Disaster

27 dead as Typhoon Damrey batters Vietnam

Vietnam - Muslimchronicle

At least 27 people have died and nearly two dozen are missing after Typhoon Damrey barrelled into Vietnam, authorities said Sunday, damaging tens of thousands of homes and submerging highways days before the country welcomes world leaders to the APEC summit. The storm, which made landfall on Saturday, is the worst in decades to strike the country’s southern coastal region,Read more

Building collapse in south India kills eight

New Delhi - Muslimchronicle

A building collapse in southern India left eight people dead on Friday, an official said, the latest such disaster in the country known for its dilapidated properties and poor quality construction. The group were among 11 employees of a state-run transport company, including bus drivers and cleaners, who were sleeping in the 60-year-old, two story office block near a busRead more

Disaster-hit nations ‘must rebuild better or risk losing insurance’

Mexico - Muslimchronicle

Disaster-prone countries that keep rebuilding homes, roads and utilities are in danger of becoming uninsurable unless their new infrastructure is built to survive further catastrophe, experts said on Friday at a World Bank conference. New construction must be low in carbon emissions and built on safe land at less risk of destruction as extreme weather intensifies under global warming, theyRead more

Vanuatu steps up evacuation as volcano spews ash

Vanuatu - Muslimchronicle

Vanuatu hopes to evacuate all 11,000 people from its northern island of Ambae by Wednesday, with a flotilla of boats ferrying people to nearby islands as a volcano spewing rock and ash into the air threatens to erupt, disaster officials said on Monday. Manaro Voui volcano, the South Pacific island nation’s largest, was seen hurling steam and rocks into theRead more

Over 130,000 flee menacing volcano in Indonesia

Bali - Muslimchronicle

More than 130,000 people have fled the region around the Mt. Agung volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, fearing it will soon erupt, an official said Thursday. The disaster mitigation agency’s command post in Bali said the number of evacuees has swelled to about 134,200. The figure is more than double the estimated population within an immediate dangerRead more

Mexico unlikely to find more quake survivors, emergency chief says

Mexico City - Muslimchronicle

Mexico will search another three days beneath the rubble for possible survivors of the September 19 earthquake even though it is unlikely rescuers will find anyone alive, the country’s chief of emergency services said on Monday. Luis Felipe Puente, coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection department, also told Reuters that the government has instructed prosecutors to investigate newly constructed buildings thatRead more

Nearly 50,000 flee amid fears of Bali volcanic eruption

Indonesia - Muslimchronicle

Nearly 50,000 people have evacuated their homes amid fears of an imminent volcanic eruption on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, disaster officials said Monday. Mount Agung, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the tourist hub of Kuta, has been rumbling since August, threatening to erupt for the first time in more than 50 years. Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency saidRead more

Anxiety as Mexico mounts last-ditch search for quake survivors

Mexico City - Muslimchronicle

Mexican rescuers were working through the early hours Saturday in a desperate search for survivors of an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people, hoping to defy experts who say the chances of finding life in the rubble after 72 hours are bleak. With exhausted emergency workers still reporting signs of life at several spots in Mexico City, the head ofRead more

13 killed in Pakistan avalanches and heavy rain

PESHAWAR - Arab Today

At least 13 people were killed and 20 homes destroyed by avalanches and heavy rain which struck northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said. An avalanche smashed into the village of Shershal in Chitral district, killing nine people including four women and four children. It hit eight homes at around 3am, said Sheema Ayub Khan, a spokeswoman for the Disaster ManagementRead more

Thuraya boosts ITU disaster preparedness and response efforts

Dubai - Arab Today

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, has donated new supplies of emergency telecommunication equipment to the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, under the decade old Emergency Telecommunications support arrangement. This donation will strengthen the ITU’s capacity in natural disaster preparedness, search and rescue, and response through the use of state-of-the-art mobile satellite communication equipment. Thuraya’s satellite equipment will enhance the scale at which theRead more