DVI News 18 January 2010

18/Jan/2010

Driver nods off, 8 pilgrims killed
13 Jan
A dozing driver rammed a bus carrying pilgrims bent on making it to Calcutta by morning into a stationary truck on Durgapur Expressway, killing eight people and injuring 15.
The bus that met with the accident had 54 passengers.
The dead were identified as: Hafeswar, 60, his wife Sarada Bai Hafeswar, 52, Tuka Ram Govind Gonda, 60, his wife Mira Bai Tuka Gonda, 55, Kesar Bai, 60, Mustaq Sheikh, 35, Shakuntala Maruti Jini, 46, and Swapnil Apre, 18.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100114/jsp/bengal/story_11982501.jsp

Four Dead in Chile Plane Crash
16 Jan
All four people aboard were killed Monday when a small plane crashed in north‑central Chile, authorities said.
Two Chilean air force planes and a helicopter were scrambled to search for the small aircraft after its emergency beacon was activated
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=350218&CategoryId=14094

40 killed in ‘horrific’ head‑on PNG bus crash
14 Jan 2010.
About 40 people have died in the worst road accident in Papua New Guinea.
It happened about 130km out of Lae in the Markham Valley on Tuesday afternoon.
Two 25‑seater buses crashed head on at speeds of more than 100km an hour, immediately killing 37 of the 59 people aboard both vehicles.
Three others, who had been severely injured and awaiting transportation to Lae, were later admitted to the Lae International Hospital morgue, at Milfordhaven to take the number of dead to 40.
The accident took place at Ragiampum village on the Highlands highway between Umi Bridge and Watarais, which is at the foot of the Kassam Pass and near the Madang and Eastern Highlands borders.
According to eye witnesses at Ragiampum village and the Mutzing police, the buses were trying to avoid a pothole when they collided.
The impact killed the passengers. Some of them were thrown out of the side windows and splayed on the tar. Others were thrown onto grass on the side of the road.
Many of the dead suffered broken heads, necks, and limbs
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/01/40‑killed‑in‑horrific‑head‑on‑png‑bus‑crash/

Pakistan school children killed in accident
14 Jan
At least nine people, eight of them children, were killed and 18 others injured on Wednesday when a passenger train hit a bus packed with school children in central Pakistan, officials said.
The crash took place at an unmanned crossing with no barrier near Mian Channun town
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iicIP72iFg8rD3WB‑SDIDC369Qog

Algeria road accident claims 15 lives
10 January
Fifteen people have been killed in a road accident involving a bus and a truck in Algeria, reports say.
The vehicles collided on a major highway in the Ghardaia region, in the Sahara desert on Sunday, state radio reported.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115839&sectionid=351020506

Six killed as auto plunges into canal
16 Jan
Six members of a family returning from a temple died when their autorickshaw plunged into a canal near Red Hills because there was nobody on the deserted stretch to rescue them. With water gushing through the canal, the autorickshaw was swept more than 300 metres. Till late on Friday, two of the bodies were yet to be retrieved.
The incident came to light when people on Friday morning heard an abandoned cellphone ringing on the banks of the canal.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Six‑killed‑as‑auto‑plunges‑into‑canal‑/articleshow/5451338.cms

14 more bodies recovered from MV Catalyn B
12 Jan
Coast Guard divers on Tuesday recovered 14 more bodies from the ill‑fated MV Catalyn B that sank off Cavite province last Christmas Eve after colliding with a steel‑hulled fishing vessel.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said eight bodies were recovered in the morning while six others were retrieved in the afternoon.
“They [bodies] are bloated and some of them are already gory," he said, adding that they are still determining the identities of the bodies.
With the retrieval, the number of confirmed fatalities in the Christmas Eve sea tragedy is now 25. Two are still missing.
Frogmen hired by the San Nicholas Shipping Lines, the owner of MV Catalyn B, provided assistance in the search and retrieval operations, Balilo said.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/181333/14‑more‑bodies‑recovered‑from‑mv‑catalyn‑b

Search For 11 Missing Continues After Vessel Collision In Eastern China
11 Jan 2010.
The search for 11 people missing after a vessel collision continued around the coast near Putian City in east China's Fujian on Monday, the third day since the accident, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
The accident occurred when a freighter and a fishing boat collided 12:35 p.m. Saturday off Putian's Nanri Island, causing the fishing boat, Minshiyu 3785, to sink. Two of the 14 crew were rescued, and one has been confirmed dead.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=467450

Fromelles soldiers ready for reburial
14 Jan 2010.
The massive task of reburying 250 Australian and British World War I soldiers found in a mass grave in northern France will begin in late January.
The soldiers' bodies were unearthed from the series of unmarked pits on the outskirts of the village of Fromelles by a team of archaeologists in late 2009.
Their remains laid undiscovered until an amateur historian from Melbourne tracked down their mystery resting place, paving the way for their bodies to be recovered.
While DNA tests are being carried out to try and determine the identities of as many of the soldiers as possible, their remains will start being reinterred at a new military cemetery being built in Fromelles on January 30.
Just one of the soldiers is expected to buried on the day in an official ceremony expected to be attended by Australian, British and French government officials and much of the townsfolk of Fromelles.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking‑news‑world/fromelles‑soldiers‑ready‑for‑reburial‑20100114‑m7a5.html

2nd Mountie found dead in Haiti; Canadian toll now 8
17 Jan. 10
A second RCMP officer has been confirmed dead in Haiti, bringing the Canadian death toll following Tuesday's quake to eight.
The body of Supt. Doug Coates was found amidst the rubble of the Haitian capital of Port‑au‑Prince, the RCMP said.
Coates was among a group of officers from Canada who were mentoring police in Haiti. Sgt. Mark Gallagher, 50, was confirmed dead earlier in the week.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100116/haiti_canadians_100116/20100116?hub=Canada

Sahana Software Foundation Responds to Haiti Earthquake
17 January 2010.
The Sahana Software Foundation and the Sahana community responded with a massive voluntary effort immediately following the earthquake that has devastated the poor country of Haiti. Working around the clock, we have set up a hosted instance of Sahana (the first deployment of SahanaPy following a disaster!) on a public website that is already filling gaps in the information management requirements of the massive relief operation.
Major Accomplishments
Sahana have a Haiti 2010 Sahana Disaster Response Portal ‑ a live and active website up at http://haiti.sahanafoundation.org which contains a feeds from many of the relief agencies and links to Sahana modules that are actively being used to help coordinate the relief effort.
Sahana have a Sahana Haiti wiki page where we are tracking all of our and others’ activites at: http://wiki.sahana.lk/doku.php/haiti:start
Sahana have a requirements page where we record all the modification, configurations, and changes to Sahana based on the mission requirements at: http://wiki.sahana.lk/doku.php/haiti:requirements
Full article at: http://talksahana.com/?p=333
NOTE: Have a look at the mapping on the Sahana Disaster Response Portal.

Haiti: OSM and Sat Imagery for Free iPhone App
Crisis Mappers from around the world have been working around the clock to create maps and other tools for relief workers in Haiti. The earthquake caused tremendous damage to the road network and updated maps are necessary to enable food and volunteers to traverse the island.
The volunteer‑driven Open Street Map project has become a central data source for the Crisis Mappers. It is regarded by many as the most up‑to‑date map of the area. It combines UN damage assessment, digitized imagery, Public Domain Topos and other base data. In the wake of the tragedy Google quickly released Haiti data gathered from its MapMaker program. DigitalGlobe has made its satellite imagery of Haiti freely available as well (as did GeoEye).
Shortly there will be a free iPhone app with maps of Haiti coming to the App Store. Andrew Johnson and Jeffrey Johnson (no relation) have adapted an existing iPhone app (www.gaiagps.com) to provide offline maps to for relief workers.
Full article at: http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/01/haiti‑osm‑and‑sat‑imagery‑for.html

Editor's note: Haiti DVI news has been moved to a separate news item.

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