India’s Maoist rebels (see my blog of Oct 5) have carried out three bloody attacks this week. On Monday, they detonated a mine under a bus in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, killing more than 30, including some police officers. (76 people died in another attack in the same area last month.) On the same day, six villagers in Chhattisgarh were found with their throats cut, after the rebels had branded them government spies.
Then today, the rebels killed four paramilitary troops with a mine in West Bengal. Last October, the government deployed 50,000 troops in what it described as a “massive offensive” against them.
The Maoists are also known as "Naxalites" because they launched their uprising in the West Bengal village of Naxalbari in 1967. Today they have up to 20,000 fighters, and are active in eight states.
They claim to be fighting for the rights of indigenous tribespeople and the rural poor, and the length of time for which they have been able to maintain their rebellion is seen as proof that they enjoy a good deal of local support. It’s estimated that more than 6,000 people have been killed in the rebellion so far.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Blood on the coal - Turkey
A reminder this morning of what a dangerous occupation coal-mining remains. Up to 32 miners are missing after an explosion in the state-run Karadon mine near Zonguldak on the Black Sea in Turkey.
Turkey’s safety standards are generally regarded as lagging behind those of most industrialised nations. In February a methane explosion killed 13 workers in another mine, while a further 19 miners died in an explosion in western Turkey last December. Turkey’s worst ever mining disaster happened in 1992 when 270 miners perished in another pit in the Zongalduk region.
Zongalduk was a small village until the 1850’s, but the exploitation of the rich coal seams in the Zonguldak mountains have turned it into the second biggest city on the Black Sea coast.
The world’s most dangerous coal mines are reckoned to be those in China, where thousands of miners are killed every year. (See also my blogs of Feb 22, March 10, Nov 19, 23, 2009 and Jan 16 and April 14, 2010.)
*For a review of my book Disaster! see Natural Hazards Observer P17 http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/archives/2010/may_observerweb.pdf. And for a review (in German) of my A Disastrous History of Britain see http://bauen-und-miauen.blogspot.com/
Turkey’s safety standards are generally regarded as lagging behind those of most industrialised nations. In February a methane explosion killed 13 workers in another mine, while a further 19 miners died in an explosion in western Turkey last December. Turkey’s worst ever mining disaster happened in 1992 when 270 miners perished in another pit in the Zongalduk region.
Zongalduk was a small village until the 1850’s, but the exploitation of the rich coal seams in the Zonguldak mountains have turned it into the second biggest city on the Black Sea coast.
The world’s most dangerous coal mines are reckoned to be those in China, where thousands of miners are killed every year. (See also my blogs of Feb 22, March 10, Nov 19, 23, 2009 and Jan 16 and April 14, 2010.)
*For a review of my book Disaster! see Natural Hazards Observer P17 http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/archives/2010/may_observerweb.pdf. And for a review (in German) of my A Disastrous History of Britain see http://bauen-und-miauen.blogspot.com/
Monday, 17 May 2010
Smallpox
On this day…..261 years ago, Edward Jenner, the man who discovered the smallpox vaccine, was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Jenner discovered that by infecting someone with the much milder cowpox virus, you could protect them against smallpox, which had been killing an estimated 400,000 Europeans a year.
The disease had done its cataclysmic worst, though, in the New World, where native populations were completely lacking in immunity. The Spanish conquistadores terrified the Indians with their fire-spitting guns, but actually the smallpox virus was the deadliest weapon they brought.
It began in the early sixteenth century by cutting a swath through the populations of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Cuba. Then Hernan Cortes took it with him to Mexico, and when the Aztecs tried to resist him, they were cut down by the virus, and “died in heaps, like bedbugs.”
The Incas met a similar fate, with their great king, Huayna Capac, among those who died. Smallpox, helped by other imported illnesses, like mumps and measles, would reduce their numbers from seven to just one million. (See also my blog of Nov 6.)
The disease had done its cataclysmic worst, though, in the New World, where native populations were completely lacking in immunity. The Spanish conquistadores terrified the Indians with their fire-spitting guns, but actually the smallpox virus was the deadliest weapon they brought.
It began in the early sixteenth century by cutting a swath through the populations of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Cuba. Then Hernan Cortes took it with him to Mexico, and when the Aztecs tried to resist him, they were cut down by the virus, and “died in heaps, like bedbugs.”
The Incas met a similar fate, with their great king, Huayna Capac, among those who died. Smallpox, helped by other imported illnesses, like mumps and measles, would reduce their numbers from seven to just one million. (See also my blog of Nov 6.)
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Another child survivor
Back in July (see my blog of July 4) I blogged about how the only survivor of an air crash off the Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean was a 12 year old girl, and mentioned other air accidents where children seem to have survived better than adults.
Now a nine year old Dutch boy has emerged as the sole survivor of Wednesday’s plane crash at Tripoli in which the other 103 people aboard died. Ruben van Assouw’s parents and brother had all been killed. The boy suffered multiple fractures to his legs.
The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashed just short of the runway at Tripoli airport on its arrival from Johannesburg. The cause of the crash isn’t yet known, and the head Libyan investigator said the pilot had reported no problems on his approach.
Before Ruben, there had been just 15 cases in the last 40 years of one person surviving a commercial air crash, and in 6 of them the survivor was a child; in two others it was a 17 year old. My earlier blog explores potential reasons.
Now a nine year old Dutch boy has emerged as the sole survivor of Wednesday’s plane crash at Tripoli in which the other 103 people aboard died. Ruben van Assouw’s parents and brother had all been killed. The boy suffered multiple fractures to his legs.
The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashed just short of the runway at Tripoli airport on its arrival from Johannesburg. The cause of the crash isn’t yet known, and the head Libyan investigator said the pilot had reported no problems on his approach.
Before Ruben, there had been just 15 cases in the last 40 years of one person surviving a commercial air crash, and in 6 of them the survivor was a child; in two others it was a 17 year old. My earlier blog explores potential reasons.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Kosovo war crimes
A mass grave thought to contain the bodies of about 250 Kosovo Albanians has been found just over the border in Serbia. Officials said a building appeared to have been erected over the bodies to try to hide them.
In 2001, the bodies of more than 800 Kosovo Albanians were found at a number of sites in Serbia, some of them inside police compounds. Altogether, more than 11,000 people died in the fighting in Kosovo – mostly Albanians, though 2,300 were ethnic Serbs. Another 1,800 people are still missing.
A former top Serbian police official Vlastimir Djordjevic is on trial before the UN’s war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, accused of being involved in the murders of hundreds of ethnic Albanians. He was a close associate of Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 while still on trial for war crimes.
The former Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic, remains at large. (See also my blog of October 16.)
In 2001, the bodies of more than 800 Kosovo Albanians were found at a number of sites in Serbia, some of them inside police compounds. Altogether, more than 11,000 people died in the fighting in Kosovo – mostly Albanians, though 2,300 were ethnic Serbs. Another 1,800 people are still missing.
A former top Serbian police official Vlastimir Djordjevic is on trial before the UN’s war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, accused of being involved in the murders of hundreds of ethnic Albanians. He was a close associate of Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 while still on trial for war crimes.
The former Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic, remains at large. (See also my blog of October 16.)
Monday, 3 May 2010
Fatal crushes and stampedes
At least five people have been crushed to death after the sound of gunfire caused a stampede at a concert in Monterrey, northern Mexico. The city has recently been the scene of violent clashes between rival drugs gangs.
One of the worst ever fatal crushes came at Chungking in China during World War Two. The authorities had built one of the biggest air raid shelters in the world, capable of holding about 30,000.
On June 6, 1941, the Japanese bombed the city for about three hours, and during the raid the shelter’s ventilation system broke down. So while there was an apparent lull in the attack, hundreds of shelterers decided to nip outside for a breath of fresh air.
But almost immediately, the alarm sounded, so people outside tried to force their way down, causing a deadly chaotic crush in which up to 4,000 people perished. For more fatal crushes, see A Disastrous History of the World. (See also my blogs of Jan 18 and March 30, 2009)
One of the worst ever fatal crushes came at Chungking in China during World War Two. The authorities had built one of the biggest air raid shelters in the world, capable of holding about 30,000.
On June 6, 1941, the Japanese bombed the city for about three hours, and during the raid the shelter’s ventilation system broke down. So while there was an apparent lull in the attack, hundreds of shelterers decided to nip outside for a breath of fresh air.
But almost immediately, the alarm sounded, so people outside tried to force their way down, causing a deadly chaotic crush in which up to 4,000 people perished. For more fatal crushes, see A Disastrous History of the World. (See also my blogs of Jan 18 and March 30, 2009)
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Oil spills
A week ago (April 24), I blogged on the 11 people who lost their lives when BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off Louisiana. Now this is also turning into an environmental disaster, with up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day gushing into the sea.
The slick is 130 miles long, and efforts to contain it are being hampered by choppy seas. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida have all declared states of emergency, and the US government has launched a fierce attack on the British oil company. It is only a month since President Obama eased restrictions on offshore drilling.
The worst oil spill in history came in 1991 when the Iraqis opened valves at the Sea Island terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf to try to foil any landing by US marines during the first Gulf War.
Estimates of the volume spilled range as high as 1.5 million tons (that compares with about 35,000 from the Exxon Valdez in 1989 – up to now America’s worst oil spill). Though wildlife was harmed in the Gulf, a study sponsored by UNESCO, the USA and countries in the region suggested that it did little long-term damage.
The slick is 130 miles long, and efforts to contain it are being hampered by choppy seas. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida have all declared states of emergency, and the US government has launched a fierce attack on the British oil company. It is only a month since President Obama eased restrictions on offshore drilling.
The worst oil spill in history came in 1991 when the Iraqis opened valves at the Sea Island terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf to try to foil any landing by US marines during the first Gulf War.
Estimates of the volume spilled range as high as 1.5 million tons (that compares with about 35,000 from the Exxon Valdez in 1989 – up to now America’s worst oil spill). Though wildlife was harmed in the Gulf, a study sponsored by UNESCO, the USA and countries in the region suggested that it did little long-term damage.
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