.

The tanker owned by the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) caught fire and exploded Thursday morning.

Two more crew members are still reported missing.

Labuan police chief Saiman Kasran said the bodies were found at 12.50pm and 12.57pm and were sent to the Labuan Hospital mortuary for identification and post-mortem.

"The two victims are believed to be crew members of the Bunga Alpinia," he told Bernama.

In the 2.30am incident Thursday, a fire broke out on the vessel followed by several explosions which rocked Labuan. Initial reports stated one fatality while four crew members were missing.

Prior to this, MISC had verified that Shahril Azmi Baharudin, 28, from Melaka, who worked as a greaser on the vessel had died.

The media reported the four missing crew members were Muhammad Nazrin Khamasani, 20, from Kuala Lumpur; Mohd Hanafi Khalil, 24, from Melaka; Zahari Hassim, 46, from Negeri Sembilan; and Filipino Colanggoy Errol Calaluan, 22.

Commenting on the recovered bodies, Saiman said the first victim was found by divers from the Labuan Fire and Rescue Department about 50 metres from the Bunga Alpinia while the second was found by a team from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency near an industrial jetty not more than 100m from the vessel.

"Efforts are continuing to find the two remaining victims," he said.

Following the development, MISC in a statement confirmed that two of the tanker's crew members were still missing.

Meanwhile, Labuan Fire and Rescue Department director Zainal Madasin told Bernama that his team would enter the vessel should their search efforts at sea be fruitless.

"Efforts to extinguish the fire are ongoing to ensure there are no remaining flames which can cause further explosions," said Zainal.

The tanker caught fire and exploded at the Petronas Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd terminal jetty nearby the Pulau Enoe industrial zone in Labuan.

There is speculation that the fire was caused by lightning, but Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd chief executive officer, Dr Abd Hapiz Abdullah said thorough investigations are being carried out to ascertain the actual cause.

Bodies from Air France crash arrive in France

Paris (CNN) -- The ship carrying the remains of victims and wreckage from the Rio-Paris Air France 447 crash arrived in France on Thursday morning with around 104 bodies on board, according to French police sources.

A French police spokesman said "it is very difficult to give an exact number of bodies, but we believe there to be around 104."

AF 447 crashed two years ago close to the coast of Brazil, killing all on board.

The Ile-de-Sein, the cable ship chartered by French investigation body the BEA, docked at the port of Bayonne for unloading. All access to the port was blocked by police for the sake of discretion for the families of the victims. Dr. Bernd Gans, father of a German victim, said, "They showed us pictures of freezing containers, saying this is how the remains were transported. I think it's right that the families were not present at the port today."

Once the unloading procedure has been completed, the remains will be sent to the forensic institute in Paris for autopsy and identification. Debris from the aircraft will be sent to a hangar in Toulouse for technical analysis.

Colonel Francois Daoust, head of the Institute of Criminal Research of French National police told French press that identification would be made in two stages, ante mortem and post mortem, through the use of medical records, dental records, comparison with DNA of relatives, and identification of jewellery.
He also described the state of the bodies: "These bodies have been damaged by the shock of the crash. And then nature does the job, obviously. The temperature at 2-3 ° and the almost total lack of oxygen slowed the deterioration process, but after two years, the bodies are inevitably damaged."

Gans told CNN that he had been in Paris Wednesday with other victim's families. "They explained to us that they would start identifying the remains recovered in contrast to what we were told a couple of weeks ago that the bodies could be identified by photos or clothes," he said. "It turns out it's really just a case of remains being identified by DNA. We are afraid that not much remains.

"When we were first told that the bodies could be identified by looking at them I thought... It's brilliant. With the way thing are now, I have changed my mind. They died all together at this particular spot and we should have left them there."

No exact time frame has been given for the process. Daoust told French media, "It will take time. To give you an idea, identifying the first 50 bodies, two years ago, had taken two months of work. For 104 new bodies, up to 40 people will be mobilized for several weeks."

Gans described the reaction of two French victims' relatives at the meeting held for victims relatives. "They were very emotional at this point. They asked if it could be arranged for all the relatives to get the results at the same time, so that some wouldn't be waiting whilst others had results. This was denied by representatives. They said this is the order we have for the investigation. When we have results we have to contact families," he said. "The victims' families will just have to sit and wait. This was very painful to hear."

Operations onboard the Ile-de-Sein came to an end on June 3. A total of 154 bodies have now been brought up, however this still leaves more than 70 which will never be recovered.

Gans explained, "Difficult days begin now. Some families will have hope; will be in this situation of waiting for the next months. Some will have an answer while others will never know."

Air France crash recorder recovered

Deep sea search parties have found one of two recorders from an Air France flight that crashed off the coast of Brazil in 2009, according to investigators.

The news on Sunday revived hopes of understanding what caused the crash.

The Airbus 330-203 jet fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the northeast coast of Brazil en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro in June 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board after the flight hit stormy weather.

The flight data recorder (FDR) could give vital clues about the flight's final moments.

French investigators said in a statement the FDR, which together with the flight-deck voice recorder is called the "black box", had been hauled up to the deck of a search boat.

Pictures published on the website of France's BEA air accident inquiry office before the instrument was pulled to the surface show an orange cylindrical object half-buried in sand.

A BEA statement said the "memory unit" was "in good physical condition" after it was "raised and lifted by the Remora 6000 ROV [robot submarine] on board the ship Ile de Sein at 16h40 UTC".

'Good physical condition'

The discovery comes after years of start-and-stop search efforts on a 10,000sq km area of sea floor to locate the aircraft's two recorders, which investigators hope will settle a dispute over the cause of the crash.

Jean-Paul Troadec, the BEA's director, said: "At this stage, the box seems to be in good physical condition. Our experts will tell us if there's hope to read the data.

"If the data can be used it will allow the enquiry to make headway because the FDR records the altitude, speed and the various positions of the rudder."

The FDR was expected to arrive at BEA offices within eight to 10 days, to allow for the search of the flight-deck voice recorder, so the two can be taken back to France.

Speculation about what caused the accident has focused on the possible icing up of the aircraft's speed sensors, which seemed to give inconsistent readings before communication was lost.

Investigators announced on Wednesday that search teams had retrieved part of a "black box" from the aircraft but not the part containing the key data.

BEA said the chassis that held one of the recorders was found a day after a salvage ship began working to retrieve bodies and recently discovered wreckage using the Remora submarines.

Previous searches had recovered a limited amount of wreckage and about 50 bodies.

Air France and Airbus - which are being investigated for alleged manslaughter in connection with the crash, the deadliest in the carrier's history - are paying the estimated $12.7 million cost of the search.

Source:Agencies

Kerala orders judicial probe into Sabarimala tragedy, once again

While the Kerala government has ordered a judicial probe into the tragedy that has claimed 104 lives, the irony is that the disaster could have been averted — if recent orders from the Kerala high court for better management of the pilgrimage had been implemented, or if the suggestions of a judicial probe that followed a similar tragedy 11 years ago had been heeded.

In fact, forest authorities too hadbrought various lapses to the notice of government officials and even ministers at several review meetings.

Given that the stampede was caused by a jeep that went out of control, questions are being raised as to how the police could allow vehicles to enter the area, which is a Reserve Forest Region.

“We had suggested a strict regulation of pilgrims trekking along the seven-km path unless until basic amenities were provided in the area,” a forest official said.

While the presence of a large number of mini-vehicles like jeeps and autorickshaws without permission or control through the forested route, part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, proved fatal, lack of basic amenities like lighting, water supply and camping facilities, coupled with insufficient police deployment contributed to the stampede, said forest officials.

Though the Pullumedu route has been used by pilgrims from Tamil Nadu since long, the area had never been sufficiently covered by security and crowd management plans of the Sabarimala pilgrimage.

On days of heavy rush, the entire focus of the forces, including the police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), would shift to the Sannidhanam-Pampa route used by over 90% of pilgrims.

On Friday, when the incident occurred, only a few members of the Forest Protection Councils and about 30 policemen from the local police station were present to manage the unexpectedly high inflow of pilgrims, sources said.

The tragedy occurred when a jeep carrying pilgrims ploughed into a crowd and capsized, killing some instantly and triggering the stampede, rescuers said.

As per the final figures of identification, 31 victims were from Tanil Nadu, 28 from Karnataka, 23 from Andhra Pradesh, five from Kerala, two from Pondicherry, and one from Sri Lanka, with the identities of 14 victims yet to be ascertained. - www.dnaindia.com/india