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Tsunami death toll nears 1,25,000
174 killed as fire breaks out in night club
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174 killed as fire breaks out in night club
Oppn plans stir against Pervez
Zardari joins family after eight years
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Tsunami death toll nears 1,25,000
Jakarta, December 31 Indonesia has borne the brunt of Sunday’s catastrophe, with a Health Ministry official putting the country’s toll at 79,940 with entire coastal villages disappearing under the wall of
water. In Sri Lanka 28,475 were confirmed killed by the tidal waves, while 4,872 persons were still missing, the President’s office said. More than 12,000 persons were injured. In southern Thailand 4,541 persons were killed, including 2,230 foreigners, official data showed. In the worst hit province of Phang Nga almost 3,700 persons were confirmed killed, of whom more than 2,000 foreigners, the Provincial Governor said. The Interior Ministry said yesterday that 6,121 were missing nationwide. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said 80 per cent of the missing are presumed dead. In Myanmar at least 90 persons were killed, according to the UN, but the real toll was expected to be far higher. At least 75 persons
were killed and another 42 were confirmed missing in the tourist paradise of the Maldives,
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said. Sixty-six persons were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, the police said. |
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They rode the tsunami aboard stricken yacht
A
father told last night how he and his terrified family survived the tsunami aboard their stricken yacht.
Dave Kennedy, his wife, Morag and teenage daughter, Bree, (corr) aimed the boat headlong at the wall of water, so that it soared almost vertically to the top of the first wave before crashing down the other side as the family clung on for their lives. But their horrifying ordeal was not to end there. Mr Kennedy, 46, froze when he saw three more identical 40 ft waves rolling towards them. Amazingly, they managed to ride the waters to become one of only a handful of sailors to survive the disaster at sea. Their boat was anchored off Patong beach in Phuket, Thailand, when disaster struck on Boxing Day. Mr Kennedy, a former soldier who emigrated from Britain with his family two years ago, was relaxing in the cockpit when he sensed something was wrong. “Suddenly about four or five large 10 -15ft waves rolled in behind each other,” he said. He shouted to his wife and daughter to get out of bed. Nearby yachts were able to move out to sea as they had electric anchors, but the Kennedy’s boat was stuck. The boat initially hurtled towards the beach but the sea reversed and flung them backwards. They realised they needed to cut the anchor free and Miss Kennedy, (19) managed to make the cut, after which the sea spun the boat around. “Suddenly we were looking up at a 30-40 ft breaking wave. We were sure we were dead. Morag and Bree held hands and crouched in the cockpit as I pushed full power towards this gigantic wave. “We all shouted ‘hold tight’ and then we were almost vertical going up this massive wave. The other side was just as high as we rushed down towards the bottom. “Another three waves were right behind it but we rode them, too, screaming at each other to hold on. “We made it, but unfortunately, at the same time we made it, lots of people behind us were dying,” he said.
— By arrangement with The Independent |
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174 killed as fire breaks out in night club
Buenos Aires, December 31 Investigators said they were looking into survivor accounts that some persons found the building’s emergency exit doors locked as they tried to flee the blaze. Grieving parents crowded the city’s morgues to identify the dead - many of them teenagers - after the blaze swept late yesterday through the club, setting off a stampede for the emergency exits, witnesses said. The fire unleashed thick clouds of black smoke, choking many inside and blocking out emergency lighting, survivors said. Hours after the blaze was brought under control, dozens of bodies were laid out in a nearby parking lot, their faces covered by T-shirts. "The fire spread in a minute and we were a mountain of people trying to escape," said survivor Ariel Monges (25) who lost a friend and a cousin in the fire and was searching for another friend at the Rivadavia Hospital. The flares are sold on streets all over Latin America for the New Year holiday festivities. Local media reported that as many as 3,000 to 4,000 persons might have been inside the Republica Cromagnon club in the gritty, run-down neighbourhood of Once, listening to a band when the fire broke out an hour before midnight on Thursday. |
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Oppn plans stir against Pervez
Islamabad, December 31 The ARD leaders announced that they would join hands with the MMA in observing ‘black day’ on Saturday against
General Musharraf’s ‘breach of promise’ on the uniform issue. The two alliances agreed on the joint agenda after the failure of Wednesday’s meeting between the Leader of Opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The two alliances said they would finalise a joint strategy to launch a combined struggle for upholding the sanctity of the constitution, supremacy of parliament and restoration of democracy. Talking to journalists after a meeting of the leaders of the two alliances, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, said General Musharraf had no right to rule the country and “it would be better for him to send the army back to barracks and hand over power to people’s representatives immediately.” “We will launch a joint movement along with the MMA against the misrule of General Musharraf and show him the door,” he pledged. MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed said they would launch the anti-Musharraf campaign with a black day on January 1. He said they would not rest till the ouster of General Musharraf who, he added, had broken a pledge he had made to the nation. He accused the ruling Pakistan Muslim League of violating the government-MMA agreement by passing a controversial law allowing General Musharraf to retain two offices. At a brief meeting held at the residence of Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the two sides signed a joint statement that was read out to the Press by MMA’s secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman. “We reject the President’s speech and announce our determination to launch a joint struggle against the violation of the constitution and putting parliament to ridicule,” read the statement. The President, it said, had no right to rule the country nor was he eligible to remain the army chief under Article 282. “He has broken the pledge he made with the nation and has become a controversial person and we reject him as President. “General Musharraf, while announcing retaining the COAS uniform till 2007, has also violated his oath as President of Pakistan. Therefore, the MMA and ARD have decided to launch a joint struggle to rid the country of Musharraf’s rule,” the statement said. |
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Zardari joins family after eight years
Karachi, December 31 Asif Ali Zardari flew from Karachi to Dubai yesterday, said Ijaz Durrani, a spokesman for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party. He gave no other details and it was not clear when the man would return home. Zardari left Pakistan two days after authorities issued him a passport, and days after he was freed on bail after eight years in custody on corruption charges. Bhutto, who was premier twice in the 1990s, lives in exile to avoid arrest in graft cases. Zardari, a former senator, was jailed in 1996 after Bhutto’s last government was dismissed for alleged corruption and misrule. His wife splits her time between Dubai and London.
— AP |
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Jakarta, December 31
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