MASS DISASTER

INDIA: Kashmir village hit by avalanche

A small village situated at the bottom a large mountain in Kashmir's Anantnag district was overrun by an avalanche. The region has seen several such avalanches this year.

... < a href="http://sify.com/news/othernews/fullstory.php?id=13812060"> Sify.com here.

USA: Skiing in Avalanche Prone Snow

Are you a skier? If so you might want to read this article which relates the problems two skiers had while descending Arapahoe Basin's Palivacinni face just one day before an avalanche occured.

The pair took the run Thursday between 2:30 and 3 p.m. and got stuck in the trees for 45-50 minutes in snow that kept collapsing under them as they tried to dig out.

"Me and my buddy, Neal, we took the exact trail (where the avalanche released Friday) ... I was about 50 feet behind my buddy and I saw him get completely consumed by this mogul; I mean he completely disappeared," said Jon Wasserman, 23, an alpine skier from Breckenridge.

... via the Summit Daily News .

ABC of conflict and disasters

Anthony D Redmond pens an informative article detailing natural disasters from a medical/rescue standpoint. Read and be prepared.

Concerning the rescue timeline after earthquakes he writes...

Most successful rescues take place within the first 24 hours. Most lives are saved by the immediate actions of survivors. Local authorities implement the second phase, when a more coordinated response is established with local rescue teams joining the survivors. In the third phase more intensive and focused efforts are supplemented with extra help from other areas. The fourth and final phase involves the provision of specialist aid for rescuing people deeply entrapped.

... via British Medical Journal.com.

USA: 2 Injured in Oregon Avalanche

Four from Portland struck by avalanche on North Sister Mountain.

The avalanche started above the foursome Sunday afternoon as they hiked at the 8,000-foot level...

... via AP Wire.

NEPAL: Avalanche kills climber on Annapurna

From Mt. Everest.net: An avalanche has struck three climbers, killing one...

CHINA: Search Ends for Waste Rock Victims

In China's central Henan Province a massive "waste rock mountain" (piled up overburden from local coal mining) collapsed and buried houses, trapping some and killing others. If this wasn't bad enough rain caused the intermixed coal ore in the pile give off gas which then caught fire.

Smoke still billowed out of the waste rock mountain and crackedrocks fell at times from the 80-meter high hill.

Rescuers plan to pave several channels to extinguish the fire by spraying liquid carbon dioxide across the hill surface while injecting chemicals inside the waste rock to stop the rock from self inflaming again.

... via China View.