MASS DISASTER

Volcano theory on plane crash

Did clouds of hot gas or ash cause the plane crash last weekend off the coast of Sicily where 13 were killed and 23 rescued.

A pilot flying in the same area at the time of the crash, identified only as BR, told the newspaper that planes had warned of the risk of volcanic clouds between 2100m and 3900m. A plane flying through a volcanic cloud would lose power in both its engines simultaneously, he said. Otherwise, there was more chance of being hit by lightning than to lose both engines.

The pilot said shortly before the plane went down he heard the Tunisian captain tell air traffic control: "I lost both engines."

... via The Australian.

Fourteen feared dead in Baltic Sea helicopter crash

No word yet on what might have caused the crash. An eyewitness reported hearing two loud explosions prior to the helicopter hitting the water.

Rescue helicopters, boats and divers from Estonia and Finland found debris from the helicopter but efforts to recover those on board -- six Finnish passengers, two Finnish crew, four Estonians and two Americans -- were postponed until Thursday because of strong winds and waves several meters high.

Estonian officials said the helicopter had sunk, with the 14 still inside, in water about 60 meters (200 feet) deep.

... via Reuters.

China's cabinet to organize investigation on fatal colliery flooding accident

They seem to be cracking down those involved with operating the mine. But the cause of the flooding is still unknown and only one body has been recovered.

Local government announced Wednesday that police have seized all 11 people, including the owner, manager, board chairman and chief technician of the Daxing Coal Mine, who ran away after the accident.

Also on Wednesday, two officials were given disciplinary warnings as they did not perform their duty during the rescue work.

Shi Quan, who is on duty at a shaft of the Daxing Coal Mine, and Zeng Xianji, an official with the Xingning City Coal Industry Bureau, were accused of not reporting timely and accurately the water level in the flooded shaft.

... full text via Xinhuanet.com.

Russia Investigates Mini-Sub Incident

Will a closed door investigation really work towards averting another sub disaster?

Leading independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer tells VOA that, unlike in the Kursk tragedy, Russian officials this time called for outside help in time. But still, he says the main lesson of the Kursk has yet to be learned, and that, he says, is that Russia must have an adequate search and rescue service of its own.

... via Voice of America.

Hints of quake under central USA

According to some the long dormant New Madrid fault zone is re-awakening and with it the threat of powerful far reaching quakes on a magnitude equal to or greater than those in California. The findings however are being disputed with some claiming faulty readings for showing movement.

New Madrid's dynamics are largely unknown. In California, faults are easily studied because they are on the Earth's surface, where two continental plates collide. New Madrid's faults lie beneath thick sediments deposited over millions of years. Recent research also suggests the thick sediments may magnify, not dampen, the shockwaves of an earthquake.

Scientists believe the faults are a failed "rift" zone, created when Earth's crust was separating into continents. The crust fractured but did not split apart. That left a weak spot where earthquakes occur.

History shows that the New Madrid earthquakes were fearsome. In 1811 and 1812, three major quakes triggered landslides, caused the Mississippi River to flow backward, swamped boats, created a lake, leveled New Madrid, Mo., and knocked down chimneys and cabins in St. Louis and Cincinnati. The shaking caused church bells to ring in Boston.

If you live in the region I would prepare for the worst just incase Arch Johnston is right.

... via USA Today.

Sudanese Arabs flee round of ethnic violence

Unrest continues in the wake Garang's untimely death.

Africans angered by the death of popular rebel leader John Garang went on a two-day rampage, chasing Arabs in the street and burning Arab shops and homes. At least 18 people were killed, witnesses said.

... via the Globe and Mail.

Hopes fade for 102 trapped in flooded China mine

Where did the water come from?

"There are 15 million to 20 million cubic meters of waterunder the mine and the water level is still rising 50 cm (20inches) an hour," Xinhua quoted a vice mayor of the nearby cityof Meizhou as saying.

... via Leading the Charge.com.

Bosnian war criminal Milan Lukic arrested in Argentina

Good news, but there are more still at large. The worst being Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic who were involved with the Srebrenica massacre.

The Hague's indictment describes a number of other atrocities, including Lukic entering a furniture factory and forcing seven Bosnian Muslims to walk to a riverbank where he shot them at point-blank range.

In Buenos Aires, the police spokeswoman said authorities had been following Lukic's movements for days and arrested him on a street in a posh Buenos Aires neighborhood.

... via Reuters.

Ivan generated record breaking monster waves

Data collected using underwater sensors during last years deadly hurricane give new meaning to the term "rogue wave".

The waves were bigger than expected, suggesting theoretical models of waves whipped up by hurricanes may have to be revised.

"Our results suggest that waves in excess of 90 ft are not rogue waves but actually are fairly common during hurricanes," lead author Dr David Wang, told the BBC News website.

... via the BBC.

Leaders plead for calm as Sudan riot toll rises to 130

Via the Guardian Unlimitied...

The trouble in Khartoum and other cities, sparked by the death of the vice-president, John Garang, exposed the racial and religious tensions that threaten to divide the country, which has just come out of a lengthy civil war.

Calls for peace and national unity were issued yesterday by both President Omar al-Bashir and former rebel leaders of Mr Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

... full text here.

Is al-Bashir really a man who can honestly call for "national unity" ?

With the backing of Hassan al-Turabi, the fundamentalist leader of the National Islamic Front (NIF), the General al-Bashir immediately took steps to 'islamicize' the state. Al-Bashir dissolved parliament, banned all political parties and shut down the press. He also stepped up scorched-earth campaign in the south while courting his fundamentalist supporters. All opponents were dismissed as 'agents imperialism and Zionism'.

... read more.

John Garang background...

The SPLA was formed in 1983 when Lieutenant Colonel John Garang of the SPAF was sent to quell a mutiny in Bor of 500 southern troops who were resisting orders to be rotated to the north. Instead of ending the mutiny, Garang encouraged mutinies in other garrisons and set himself at the head of the rebellion against the Khartoum government. Garang, a Dinka born into a Christian family, had studied at Grinnell College, Iowa, and later returned to the United States to take a company commanders' course at Fort Benning, Georgia, and again to earn advanced economics degrees at Iowa State University.

... via Global Security.org.