String of suicide attacks leaves 62 dead in Iraq

Suicide bombers and other attackers killed at least 62 people in coordinated attacks on Iraqi security forces throughout the country on Wednesday, less than a week before US troops formally end combat operations.  The bombings also wounded more than 250 people, underscoring the fragility of Iraq's security and the uncertainty of its political situation more than five months after an election that produced no outright winner and as yet no new government. The onslaught was launched a day after the US military in Iraq cut its strength to under 50,000.


Its spokesman, Major General Stephen Lanza, called the attacks "desperate attempts" to undermine faith in the Iraqi security forces. "The concern obviously right now is the number that occurred today and the size of the area they occurred in," Lanza told reporters.


The geographic spread of the attacks on the security forces showed that while weakened, the insurgency retains the ability to organise and carry out a nationwide assault involving dozens of operatives under the noses of the authorities. In Kut, 150km southeast of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed 30 policemen and wounded 87 after destroying a police station.


In Baghdad, a suicide truck bomber killed 15 people and wounded at least 56 others in an attack on another police station, interior ministry sources said.


Other attacks in Baghdad, Diyala province, Anbar province and the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, brought the national death toll from the attacks to at least 62.

In Asia... Plain Crashes over all 60 people were die

Plane crash in Nepal kills all 14 on board

A small plane headed for the Everest region crashed in bad weather near the Nepalese capital on Tuesday, killing all 14 people on board including four Americans, a Japanese and a British national. The Agni Air plane was returning to Kathmandu after it was unable to land at Lukla, its intended destination in a popular trekking spot in eastern Nepal, government officials said. Rescuers at the crash site described the scene as "horrific", with the badly burned remains of the victims strewn over a field around 15 miles (25 kilometres) south of Kathmandu. "Our teams have now reached the site and I can confirm that there are no survivors. All 14 people are dead," said Bimlesh Lal Karna, head of rescue operations with the civil aviation authority.

"The scene is quite horrific. We are having to battle against hostile terrain and bad weather to recover the remains of the victims. We will bring them back to Kathmandu as soon as the weather permits." Local villagers said they saw the plane crash into the field next to a school and break up on impact. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. "There are small pieces of the plane all over the field and you can see body parts. We are all so shocked," villager Pratap Lama told the Kantipur radio station. Relatives of some of the passengers gathered at the airport in Kathmandu to wait for news.

"My cousin is a trekking guide and he was flying up to take a group of tourists to Everest base camp," Ganesh Rijal, 40, told AFP. "He got married recently and his wife is in deep shock. I have been waiting here for hours, but nobody has been able to tell me anything." August is the rainy season in Nepal and helicopters were initially unable to fly to the crash area due to poor visibility. Landslides -- a frequent occurrence in Nepal during the monsoon -- also hampered road access. Thousands of travellers fly into Lukla, 140 kilometres (90 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, every year to access the stunning Himalayan range that forms Nepal's northern border with Chinese-controlled Tibet.

The 550-metre-long (1,800 feet) sloping airstrip at Lukla, perched on a hillside 2,757 metres above sea level, is considered one of the most difficult landings in the world and there have been several major accidents there. The last was in 2008 when a Twin Otter plane carrying 18 people crashed killing everyone on board. The airport is used by climbers heading for the heights of Everest, though August is the low season for both mountaineering and trekking. Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for impoverished Nepal and the number of visitors has increased since a civil war between Maoist guerrillas and the state ended in 2006.

Chinese jet misses runway and bursts into flames; state media say 42 killed and 54 rescued

Aviation officials at a relatively new airport in northeast China searched through debris Wednesday for clues to why a passenger jet crashed and burned while trying to land on a fog-shrouded runway, killing 42 people and injuring 54 others. The Henan Airlines plane with 91 passengers and five crew crashed late Tuesday in a grassy area near the Lindu airport on the outskirts of Yichun. Five of those onboard were children, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, and at least one, an 8-year-old boy, survived. It was China's first major commercial air disaster in nearly six years. The plane's black box was recovered, Xinhua reported, but it is still not known what caused the accident. The newly built Yichun airport sits in a forested valley and has operated for a year, and concerns about the safety of night landings there had been raised by at least one major airline.

China Southern Airlines decided last August to avoid night flights in and out of Yichun, switching its daily flight from Harbin to the daytime. A technical notice cited concerns about the airport's surrounding terrain, runway lighting and wind and weather conditions. "Principally there should be no night flights at Yichun airport," said the notice from China Southern's Heilongjiang province branch that was posted online. An employee with the branch's technical office confirmed the notice's authenticity. He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to talk to the media, but said China Southern decided to cancel night flights at Yichun "for safety concerns. We're cautious."

The crash and fire were so severe that little of the fuselage remained, though the charred tail was still largely intact. China Central Television said eight of the victims were found 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters) from the plane's wreckage in a muddy field. The official Xinhua News Agency said officials had earlier reported 43 dead because one body was torn apart in the crash and had been counted as two. It said the pilot, Qi Quanjun, survived the crash but was badly hurt and cannot speak. One of the dead was a Chinese with a foreign passport, according to Xinhua, but it did not give the nationality. It also said a passenger from Taiwan was hurt.

The Brazilian-made Embraer E-190 jet had taken off from Heilongjiang's capital of Harbin shortly before 9 p.m. (1300 GMT) and crashed a little more than an hour later while arriving at Yichun, a city of about 1 million people 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Russian border. A middle-age man who survived the crash told China Central Television there was bad turbulence as the plane descended, then several big jolts that caused the luggage to come crashing from the overhead bins. 

"After we stopped, the people in the back were panicking and rushed to the front," the unidentified man, who had no visible injuries, said in an interview from a hospital bed. "We were trying to open the (emergency exits) but they wouldn't open. Then the smoke came in ... within two or three minutes or even a minute, we couldn't breathe. I knew something bad was going to happen." The man said he and a few others escaped from a hole in the wall of the cabin near the first row of seats, then ran from the burning wreckage. Another survivor was Ji Yifan, an 8-year-old boy, who told Xinhua he was saved by another passnger.

"Someone dragged me to the emergency exit door and threw me out before I realized what was going on," he was quoted as saying. Ji told Xinhua that the evacuation slide, which was on fire, broke as he was sliding down. "I fell to the ground. Again someone dragged me aside," he said. He was speaking from his hospital bed, where he had bruises on his face, neck and arms. Eighteen officials from China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and various provincial branches were on the flight, headed to a meeting in Yichun, Xinhua said. It said Vice Minister Sun Baoshu was in critical condition with broken bones and head injuries.

Wang Xuemei, vice mayor of Yichun, told CCTV that three of the 54 injured were in critical condition but he gave no details. The Yichun city Communist Party published an online list of victims with 42 names. They ranged in age from 12, a girl, to 55. A statement in Chinese on Embraer's website said the company had sent officials to the crash scene to cooperate with the investigation. "Embraer extends its profound condolences and wishes for recovery to the families and friends of those lost or injured in the accident," it said.

Henan Airlines is based in the central Chinese province of the same name and flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China. Previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, the carrier was relaunched as Henan Airlines earlier this year. It launched the Yichun-Harbin service this year. Henan Airlines, which on Wednesday suspended all its flights, and many other regional Chinese airlines flying shorter routes have struggled in the past few years, losing passengers to high-speed railroad lines that China has aggressively expanded. Full-tilt expansion of Chinese air traffic in the 1990s led to a series of crashes that gave China the reputation of being unsafe. The poor record prompted the government to improve safety drastically, from airlines to new air traffic management systems at airports. The last major passenger jet crash in China was in November 2004, when an China Eastern airplane plunged into a lake in northern China, killing all 53 on board and two on the ground.

Militants Storm Hotel in Somali Capital, Kill 32

A homicide bomber and gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked a hotel near Somalia's presidential palace Monday, sparking a running gun battle with security forces. At least 32 people were killed, including six Somali parliamentarians. A parliamentarian who was at the Muna Hotel said there were "dead bodies all over" and he labeled the scene a massacre. The multi-pronged assault came less than 24 hours after the country's most dangerous militant group -- al-Shabab -- threatened a "massive" war against what it labeled as invaders, a reference to the 6,000 African Union troops in Mogadishu.

The attack on the Muna Hotel raised the two-day toll to at least 70 people, a high number even by Mogadishu's violent standards. Fighting that rocked Mogadishu on Monday killed 40 people, health officials said. Somalia's deputy prime minister told The Associated Press that 19 civilians, six members of parliament, five security forces and two hotel workers were killed in the attack -- a total of 32.  Two attackers also were killed, said Abdirahman Haji Aden Ibi, the deputy prime minister. A government statement said 31 people were killed. An 11-year-old shoe shine boy and a woman selling tea in front of the hotel were among the dead, African Union spokesman Maj. Barigye Bahoku said.

A parliamentarian who was at the hotel when the attack occurred said he had seen at least 20 bodies lying in the corridor of the hotel, including one dead member of parliament. The parliamentarian spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear for his safety. He said the homicide bomber blew himself up near the reception and then gunmen stormed the hotel, setting off a gun battle that lasted about an hour. Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the al-Shabab militia, said that members of the group's "special forces" had carried out the attack against those "aiding the infidels."

Militant veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are believed to be helping train members of al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaida. Tuesday's assault is only the latest in a series of increasingly lethal attacks. Last month the group claimed responsibility for twin bombings during the World Cup final in Uganda's capital, blasts that killed 76 people. Al-Shabab said the attack was in retaliation for Uganda's role in the African Union force in Mogadishu.

Gunman in the Philippines ends standoff by killing 8, wounding 7

Hong Kong urged its residents to cut short or cancel planned trips to the Philippines on Tuesday in the aftermath of a bloodbath that left eight dead on a Manila tour bus. Hong Kong's regional government issued its highest level of travel warnings in the aftermath of the killings, urging all residents to avoid traveling to the Philippines."Those already there should attend to their personal safety and stay alert," the advisory read. Tour groups were urged to return "as soon as possible," while other groups scheduled to visit were urged to cancel their trips.

Manila police said Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer upset at having lost his job, took hostage a busload of tourists from Hong Kong on Sunday and killed eight of them before being shot dead. One passenger was critically wounded and six others hospitalized with less serious injuries after the 10-hour standoff erupted into gunfire, Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong's semi-autonomous government, told reporters.And in Beijing, the Chinese government said Tuesday it "severely condemns the atrocious behavior of the criminal" and expressed its "deep sorrow" and "sincerely condolences" to the families of the victims.

"The Chinese government has already decided to send working teams to the Philippines and we will keep close contact with both the Philippine as well as Hong Kong government, putting our best effort into rescuing the injured parties in the aftermath," China's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement on the killings. China has asked the Philippine government "to take concrete action to secure [and] guarantee the protection and safety of Chinese lives and wealth."The incident began at 10 a.m. Monday (10 p.m. ET Sunday), when Mendoza -- wearing a uniform and carrying a rifle -- flagged down the tourist bus and asked for a ride, police spokesman Erwin Margarejo told reporters.A tour guide for Hong Thai Travel tried to stop him from boarding the bus, the company's general manager told reporters.

"The gunman said he wanted to have a free lift. Then the tour guide stopped him," General Manager Susanna Lau said. "Eventually, the gunman got on the coach and then asked the driver to lock the door."Lau said the gunman did not threaten people on the bus.Twenty-five people, including 22 foreigners, were on the bus when Mendoza boarded it, Manila District Police Chief Rodolfo Magtibay said.Mendoza wrote his demand that he get his job back on a board and displayed it in the bus windshield.Inside, the hostages appeared calm but confused, Margarejo said.Police cordoned off the area around the bus as they tried to negotiate, and sharpshooters were stationed nearby. Food was delivered to the hostages on board.

Manila police official Leocadio Santiago told CNN that Mendoza's family members spoke with him early in the standoff and that he appeared "very reasonable and very psychologically stable."The gunman released nine of the hostages, including a mother and her three children, a man with diabetes, and two photographers. The bus driver also escaped.Around 2 p.m., the Philippine news channel ANC showed images of signs posted on the bus windshield saying, "Big deal will start after 3 p.m. today" and "3 p.m. today dead lock."But two hours later, there were no signs that the situation had changed.ANC showed passengers peeking out from behind curtains of the parked bus and a sign posted on the bus door saying, "Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision."

Mendoza was dismissed a year ago, Margarejo said. Manila Vice Mayor Ikso Moreno told CNNI that Mendoza's dismissal was for extortion and that he wanted his motion for reconsideration to be heard."He felt that it was being neglected," Moreno said. "So he went on hostaging a bus full of foreign individuals. So when we talked to him this afternoon, that's what he wanted."Moreno said that Mendoza's brother was arrested because he was "guilty of conspiring with his brother" and allegedly helped instigate the shooting. 

Moreno said when he arrived near the site of the standoff in the company of Mendoza's brother and the chief hostage negotiator, "All of a sudden, he kept on shouting, 'Don't let go until they give my gun back! Don't let go! Don't let go!' He just shout, one moment -- Captain Mendoza just fired his gun."Mendoza sprayed machine gun fire at the hostages, a police spokesman told CNN. At 8 p.m. Monday, police stormed the bus, which held 15 hostages, killing Mendoza.In Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he had ordered an investigation, and would wait until it is completed before deciding whether anyone should lose his or her job. 

"As the president, my opinion might already sway the investigative panel, which might hamper them in ferreting out the truth, so I will not do that at this time," he said.Aquino said the news media may have worsened the situation by giving the shooter "a bird's-eye view of the entire situation," but said he had little choice but to let it play out the way it did. "If we ordered a news blackout, you would tell us we were guilty of censoring news," he said. "We did vow transparency."

World's Worst Ten Deadliest Natural Disasters - Photos and Details...

10. Banqiao Dam flood (1975) Death Toll: 90,000–230,000

The Banqiao Reservoir Dam and Shimantan Reservoir Dam are among 62 dams in Zhumadian Prefecture of China's Henan Province that failed catastrophically or were intentionally destroyed in 1975 during Typhoon Nina. The dam failure caused the sudden loss of 18 GW of power, the equivilant of roughly 9 large modern coal fired power stations, or about 1/3 the peak demand on the UK National Grid.

9. Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami (2004) Death Toll: 230.000

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. The resulting tsunami itself is given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Asian Tsunami, Indonesian Tsunami, and Boxing Day Tsunami.

The earthquake was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing nearly 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metersfeet) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were the hardest hit. (100

With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.

The plight of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than $7 billion (2004 U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid.

8. Haiyuan earthquake (1920) Death Toll: 240.000

1920 Haiyuan earthquake, was an earthquake that occurred on December 16, 1920. The epicenter was 36°30′N 105°42′E / 36.50°N 105.70°E / 36.50; 105.70, in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia was a part of Gansu Province when the earthquake occurred.

The earthquake hit at local time 20:06:53 (GMT 12:06:53), reportedly 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, followed by a series of aftershocks for three years. Today's Chinese media claim the earthquake as of magnitude 8.5, although the scale is not specified. It caused total destruction (XII - the maximum intensity on the Mercalli scale) in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area.

7.Tangshan earthquake (1976) Death Toll: 242.000

The Tangshan Earthquake also known as the Great Tangshan Earthquake, was a natural disaster that occurred on July 28, 1976. It is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, People's Republic of China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The number of deaths initially reported by the Chinese government was 655,000, but this number has since been stated to be around 240,000 to 255,000. A further 164,000 people were recorded as being severely injured. The earthquake came in between a series of political events involving the Communist Party of China. It shook China both literally and figuratively in 1976, which was later labeled a "Year of curse".

The earthquake hit in the early morning, at 03:42:53.8 local time (1976 July 27 19:42:53.8 UTC), and lasted for around 10 seconds. Chinese Government's official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources listed it as high as 8.2. It was followed by a major 7.8 magnitude aftershock some 16 hours later, increasing the death toll.

6.Antioch earthquake (526) Death Toll: 250.000

In 526 during late May, probably between the 20th and the 29th, a major earthquake hit Syria and Antioch, Turkey, killing approximately 250,000 people. The earthquake was followed by a fire that destroyed most of the buildings left standing by the earthquake. Damage estimates on the Modified Mercalli scale are; VIII Antioch, VII Dafna & Seleucia Pieria. In the port of Seleucia Pereia an uplift of 0.7 - 0.8 m has been estimated, and the subsequent silting up of the harbour left it unusable. This event was the sixth deadliest natural disaster in history and the third deadliest earthquake.

5. India Cyclone (1839) Death Toll: 300.000

A 40-foot storm surge from a huge cyclone that hit Coringa, India on November 25 killed 300,000 people.

4. Bhola cyclone (1970) Death Toll: 500.000

The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on November 12, 1970. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern times.

Up to 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta, many of which had been settled illegally. This cyclone was the sixth cyclonic storm of the 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, and also the season's strongest, reaching a strength equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.

3. Shaanxi earthquake (1556) Death Toll: 830.000

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Jiajing earthquake is the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming Dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected. An 840-kilometre (520 mi)-wide area was destroyed, and in some counties 60% of the population was killed. Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in loess cliffs, many of which collapsed during the catastrophe with great loss of life.

2. Yellow River flood (1887) Death Toll: 900.000–2.000.000

The Yellow River (Huang He) in China is prone to flooding, due to the broad expanse of largely flat land around it. The 1887 Yellow River floods devastated the area, killing between 900,000-2,000,000 people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed.

In 1887, this rising riverbed, coupled with days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes, causing a massive flood. The waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimate 50,000 square miles, swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly by the flood itself. It was one of the worst floods in history, though the later 1931 Yellow River flood may have killed as many as four million.

1. China floods (1931) Death Toll: 1.000.000–4.000.000

The 1931 Central China floods or the Central China floods of 1931 are a series of floods that occurred during the Nanjing decade in the Republic of China era. It is generally considered the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded, and almost certainly the deadliest of the 20th century (when pandemics are discounted) and in China. The human casualties are estimated from 3.7 million to 4 million.

For more Disaster pics for Worlds most disaster Blogger Viewers