Indonesia: Tsunami death toll rises to 370 as more bodies found

tsunami off western Indonesia has risen to 370 as more bodies

An official says the death toll from a tsunami off western Indonesia has risen to 370 as more bodies have been found in a search of the remote islands that were hardest-hit. Ferry Faisal, of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management agency, raised the official toll on Thursday to 370 from 311 earlier in the day. He says 338 people are still missing. Rescuers fear the numbers could climb higher, suspecting many of the missing may have been swept away to sea.

 

Mexico car wash shooting leaves 15 dead

President Calderon says the US is fuelling Mexico's violence

Prosecutors in Mexico say gunmen have killed at least 15 people at a car wash in the west of the country. At least two others were injured in the attack early on Wednesday in Tepic, Nayarit state. Local media reported that the victims were mostly young men who lived at a drug rehabilitation centre.  Police say rehab facilities are increasingly being targeted by drug cartels who suspect the clinics of harbouring members from rival gangs. The attack came only days after gunmen shot more than a dozen recovering addicts in Tijuana, in Baja California. And in September, 28 patients were killed in attacks on two rehab clinics in Ciudad Juarez. The victims in that attack were lined up against a wall and murdered in what police said were reprisal killings. 

Five men belonging to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel have been arrested for the Ciudad Juarez murders. Some 28,000 people have died in drugs-related violence in Mexico since 2006. More than 7,000 people have died in the violence in 2010 - making it the bloodiest year since President Felipe Calderon dispatched some 50,000 troops to take on the drug cartels in 2006. Mr Calderon, who was attending a forum on security as news of the latest massacre broke, called a minute of silence for victims of the bloodshed, the Associated Press reported. The latest violence came shortly after Mr Calderon told the BBC the US should do more to reduce the demand for drugs that is fuelling violence in Mexico. He told the Hardtalk programme that more should also be done to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the US.  President Calderon and other regional leaders have urged Californian voters to reject moves to legalise marijuana in their state. Last week, police in Tijuana destroyed 134 tonnes of cannabis - the largest drugs haul ever seized in the country.

Building collapse kills Afghan wedding guests

building collapsed on guests at a wedding in northern Afghanistan

At least 60 people have been killed after part of a building collapsed on guests at a wedding in northern Afghanistan, officials say. The incident occurred in Jelga, a remote district in the northern province of Baghlan. Officials said most of the dead were women and children who were celebrating separately from the men, according to Afghan tradition. It was not clear if the roof or a floor had given way at the mud brick house. Munshi Abdul Majid, the governor of Baghlan, said the wedding party was being held in a three-storey house and one of the floors had collapsed. "This is such a tragedy at a time when the family was gathering for a happy moment," he told the BBC. Provincial police chief Jawad Bashart said the roof had collapsed on the women and children who were on the top floor of the house. He put the death toll at 65, while the Afghan Red Crescent said about 60 people had died. At least 40 people are reported to be injured. Baghlan health chief Dr Salim Rasouli said getting help to the victims in such a remote area was difficult.

"We don't have any access. The nearest clinic to that area is in the neighbouring district," he said. Baghlan government spokesman Mahmood Haqmal said the weight of so many people and the age of the house could have caused the collapse. "Phones don't work in the area and the flow of information is slow," he added. The country's Western-backed government has been embroiled in conflict against a Taliban-led insurgency since the Islamist group was ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001. More than 150,000 foreign troops remain in the country, although the conflict is focused in the south and east.

At least 112 dead, more than 500 missing after Indonesia quake

7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra

Relief organizations struggled to reach those in need Tuesday, one day after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Sumatra, Indonesia, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 112 people, officials said. Another 502 were reported missing. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake generated a "significant" tsunami. Some of the missing may include people who are unaccounted for after fleeing to higher ground, said Henri Dori Satoko, head of the Mentawai Islands parliament. Although communication with remote areas was difficult, some witnesses in West Sumatra reported seeing a wave 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) high. Other reports described the tsunami as being about 3 meters (almost 10 feet) high. Satoko said at least one village with a population of about 200 people was swept away, with only 40 people recovered. Nine Australians on board a tourist vessel that had been feared missing were confirmed to be safe, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. Those aboard the ship, the MV Southern Cross, were not aware that an earthquake and tsunami had taken place, it added.

The numbers of dead and injured were in flux because information was trickling in from remote parts of Indonesia, a country made up of myriad islands. The area believed hardest-hit was the Mentawai Islands, a popular surfing destination. In particular, Pagai Island was thought to have been affected, said Ita Balanda, a program manager for World Vision in Padang. "There is no access for now," she said about the Mentawai Islands. "We want to get help to these children and their families as quickly as possible, but it's still too dangerous to reach the island by boat." Large waves were keeping rescue crews and aid workers from reaching the area. An Indonesian Red Cross assessment team had set out for the island but was forced to turn back because of high seas and debris in the water, said Gayat, spokeswoman for the agency, who like many Indonesians only uses one name. She said the team will try again Wednesday morning. The trip takes 10 hours, even under good conditions, Balanda said. U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he and and first lady Michelle Obama were saddened by the loss of life, and he offered support to the hard-hit region.

"As a friend of Indonesia, the United States stands ready to help in any way. Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers are with the Indonesian people and all those affected by this tragedy," Obama said in a statement. The quake struck at 9:42 p.m. Monday, triggering a tsunami warning that was later lifted when sea level readings indicated the threat had diminished or was over for most areas. Its epicenter was 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Padang, at a depth of 20.6 kilometers (12.8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The magnitude was revised upward from a preliminary magnitude of 7.5. "Big, slow, long earthquake last night, and a couple tremblers afterward," WavePark Mentawai Surfing Resort said on its website. "Turns out it was a 7.5 about 70 [kilometers] south of us." The resort said it saw "about six waves on the beach after about 20 minutes" but none was higher than usually seen during high tide. "No damage here, but reports of damage to other resorts and charter boats further south," the posting said. "The local residents in the Mentawai Islands reported seeing a tsunami as high as 3 meters [that] reached as far as 600 meters inland," said Mujiharto of the Indonesian Health Ministry. The Perfect Wave, a surf travel company that said it had 32 clients in the area, also described the wave in a statement as about 3 meters (10 feet) high, and said it washed through a bay where two boats with clients on board were docked. One boat hit the other, which caught on fire, and all the guests jumped overboard. Nine guests and five crew members were washed into the jungle and took more than an hour to make their way to safety, the company said. 

All those aboard were picked up by a third boat and were safe "apart from suffering some smoke inhalation and minor scratches," the statement said. A surf guide aboard the third boat reported "there was a lot of debris floating in the water including bar stools and other pieces of furniture from Macaronis Resort," the company said. "No news on the state of the village at Silabu." The resort, where six clients were staying, is "all but gone," the statement said. "It's very difficult to access the coast right now because the sea is quite bad," said Gilles Bordessoule, owner of the Siloinak Surf Resort. He said his property was unaffected, but his staff was attempting to help the Macaronis Resort, which was "completely destroyed" along with two others. Two of the Macaronis guests are missing, he said. He said the only means of communication with the affected area is by satellite phone, which is how he found out about the resort and received some other information. The fate of the other 130 kilometers (80 miles) of coastline is unknown, he said. 

Bordessoule said he had been in contact with authorities and residents of the area and was told between 150 and 180 people are dead and body bags are needed. World Vision's Balanda said her organization is working with the Indonesian government and the United Nations to figure out how to get to the hardest-hit area. Indonesian government resources have been sent to central Java, where Mount Merapi was erupting, she said, but said her group hopes one or two helicopters will be freed up to help with the quake and tsunami response. She said she is receiving information from a local nongovernmental organization as well as others in the region. The city of Padang and the Mentawai Islands are at the meeting place of two tectonic plates, making them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. n December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. A tsunami generated by that earthquake killed more than 225,000 people in 14 countries -- mainly India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Indonesian region of Banda Aceh was hard-hit: About 150,000 died there.

triggering a tsunami and killing at least 112 people

Indonesia hit by deadly tsunami, volcanic eruption

tsunami killed scores of people hundreds of miles apart in Indonesia

A volcanic eruption and a tsunami killed scores of people hundreds of miles apart in Indonesia - spasms from the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which spawns disasters from deep within the Earth. Tuesday's eruption of Mount Merapi killed at least 18 people, forced thousands to flee down its slopes and spewed burning ash and smoke high into the air on the island of Java. Meanwhile, off the coast of Sumatra, about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) west of the volcano, rescuers battled rough seas to reach Indonesia's Mentawai islands, where a 10-foot tsunami triggered by an earthquake Monday night swept away hundreds of homes, killing at least 113 villagers, said Mujiharto of the Health Ministry's crisis center. Up to 500 others are missing.The twin disasters happened hours apart in one of the most seismically active regions on the planet. Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger its most powerful explosion in years.

But Gede Swantika, a government volcanologist, expressed hope the 9,737-foot (2,968-meter) mountain, which sent rocks and debris cascading down its southern slope, could be releasing steam slowly. "It's too early to know for sure," he said, adding that a big blast could still be coming. "But if it continues like this for a while, we are looking at a slow, long eruption." A 2006 eruption at Merapi killed two people, one in 1994 killed 60 people, and a 1930 blast killed 1,300. After refusing to budge from the volcano's fertile slopes, saying they wanted to tend to their crops and protect their homes, villagers started streaming by the thousands into makeshift emergency shelters late Tuesday. Many carried sleeping mats, bags of clothes and food as they settled in. Officials said earlier that by closely monitoring the volcano 310 miles (500 kilometres) southeast of the capital of Jakarta, they thought they could avoid casualties. But the death toll rose quickly. Police and volunteers were shown on Metro TV pulling at least 14 ash-covered bodies and carrying them to waiting vehicles. Among the dead was a two-month-old baby, said Mareta, a hospital worker who goes by only one name. The infant's tiny body was draped in a sheet as his mother cried.

Three people at Panti Nugroho hospital died of burns after being hit by a searing cloud of ash, said Agustinus Parjo, a spokesman. Even as they contended with the volcano - one of 129 to watch in the world's largest archipelago - officials were trying to assess the impact of Monday night's 7.7-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra that triggered the killer tsunami. The quake, just 13 miles (20 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor, was followed by at least 14 aftershocks, the largest measuring 6.2, according to the US Geological Survey. The fault also caused the 2004 quake and monster Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. After Monday's quake and tsunami, many panicked residents fled to high ground and were too afraid to return home.

That could account in part for the more than 500 people still missing, said Hendri Dori, a local lawmaker, adding: "We're trying to stay hopeful." Hundreds of wooden and bamboo homes were washed away on the island of Pagai, with water flooding crops and roads up to 600 yards (meters) inland. In Muntei Baru, a village on Silabu island, 80 percent of the houses were badly damaged. With few relief workers able to get to the hardest-hit islands - reachable only by a 12-hour boat ride - fishermen searched for the living and dead. Corpses lay unburied because there was not enough outside help to dig graves, according to the Mentawai district chief, Edison Salelo Baja. The island chain, 175 miles (280 kilometers) from Sumatra, has long been popular with surfers. A group of Australians said they were on the back deck of their chartered boat, anchored in a bay, when the quake hit just before 10 pm Monday. It generated a wave that pushed their boat into a neighboring vessel. A fire soon ripped through their cabin.

"We threw whatever we could that floated - surfboards, fenders - then we jumped into the water," Rick Hallet told Australia's Nine Network. "Fortunately, most of us had something to hold on to ... and we just washed in the wetlands, and scrambled up the highest trees that we could possibly find and sat up there for an hour and a half." Ade Edward, a disaster management agency official, said crews from several ships were still unaccounted for in the Indian Ocean. The quake also jolted towns along Sumatra's western coast - including Padang, which last year was hit by a deadly 7.6-magnitude quake that killed more than 700. Mosques blared tsunami warnings over their loudspeakers. "Everyone was running out of their houses," said Sofyan Alawi, adding that the roads leading to surrounding hills were quickly jammed with thousands of cars and motorcycles.

Mexican officials ID 13 people killed in Tijuana drug rehab center

Mexican federal police investigate the shootings at a Tijuana rehab facility on Sunday

Mexican officials have identified 13 people killed Sunday night in a Tijuana drug rehabilitation center, the state-run news agency said Monday. Four heavily armed men stormed into the Centro de Rehabilitacion El Camino and opened fire, the Notimex news agency said. The reported ages of those killed ranged from 19 to 56 years old. The assailants escaped in a vehicle, the news agency said. The dead were identified as: Irineo Godinez Garcia, 47; Antonio Mesa Contreras, 56; Bernabe Alvarez Piceno, 35; Jose Lopez Sauceda, 28; Fabian Gonzalez Zea, 19; Juan Daniel Casi Esquer, 32; Wilson Ramírez Pena, 42; Joaquin García Hernandez, 39; Jorge Palacio Goya, 37; Pedro Villegas, 30; Juan Roberto Sanchez Ortega, 30; Edwin Vargas Avila, 33; and Salvador Bustos, 30. The slayings occurred one day after armed men burst into a house party in Ciudad Juarez and opened fire, killing 14 people and wounding 14, Notimex said. The ages of those killed in Juarez ranged from 14 to 30, Notimex said. Children as young as 7 and 11 were among the injured, the agency reported.

The attack in Juarez was reminiscent of an incident in January, when drug cartel gunmen stormed a house party and killed 15 people. Most of the victims were youths who had no ties to organized crime. Investigators said the January shooting was a case of mistaken identity caused by bad intelligence. It sparked widespread outrage in the violent border city, including calls for Mexican President Felipe Calderon to resign. The Tijuana slayings also were similar to previous attacks carried out at drug rehab centers. A massacre at a Juarez rehab facility in early June left 19 dead. Twenty-seven people were killed in September 2009 in two attacks at separate drug facilities in Ciudad Juarez, the bloodiest city in the nation. Officials said the previous attacks were done by drug gangs killing members of other gangs. At least 2,500 people have been reported killed in drug violence this year in Ciudad Juarez. Nationwide, more than 28,000 people have died in drug-related violence since December 2006, when Calderon took office and stepped up efforts to fight organized crime and narcotrafficking cartels.

Nine people stabbed at Philippines school, three dead

An ex-convict stabbed nine people at a Philippines elementary school

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/nine-people-stabbed-at-philippines-school-three-dead-61698?cp

An ex-convict stabbed nine people at a Philippines elementary school on Friday in the south of the country, killing three, before parents wrestled away his knife and stabbed him to death with it, police said. The man killed a teacher, a fifth-grader and an elderly man who was among those who tried to grab the attacker's knife, police Superintendent Hado Edding said. The man first barged into a room at the Talisayan Elementary School in Zamboanga City and fatally stabbed the teacher, the police official added. He then went to another room, forced fifth grade students into a restroom and stabbed them one by one until the adults were able to stop him. Four students and two teachers were being treated at Zamboanga's Brent Hospital, including an 11-year-old girl and one teacher in a serious condition, according to a doctor at the hospital

Police said the attacker was Fely Mateo, who had served a prison sentence for murder. Medical officials could be seen placing Mateo's dead body onto a stretcher. Police described Mateo as mentally disturbed but it wasn't clear what prompted the attack. One of the students, who was forced into the restroom, said Mateo threatened to kill everyone inside the school if police did not let him go. "There was a man who went on top of the restroom he kicked the ex-convict out of the room so we were able to escape, a lot of people attacked the offender that is why we were able to survive," said Liza, a student at the elementary school.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/nine-people-stabbed-at-philippines-school-three-dead-61698?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/nine-people-stabbed-at-philippines-school-three-dead-61698?cp