GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Work continues to find survivors and clear rubble five days after the area around the town of Ercis was struck 23 October by a 7.5 earthquake, but snow and freezing rain are hampering the effort and causing major problems for victims, many of whom are still reportedly without shelter. Survivors have been cheered, nevertheless, by extraordinary rescues: a 13-year-old boy was pulled out alive early Friday morning and an 18-year-old youth Thursday evening, reports Reuters. The government now officially reports 535 people have died. Aljazeera says that about 185 have been brought out of the rubble alive since Sunday. And a mother was reunited with her 18-day-old baby Thursday, reports the Telegraph, although the child’s father is yet to be found.
Coast Guard says leak may be 8,000 barrels crude oil a day
Obama calls disaster a number one priority
Transocean's Deepwater Horizon ablaze (photo, US Coast Guard)
Update 23 April 07:00 Louisiana, USA (GenevaLunch) – The oil rig that was ablaze in the Gulf of Mexico has sunk, extinguishing the fire, the US Coast Guard said late Thursday Swiss time. The Coast Guard had sent several helicopters, planes and cutters to rescue the Deepwater Horizon’s 126 person crew 21 April in the Gulf of Mexico. The blaze continued to burn, and investigators have been seeking clues to the cause of the explosion that set off the fire on the Swiss company-owned oil rig.
The air and sea search for survivors continues, reports AP. Eleven crew remain missing.
Environmental concerns are growing about the impact of the explosion on the rig, which the Los Angeles Times says was worth $600 million. US President Barack Obama says providing help for the search for missing crew members and to stem the flow of oil is a top priority. The Coast Guard says 8,000 barrels of crude oil a day may be leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
“The environmental effect was only the latest question prompted by the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which could shape up to be one of the worst US offshore oil accidents in a generation,” according to the LA Times.
Transocean said in a statement late Thursday, “The combined response team was not able to stem the flow of hydrocarbons prior to the rig sinking, and we are working closely with BP Exploration & Production, Inc. and the US Coast Guard to determine the impact from the sinking of the rig and the plans going forward. The US Coast Guard has plans in place to mitigate any environmental impact from this situation.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The United States heads into the Cartagena Summit, which opens Sunday 29 November in Colombia, now saying that it is continuing to review its policy on signing the international Mine Ban treaty. The US is sending a sizeable official observer team to the summit, with groups from the State Department, Pentagon, US Agency for International Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Cartagena Summit is the second review of the 1997 Ottawa Convention that bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines. More than 1,000 delegates, including several heads of state, will participate in the summit, which will assess progress made in clearing the world of landmines.
Cause of US shift unexplained
The US said in a statement issued Wednesday 25 November that it is still reviewing its position on signing the 10-year-old Mine Ban treaty – the opposite of what it said the previous day, but it was unclear if the statement was a correction of an error, a change in tactics ahead of the Cartagena Summit that opens 29 November in Colombia, or a change of heart following harsh criticism.
(AP video) A ferry with more than 242 people aboard sank in heavy seas off the island of Sumatra Sunday. A dramatic rescue operation brought some 240 people to safety, but at least 29 people died, and it was clear that the ferry’s manifest did not list all the people aboard, not uncommon in a region where ferries are often over-crowded. A second ferry ran aground nearby, but its passengers are safe.
Links to other sites: AP/Yahoo, Reuters
The explanation for what precisely happened to flight AF447 over the Atlantic is still missing, but Air France Thursday 4 June told the families of victims that enough information is now available to know there is no hope of anyone surviving the crash. Yahoo/AP
