Chopper knocks Austrian gondola off cables, killing nine

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

On Monday, a helicopter accidentally dropped a concrete block weighing nearly 1,500 pounds when it was flying it up to an Austrian mountain for a “ski resort construction project”. The concrete block struck a cable holding a gondola, the one that suffered all of the casualties, although other gondolas reported people suffering injuries from the jolt. The car that was hit fell quite some distance to the ground, up to hundreds of meters. Two more cars started tilting as some people were flung out from these cars.

A least nine people are reported to be killed in the incidents. There are also many injured, some of them seriously. Up to a dozen rescue helicopters immediately rushed to the scene from all over the Swiss alps.

The work was made to make the infrastructure more secure after an incident that happened when a low-flying US marine plane cut through a cable killing 20 people in 1998. This incident will bring into question if those policies saved lives or need to be recast in light of this tragedy.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Powerful Cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh, killing hundreds of people, though reports vary. Citing the local United News of Bangladesh, the Associated Press is reporting a death toll of 1,100.

An evacuation of some 3 million was attempted before the storm made landfall. Anjana Pasricha reported from New Delhi for VOA News that, officials say advance preparation saved many lives, in a country accustomed to natural disasters.

Officials say the cyclone crashed into the country’s southern coast Thursday night with winds of up to 240 kilometers an hour, triggering huge waves.

Many villages were devastated as the winds uprooted trees and flattened homes. Torrential rain and waves washed away crops. Officials say many of the victims were killed by falling trees or debris from collapsing homes.

Shail Shrestha, program coordinator for the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Dhaka, said preliminary reports indicate that the devastation is widespread.

“Phone lines are cut and communication system is very much disrupted, said Shrestha. “Agriculture products are badly damaged and livestock are also badly damaged.”

The worst of the storm was over by early Friday. This made it possible for government and volunteer teams to dispatch relief teams carrying food, water, medicines, and tents for the people in the affected districts.

Although the storm has caused considerable destruction, officials say a mass evacuation ordered in advance helped save many lives.

Hundreds of thousands of coastal villagers were evacuated into government-built cyclone shelters and other buildings as the storm approached.

The shelters were built after the low-lying country suffered massive casualties in previous cyclones. A storm that hit the country in 1970 killed about half a million people. Another cyclone in 1991 killed more than 130,000.

Chittagong is one of the districts that lay in the path of the storm. A senior district official, Mokhlesur Rahman, says the region was spared large-scale casualties.

“We did evacuate a lot of people into different cyclone shelters, some in educational institutions,” said Rahman. “It was of much help, evacuation…. Now they are going back home.”

India’s east coast was also bracing for the cyclone, but so far it has escaped the storm’s fury. Authorities reported that several areas were hit by heavy rain, but there was little damage.

This article is based on Powerful Cyclone Wreaks Havoc in Bangladesh by VOA News which has a copyright policy compatible with our CC-BY 2.5. Specifically “Copyright status of work by the U.S. government“

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals have won their respective conference championship games to advance to Super Bowl XLIII, the championship game of the National Football League. The game is scheduled to take place on February 1 in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. The Steelers were the American Football Conference champion, defeating the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 23 to 14. Meanwhile, the Cardinals became the National Football Conference champions by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 32 to 25.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was the first rookie quarterback in the history of the NFL to help lead his team to two straight playoff victories, defeating the number 3 seeded Miami Dolphins to win the Wild Card round, and the number 1 seeded Tennessee Titans in the divisional round. They came in to the game against a number 2 seeded Steelers team that had already defeated them twice during the regular season. Early in the game the Steelers defense dominated the field, forcing him to only complete 3 out of 14 pass attempts and end the half with a lowly 9.8 quarterback rating and his team losing 13 to 7. By the beginning of the second half, snow was beginning to fall. Early in the third quarter, Flacco threw a 16 yard pass to wide receiver Derrick Mason, only to be sacked by safety Troy Polamalu for an 8-yard loss on the next play, forcing a punt for the Ravens. The Steelers were held on their next possession, forcing another punt. After the Ravens got the ball back, Flacco led the team down the field in what ended as a 58-yard touchdown drive to put the team up 16 to 14. However, near the end of the game, Flacco threw an errant pass intended for Mason that was intercepted by Polamalu and returned for a 40-yard defensive touchdown. This made the score 23 to 14, and essentially knocked the Ravens out of the game.

With 3:19 remaining in the game and the Ravens in possession of the ball for one last chance, a passing play was called. Flacco dropped back into a throwing position, and threw a short pass to running back Willis McGahee, who caught the ball and turned upfield. Going full speed up the field, Steelers safety Ryan Clark collided with McGahee, also running at full speed. The two made helmet-to-helmet-contact, knocking both players to the ground and knocking the ball out of the hands of McGahee. Ray Rice, another running back, commented “It was tough to watch. He’s like a brother to me.” Clark was helped off of the field by the Steelers medical staff, but McGahee remained down on the field with movement in only his legs and arms. He told team doctors that he had significant pain in his neck, and was taken off the field on a cart and taken to a nearby hospital. It is unknown how severe the injuries are at this time.

After the game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement “I’m not going to sit here and say Joe played a certain way. Joe went out there and competed and battled and fought and tried to find a way to win the football game. So I certainly have no complaints about that.” Flacco completed only 17 out of 30 pass attempts for 141 yards passing. He was also sacked 3 times and threw 3 interceptions. “I’m not blaming it on any rookie-wall stuff. I don’t believe in any of that stuff,” said Flacco.

In the NFC championship, the Arizona Cardinals had not made it to a Super Bowl in the past 60 years. They were matched up against the high-powered offense of the Philadelphia Eagles, who were the number 6 seed in the NFC. The Cardinals were the number 4 seed, defeating the number 5 seeded Atlanta Falcons on Wild Card weekend, and the number 2 seeded Carolina Panthers in the NFC Divisional playoff round. The Cardinals were led by quarterback Kurt Warner, who became the second quarterback in NFL history to lead two different teams to a Super Bowl, the other being the St. Louis Rams. During the first half, the Cardinals quickly took the lead. By halftime, their lead was extended to 18 points in what looked like an easy win for the team. However, in the third quarter, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw three touchdown passes, two of them being to tight end Brent Celek. After kicker David Akers missed an extra point attempt after the third touchdown pass, the score was 25 to 24 in favor of the Eagles. After the Cardinals received the ball, they drove up the field. With just under 3 minutes remaining in the game, Kurt Warner completed a game-winning touchdown pass to running back Tim Hightower, making the score 32 to 25,. and sealing the game for the Cardinals.

Kurt Warner completed 21 passes out of 28 pass attempts, for a total of 279 passing yards. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught three touchdown passes of 9, 62, and 1 yard, building on his record-breaking playoff performance of 23 catches, 419 yards, and 5 receiving touchdowns over 3 games. “It really set in when I saw the confetti. I always dreamed of being in the confetti. This is beyond my wildest dreams,” said Cardinals linebacker Bertrand Berry after the game. On the other side, Donovan McNabb remarked on not making it to the Super Bowl again. “You never want anything to end. It’s tough when you’re that close to making it to the Super Bowl,” he commented.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

A fire on Saturday destroyed the main hall of the Egyptian National Theatre in Cairo. Six people have been injured including three firefighters. No one was in the theatre at the time as it was closed for the weekend.

Egyptian state culture minister Faruq Hosni, said “The fire broke out in the main hall of the theatre. It was probably caused by an electrical short circuit.”

Ataba Square was filled with thick white smoke just after sunset as a total of 22 fire engines responded. Egyptian riot police were also deployed to keep crowds of people back while the firefighters attempted to extinguish the blaze.

A civil defence officer described the fire as being almost contained, following a brief burst of high winds which blew the flames towards neighbouring shops and other buildings. The three firefighters were admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Brig. Gen. Nasr Zakaria, a senior officer of the Civil Defence Service, later confirmed Minister Hosni’s earlier statement, telling MENA (Middle East News Agency) that an electrical short had indeed caused the fire, by triggering an explosion in the theatres air conditioning system.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Jared Foster, a transfer quarterback with the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels football team, was arrested yesterday in Oxford, Mississippi and charged with selling steroids.

Rebels head coach Houston Nutt said that Foster will not be allowed to remain with the team.

Foster was arrested for alcohol possession by a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2006 while a star player for Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi. Prosecutors agreed then not to try the case on the conditions that Foster help police in a steroid investigation and stay out of trouble.

Friday, March 18, 2011

A judge in South Africa has convicted a serial killer of 52 crimes, including nineteen rapes, sixteen murders, an attempted murder and nine kidnappings. Jack Mogale was convicted before Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday of being what police had dubbed the West End Serial Killer. He was today sentenced to twenty concurrent life terms.

Mogale’s crimes lasted a year from March 2008 to March 2009, coming to an end when police were passed his car’s number plate information following a teen’s disappearance. He was arrested shortly after the killing of a prostitute he had hired; he was found to have a phone stolen from another victim when he was detained.

Whilst the killer was still at-large police named him after the West-End factory, a building materials factory in Waterworks, Westonaria around which most of the attacks were centred. Other victims were attacked in Lenasia.

Judge Frans Kgomo also chose to convict Mogale, who is in his forties, of three aggravated robberies, sexual assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, theft or fraud and escaping lawful custody. He cleared the defendant, who took victims to open areas before comitting sexual murders, of nine other charges.

41 witnesses testified for the prosecution, including the only two women to survive. Both told the court he had introduced himself as a Zionist Christian preacher and prophet. He wore a Christian Zion badge and sangoma beads, which both victims identified; identity parades were also submitted as evidence. The accused’s distinctive facial scar was recognised by the survivors.

The first described his help for a uterine ailment; she said he claimed he needed to have sex with her to exorcise a spirit from her and placed herbs in her vagina, but Mogale countered that they had consensual intercourse as part of an affair. The second said he took her to a veld and attacked her after giving her a lift, knocking her unconscious. Upon awakening the following day she said she had maggot-infested wounds and a dislocated jaw. Her genitals and neck were wounded; her front teeth were missing.

Most of the bodies were badly decomposed when they were found. They had mostly been killed by blunt force to the skull, either with a weapon or hitting their heads against the ground, although some were strangled. Two women were sodomized. DNA and mobile phone records linked him to the crimes. He originally confessed to police.

“I want you to help me,” he told officers after his arrest. “When I am with a woman I lose control and do not know what to do. I kill all of them when they do not give me what I want.”

Mogale’s defence centred on accusations the witnesses – amongst them his partner, Charlotte Manaka – and police were trying to frame him. He said police took a condom used by he and Manaka to obtain forensic evidence to plant. Manaka directly contradicted this in her testimony, saying they did not use condoms, as well as saying Mogale regularly wore the beads and badge identified by victims. The couple have four children.

Judge Kgomo noted that “[t]his defence is very suspicious, especially because the DNA kit was compiled long before the accused was even identified as a suspect and long before he was arrested,” and that the state witnesses were important to the case. “The accused was not a very good witness… with his contradictions and new versions… at times he wanted to shift blame onto his defence counsel.” The judge felt “he was not telling the whole truth” and criticised his failure to produce witnesses to back up his claims.

Professor Gerard Labuschagne, who does investigative psychology for the police, was an important witness. He told the court similarities between the various attacks meant they were “undoubtedly by the same offender.” Some of the bodies remain unidentified.

“On the day he was arrested, the accused displayed hatred for women,” said judge Kgomo. “He behaved like a psychopath, even showing his manhood to the female police officer. When he met the same policewoman at the station he said, ‘when I come out of here you will be the first person I rape and kill’.” In summary, Kgomo said, “[t]he state has proved beyond reasonable doubt the accused’s guilt.”

“I didn’t do anything,” protested Mogale shortly before judgement was handed down. “You know how life is, this is a challenge, I didn’t do any of those things. I don’t even know those women.” He has been convicted of rape twice previously.

At sentencing today, Judge Kgomo called Mogale an “evil and perverted murderer and rapist who pose[s] extreme danger to women in society.” As well as sixteen life terms for the murders, four extra life terms were handed down for raping some women twice. Each of the three aggravated robberies attracted a fifteen-year sentence, each kidnap produced five years, three years for the theft and fraud charge, three for sexual assault, three for escaping custody and five for attempted murder. All the sentences will run concurrently.

“Sir, there is no way you can be allowed to be out of prison to come into contact with women,” Kgomo told Mogale. “I am removing you permanently from society.” As Mogale was led away he shouted at the victims’ families “[y]ou are also coming, I pray. I will be out soon.”

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Aircraft and water vessels from the French, American, and Brazilian military were searching the Atlantic on Monday after an Air France passenger jet with 228 people on board disappeared over the ocean.

Search teams from Brazil mainly focused on the area north of Fernando de Noronha, an island located approximately two hundred miles off the coast of Brazil. France’s military, meanwhile, was several hundred miles away, searching the waters near Cape Verde.

Airplanes from Senegal and Spain have also been sent out to help out in the search effort. French officials have also asked for United States satellite data to help with the search.

“We want to try to reach the last point where the aircraft made contact, which is about 1,200km [745 miles] north-east of Natal [located in Brazil],” said Colonel Jorge Amaral, a spokesman for the Brazil air force.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he was pessimistic that any survivors would be found.

“This is a catastrophe the likes of which Air France has never seen before. I said the truth to them: the prospects of finding survivors are very low,” the president said to reporters at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France. The Pentagon has also ordered aircraft to assist in finding the plane.

The Airbus A330 had departed from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night, with a dozen crew members and 216 passengers on board, according to a spokeswoman for Air France. The jet was in a normal cruise at 840 kilometres per hour at about 10,700 metres above sea level when it disappeared, almost four hours after having departed. No problems were apparent when the aircraft made its last radar contact.

Air France said that the aeroplane “crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence” at about 23.00 local time (02.14 GMT). Approximately fourteen minutes later, an automated message was sent saying that the cabin had lost its pressurisation and that the electrical system of the aircraft had failed.

If no survivors are found, then this would be the worst aviation disaster since the November 2001 American Airlines Flight 587 crash.