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Over 100 killed as building collapses in Dhaka; rescuers pull 150 survivors from rubble

[email protected] (News Network)
April 24, 2013

Dhaka_building_collapse

Dhaka, Apr 24: More than 100 people were killed and over 600 injured Wednesday when an eight-storeyed building crumbled on the outskirts of capital Dhaka. Rescued workers complained they were forced to get back to work though the building was evacuated just a day earlier after cracks appeared.

Those trapped under the rubble screamed for help as rescuers scrambled to get them out.

The building, "Rana Plaza", collapsed around 8:45 a.m. It housed a market, several garment factories and a bank branch.

The building was found to have developed cracks Tuesday, and a day later, it went down in a huge heap of rubble, blocks of cement and bricks. At least 107 people were killed and over 600 injured in the building collapse, reported the Daily Star.

Nearly 150 people were pulled out of the rubble alive.

Sohel Rana, a local who rescued several people by breaking open a window, said that cries for help were heard from under the rubble of the building. The crash took place eight years after the collapse of Spectrum Garments in Baipail in Savar, which left 64 workers dead.

There are at least 107 bodies at Enam Medical College and Hospital in Savar where the victims were taken, chief medical officer of the hospital was quoted as saying.

Many workers, who were rescued, told the media that the owners of their garment factories forced them to return to work Wednesday morning. The workers were hesitating to rejoin work in the morning after they were evacuated on Tuesday after several cracks were detected in the building.

Fire fighters and army personnel joined police and volunteers to rescue those trapped under the debris. Families and relatives of the missing persons gathered in large numbers in front of the building. Fearing the worst, most of them were wailing.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said that the "building might have collapsed due to faulty construction".

He added the government would bring the culprits to justice after probing the accident.

President-elect Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia in separate messages condoled the deaths.

Following the building collapse, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18-party alliance at first relaxed their hartal (strike) in Savar and eventually called off their 36-hour countrywide shutdown.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: In a first, a Pakistani Hindu youth has become the first person from the minority community to join the Pakistan Air Force.

Rahul Dev has been recruited as a General Duty Pilot Officer, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a tweet.

Dev hails from Tharparkar district of Sindh province.

Sharing the picture of the young man, the PAF recently tweeted, "Good news during #COVID19 tense situation. Thar rocked again...Congratulations #RahulDev who hails from very remote village of Tharparkar has been selected as GD Pilot in #PAF."

Though Dev's exact age is not known, those inducted in PAF at his level are often around 20.

The official Radio Pakistan on Wednesday said it is "for the first time in Pakistan's history" that a Hindu youth has been recruited as a general duty pilot officer in PAF.

The Express Tribune in a report published on Wednesday said the induction showed that the PAF was breaking barriers.

Last year, Kainat Junaid became the first woman from Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province to have been selected for fighter pilot training.

Junaid not only secured the top position in PAF's test for General Duty Pilot, but also became Pakistan’s first female fighter pilot to serve the country alongside her father.

Her father Ahmed Junaid is a Squadron Leader in the PAF.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Colombo, Aug 7: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party and its allies won an overwhelming two-thirds majority in a parliament election, results showed on Friday, giving him the power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution.

The governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and its allies had won 150 seats in the 225-member parliament, according to the tally published by the election commission from Wednesday's vote.

Rajapaksa had sought a two-thirds majority in parliament to be able to restore full executive powers to the presidency, which he says are necessary to implement his agenda to make the tiny island economically and militarily secure.

He is likely to install his older brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next prime minister. The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa's presidency in 2009.

On a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which is keen to check Chinese influence on its southern neighbour, Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to deepen ties between the two countries.

"With the strong support of the people of Sri Lanka, I look forward to working with you closely to further enhance the long-standing cooperation between our two countries," he told Modi. "Sri Lanka and India are friends and relations."

The tourism-dependent nation of 21 million people has been struggling economically since deadly Islamist militant attacks on hotels and churches last year followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

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News Network
June 27,2020

Moscow, Jun 27: The number of people who have contracted the coronavirus infection in Russia has increased by 6,852 over the past day to a total of 627,646, the country's COVID-19 Response Center said in a daily update on Saturday.

"Over the past day, 6,852 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in 85 regions of Russia, including 2,058, or 30 per cent, of asymptomatic cases," the response centre said.

Of the total 6,852 newly detected cases, 750 have been confirmed in Moscow, 366 in Moscow Region, and 280 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, according to the report.

The reported daily dynamics included 188 new fatalities, which brought the cumulative death toll to 8,969.

Total recoveries now count 393,352, an increase of 9,200 over the past day, including 1,852 in Moscow, 1,421 in Moscow Region and 716 in St. Petersburg.

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