Nocere – Earth Disasters

The Independence of the Seas was docked at the port of Gibraltar on Tuesday when a near by fuel tank exploded. There were 12 passengers on board the cruise ship at the time of the explosions that were hurt. They were taken to an area of the ship where their wounds were cared for. The wounds were not of a serious state. Mainly there were minor burns, cuts and someone had dislocated their finger. Another 2 passengers that weren’t on board yet were not harmed.

As soon as the blast happened, the crew of the Independence pulled in the boarding ramp and the boat was moved out a good distance out from the dock. There was yet another fuel tank there.

The explosion happened at 3:37pm Gibraltar time on Tuesday afternoon.

The boat did not receive any substantial damage in the blast. The Independence of the Seas has continued on it’s journey and will be pulling into Cannes, France, on Thursday. It will be out in the open sea on Wednesday.

It has been reported by the Gibraltar Chronicle that two people on land also were injured in the explosion. One of them sustained severe injuries.

A thick black smoke filled the air at the site of the explosion that could be seen from the central part of the city according to the AFP.

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In Nigeria, there have been at least 10 people that died in an explosion that happened near an Army Barracks in the north parts of Nigeria. There were close to 20 others injured. The bomb went off in the army market place located in the city of Bauchi in the evening hours on Sunday. The wounded were transported to the hospital.

At this time no one has claimed responsibility for the explosion. It happened hours after the new president, Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in. He will serve a 4 year term in the capital Abuja.

There was another explosion outside of Abuja. It was a much smaller blast but it still caused some minor injuries. No one knows what caused the explosion.

The market place explosion occurred at about 2000 Nigerian time or 1900 GMT. It was a powerful explosion according to officials.

Some are saying that there were actually three blast. One quickly followed the other.

Since it was Sunday evening, there were many people in the market place taking a break eating, drinking, just plain old relaxing.

In Nigeria, lots of times the Army Barracks have a small market place so that the traders can sell their goods, food and drink to the soldiers and other locals.

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Joplin experienced the most deadly single tornado in the history of the US since 1953. While most are obviously concerned with the lives of people affected in the area, we tend to forget about the animals that are lost, maybe wandering around not sure what happened. Many no longer have a home to return to just as their owners don’t. The owners have had to take up lodging somewhere else. The pets have no idea where that could be.

We have a picture here of what an aerial view of Joplin looked like before the tornado hit and another one afterwards. Where there were homes and a school, now show only debris.  All was wiped out.

The numbers keep increasing as to the deaths of people from the tornado, but we hear little or nothing about the deaths of the animals or where they are.

There is an animal rescue also happening for the lost pets of Joplin. There are people who are trying to help these animals find their families.There are centers open that people who find a lost pet can take them to so that maybe they can be reunited with their families.

Facebook is also trying to help locate these pets and get them back to their families.

If you go to Flickr, you will find pictures of pets that have been located that they are trying to find their homes for them. Some have found their families and have been reunited.  This is a wonderful thing that is being done for these animals that have no idea why their lives were turned upside down.

If you are interested in helping in some way, go to this link to find ways you can.

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As an air ambulance was transporting seriously ill patients from Bihar to a hospital in Delhi, it crashed into a home in a community in Faridabad . Faridabad is a town located in the northern state of Haryana. As it was close to hitting the ground, the plane cracked in half and a fire broke out. Sections of the dwelling  were burnt in the flames.

On the aircraft, 7 passengers died. In the house were 3 women that perished.

It happened on Wednesday evening. The airplane had been in contact with air traffic control. Then it just disappeared.

After the crash there were people coming from all over to try and aid passengers and people within the home as a huge fire started.

There were 2 people that were wounded in the crash that had to be admitted into the hospital.

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The search is over for any additional people buried in the landslide at the Orphanage in Hulu Langat which is located on the south side of Kuala Lumpur. There were 16 bodies pulled out of the mud and rock that fell upon the orphanage. One adult caretaker, age 34 was found and 15 others between the ages of 8 and 19. There are 10 people that are still in the hospital.

Hulu Langat, a village where everyone knows each other is mourning the deaths, which were largely children. It was a destructive mudslide that took the orphanage by surprise.

As the mud and rock slid down the hillside, the children were inside a tent working on a drum performance. The landslide happened at about 2:30pm Saturday afternoon. The mud pushed it’s way through the tent.

The orphanage was at the base of a steep hillside. It had been built without permits.

Earlier on Saturday, down pours of rain had hit the area loosening mud and rock which was the cause of the landslide.

Rescue workers searched through the mud and debris trying to find all the missing. They pulled out 4 more bodies at around 5:30am.

The rescue is now over.

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It was Sunday afternoon, some were returning home from a graduation ceremony in the city of 50,000 when the tornado struck. As one father and son were traveling home following the sons graduation, the father instructed his son to pull over. A family member in a car in front of the father and son saw the Hummer H3 that her father and brother were in start rolling. The brother was sucked out of his seat belt and hasn’t been found yet. The Hummer was destroyed.

Rescue efforts started right away. More then 40 agencies were there on Monday to help.  Dealing with down pouring rain out in the stormy weather and getting hit by lightening proved to be obstacles faced by a few of the teams. Their efforts paid off with finding 17 people, but Will Norton, the young man in the Hummer, remains missing.

There are numerous apartment buildings and entire groups of homes are gone. All that is left is piles of debris. There is anticipation that there could be people alive yet that  need to be found.

Many are unable to find out if love ones who live in other parts of the city are still alive or not.

The tornado traveled through a highly inhabited area of the city. It either took out or caused damage to 2,000 buildings. Where once stood a high school, it is no longer. One of the hospitals in the city of two, was hit hard.

Stats at this time put the twister as having winds that were between 190 and 198 mph.

President Obama declared a disaster declaration for the area. This enables the area to get federal help faster.

The help Joplin is receiving has been wonderful. People are coming from all over and offering to help those in need. It has all helped the citizens of Joplin get through things so far.

The weather news isn’t getting any better for those trying to collect and start again after the tornado. News of more possible tornado’s are on the way Tuesday. There is a 45% chance of another outbreak of them. The estimated time for them is between 4pm and midnight. The watches for them are in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska and again Missouri. Joplin is located in the area that could be seeing more tornado’s today.

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On Saturday, a Nato fuel tanker truck on it’s way to Afghanistan exploded. It is possible that an explosive device was attached to the under body of the tanker. As fuel was spilling out of the opening in the tanker, people gathered buckets to try and catch the fuel. They would later try and sell it at the market place where they could earn approximately 1.2 dollars for it.

As the locals from the nearby town of Landi Kotal,  located in the north western part of Pakistan were gathering the fuel, a raging fire started that took the lives of 15 and sent 4 others to the hospital with serious burns.

There was a fire right after the explosion, but it had been put out. The people felt it was safe to collect the fuel. Then another fire erupted.

All who died in the fire were civilians. 9 of them were from the same family.

There was a nine year old child that died in the fire. All the others were between the ages of 18 and 30.

At this time, there was no report of any group taking responsibility for the attacks on Saturday which included another 11 Nato supply transport vehicles. Again most of them were tankers. The tankers were destroyed at a terminal close to Torkham. There were no deaths in the attacks. It is thought that these two attacks could have been done by the same group.

It is possible that the Taliban is behind the bombings. Even though they haven’t yet stepped forward to claim responsibility, it is similar to some of their past deeds.

On Friday there had been an attack by the Taliban against a US consulate convoy in Peshawar. One person died and 11 others were injured. This is the first assault against Americans in Pakistan since the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2nd.

There have been threats made by the Pakistani Taliban against the Western targets which would also point to the Taliban being behind the explosions. A telephone communications to the AFP pointed to the attacks as being in revenge of Osama bin Laden’s death.

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A commuter plane traveling to the city of Comodoro Rivadavia crashed on Wednesday night and all 22 on board the airplane died. The plane went down in the southern part of Argentina.

There was a distress call from the pilot and then only a short while later, it was no longer showing up on the radar.

On board the small plane were, 18 adults, a child and 3 staff members.

The plane was located in Rio Negro province, but there was no sign of anyone surviving the crash.

The accident is under investigation.

On Thursday, the Sol Lineas Aereas airlines suspended some flights that were to be leaving the Falklands and had them instead go to the main land of Argentina. There they were to provide transportation for family of the victims.

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