Nocere – Earth Disasters

Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years.

283 people have so far died in the flood waters in Thailand and there are two people they are still searching for. Across the county, 61 of the 76 provinces have felt the affects of the flooding. This has caused havoc to over 8 million people.

 

Water is being let out of the Bhumibol Dam daily which is located in the northern part of Thailand. People are moving as fast as they can to get barriers set up. The flooding waters are moving towards the south, heading towards Bangkok on Friday. People living in the area are being instructed to be ready for the worst as the spring high tide and the large amount of water draining down the Chao Phraya River join together over the next few days.

 

Huge Oil Spill in New Zealand

In New Zealand, a massive oil spill from Rena, a Liberian-flagged vessel that ran into the Astrolabe Reef, which is close to 12 nautical miles off the coast of Tauranga is causing many problems. The vessel was carrying 450,000 gallons of fuel spilling around 300 tonnes of it. At this time 95.45 tonnes of the solid waste and 6 tonnes of the liquid that has been cleaned up. There is s till more out there.

Beaches in many of the areas are closed to visitors due to health concerns. There is close to 60 kilometers of beachfront area along the town of Maketu to the town of Mount Maunganui that is contaminated from the oil spill.

The environment is suffering from  the spill. So far 500 birds have been found dead in the area. 51 animals are being treated for the exposure to the oil at a center in Tauranga.

Oil spills at sea are such an impact on the enviroment. This spill,  along with affecting people and business’s in the area, is also affecting, birds, the blue whales, and the dolphins are all at risk.

 

23 Die in Clashes in Egypt

 

 

Clashes between Coptic Christians and soldiers in Cairo end up in bloodshed, injuries and 23 deaths. Of the dead, 17 are civilians. Late on Sunday, Oct 9th, it was told that there were 180 people wounded. There were 12 military members killed and 50 were wounded.

 

The protest followed the burning of a Coptic Church a week earlier in the southern parts of Egypt. The protestors were asking for equality and for the protections of Coptic churches or places they worship in.

The protest started off peacefully. As they were heading in the direction of the Egyptian state TV building, they were attacked by people bearing swords and clubs according to a protestor.

 

 

Car Bombs in Iraq Take 28 Lives

 

There were 2 cars filled with explosives that were set off only minutes apart on Oct 12th in Baghdad. 22 people died in the bombings set off by suicide bombers in the north west Hurriya area and in the central al-Wiya area. There were 6 other people that died in other bombings.

There were over 50 others wounded in the attacks.

There has been a revival of suicide bombings in Baghdad. It is a concern as the US is finalizing it’s withdrawing of their troops that is suppose to be completed by the end of the year.

 

 

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There were two bombings within a short time of each other in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. There were 34 people killed and over 100 wounded in the bombing. It is said to be the deadliest assault since the US attack that killed Osama bin Laden.

One of the bombings was a suicide attack. It happened just after midnight Sunday in the part of the city where there are lots of political offices and army quarters.

The assaults happened just as the CIA Director Leon Panetta and the Afghan President Hamid Kaarzai were visiting Islamabad only 95 miles to the east of the city. They were there to talk with head Pakistani officials about sharing intelligence and trying to reconcile with the Taliban.

The first of the two bombings was not a large one and drew officials to it. Just a couple minutes later another bomb went off killing 18 people and injuring 108.

The last bomb was on a passing motorcycle. There were 22 pounds of explosives on the bike.

No one has claimed the act yet. It is known that the Taliban plans on retaliating for the death of bin Laden.

 

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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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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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There were possibly more then 13 people that died in the suicide bombing in the eastern parts of Afghanistan. The dead include residents, police cadets and the bomber. In a separate incident, on Wednesday, there were 12 people killed in a Nato led raid in the north.

The suicide bomber steered a compact car into a van which was transporting police cadets in the city of Jalalabad which is in the province of Nangarhar. The van was heading towards Jalalabad returning from the academy located on the outer parts of the city. It is possible that the bomber followed the van of cadets from the school and into the more active area of the city before ramming the van with the car.

There were over 13 people wounded in the blast. Most of the wounded were civilians.

The city of Jalalabad has seen it’s share of attacks in the last few months.

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It was a small mine in the area where a lot of coal mining is done. Sabinas is a central area in Mexico for the mining of coal. There are many mines and they even have a museum that tells the history of coal mining in the area. The fate of all 14 miners trapped inside the mine in now known. All of their bodies have been found and removed from the mine.

Following the explosion at the mine last Tuesday, rescue efforts began as quickly as they could. When the rescue teams entered the mine, they didn’t feel the outcome would be good. The mine was a small one with irregular layout and areas where people could get trapped.

Now that all the miners have been found, the next move is to make the mines safer. Labor Secretary Javier Lozano has said,”We want coal free of blood, clean coal.”

He spoke to reporters and informed them that the federal government plans on doing more inspections of mines because of accidents such as this.

There has been other tragic accident in the mines. In San Juan de Sabinas, there were 65 deaths in an explosion in 2006.

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In Baghdad, a car bomb outside a cafe killed possibly more then 9 people and caused harm to another 27 plus people.

The bomb hit mainly an area in a Sunni Dora district located in the southern parts of western Baghdad.

Even though the violence has decreased in Iraq following the high of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, the rebels still do attack nearly every day.

At this time no one has taken responsibility for the attack which followed the death of Osama Bin Laden a few days ago.

Since Osama’s death, there has been aggressive security in Iraq and other areas fearing rebuttal attacks.

At this time, US plans on all troops in Iraq to leave by the end of the year.

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The bombing happened at a Sufi shrine located in the central Pakistan province of Punjab. It happened on Sunday taking the lives of 41 or more people and injuring over 100 more.

It was at the entrance to the shrine that the bomber ignited the explosives taking his life along with the others.

At this time it is being said that 10 of the wounded are listed in critical condition.

There was yet an additional bomber in the same area that was apprehended at the shrine. The bomber was wearing a coat filled with explosive material.

The Sakhi Sarkar shrine is located in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan. It is on the outer edge of the capital and over 249 miles on the south side of Peshawar.

Dera Ghazi Khan also has a history of bombings. Back in December of 2009, there were dozens of people who loss their lives in a market place bombing.

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