1) SAN FRANCISCO INFERNO: FOUR DEAD, 52

INJURED
9:11am UK, Saturday September 11, 2010
Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online

Four people are now believed to have died and 52 others are injured after a gas
explosion sparked a fire that tore through a San Francisco subur
Firefighters struggled to contain the inferno in San Bruno, just a few miles from
the city's international airport. As high winds quickly spread the blaze from
building to building, the fire destroyed at least 38 homes, fire officials have told
reporters. It was originally believed that six people had been killed in the blast but
this figure was later revised down. Another 120 homes were damaged and many
residents were taken to hospital suffering from burns. Water-dropping aircraft
came to the assistance of the fire service but the flames have not been
completely put out. San Bruno fire chief Dennis Haag told a news conference:

"The fire is being contained at this point... it is around 50% contained." He said it
would take until at least a day to complete a search of the affected area. Locals
said they first thought the loud boom from the explosion was an earthquake or a
plane crash. It was one of the largest fires in a US city in years. The gas line
belongs to the northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co, the company
said.
The explosion left a 30ft wide crater in the ground and sent a towering fireball
1,000ft into the air near San Francisco Bay.A total of 38 homes were destroyed
and all that was left of some were chimneys rising from still smouldering ruins
next to melted cars and ash-covered streets. Fire Chief Dennis Haag said: "It
was pretty devastating. It looks like a moonscape in some areas." Bryan
Carmody, a freelance photographer who witnessed the fire, said: "The heat was
absolutely amazing. The sound coming out of the ground was unbelievable, it
was just a very, very continual loud roar of gas and flames."There were cars
burning, the fire was spreading from home to home. "People ran for their lives
from this thing."There were cars burning, the fire was spreading from home to
home."People ran for their lives from this thing."The radiant heat from the gas
and fireball was making it so the firefighters couldn't even attack the fire. I saw
them go into one of the homes and rescue a dog, which was a nice vision of
hope in this whole deal." About 100 people were evacuated and with 75 per cent
of the affected area searched the death toll remained at four.The explosion
happened in San Bruno, a town of 41,000 people close to San Francisco
International Airport, where typical residents include retired police officers and
teachers. Local fire Captain Charlie Barringer said: "I thought a 747 had landed
on us. It shook our station right to its foundation." Rick Bruce, 54, a retired police
officer who has lived in the area for 30 years, said: "Where the fire was looks like
London during the Blitz." Judy Serresseque, who was evacuated, said: "My
whole house shook, and I got up and my living room filled with an orange glow.
And when I went to my front door, I looked out and everything was just flames.
The heat was intense, and you could hear it, you could hear the hiss." The 30inch wide gas line was operated by utility Pacific Gas & Electric and federal
safety inspectors have launched an investigation.They will examine the pipeline's
condition, maintenance history, pressure levels and safeguards put in place to
prevent pressure from building up.They will also look at the training and
experience of the people who operated the line and screen them for alcohol and
drugs.Some residents said they had smelled gas in the area over the past
several weeks.PG&E President Chris Johns said the company had heard reports
of gas being smelled in the area before the blast.The phone calls to the company
were being looked at again and the company would "fully cooperate" with the
investigation, he said.The National Transportation Safety Board, which
nvestigates gas leaks, and the California Public Utilities Commission have
started investigations.Last year there were 163 accidents involving natural gas
pipelines in the US, which killed 10 people and injured 59. More than 60 per cent
of the natural gas pipelines in the US are more than 40 years old and most of the

older lines lack anti-corrosion coatings that are used today. Carl Weimer,
executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a non-profit group, said: "The
industry always says that if you take care of pipelines, they'll last forever. But
what we see over and over again is companies are not doing that and corrosion
and other factors are causing failures." California Lieutenant Governor Abel
Maldonado declared a state of emergency said: "It was like a bomb went off. An
investigation is going on. There is going to be some accountability."

2) FACTORY TOXIC GAS LEAK IN CENTRAL CHINA, TWO

INJURED
08:51, September 10, 2010
A chemical factory in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
reported a toxic gas leak Thursday, injuring two people, according to local
authorities.
Liquid ammonia leaked into the air after a transfer tube cracked, exposing a tencentimeter fissure. The accident occurred when the ammonia was being
transferred from a truck to a storage tank in Helan County of the provincial capital
Yinchuan at around 6:30 p.m., said the municipal emergency response officers.
Following the leak, a pungent odor could be detected in the air one mile from the
site. "I couldn't open my eyes and then felt dizzy," said Zhu Fangfang, whose
airway was harmed after inhaling the fumes.
Later, the victims of the gas leak were reported to be out of danger."The two
injured people are fine now," said Gao Zhihu, head of the county People's
Hospital.
The liquid ammonia was used for the food refrigeration units at Yishunyuan
Agriculture Industry and Trade Co., Ltd.
Police are investigating the incident.

3)11 WORKERS ELECTROCUTED IN UTTAR PRADESH

2010-08-31 19:50:00

Three women and eight men, engaged in Uttar Pradesh government-sponsored

construction work, were electrocuted and two others injured in the state's
Lakhimpur Kheri district Tuesday. Two officials overseeing the project have been
suspended, an official said.
'The accident took place at a construction site, where labourers were working for
a housing project undertaken by the State Urban Development Authority
(SUDA),' District Magistrate Sameer Verma told IANS on phone from Lakhimpur
Kheri, some 150 km from Lucknow.
'It occurred when some pipe of a concrete mixer fitted on a vehicle came in
contact with a high tension wire, subsequently electrocuting the labourers
handling the machine,' he said.
Verma said the labourers were deployed for the Integrated Housing Slum
Development Programme sponsored by SUDA. Two people injured in the
accident were being treated at a hospital. The district administration has
announced a compensation of Rs.1 lakh to the bereaved families of each of
those killed. The contractor of the construction site escaped soon after the
accident took place. 'He (contractor) is still absconding. Teams have been
constituted to trace him,' Police Inspector Vinod Mishra said.
According to district authorities, two government officials - project manager (R.P.
Pandey) and the site manager (junior engineer K.N. Srivastava) - who were
supposed to monitor the construction have been suspended for their negligence.
'The two must have ensured removal of the high tension wire at the construction
site viewing the safety aspects,' said Verma. A First Information Report (FIR) has
also been registered against the junior engineer and contractor Rampal. 'Both of
them have been booked under section 304 A (causing death by negligence). The
two are absconding,' Mishra said

4) AEROBRIDGE CRUSHES WOMAN TO DEATH,

HYDERABAD
A 25-year-old airline employee was killed after being trapped between an aircraft
and the aerobridge, at the RGIA Hyderabad.

6th Sep, 2010: In a shocking incident, a 25-year-old airline employee was killed
after being trapped between an aircraft and the aerobridge, at the Rajiv Gandhi
International Airport, on Sunday.
The victim has been identified as Amrutha Roy, who was working as Guest
Service Officer with the carrier 'Air Asia'.
Amrutha was jotting some official notes when sitting by the side of an aerobridge,
when it closed trapping her left hand.
Being left-handed, Amrutha was forced to lean and try to drag her arm out of
harm's way. Within a few moments, the aerobridge closed on her, crushing her
chest.
According to RGIA sub-inspector P Anjaiah, the horrified employees tried to pry
Amrutha away, even as others rushed to the aerobridge controls to open it.
A 108 ambulance rushed Amrutha to a corporate hospital, where she was
pronounced brought dead.
Amrutha was the daughter of Kamal Roy, a native of Kolkata, and currently
residing at Happy Homes in Chinthalmet.
A case has been registered, and the body sent for autopsy.
Courtesy: INN

Probe team suspects Amrita was on mobile

HYDERABAD: Was Amrita Roy, the Air Asia employee, who died in a freak
mishap on Sunday, busy in conversation on her mobile when the operator
started retracting the aerobridge no 55 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
(RGIA)? A three-member team of airport officials who began a probe on the
mishap have just this suspicion.
Sources at the airport told Express that Amrita had been alerted by her
colleagues, while they were coming down after finishing their work inside the
aircraft. They said she was standing near the edge of the aerobridge.
Perhaps, she was talking on her mobile and was so engrossed in the
conversation, that she failed to take notice of it, they said.
Amrita Roy, a 25-year-old guest service officer (GSO) of Air Asia was crushed to
death on Sunday under the retracting aerobridge, after passengers had
boarded the Air Asia AK-224 Kuala Lumpur-bound aircraft.
As a matter of routine, four to six aircraft employees wish all the passengers
after they board the aircraft and check all their ticket details. After the

verification, they submit the check report to the air hostess. Then, the
aerobridge operator retracts the aerobridge after a siren signal is given by the
concerned authorities.
The three-member team comprising RGIA deputy executive officer Vikram
Jaisinghania, Delhi Airport chief operating officer Peter Noyce and RGIA chief
security secretary Uma Ganapathi started their probe by meeting various Air
Asia employees and hearing their versions.
The team also enquired with local police about the information gathered by them
They collected Amritas mobile phone to track the details to ascertain till what
point of time she was talking on her mobile.
Meanwhile, autopsy reports of Amrita have ascertained that she died on the
spot due to numerological shock rather than injuries. It revealed that her right
arm was completely damaged as it got trapped in the retracting aerobridge.
RGIA authorities said the investigation team would reveal the details of the probe
within three days, after collecting information from the police, RGIA authority,
other airline companies and employees of Air Asia

5) Fire sparks panic at Chennai port

Panic gripped Royapuram for many hours after an abandoned tank containing
bunker fuel residue at Chennai Port caught fire on Monday afternoon.
The thick black smoke from the tank engulfed the area and hundreds of people
living in the neighbourhood were evacuated. Traffic was affected.
Fire and Rescue Services officials said sparks from welding work on a new tank
nearby is suspected to have caused the fire. No one was injured in the incident.
Residents evacuated
The fire in the tank, near Gate 2 of the Chennai Port Trust, was noticed around
2.30 p.m. after thick black smoke started billowing out. Over 50 residents living in
Trust Villa, the staff quarters of CISF, a few yards away, were the first to be
evacuated. Fearing an explosion, several other residents of Royapuram were
seen moving to safer places.
Arunachalam (42), driver of a car belonging to a household on G.M.Pettai, said
that he heard screams from the area near the tank and saw residents from the
quarters running out. Soon thick smoke started emerging from the tank, he
added.
Police personnel cordoned the area. Nine fire tenders, two foam tenders and 15
water lorries were rushed to the spot through the narrow G.M.Pettai Road and
East Kalmandapam Road.
The firemen positioned themselves atop Trust Villa and sprayed foam and water
into the burning tank preventing the flames from spreading to the nearby tanks,
some of which were said to contain crude oil and petroleum products.
After a three-hour-long battle, the fire was put out. By then the iron tank had
completely melted.
Speaking to The Hindu, S. Vijayasekar, Deputy Director of Northern Region,
Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, said welding work was under way on one
of the two newly installed tanks near the abandoned tank. Welders were fixing
the iron stairs on one of the new tanks and the sparks seem to have fallen into
the abandoned tank which contained fuel residue, Mr. Vijayasekar added.
An investigation is under way to ascertain the cause of the fire