DVI News 24 May 2010
24/May/2010
Russian mine search halted, death toll reaches 6613 May 2010. Russia.
Russian rescue workers on Thursday stopped searching for 24 men still missing after a mine disaster that killed at least 66 because of fears of new underground blasts, the emergencies ministry said.
The disaster at the mine in the city of Mezhdurechensk, 3,000 km (1,850 miles) east of Moscow, was the deadliest in a Russian mine since 110 people were killed by a methane blast at another mine in the coal‑rich Kemerovo region in March 2007.
Full article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C0ED20100513
Police equipped with disaster skills
17 May 2010. Solomon Islands.
A unique and first of its kind 10‑days training has been successfully completed on Friday at the Heritage park hotel. The Disaster Victim Identification DVI training has been attended by 25 police officers from various operations divisions within the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
PPF commander Wayne Buchorn said the qualification received by the officer qualifies them to attend to any disasters around the region if their help is requested.
The course participants expressed appreciation for the assistance of the Australian Federal Police and Participating Police Force for making the training possible.
Full article at:
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/5845‑police‑equipped‑with‑disaster‑skills‑
Chesco coroner helps ID victims of Haitian earthquake
17 May 2010. USA.
Chester County Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Norman Goodman recently traveled to Haiti with a group of professional colleagues to assist in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that hit the island nation earlier this year.
Goodman traveled to Haiti at the end of February and stayed there for two weeks. He worked with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team and other professionals, including medical examiners, coroners, pathologists, anthropologists, funeral directors, law enforcement officers, forensic odontologists, dental assistants, administrative personnel and security officers.
Full article at:
http://www.pottstownmercury.com/articles/2010/05/17/news/doc4bf14b71a810e822344252.txt
Putting teeth into forensic science
19 May 2010. Sweden.
By using the bomb curve data from above ground nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War, Lab scientists can determine a victim’s birth date by examining dental enamel.
Livermore researcher Bruce Buchholz and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute are looking at victim's teeth to determine how old they are at the time of death.
Using the Lawrence Livermore's Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Buchholz determined that the radioactive carbon‑14 produced by above‑ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s remains in the dental enamel, the hardest substance in the body. The radiocarbon analysis showed that dating the teeth with the carbon‑14 method would estimate the birth date within one year.
More information: The research appears in the May issue of the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics and is highlighted in a special issue dedicated to forensics in the journal Surface and Interface Analysis.
Full article at: http://www.physorg.com/news193498294.html
Gas blast kills 10 in north China mine, one still missing
19 May 2010. China.
At least 10 people are confirmed dead and one is missing after a coal mine gas explosion Tuesday in north China's Shanxi Province, a spokesperson for work safety authorities said Wednesday.
The accident occurred at around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday when 41 miners were working in the shaft of Chentong Coal Industry Co., Ltd., in Yuxian County.
Full article at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010‑05/19/c_13302785.htm
2 Missing in Mine Accident
20 May 2010. Russia.
Two miners were missing and dozens were rescued after a pit in the Kuzbass basin collapsed Wednesday, two weeks after blasts killed 90 people in a neighbouring mine.
Full article at:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/2‑missing‑in‑mine‑accident/406366.html
Hopes fade for victims of Zonguldak coal mine blast
20 May 2010. Turkey.
Thirty miners were trapped inside the state‑run Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK) Karadon mine in Zonguldak on Monday following a methane gas explosion that occurred around 1.30 p.m. No communication has been made with them since then. The rescue efforts that started soon after the blast with a force of 400 men had failed to reach the victims by the time Today's Zaman went to print as they advanced slowly because of the difficult circumstances. Officials said the concentration of methane had not allowed them to use vehicles to dig out the debris and that they had to do the work manually.
The explosion at the mine in Zonguldak was the third mine explosion in the country in the past six months. In February, a methane gas explosion destroyed an underground chamber in a coal mine in the northwestern province of Balýkesir, killing 13 workers. Nineteen miners were killed in Bursa in December of last year in a similar accident. In the country’s worst mining disaster, a gas explosion killed 270 miners near Zonguldak 18 years ago.
Full article at:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz‑web/news‑210679‑101‑hopes‑fade‑for‑victims‑of‑zonguldak‑coal‑mine‑blast.html
Pamir Airways Civilian Aircraft Crashes With 43 Passengers
17 May 2010. Afghanistan
A Pamir Airways aircraft crashed in Northern Afghanistan while it was heading for Kabul. Reportedly, the passenger plane was carrying 36 passengers along with the six other crew members. The passenger aircraft is one out of the regular flights which are scheduled by Pamir Airways for the major Afghan cities.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has deployed their own team of officials to help search the civilian aircraft. Interior Ministry spokesperson said that rescue troops have been deployed but the persisting bad weather in the mountains is blocking the search.
Full article at:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/pamir‑airways‑civilian‑aircraft‑crashes‑with‑43‑passengers_100365318.html
Quezon governor, 5 others killed in helicopter crash
18 May 2010. Philippines.
Quezon Governor Rafael Nantes and five others were killed when their helicopter developed engine trouble and crashed into several houses in a middle‑class subdivision on the outskirts of the city shortly after takeoff on Monday afternoon.
The bodies of Nantes, his two aides—M/Sgt. Alfred Dominguez and PO3 Randy Roferez—and Capt. Nestor Sanchez, the pilot, were all charred, said Supt. Pascual Muñoz, city police chief.
They died on the spot, said Col. Generoso Bolina, spokesperson of the military’s Southern Luzon command.
Two civilians who were inside one of the houses were also confirmed to have died, Muñoz said. Police identified one of them as Rowena Navales, 14.
Full article at:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100518‑270638/Quezon‑governor‑5‑others‑killed‑in‑helicopter‑crash
Four students killed, several injured in bus mishap
20 May 2010. Pakistan.
Four students died while several other serious sustained injuries when a bus’ rooftop collided with the under pass near Jinnah Hospital on Wednesday.
Full article at:
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/05/20/four‑students‑killed‑several‑injured‑in‑bus‑mishap/
12 killed in bus accident in Pakistan
20 May 2010.
A bus carrying 20 passengers fell into a river on Thursday in northwest Pakistan, killing 12 people including two women, and injuring 8 others.
Full article at: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article434081.ece
Woman 'back from the dead' in Croatia
20 May 2010.
A month ago, a mother and father identified a body in a morgue as their daughter's. She was buried and mourned ‑ only to be found alive this week.
Tea Buric, 39, was located when police showed up at an apartment in the southern city of Split because of domestic violence.
Buric was disoriented and lacked documents of identification, so police checked her fingerprints and discovered she had been identified by her family as dead.
Full article at:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/‑/newshome/7270070/woman‑back‑from‑the‑dead‑in‑croatia/
Search Continues for Missing 40
20 May 2010. Papua New Guinea.
Authorities in Madang have launched a search for at least 40 people unaccounted for in a boat mishap that occurred on Monday.
The search that started on Tuesday is still continuing, a provincial disaster official said last night. Most of those missing are Teptep people from the mountain area of Rai Coast, who have no road access and rely on this transport to get into Madang with their produce.
Eighteen people have been rescued while two bodies were recovered.
Full article at: http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/9302
Investigators probe cause of Quebec plane crash that killed four people
20 May 2010. Canada.
Investigators paced amid debris Thursday, looking for clues in a small field where a small plane crashed, killing all four people on board.
The charred bodies of two of the dead were removed from the plane late Wednesday by forensic investigators and Denis Boulanger, who was the first to reach the trapped passengers after the crash.
Provincial police identified two of the dead on Thursday as Michel Gagnon, 59 years, and Raynald Turgeon, 49.
Full article at:
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/world/article/531334‑‑investigators‑probe‑cause‑of‑quebec‑plane‑crash‑that‑killed‑four‑people
Hopes turn to grief as 28 miners found dead after 4‑day search
21 May 2010. Turkey.
Twenty‑eight of the 30 miners who were trapped by an explosion on Monday in a coal mine in Zonguldak were found dead by rescuers early Thursday morning, causing countrywide grief.
Teams were still trying to reach the two other missing miners when Today's Zaman went to print. The identities of the still‑missing men, who are also feared dead, remained unknown since four of the dead have not yet been identified.
Thirty workers were buried 540 meters below ground after a huge methane gas explosion around 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
According to the statistics of the TTK, to which the collapsed Karadon coal mines belongs, 2,687 people died in mine accidents between 1955 and 2009. The country’s worst mining disaster also took place in Zonguldak, when a gas explosion killed 270 miners in the Kozlu mine in 1992.
Full article at:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz‑web/news‑210777‑101‑hopes‑turn‑to‑grief‑as‑28‑miners‑found‑dead‑after‑4‑day‑search.html
Afghan police find bodies at plane crash site
21 May 2010. Afghanistan.
Afghan authorities have recovered several bodies from the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed earlier this week with 48 people aboard, including six foreigners, the interior ministry said on Friday.
Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the interior ministry, said three Britons and an American were on the flight.
Full article at: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE64K2MQ20100521
DNA experts from Hyderabad arrive to help identify bodies
23 May 2010. India.
A team of experts arrived in Mangalore on Sunday morning from Hyderabad to conduct DNA tests to help in identification of bodies charred beyond recognition in the Air India Express plane crash.
Some 115 bodies had been identified so far, Deputy Inspector General of Mangalore Gopal B Hosur said.
In the country's worst air disaster in a decade, 158 people died when the Mangalore‑bound Boeing 737‑800 flight from Dubai overshot the runway and burst into flames at the Bajpe airport. 8 persons survived.
Bodies of all the victims were recovered last night. Relatives of those killed have gathered at Wenlock Hospital and are trying to identify their loved ones.
Full article at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Mangalore‑crash‑DNA‑experts‑from‑Hyderabad‑arrive‑to‑help‑identify‑bodies/articleshow/5964449.cms
Deadly floods are Poland's worst
23 May 2010.
Polish authorities say 12 people have been killed and tens of thousands have had to leave their homes in severe flooding caused by torrential rain.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk says the flooding is the worst Poland has ever experienced, with several parts of the country underwater.
Full article at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/23/2906917.htm?section=justin
At least 32 killed, 21 injured in expressway accident in China
23 May 2010.
At least 32 people were killed and 21 injured in a bus‑truck collision at an expressway section in Fuxin City in China's Liaoning Province early Sunday morning.
Three people on the truck and 28 passengers on the bus were killed on the spot, while one of the 22 injured died in hospital.
Full article at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010‑05/23/content_9881978.htm
(Tags: dvi)