Two trains crash killing at least 12 dead with dozens hurt in India

A train overshot a stop signal and plowed into another express passenger train in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state, killing 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said Wednesday.

Three coaches of the Barauni Express derailed and toppled over after the Krishak Express crashed into it near Gorakhpur city station late Tuesday, said Madhuresh Kumar, an Indian railways general manager.

The bodies of 12 passengers were pulled out of the Barauni’s mangled coaches, he said, adding that 44 people from that train were hospitalized with injuries. The driver of the Krishak Express also was injured, but it was unclear whether anyone else aboard his train was hurt.

Railway services across northern India were disrupted, and several trains were diverted to alternative routes, officials said.

Passengers who were on the Barauni said the train was packed with construction workers who were returning home for the Hindu festival of Dusshera, which is Friday.

“There were more than 100 people in my coach and many of them were getting ready to get off at the Gorakhpur station, when there was this huge bang,” one of the passengers, Ramesh Chaudhry, said by phone from Gorakhpur. (AP)

“I was standing near the door when the engine of the Krishak Express hit the rear of my coach and it fell off the track. I fell onto a pile of luggage and was saved,” Chaudhry said. “But the person standing next to me did not survive.”

He said local villagers helped pull many people from the train, adding that police did not immediately arrive at the scene.

Gorakhpur is about 340 kilometres (210 miles) east of the state capital, Lucknow.

The driver of the Krishak Express and his assistant were suspended after it was determined that their train had overshot a stop signal before the crash, said Alok Kumar, a railway spokesman.

Experts will investigate whether the train overshot the signal due to mechanical failure or human error, the spokesman said.

Accidents are common on India’s railroad network, one of the world’s largest, with 23 million people riding daily on about 11,000 passenger trains. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.

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Respiratory virus kills 4 in Rhode Island, USA

Four people who were infected with a virus causing severe respiratory illness across the country have died, but what role the virus played in the deaths is unclear, health officials said Wednesday.

 

A 10-year-old Rhode Island girl died last week after suffering both a bacterial infection and infection from enterovirus 68, Rhode Island health officials said. The virus is behind a spike in harsh respiratory illnesses in children since early August.

 

The virus was also found in three other patients who died in September, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC declined to release any other details about those deaths.

 

It’s not clear what role the virus may have played in the four deaths, officials from Rhode Island and the CDC say.

 

The Rhode Island child’s death was the result of a bacterial infection, Staphylococcus aureus, that hit the girl in tandem with the virus, Rhode Island officials said in a statement.

 

They called it “a very rare combination,” and stressed that most people who catch the virus experience little more than a runny nose and low-grade fever.

 

The child was in good health before she developed severe breathing problems and her parents called 911, said Dr. Michael Fine, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. She was taken by ambulance to a Providence hospital, where she died.

 

“Very quickly after they got to the hospital, things became dire,” Fine said at a news conference.

 

This enterovirus germ is not new. It was first identified in 1962 and has caused clusters of illness before. Because it’s not routinely tested for, it may have spread widely in previous years without being identified in people who just seemed to have a cold.

 

This year, the virus has gotten more attention because it has been linked to hundreds of severe illnesses. Beginning last month, hospitals in Kansas City, Missouri, and Chicago have received a flood of children with trouble breathing. Some needed oxygen or more extreme care such as a breathing machine. Many, but not all, had asthma before the infection.

 

Health officials say they have not detected a recent mutation or other change in the virus that would cause it to become more dangerous.

 

The government says enterovirus 68 has sickened at least 500 people in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Almost all have been children.

 

Health officials are also investigating whether the virus played a role in a cluster of 10 Denver-area children who have suffered muscle weakness and paralysis.

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Landslide, flash floods hit several areas in Klang Valley, Malaysia

A landslide and flash floods occurred in several areas in the Klang Valley following an hour of heavy downpour this afternoon.

 

Head of Kuala Lumpur fire and rescue operation centre Samsol Maarif when contacted said the landslide occurred at 5.50 pm in front of the Sri Putra Mas Condominium in Jalan Duta Mas here.

 

“The landslide also caused traffic congestion in the areas as the slip closed half the road. However, no victim was trapped,” he said.

 

The operation to clean up the area was mounted with the cooperation from several agencies, including Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, and was completed at 7.30pm.

 

He said the landslide was believed to have occurred due to the soil movement at the construction site of a new condominium in the area.

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Landslide kills 5 in Karsingsa, India

Five persons including an eight-year-old student and a woman died after they were buried under the debris of a hillock which caved in near the sinking zone at Karsingsa along the National Highway 52A, 20 kms from here today.    

 

A police team rushed to the spot and extricated the bodies, Naharlagun SDPO J Basa said adding the bodies were handed over to the relatives after conducting inquest by the magistrate.     

 

A portion of the NH was completely washed away on August 15 for which the vehicular traffic was diverted via another route, but pedestrians used to cross the sinking zone on foot to avail transport on either side of the blocked point, the SDPO said.

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QUAKE SWARM NEVADA, USA

***VERY URGENT***

QUAKE SWARM

NEVADA, USA

***BE ALERT***

MAGNITUDE 5.1 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000shxb#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 11 km

Distances: 1264km (785mi) SW of Santa Cruz das Flores, Portugal
1491km (926mi) WSW of Angra do Heroismo, Portugal
1571km (976mi) WSW of Ponta Delgada, Portugal
2046km (1271mi) SSE of Mount Pearl, Canada
2047km (1272mi) SSE of St. John’s, Canada

MAGNITUDE 3.9 ICELAND REGION

Subject to change

Depth: 8.1 km

 

Distances: Latitude, Longitude  64.678 -17.505
(4.3 km NNE of Bárðarbunga)

Earthquake location   01 Oct 21:35 GMT

Time and magnitude of earthquake   01 Oct 21:35 GMT

MAGNITUDE 4.8 ICELAND REGION

Subject to change

Depth: 2.9 km

 

Distances: Latitude, Longitude  64.675 -17.466
(4.9 km NE of Bárðarbunga)

Earthquake location   01 Oct 20:10 GMT

Time and magnitude of earthquake   01 Oct 20:10 GMT

MAGNITUDE 3.8 ICELAND REGION

Subject to change

Depth: 4 km

 

Distances: Latitude, Longitude  64.668 -17.465
(4.3 km NE of Bárðarbunga)

Earthquake location   01 Oct 20:10 GMT

Time and magnitude of earthquake   01 Oct 20:10 GMT

MAGNITUDE 4.2 ICELAND REGION

Subject to change

Depth: 8.0 km

 

Distances: Latitude, Longitude  64.617 -17.479
(3.5 km SE of Bárðarbunga)

Earthquake location   01 Oct 20:10 GMT

Time and magnitude of earthquake   01 Oct 20:10 GMT