The News Caravan

Tag: survivors

  • ‘Don’t know what our fault was’: Survivors’ ordeal in Manipur-hit violence

    ‘Don’t know what our fault was’: Survivors’ ordeal in Manipur-hit violence

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    Imphal: Forty-two-year-old Angom Shanti shares space with hundreds of others in a temporary relief shelter in Manipur’s Bishnupur district where they lack basic facilities like mattresses, mosquito nets, electricity or even separate bathrooms for men and women.

    Around 800 people, including children and the elderly, are living in pitiable conditions in relief shelters near Thangjing temple and Moirang Lamkhai which are being run by three organisations.

    Families that lived in houses with courtyards, trees, livestock and granaries, now sleep on the floor on traditional bamboo mats with only hanging bed sheets separating them from other displaced families.

    MS Education Academy

    “Our future is bleak. We have no homes to return to. Our homes have been reduced to ashes. We don’t know what our fault was. Most of us fled with only the clothes that we were wearing,” Shanti, the mother of three children, said.

    She lived in Torbung Bangla area which was among the first to be affected by the communal violence that erupted on May 3 during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’.

    Shanti shares space with 175 others in a community hall where they do not have electricity in the sweltering heat. In the adjacent guest house, another 365 people are taking shelter whereas 112 more are staying at a nearby ‘mandap’. All of them are non-tribals.

    Narrating the incident of May 3 that led to retaliatory attacks spiralling into communal violence at many places in the northeastern state, 72-year-old Biren Kshetrimayum of Torbung Govindpur said, “Around 1,000 tribals armed with sticks and some with sophisticated firearms started attacking us without any provocation. They ransacked and burned our houses, shops and everything they could lay their eyes on.”.

    After attacking Torbung Bangla and Torbung Govindpur, the mob proceeded to Kangvai and Phougakchou and resorted to vandalism, he said.

    The relief camps are being run by three organisations — Bishnupur Legal Aid Services, Matai Society and Sri Sathya organisation.

    They are getting help from locals who are donating food, and the organisations have arranged potable water and some medical facilities.

    Forty-seven-year-old Sakhitombi Maibram, one of the organisers complained of a lack of help from the government.

    “We did not receive much help from the state administration. The local MLA provided us with potable water. We have a severe shortage of medicines and children are facing acute problems of diarrhoea and high fever,” she said.

    Tension was visible on the faces of the displaced people and many of them broke down while narrating their ordeal. They had no hope of returning to their gutted houses or shops and were uncertain about their future. They were also worried whether their livestock, which they have left behind, will survive or escape into the wild.

    Most of the affected people in the camp were farmers or small shop owners. Many of them expressed anguish over the government’s failure to provide security to them in the first place.

    At Phougakchou Ikhai, police personnel said there have been incidents of hill-based militants opening fire on police vehicles passing through the affected areas and showed the bullet holes on their jeeps.

    The death toll in the ethnic violence which has engulfed Manipur increased to 54, officials said even as unofficial sources placed the figure at several scores dead and more than 150 injured.

    Life limped back to wary normalcy in Imphal Valley as shops and markets reopened and cars started plying the roads.

    Violence first erupted in Torbung area in Churachandpur district of Manipur during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 to protest the demand of Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

    The march was organised by tribals — including Nagas and Kukis — after the Manipur High Court asked the state government last month to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status by the Meitei community.

    During the march in Torbung, an armed mob allegedly attacked people of the Meitei community, leading to retaliatory attacks in the valley districts, which escalated the violence throughout the state, police said.

    Multiple sources said the fighting between communities had left several scores of people dead and nearly a hundred injured. However, the police were unwilling to confirm this.

    Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of the population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals, who include Nagas and Kukis, account for another 40 per cent of the population and live mostly in the hill districts which surround the valley.

    (Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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    #Dont #fault #Survivors #ordeal #Manipurhitviolence

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • ‘A nightmare I couldn’t wake up from’: half of Rana Plaza survivors unable to work 10 years after disaster

    ‘A nightmare I couldn’t wake up from’: half of Rana Plaza survivors unable to work 10 years after disaster

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    The cracks on the walls started to appear two days earlier. But despite the warning signs, Moushumi Begum still came to work on 24 April 2013. Moments later, she was buried under heavy rubble. “It all happened so quickly. I vividly remember every detail about that day, even though it was 10 years ago,” says Begum, who spent three hours trapped under Rana Plaza, the eight-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, that came crashing down.

    That morning, garment workers and some factory managers had argued in the dusty courtyard outside the building, many reluctant to enter as they feared it was unsafe. Workers had been evacuated the day before because of those fears. Some say they were told they would not be paid that month’s wages if they did not go to work; others say that an internal gate was closed behind them.

    In the 90 seconds it took to collapse, Rana Plaza became a symbol of global inequality. The final death toll was 1,134 people, with 2,500 injured. There were harrowing stories of survival, of people having their limbs amputated without anaesthetic to prise them from the rubble.

    A new report by ActionAid Bangladesh has shed light on the devastating toll the disaster has taken on survivors a decade on, revealing that more than half (54.5%) of the survivors are still unemployed. The key reason is health conditions such as breathing difficulties, vision impairment and physical challenges, including not being able to stand or walk properly.

    The report also assessed the safety of 200 current garment workers, with more than half feeling that initiatives taken by factory management were inadequate. Almost 20% of those interviewed reported that their factories lacked firefighting equipment, while 23% said emergency fire exits were not available.

    Moushumi Begum, now 24, has been given a sewing machine byActionAid Bangladesh to ease her path back to work.
    Moushumi Begum, now 24, has been given a sewing machine by ActionAid Bangladesh to ease her path back to work. But she still does not dare enter a tall building.

    Begum was just 14 years old. Now married with two small children, she has tried to move on, but her health continues to affect her daily activities. She suffers from acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening lung injury that makes it difficult for her to breathe. She takes regular pauses as she speaks.

    Since the disaster, Begum has been too scared to step foot in another factory. “The memories of that day continue to haunt me,” she says. “I feel immense anxiety just standing near a tall building.”

    Acute health conditions caused by the Rana Plaza disaster have left survivors dependent on medication.
    Acute health conditions caused by the Rana Plaza disaster have left survivors dependent on medication.

    “It has not been easy for anyone affected by Rana Plaza to return to a normal life,” says Begum, who receives counselling and financial support from ActionAid Bangladesh. The charity operates a workers’ cafe for garment workers through which Begum has acquired a free sewing machine to motivate her in returning to work. She remains reluctant: “I don’t think I’ll ever find the courage to work in one of those buildings again.”

    Husnara Akhtar, who lay for five hours under the rubble.
    ‘How disposable we garment workers are’ … Husnara Akhtar lay for five hours under the rubble. After she was rescued, she learned her husband had died.

    Husnara Akhtar, 30, remembers having breakfast with her husband, Abu Sufyan, before they went to work that day. Both worked in the Rana Plaza building, but in different factories.

    As Akhtar went to her floor, she could tell something was wrong. “People were anxious; some of the workers were standing around, refusing to sit down. Someone said it wasn’t safe, but I saw the look on my manager’s face and quickly took my place on the denim line. The lights began to flicker and the floor beneath my feet shook. Within seconds, we were plunged into darkness.”

    When Akhtar regained consciousness, she found herself wedged between two dead bodies. “I lay there for five whole hours unable to move,” she recalls. “It felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. There was so much dust and so many dead bodies.”

    Akhtar was eventually found by rescue workers and taken to a nearby hospital, where she discovered the extent of her injuries: concussion, cracked ribs and fractured arms that would make it impossible for her to work again.

    Sufyan’s body was found a week later, crushed under a concrete pillar. “My husband was just one of the hundreds of workers that died that day,” says Akhtar tearfully. “I remember looking at his crumpled body and thinking how disposable we garment workers are.”

    Safiya Khatun, who searched for 15 days for her son.
    Safiya Khatun searched for 15 days for her son. On day 16, she found out he was dead.

    Safiya Khatun cries whenever she thinks about what happened that day. She was in the Savar district of Dhaka when she heard a deafening sound. “It felt like the world was ending,” recalls the 66-year-old, who watched as people began to panic. “Someone said a bomb had exploded. Another said a building had collapsed. Then I heard the words Rana Plaza and my heart sank.”

    Khatun rushed to the scene, where her 18-year-old son, Lal Miah, worked as a seamster on the third floor. She spent the next 15 days desperately searching for him. She carried a passport-sized photo of him and asked rescue workers at the site if they had seen him. On the 16th day, one recognised him.

    The photo of 18-year-old garment worker Lal Miah.
    A mother’s last hope: the photo of 18-year-old garment worker Lal Miah.

    When Khatun saw her son’s body, she could barely breathe. “How could something like this happen to my precious son? The collapse of Rana Plaza left thousands of mothers like me empty-handed. It was a tragedy that could have been avoided if only the owners had listened to the workers’ concerns.”

    The family now live in poverty because her son was the earner. Khatun lives in a small hut made from bamboo and metal scraps. “I was given land as compensation for the loss of my dear boy but nothing can compensate us for what we have gone through.” Many of the victims’ families were given land, but most cannot afford to build homes on it.

    In Savar today, garment workers walk past an enormous pair of granite fists grasping a hammer and sickle – a monument erected in memory of Rana Plaza victims. Around the monument, on the land where Rana Plaza once stood, only weeds and litter mark the spot.

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    #nightmare #couldnt #wake #Rana #Plaza #survivors #unable #work #years #disaster
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Bhopal gas tragedy survivors condemn SC’s dismissal of Curative Petition

    Bhopal gas tragedy survivors condemn SC’s dismissal of Curative Petition

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    Bhopal: Five organizations of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal have jointly condemned the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Curative Petition on Tuesday.

    Likening Tuesday’s decision with the apex court’s February 1989 decision on the settlement of the case, the organizations called it a “judicial assault on the constitutional and legal rights of the Bhopal survivors”. The organizations resolved to continue their struggle for justice in Bhopal till all survivors are adequately compensated.

    Rashida Bi, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh, said: “The Bhopal victims were denied their day in court because of the pro-corporate bias of the Supreme Court bench. The counsel for Union Carbide that continues to abscond from charges of culpable homicide was given ample time to speak by the bench, while the counsel for the survivors’ organizations was only heard for just 45 minutes. Apparently, the Bench believes in a ‘fugitive entitlement doctrine.”

    “The Supreme Court judges dismissed the case for additional compensation due to their insistence that the case must attain finality in line with the wishes of the corporate counsel,” said Balkrishna Namdeo, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha.

    “How can you impose finality when the corporation’s crimes continue to victimize people? When gas affected people continue to die untimely deaths from cancers and other exposure induced chronic diseases? When the criminal remains absconding, and the suffering of its victims, including that of their progeny, continues, how can a Supreme Court bench draw the curtain over the injustice in Bhopal?

    Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information & Action condemned the Supreme Court for deliberately ignoring arguments and facts presented by the survivors’ organizations.

    “We presented official figures of injury and death analyzed by an international expert on epidemiology that proved the 1989 settlement has perpetrated a gross miscarriage of justice but the Supreme Court bench chose to blind themselves to it. The bench said that only an argument of fraud could re-open that settlement, while entirely ignore our counsel’s detailed submissions on the fraud committed by the Union Carbide to procure the settlement of 1989,” Dhingra pointed out.

    “We refuse to accept the injustice delivered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday”, said Nawab Khan, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha. “We fought and won against the injustice of the settlement of 1989 and we will resume our fight again. We will fight in the court and we will fight on the streets till justice is done in the World’s worst corporate massacre”, he said.

    Nousheen Khan of Children Against Dow Carbide said: “Tuesday’s decision exposes the perversity of the Supreme Court bench that took the government to task for ignoring the health impact on the next generation but failed to hold the corporation accountable for the crime against the unborn.”

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    #Bhopal #gas #tragedy #survivors #condemn #SCs #dismissal #Curative #Petition

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • 2 Americans killed, 2 survivors returned to U.S. after kidnapping in Mexico

    2 Americans killed, 2 survivors returned to U.S. after kidnapping in Mexico

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    mexico missing americans 64757

    The four U.S. citizens, who have not been publicly identified, were kidnapped at gunpoint on Friday in Matamoros, in the state Tamaulipas, shortly after crossing the border into Mexico, officials said. A Mexican woman was also killed in the episode. The four Americans were later found in Ejido Longoreño, a rural area east of Matamoros, The Associated Press reported, after getting caught amid fighting between rival cartel groups last week.

    “We’re providing all appropriate assistance to [the victims] and their families,” Price said on Tuesday. “We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. We thank our Mexican and U.S. law enforcement partners for their efforts to find these innocent victims, and the task forward is to ensure that justice is done.”

    Both the FBI and the Justice Department are investigating the episode, and authorities “will be relentless in pursuing justice” on behalf of the victims, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Tuesday. “We will do everything in our power to identify, find, and hold accountable the individuals responsible for this attack on American citizens.”

    The FBI said that the investigation into the kidnapping was ongoing, and that the agency was working with the State Department to recover the bodies of the two victims who were killed.

    White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the kidnapping on Tuesday.

    “Since day one of this administration, we have been focused on disrupting transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican drug cartels and human smugglers,” Jean-Pierre said at the daily press briefing, adding the Biden administration had “imposed powerful new sanctions against cartel organizations in recent weeks.”

    She declined to provide names of those abducted. “For the sake of privacy and out of respect to the families, we are going to refrain from further comment about those circumstances at this time,” she said.

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    #Americans #killed #survivors #returned #U.S #kidnapping #Mexico
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • ‘How can we get out of here?’: survivors of Cyclone Gabrielle describe sense of loss and despair

    ‘How can we get out of here?’: survivors of Cyclone Gabrielle describe sense of loss and despair

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    In the New Zealand city of Napier, black army helicopters hum overhead. Leonard Fleming has damp clothes, no food and faces a third night sleeping in his car with his dogs Beadle and Mika. Fleming knows he has likely lost everything he left behind when he fled his home in nearby Eskdale, Hawke’s Bay, ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle on Monday.

    “I’ve never had my house burned to the ground but I imagine it’s the same thing,” he tells the Guardian over a crackling phone line; service to the area is recently restored but coverage is intermittent. “All you can do is run away and I started thinking this morning about all the stuff that I’ve lost.”

    This picture shows a coastal home after part of its back garden and sand was washed away during the storm surge caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty
    This picture shows a coastal home after part of its back garden and sand was washed away during the storm surge caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

    The ex-tropical cyclone which lashed New Zealand’s North Island on Monday and Tuesday – with high winds and heavy rain wreaking havoc in more than half a dozen regions – was the worst storm to hit New Zealand this century, said the prime minister, Chris Hipkins, whose government announced a rare national state of emergency on Tuesday.

    Four deaths have been confirmed by the police, including a child whose body was found in Eskdale on Wednesday afternoon.

    The trail of damage included fatal landslips, closed highways that cut off towns, flooding so severe and rapid that hundreds of people awaited rescue on their roofs, and widespread power, water and telecommunications outages. Some of the worst-affected areas were rural towns that were isolated even before the storm hit, with potholed roads and patchy cellphone reception.

    Even as painstaking restoration of services continued on Wednesday, communication woes made it difficult to assess the scale of the devastation.

    Fleming hoped those ferried back and forth in the army helicopters above him on Wednesday included his neighbours in Eskdale – a rural settlement 25km north of Napier. Some had stayed behind when he evacuated two days ago and now cannot be reached by phone.

    The Esk River across the street from Fleming’s house breached its banks on Tuesday morning and he was told that water at surrounding properties reached roof level. Fleming cannot return home – or travel to the nearby city of Hastings to stay with his son – because bridges and state highways in the area are impassable due to flooding, slips and downed trees.

    Army trucks and air force helicopters were sent to rescue hundreds of people in Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday as residents of cut-off settlements took to their roofs. Warnings were issued by civil defence officials on Sunday that residents of several areas should prepare to evacuate, but for many, the perilous speed of the rising water came as a shock.

    Jenna Marsh from central Hawke’s Bay said the water rose metres in minutes at her parents’ house in Pakowhai – a town between Hastings and Napier. Her mother had told her everything was fine as she fed her horses on Tuesday morning.

    Trees damaged by gale-force winds at a commercial pine forest in Tongariro.
    Trees damaged by gale-force winds at a commercial pine forest in Tongariro. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

    “Less than an hour later she texts me saying, ‘We’re on the roof,’” Marsh says. Her mother estimated the water level had risen by about three metres in 10 minutes.

    Marsh’s parents spent eight hours on the roof before they were rescued by helicopter, carrying nothing but their two dogs.

    “They had to pick between rescuing grab bags or their dogs and they picked their dogs,” Marsh says.

    The family’s pet goat was left bobbing in a boat and they hope to find their horses, one of which was last seen swimming past the house.

    The government says there are major animal welfare concerns for livestock and horses in rural areas lashed by the storm.

    On Tuesday morning, a group of orchard workers – many of them apparently visiting seasonal workers from Tonga – made news headlines as they broadcast live on Facebook, some using mattresses as flotation devices and others sheltering on the roof of their accommodation. They were rescued on Tuesday afternoon by the army.

    Tomas Lopez Castro and his host family in Napier on Wednesday.
    Tomas Lopez Castro and his host family in Napier on Wednesday

    The communications blackout in Hawke’s Bay provoked panic for relatives living abroad. One family in Bogotá, Colombia, whose 15-year-old son arrived in New Zealand a fortnight ago for a six-month exchange program, were not able to reach him for two days.

    Juan Sebastian Lopez says his younger brother, Tomas, is staying with a host family in Taradale, Napier, where evacuations were widespread. The family had felt reassured by New Zealand’s relative safety when they farewelled “our prince” on his first solo adventure abroad – and watched the news of rising flood waters in horror.

    “We never imagined that this was even possible,” Lopez says.

    Frantic with worry – and still unable to contact Tomas or his host family on Wednesday morning – the family filled in a police missing person form and waited. Lopez was overjoyed when Tomas and his host family were able to briefly confirm their safety on Wednesday afternoon, after traveling to a location with working wifi. More than 1,400 people have been registered with the police as uncontactable.

    A view of flood damage in the the aftermath of cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay
    A view of flood damage in the the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay. Photograph: New Zealand defence force/Reuters

    Further north in Coromandel, widespread power cuts left residents in slip-prone beach settlements unsure about what was happening outside their towns and worried about food supplies running out if the roads to the peninsula cannot be reopened quickly.

    Claire Moyes, her husband and their visiting guests, spent two “terrifying” nights with “thunder, lightning and wind right on top of us”. Worried the stream beside their property would flood their home, the group dug trenches to funnel rising water away from their driveway.

    “It came all the way up to the garage twice during high tide,” Moyes said, but their house was spared. Most of the houses nearby are holiday homes, and the couple spent Tuesday checking their neighbours’ properties.

    By Wednesday, they had not showered in three days, and while power was briefly restored, it was not expected to last.

    Residents in Taradale clean up silt on Wednesday from flood waters in Napier.
    Residents in Taradale clean up silt on Wednesday from flood waters in Napier. Photograph: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images

    Bigger problems loom: the coastal settlement is reliant on tourism, and Moyes said a mudslide at one of the peninsula’s best-known spots, Cathedral Cove – which is now closed – and erosion at popular Hahei beach would have lasting effects on the local economy.

    “But at the moment, it’s just like, how can we get supplies? How can we feed ourselves for the next few days? How can we shower? How can we get out of here?” Moyes said.

    In Napier, Leonard Fleming has dog food, coffee and a burner to brew it on – but no food and no access to his bank account to buy more due to power cuts. He does not want to seek refuge at an evacuation centre.

    “When you’re in this situation, all you really want to do is just go home, relax, put your feet up and get a nice sleep in a cosy, warm bed but it’s all gone,” he said. “That’s really starting to sink in.”

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    #survivors #Cyclone #Gabrielle #describe #sense #loss #despair
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • ‘How can we get out of here?’: survivors of Cyclone Gabrielle describe sense of loss and despair

    ‘How can we get out of here?’: survivors of Cyclone Gabrielle describe sense of loss and despair

    [ad_1]

    In the New Zealand city of Napier, black army helicopters hum overhead. Leonard Fleming has damp clothes, no food and faces a third night sleeping in his car with his dogs Beadle and Mika. Fleming knows he has likely lost everything he left behind when he fled his home in nearby Eskdale, Hawke’s Bay, ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle on Monday.

    “I’ve never had my house burned to the ground but I imagine it’s the same thing,” he tells the Guardian over a crackling phone line; service to the area is recently restored but coverage is intermittent. “All you can do is run away and I started thinking this morning about all the stuff that I’ve lost.”

    This picture shows a coastal home after part of its back garden and sand was washed away during the storm surge caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty
    This picture shows a coastal home after part of its back garden and sand was washed away during the storm surge caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

    The ex-tropical cyclone which lashed New Zealand’s North Island on Monday and Tuesday – with high winds and heavy rain wreaking havoc in more than half a dozen regions – was the worst storm to hit New Zealand this century, said the prime minister, Chris Hipkins, whose government announced a rare national state of emergency on Tuesday.

    Four deaths have been confirmed by the police, including a child whose body was found in Eskdale on Wednesday afternoon.

    The trail of damage included fatal landslips, closed highways that cut off towns, flooding so severe and rapid that hundreds of people awaited rescue on their roofs, and widespread power, water and telecommunications outages. Some of the worst-affected areas were rural towns that were isolated even before the storm hit, with potholed roads and patchy cellphone reception.

    Even as painstaking restoration of services continued on Wednesday, communication woes made it difficult to assess the scale of the devastation.

    Fleming hoped those ferried back and forth in the army helicopters above him on Wednesday included his neighbours in Eskdale – a rural settlement 25km north of Napier. Some had stayed behind when he evacuated two days ago and now cannot be reached by phone.

    The Esk River across the street from Fleming’s house breached its banks on Tuesday morning and he was told that water at surrounding properties reached roof level. Fleming cannot return home – or travel to the nearby city of Hastings to stay with his son – because bridges and state highways in the area are impassable due to flooding, slips and downed trees.

    Army trucks and air force helicopters were sent to rescue hundreds of people in Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday as residents of cut-off settlements took to their roofs. Warnings were issued by civil defence officials on Sunday that residents of several areas should prepare to evacuate, but for many, the perilous speed of the rising water came as a shock.

    Jenna Marsh from central Hawke’s Bay said the water rose metres in minutes at her parents’ house in Pakowhai – a town between Hastings and Napier. Her mother had told her everything was fine as she fed her horses on Tuesday morning.

    Trees damaged by gale-force winds at a commercial pine forest in Tongariro.
    Trees damaged by gale-force winds at a commercial pine forest in Tongariro. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

    “Less than an hour later she texts me saying, ‘We’re on the roof,’” Marsh says. Her mother estimated the water level had risen by about three metres in 10 minutes.

    Marsh’s parents spent eight hours on the roof before they were rescued by helicopter, carrying nothing but their two dogs.

    “They had to pick between rescuing grab bags or their dogs and they picked their dogs,” Marsh says.

    The family’s pet goat was left bobbing in a boat and they hope to find their horses, one of which was last seen swimming past the house.

    The government says there are major animal welfare concerns for livestock and horses in rural areas lashed by the storm.

    On Tuesday morning, a group of orchard workers – many of them apparently visiting seasonal workers from Tonga – made news headlines as they broadcast live on Facebook, some using mattresses as flotation devices and others sheltering on the roof of their accommodation. They were rescued on Tuesday afternoon by the army.

    Tomas Lopez Castro and his host family in Napier on Wednesday.
    Tomas Lopez Castro and his host family in Napier on Wednesday

    The communications blackout in Hawke’s Bay provoked panic for relatives living abroad. One family in Bogotá, Colombia, whose 15-year-old son arrived in New Zealand a fortnight ago for a six-month exchange program, were not able to reach him for two days.

    Juan Sebastian Lopez says his younger brother, Tomas, is staying with a host family in Taradale, Napier, where evacuations were widespread. The family had felt reassured by New Zealand’s relative safety when they farewelled “our prince” on his first solo adventure abroad – and watched the news of rising flood waters in horror.

    “We never imagined that this was even possible,” Lopez says.

    Frantic with worry – and still unable to contact Tomas or his host family on Wednesday morning – the family filled in a police missing person form and waited. Lopez was overjoyed when Tomas and his host family were able to briefly confirm their safety on Wednesday afternoon, after traveling to a location with working wifi. More than 1,400 people have been registered with the police as uncontactable.

    A view of flood damage in the the aftermath of cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay
    A view of flood damage in the the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay. Photograph: New Zealand defence force/Reuters

    Further north in Coromandel, widespread power cuts left residents in slip-prone beach settlements unsure about what was happening outside their towns and worried about food supplies running out if the roads to the peninsula cannot be reopened quickly.

    Claire Moyes, her husband and their visiting guests, spent two “terrifying” nights with “thunder, lightning and wind right on top of us”. Worried the stream beside their property would flood their home, the group dug trenches to funnel rising water away from their driveway.

    “It came all the way up to the garage twice during high tide,” Moyes said, but their house was spared. Most of the houses nearby are holiday homes, and the couple spent Tuesday checking their neighbours’ properties.

    By Wednesday, they had not showered in three days, and while power was briefly restored, it was not expected to last.

    Residents in Taradale clean up silt on Wednesday from flood waters in Napier.
    Residents in Taradale clean up silt on Wednesday from flood waters in Napier. Photograph: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images

    Bigger problems loom: the coastal settlement is reliant on tourism, and Moyes said a mudslide at one of the peninsula’s best-known spots, Cathedral Cove – which is now closed – and erosion at popular Hahei beach would have lasting effects on the local economy.

    “But at the moment, it’s just like, how can we get supplies? How can we feed ourselves for the next few days? How can we shower? How can we get out of here?” Moyes said.

    In Napier, Leonard Fleming has dog food, coffee and a burner to brew it on – but no food and no access to his bank account to buy more due to power cuts. He does not want to seek refuge at an evacuation centre.

    “When you’re in this situation, all you really want to do is just go home, relax, put your feet up and get a nice sleep in a cosy, warm bed but it’s all gone,” he said. “That’s really starting to sink in.”

    [ad_2]
    #survivors #Cyclone #Gabrielle #describe #sense #loss #despair
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Turkish chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

    Turkish chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

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    Turkish chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

    Salt Bae, the popular chef and social media personality, has made headlines for his philanthropic efforts following a devastating earthquake in Turkey. Seeing the suffering of the earthquake survivors, Gokce decided to arrange a mobile kitchen that could serve 5,000 people a day.

    The video of the mobile kitchen with his name on the side packing up and heading out from a warehouse quickly went viral. However, some people criticized Salt Bae for posting close-up and slow-motion shots of the kitchen, suggesting it was a publicity stunt. Nonetheless, most people applauded his efforts and praised him for his charitable work.

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    Upon arriving in the disaster zone, Salt Bae and his team of chefs worked tirelessly to prepare bulk meals in large cauldrons and containers. The survivors lined up in the freezing cold outside the lorry, eagerly waiting to receive their hot meals. Salt Bae and his team served meals to people of all ages, spreading hope and kindness during a time of darkness.

    Despite the mixed reactions on social media, Salt Bae’s efforts have been celebrated by many people who have been inspired by his charitable work.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Turkey: Chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

    Turkey: Chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

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    Turkey: Chef Salt Bae comes to aid earthquake survivors, earns praise

    Salt Bae, the popular chef and social media personality, has made headlines for his philanthropic efforts following a devastating earthquake in Turkey. Seeing the suffering of the earthquake survivors, Gokce decided to arrange a mobile kitchen that could serve 5,000 people a day.

    The video of the mobile kitchen with his name on the side packing up and heading out from a warehouse quickly went viral. However, some people criticized Salt Bae for posting close-up and slow-motion shots of the kitchen, suggesting it was a publicity stunt. Nonetheless, most people applauded his efforts and praised him for his charitable work.

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    Upon arriving in the disaster zone, Salt Bae and his team of chefs worked tirelessly to prepare bulk meals in large cauldrons and containers. The survivors lined up in the freezing cold outside the lorry, eagerly waiting to receive their hot meals. Salt Bae and his team served meals to people of all ages, spreading hope and kindness during a time of darkness.

    Despite the mixed reactions on social media, Salt Bae’s efforts have been celebrated by many people who have been inspired by his charitable work.

    Subscribe us on The Siasat Daily - Google News

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    #Turkey #Chef #Salt #Bae #aid #earthquake #survivors #earns #praise

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • 25000 Already Dead, Rescue Teams from 90 Countries Looking For Survivors in Turkey, Syria

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    by Tazeem Nazir

    SRINAGAR: The death toll in the Turkey-Syria earthquake has crossed 25000 people as rescuers from more than 90 countries, including India, are desperately looking for survivors in the debris. Since February 6, when the twin earthquakes flattened a vast belt straddling the border, the region has witnessed more than 650 aftershocks, reports in international media quoting AFD said.

    “This is the worst earthquake and perhaps the world’s largest inland disaster,” a Kashmiri student in Turkey said. “Seismologists say that the width of the fault line is between 150 km to 200 km, which means the destruction caused by the earthquake would be huge because the fault line is quite wide. They say it was a shallow earthquake as its epicentre was merely 18 km deep from the crust of the earth.”

    In Turkey, the death toll has crossed 22327 people as 80,104 survived injured. In Syria, the total number of deaths stands at 3,553, including 2,166 in rebel-held areas in the northwest, according to the White Helmets civil defence group. There have been 1,387 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media. The total number of injured people in Syria across all affected territories stands at 5,273, with 2,326 in government-controlled areas and 2,950 in rebel-held areas.

    Forecasting by rescue and relief workers suggest millions stand rendered homeless including 53 lakh in Syria alone.

    Most of the people were asleep when the disaster hit the region. AFAD, Turkey’s disaster management authority, is being helped by 7800 rescue workers from more than 90 countries. Two major teams from India are part of the rescue and relief operations.

    “The first three days are critical for evacuation and saving lives during a disaster. But miracles do happen, even today people are being rescued alive,” the student, referring to the reports appearing in the Turkish media said.

    The student said that the major problem was managing translators who could help international teams to interact with the host population. Most of the international teams speak English but Turks prefer Turkish over every other language.

    “Apart from AFAD translators, international students and international workers have joined the rescue and relief work and they are helping the international rescuers to communicate with the people.”

    India launched a search and rescue operation to aid Syria and Turkey named as Operation Dost. “Our teams are working day and night as a part of ‘operation dost’. They will keep giving their best to ensure maximum lives and property are saved. In this critical time, India stands firmly with the people of Turkiye” tweeted prime minister Narendra Modi.

    There was a lot of reportage about Turkey getting preference in rescue and relief, unlike the war-torn Syrian belts. This led to certain changes in the last few days.

    The US has temporarily eased its sanctions on Syria in an effort to speed up aid deliveries to the country’s north-west, where almost no humanitarian assistance has arrived despite the deaths of thousands in this week’s earthquake. “I don’t think that this license will suddenly open the floodgates and allow for unhindered humanitarian access and delivery in Syria,” said Delaney Simon, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group’s US programme, was quoted as saying by the Guardian. “There are just too many other access issues. But I hope that the license will ease the concerns of financial providers, the private sector, and other actors, to show them that sanctions won’t be a risk for them to engage in Syria.” The United States will provide $85 million in humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria.

    Rescue teams from Russia have also been sent to both Syria and Turkey.

     



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    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Saudis donation exceed SAR251 million to help Turkey, Syria earthquake survivors

    Saudis donation exceed SAR251 million to help Turkey, Syria earthquake survivors

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    Riyadh: The value of donations from the Saudi Arabia popular campaign for relief to those affected by the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has reached 251 million Saudi riyals (Rs 5,52,14,07,813) on Saturday, February 11.

    On February 8, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center launched a popular campaign to collect donations through the Sahem platform to help the earthquake victims. The number of donors has so far reached about 715,622 people.

    Since its launch, the frequent update of the campaign platform shows a remarkable increase in the number of participants and value of donations.

    Sixteen Arab countries namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Emirates, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia, Palestine, Iraq, Mauritania, Sudan and Oman, officially announced the establishment of air bridges and the provision of urgent relief and medical aid to support Turkey.

    At dawn on February 6, an earthquake of 7.7 degrees struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed hours later by another with a magnitude of 7.6 and dozens of aftershocks, leaving huge losses of lives and property in both countries.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 26,000, while the number of injured has reached more than 85,000, by Saturday evening.



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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )