Death Toll Rises to 17 in Italy Train Derailment
More than a day after a freight train derailed and exploded on the Italian coast, officials raised the death toll to 17, including two small children and an unidentified man who subsequently died of severe burns, news agencies reported. The 14-car train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derailed in Viareggio around midnight on Monday, engulfing a neighborhood in flames. More than 34 people injured, 12 of them in serious condition. The train was traveling south through coastal Tuscany when the axle on the first car broke, officials said. The train ran off the tracks and exploded.
Air France plane lost: officials say ‘no hope’ of finding airliner
More than 200 people are believed dead after an Air France passenger jet disappeared over the Atlantic on a flight from Brazil. Officials said they had "no hope" for Air France Flight 447 which dropped off the radar three hours and less than 200 miles into a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. As the Brazilian air force mounted a search and rescue operation for the Airbus 330-200k in the waters around the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, families of passengers gathered at a crisis centre in Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport awaiting news.
Over 150 dead, 1,500 injured in Italy quake
A powerful earthquake in mountainous central Italy knocked down whole blocks of buildings early Monday as residents slept, killing more than 150 people in the country's deadliest quake in nearly three decades. Tens of thousands were homeless and 1,500 were injured. Premier Silvio Berlusconi, speaking by telephone with one of the TV networks of his media empire, said more than 150 people were dead and more than 1,500 people injured in the quake, which struck near the medieval town of L'Aquila, nestled in the Apennine mountains, before dawn.
An Antarctic ice shelf vanished
According to scientists. One Antarctic ice shelf has disappeared, this means the glaciers are melting faster than anyone predicted due to climate change. They said the Wordie Ice Shelf, which had been disintegrating since the 1960s, is gone and the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf no longer exists. More than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square km) have broken off from the Larsen shelf since 1986. Climate change is to blame, according to the report from the U.S. Geological Survey and the British Antarctic Survey, available at pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2600/B.
Death Toll Rises as Search Continues after Dam Burst in Indonesia
The Eastern Dam collapsed after reservoir overflowed due to heavy rains. Health Officials estimates death toll to reach 100. Rescue workers are still searching for survivors, the tragedy already claimed 52 victims. Aerial photos shows an enormous hole on the dam. Emergency crews evacuated hundreds of survivors, including terrified children weeping with fear, from the flood zone. Others paddled out on their own makeshift rafts.
Underwater volcano erupts off Tonga
An underwater volcano has erupted close to the Tonga coast, in the South Pacific ocean. Scientists sailed to inspect the the volcano, which has been shooting smoke, steam and ash into the air near the low-lying twin volcanic islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai. Local authorities said coastal villages close to the active volcano were not yet at risk, and that no warnings had been issued. Underwater volcano erupts off Tonga
Australia Declares Oil Spill Area Disaster Zone
An oil spill in eastern Australia has forced officials to declare a 60 kilometer stretch of the Queensland coast a disaster zone amid warnings that legal action could be taken against the operator of the cargo ship that lost its fuel in stormy seas. Australian authorities originally said about 30 tons of oil were lost when 31 containers of fertilizer slipped from the Hong Kong-flagged "Pacific Adventurer" ship and punctured fuel tanks in the hull as the ship was battered in cyclone-stirred waters. Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said Friday the spill was larger than had been reported but did not say ...
Fire Sweeps Through Bangladeshi High Rise
A fire swept through Bangladesh's largest shopping mall Friday in the capital, Dhaka, killing at least one person and injuring several others. Authorities were still battling the blaze several hours after it began on top floors of the office tower at the Bashundhara City complex. Helicopters were used to douse the flames from the top floor of the 21-story building. Hundreds of people were evacuated from the mall. Authorities are trying to determine if people are still trapped inside. The cause of the fire is not known.
German archive building collapses
Rescue workers are searching for up to four people still missing after a building housing archives collapsed on Tuesday in the German city of Cologne. Witnesses said there may have been two people inside a car parked outside the archive and another two in a nearby building that subsequently collapsed. The area must be stabilised before rescue teams can move into the rubble. Cracks and groaning noises had alerted staff and visitors at the archive, all of whom escaped before it collapsed.
Turkish Airliner Crashes at Amsterdam Airport, Killing 9 People
A Turkish airliner carrying 134 people crashed at Amsterdam's main airport Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring more than 50 others. The airliner crashed into a muddy field just short of Amsterdam main airport mid-morning local time, breaking into three pieces. The Boeing 737 aircraft had been en route from Istanbul to The Netherlands and was trying to land in misty weather. The Turkish airline initially said there had been no casualties, but Dutch authorities quickly amended that claim. The Turkish Transport Minister said it was a miracle there weren't more casualties.
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Missing plane sent 24 error messages
Air France Flight 447 sent out 24 automated error messages — including one saying the aircraft’s autopilot had disengaged — before it vanished with 228 people on board, aviation investigators said Saturday. But even as they analyzed the error messages and satellite images of the doomed flight’s path, investigators said they still have a lot of work to determine what caused... [Read more]
29 children die in Mexico day care center fire
Mexico — Twenty-nine children were killed and more than 100 others were injured Friday when their day care center caught fire in the northwestern state of Sonora, a spokesman for the state’s governor said. The victims were from 1 to 5 years old, said Jose Larrinaga, the spokesman. [Read more] Read More →
Greenland ice could fuel severe U.S. sea level rise
New York, Boston and other cities on North America’s northeast coast could face a rise in sea level this century that would exceed forecasts for the rest of the planet if Greenland’s ice sheet keeps melting as fast as it is now, researchers said on Wednesday. Sea levels off the northeast coast of North America could rise by 12 to 20 inches more than other coastal areas if the Greenland... [Read more]
Indonesian Military Plane Crash Kills At Least 97
An Indonesian military plane has crashed, killing at least 97 people. As Daniel Schearf reports from The military transport plane crashed into homes near an air force base Wednesday morning as it was coming in for a landing. Over one hundred military personnel and their families were on board the Hercules C-130 plane when it went down in an area of East Java. Witnesses reported seeing parts of the... [Read more]
California WildFire May 2009
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Italian earthquake: deathtoll reaches 228 as aftershock slows rescue
The death toll from the Abruzzo earthquake reached 228 last night as a series of strong aftershocks continued to rattle through the region. A tremor of 5.6 magnitude spread more panic yesterday evening in L’Aquila, a city once home to about 70,000 people, where the impact was felt the strongest. At least one person was reported killed as a result of the shock. Monday’s earthquake was between 5.8... [Read more]
Fargo Neighborhood Evacuated as Waters Rise
Along the banks of this city, the Red River surpassed its highest level in history Friday morning, forcing the emergency evacuation of one neighborhood before dawn and leading city leaders here, once cheerfully upbeat, to sound far more dire. “We do not want to give up yet,” Mayor Dennis Walaker of Fargo said late Thursday night after receiving yet another piece of gruesome news. Forecasters now... [Read more]
Lockheed F-22 fighter crashes in California
A U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter, designed to be the world’s top air-superiority aircraft, crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base, California, while on a test mission, an Air Force official said. The Lockheed Martin Corp -built F-22 went down about 10 a.m. Central Time about 35 miles northeast of Edwards, where it had been based, said Maj. Michelle Coghill, a spokeswoman for the Air Combat... [Read more]
Alaskan volcano Mount Redoubt erupts
An Alaskan volcano 100 miles (160km) south-west of the state’s largest city, Anchorage, erupted overnight, sending a plume of smoke up to 15,000 metres (50,000ft) into the air. Mount Redoubt experienced four large explosions late on Sunday and early today, according to geologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The observatory has issued a red alert, meaning eruption is imminent or under... [Read more]
Cargo plane crashes on landing at Tokyo airport
A FedEx cargo plane burst into flames after bouncing off a runway in unusually high winds at Tokyo’s main international airport Monday, killing the pilot and copilot and closing a major runway for several hours. The flight from Guangzhou, China, skipped along the main runway at Narita Airport before skidding to a fiery halt, according to footage from airport security cameras. Firefighters and... [Read more]
