Prison fire in Honduras leaves at least 300 dead, official says

Trapped inmates screamed from their cells as a fire swept through a Honduran prison, killing at least 300 inmates, authorities said Wednesday.

Lucy Marder, chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutor’s office, said early Wednesday some 356 people on the prison roster are unaccounted for among 852 prisoners.

“The majority could be dead, though others could have suffered burns, escaped or survived,” she said.

The fire broke out Tuesday night at a prison in Comayagua, a town 90 miles north of the Central American country’s capital, Tegucigalpa.

Comayagua fire department spokesman Josue Garcia said he saw “horrific” scenes while trying to put out the fire, saying inmates rioted in attempts to escape. He said “some 100 prisoners were burned to death or suffocated in their cells.”

“We couldn’t get them out because we didn’t have the keys and couldn’t find the guards who had them,” Garcia said.

Officials are investigating whether the fire was triggered by rioting prisoners or by an electrical short-circuit, said Danilo Orellana, head of the national prison system.

A prisoner identified as Silverio Aguilar told HRN Radio that someone started screaming, “Fire, fire,” and the prisoners called for help.

“For a while, nobody listened. But after a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity, a guard appeared with keys and let us out,” he said.

Hundreds of relatives rushed to Santa Teresa Hospital in Comayagua state to learn the fate of their loved ones, said Leonel Silva, fire chief in Comayagua.

Marder said 12 victims were treated there and nine more in the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, bringing the total of injured to 21. “That’s why we think the death toll will rise,” she said.

Atalay, depremzedelere müjdeyi verdi

Başbakan Yardımcısı Beşir Atalay, ”Van’da sadece Mevlana Evleri’ni tedbiren bırakacağız ama ondan sonra çadır kentler tamamen kaldırılacak” dedi.

Beşir Atalay, düzenlediği basın toplantısında Van, Erciş ilçesi ve köylerde depremden sonra yapılan çalışmalarla ilgili bilgi verdi.

Erciş’te çadır kent kalmadığını, tamamının kaldırıldığını ifade eden Atalay, çadır kentlerde kalanların hepsinin konteynerlere taşındığını söyledi.

Van’da sadece 4 çadır kentte toplam 290 çadır bulunduğunu, bunlarda bin kişinin yaşadığını belirten Atalay, ”Bunların hiçbiri evi ağır hasarlı olanlar değildir. Tabii vatandaşların çok değişik durumları var. Kimi kirada oturuyor gelip çadır kente yerleşmiş, kiminin evi az hasarlı ama çadır kentte kalıyor, bunun gibi durumlar var” diye konuştu.

Atalay, sözlerini şöyle sürdürdü:

Radiation leaking from Japan’s quake-hit nuclear

Radiation leaked from a damaged Japanese nuclear reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, the government said, after an explosion blew the roof off the facility in the wake of a massive earthquake.

The developments raised fears of a meltdown at the plant as officials scrambled to contain what could be the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl explosion in 1986 that shocked the world.

The Japanese plant was damaged by Friday’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake, which sent a 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast. Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed.

“We are looking into the cause and the situation and we’ll make that public when we have further information,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said after confirming the explosion and radiation leak at the plant.

Edano said an evacuation radius of 10 km (6 miles) from the stricken 40-year-old Daiichi 1 reactor plant in Fukushima prefecture was adequate, but an hour later the boundary was extended to 20 km (13 miles). TV footage showed vapor rising from the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

Japonya’da felaket! 8.9 şiddetinde deprem ve 6 metrelik tsunami!

Japonya’da deprem ve tsunami! Japonya’nın kuzeyinde 8.9 büyüklüğünde deprem meydana geldi. Depremin ardından oluşan 6 metrelik tsunami araçları denize çekti!

Merkez üssü başkent Tokyo’ya 324 kilometre uzaklıkta olan depremin yer yüzüne çok yakın olduğu belirtiliyor. Deprem Tokyo’da bile şiddetli bir şekilde hissedildi. Yetkililerin yaptığı tsunami alarmıyla başkent Tokyo da dahil olmak üzere yüzbinlerce kişi yollara düşerken tsunami gecikmedi. Yaklaşık 6 metrelik dalgalar oluşturan tsunami sonrasında yüzlerce araç denize çekildi. Ülkenin sahil kesimlerinde araçlar denizde yüzerken ölü ve yaralı sayısı hakkında henüz bir bilgi gelmedi. Depremin merkez üssünden ise hiçbir haber alınamıyor. Japonya kaygıyla gelişmeleri izlerken uzmanlar bu şiddetteki bir depremin artçılarının da en az 6-7 şiddetinde olacağını öngörüyor.

World sends disaster relief teams to Japan

The international community started to send disaster relief teams on Saturday to help Japan after it suffered a massive earthquake and tsunami, with the United Nations sending a group to help co-ordinate work.

“We are in the process of deploying 9 experts who are among the most experienced we have for dealing with catastrophes. They will help evaluate needs and coordinate assistance with Japanese authorities,” Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

The team of U.N. disaster relief officials includes several Japanese speakers and an environmental expert, she said.

An explosion blew the roof off an unstable nuclear reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, raising fears of a disastrous meltdown.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there had been a radiation leak at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake — the strongest recorded in Japan — sent a 10-meter (33-foot) high tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast on Friday. Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed.

Yıkımın haritası 60 saniyede hazır

Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Kandilli Rasathanesi Deprem Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdür Yardımcısı Doç. Dr. Nurcan Meral, geliştirdikleri ELER (Deprem Hasar Tahmini) adlı yazılım ile depremden sadece 60 saniye sonra, hasar durumunu ortaya koyabildiklerini kaydetti. Ulusal Deprem İzleme Merkezi (UDİM) Müdürü Dr. Doğan Kalafat ve Araştırma Görevlisi Yüksek Mühendis Yaver Kamer ile dün bir basın toplantısı düzenleyerek yeni geliştirilen yazılımı tanıtan Doç. Dr. Meral, deprem sonrası arama kurtarma ekiplerinin bölgeye yönlendirilmesinde parametrelerin çok önemli olduğunu ve bu yönlendirmelerin de ancak Kandilli Rasathanesi’nin açıklamaları sonucu yapılabildiğini belirtti. Rasathanenin bugüne kadar depremin merkez üssünü, derinliğini ve büyüklüğünü verdiğini belirten Meral şu bilgileri verdi: “2010 Elazığ depreminden itibaren büyüklük, koordinatlar ve derinliğin yanı sıra deprem sonrası şiddet, etki alanı dağılımı gibi parametreler de harita şeklinde dağıtılmaya başlandı. 2010 boyunca haritaları test amaçlı ürettik. Bu sistem ABD, İtalya ve Japonya’da son birkaç yıldır uygulanıyor. Sarsıntı ve etki alanı haritaları, hasar ve can kaybı haritaları üretilmekte. Bizde de haritalar otomatik olarak dağıtılacak.” Dr. Doğan Kalafat da depremin aletsel büyüklüğünün değişmediğini ancak şiddetinin alınan önlemlere göre değişiklik gösterebildiğini söyledi. Kalafat, ülkenin özellikle Doğu ve Güneydoğu bölgelerinde yapı malzemesine bağlı olarak 5.5 ölçeğindeki bir depremin şiddetinin 7 ve 8 olabildiğini belirtti. Şiddet haritalarının depremden ancak birkaç ay sonra hazırlanabildiğini hatırlatan Dr. Kalafat şunları anlattı:

Language school became New Zealand quake disaster zone

When Lalane Agatep boarded her flight to Christchurch last Sunday, the Filipina was laughing and thrilled at the prospect of completing an English language course to launch a new career as a nurse in New Zealand.

Now the 38-year-old is now listed as missing, feared entombed with up to 120 others in the CTV building which was devastated in Tuesday’s 6.3-magnitude earthquake.

Her distraught sister Leila Garcia and brother-in-law James arrived in New Zealand’s second city on Friday, praying she would be miraculously found alive, but knowing they faced the grim prospect she had not survived.

“We last saw her on Sunday when we dropped her off at the airport in Wellington. She was coming to Christchurch to study at English at King’s Education,” James Garcia said as he comforted his weeping wife.

“She was so happy. She was working at a retirement home and needed to study English to become a nurse. This was to be her new life. Now we can only hope she is all right, but…” He could not complete the sentence.

State of emergency in Bahrain after deadly crackdown; opposition party withdraws

The country is effectively under martial law after violence that left five dead as Bahrain’s Shiite majority, dissatisfied over their place in a Sunni-led monarchy, followed the mood of protest in other Arab countries and pushed for reform.

Tanks and other military vehicles patrolled the capital and remained in control of key intersections. Banks and some grocery stores closed. The main Shiite political party announced its withdrawal from parliament, and leaders called for a “Day of Rage” after Friday prayers – hoping to emulate the protests that brought down President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

Other leaders among the Persian Gulf countries rallied to the defense of Bahrain’s monarchy, denouncing any outside influence in the country’s affairs and praising the quick action of Bahraini leaders to counter the protests. Though the violence was “regrettable,” said Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, the protests were pushing the country toward a “sectarian abyss.”

Most residents of the gulf states are Sunni, and there are enduring concerns among the region’s leaders about Iran’s influence over Shiite communities, particularly in Bahrain and neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the government to use restraint in response to the protests, telling the Bahraini foreign minister in a phone call of “deep concerns” over the police-led violence.

Muhtarlar afetlere karşı bilgilendirdi

Kırıkkale Emniyet Müdürlüğü Sivil Savunma Büro Amirliği, muhtarlara afet semineri verdi.
Seminerde konuşan sivil savunma uzmanı Mehmet Baş, sivil savunma, ikaz, alarm, afetler, deprem, yangın, sel ve kılavuzluk hakkında bilgi verdi. Halkın doğal afetlere karşı can ve mal kaybının en aza indirilmesini amaçladıklarını belirten Baş, “Milletleri oluşturan en önemli unsur insandır. İnsan hayatını ve malını korumak çok önemli bir görevdir. Sivil Savunma bu görevin nasıl ifa edileceğini öğreten ve planlayan bir teşkilattır.” dedi.

Sivil savunmanın tarihçesi konusunda da bilgiler veren Baş, “Doğal afetlere karşı halkın korunması konusunda, öteden beri bir takım önlemler alınıp uygulanmışsa da bu önlemler, örgütsel ve yasal dayanaklardan yoksundu. Birinci Dünya Savaşı’na kadar, özellikle halkın, savaşın tehlikelerine karşı korunması için hiçbir girişimde bulunulmadığı, buna ihtiyaç da duyulmadığı görülmektedir. Bunun nedeni, savaş silahlarının cephe gerilerine uzanacak menzile ve toptan yok etme gücüne erişememiş olmasıdır. Birinci Dünya savaşının ardından gelen yıllarda ülkelerin birçoğunda pasif korunma adı altında, halkın türlü tehlikelerden korunmasını amaçlayan önlemler getirilmiş ve örgütler kurulmuştur.” diye konuştu.

Australia: Disaster zone

Floods, fires and even earthquakes and volcanoes have become political events all over the world, polarising public opinion and sometimes contributing to the fall of governments. Now that the line between natural and man-made disasters has been blurred by a changed understanding of our impact on the planet, every disaster sets off a search for causes and culprits. This is made more contentious by arguments over the degree of human responsibility that have increased the tension between right and left in many countries. The inevitable result seems to be that political leaders are finding themselves more and more in the firing line when nature springs its nasty surprises.

The war over the causes of climate change, in particular, has been waged nowhere more fiercely than in Australia, a country whose knife-edge ecology makes it especially vulnerable. Floods in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, Cyclone Yasi, and now a dismal coda with bushfires around Perth in Western Australia, have made disaster control and prevention the issues of the day in what is normally Australia’s switched-off summer holiday period. Even so, it is surprising that support for the Australian government has tumbled so precipitately. If an election was held today, prime minister Julia Gillard and the Labor party would be swept from office, according to a poll published in the Australian.