Sunday 14 July 2013

Mzimu wa ajali usivyo kuwa na rafiki


Before and after images of Lac-Megantic


Majanga!majanga!majanga!, ya ajali kila kona. Mzimu huu umekuwa na kasi siku za hivi karibuni hasa Tanzania na pembe zingine za Afrika. Ni wakati wa muafaka kumuomba Mungu atupe ulinzi wa kutosha maana kwa Imani zatu, tunaamini hivyo. Nani asiyejua kuwa kwake hakuna lisilo wezekana!!!

Nina tumaini yatakuwa maamuzi ya muhimu kuweka ibada kwa ajili ya hili. Kule Kenya hapo mwaka jana madereva wa mabasi madogo, almaarufu kama "matatu" waliweka imani mbele pale walipoamua kuombea barabara iliyokuwa imekumbwa na matukio ya ajali kila mara. Toka kipindi hicho sijawahi sikia kelele tena juu ya ajali. Imani inaweza kuamisha milima!!!

Achilia mbali ajali za Afrika ambazo kwa asilimia kubwa wengi tunaamini zinasababishwa na miundo mbinu mibovu. Barani ulaya mambo yamekuwa yale yale lakini mara hii ajali nyingi zikiwa za traini au gari moshi( huku wenzetu wanatumia umeme na si moshi/injini ya kutoa moshi)

Ajali hizi zimekuwa za kusikitisha sana kwa sababu zimeondosha uhai wa watu wengi ukitilia mkazo juu ya teknologia yaho ilivyo ya hali ya juu sana kuliko huku kwetu Tanzania. Ajali mbaya sana ni ile iliyotokea kule Canada. Inasemekana ni ajalil mbaya sana, maana watu wameteketea kwa moto wa mlipuko wa traini iliyokuwa imebeba mafuta na zingine zikiwa zimesababishwa na hitilafu tofauti.

Swali ni Je Tanzania tunajiandaaje kuepuka na  ajali za namna hii? Siombei Taifa langu ajali, La hasha! Hapa nazungumzia "RISK MANAGEMENT" yetu kiujumla.

Embu tutazame yaliyotokea hivi karibuni huko Ulaya na Amerika.

CANADA:

Canada train disaster: Blast missing 'probably dead'

 

               
"Mon Dieu!" Lac-Megantic resident Adrien Aubert filmed the blast
Canadian police have said 30 people missing since Saturday's train crash in a Quebec town are "most probably dead".
Twenty bodies have already been found after a runaway train carrying oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic.
During a visit to the town, Quebec's premier said the train owner's response to the disaster had been "deplorable".
The head of Rail World accused a local driver of failing to set a series of hand brakes. Swathes of the town centre were wiped out in the huge blast.
Some 2,000 town residents were forced to flee their homes.
'Unacceptable' On Wednesday, Quebec police inspector Michel Forget told the families of the missing that their loved ones were "most probably dead in this tragedy".
                            
Rail World boss Edward Burkhardt: "It is very questionable whether the hand brakes were properly applied."
"It is with great sadness that I give you this news," he said.
Police say one of the 24 recovered bodies has been identified as 93-year-old Elianne Parenteau.
No official list of missing people has yet been released, but unofficial accounts have been circulating on social media.
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois visited Lac-Magentic on Thursday, and criticised the company's response to the crash.
She said Rail World chief executive Edward Burkhart's attitude was "unacceptable" and "deplorable".
"The leader of this company should have been there from the beginning," she told a news conference.
She also announced a C$60m (£38m; $57m) fund to help victims and rebuild the town.
'Abject apology' Mr Burkhardt was due to meet town residents and the mayor on Thursday, a day after he was heckled as he made his first visit to Lac-Megantic.

What Canada's press is saying

On Wednesday, he revealed an engineer who was in charge of driving the train had been suspended without pay, because they did not believe his claim to have fully applied the brakes.
"He's not in jail, but police have talked about prosecuting him," Mr Burkhardt said. "I understand exactly why the police are considering criminal charges. If that's the case, let the chips fall where they may."
He also said he had initially stayed in Chicago after the incident to communicate with insurers and various officials.
"I understand the extreme anger," he said. "We owe an abject apology to the people in this town."
Authorities have asked the relatives of those still missing to provide DNA samples.
Officials have also warned that some of the bodies may have been burnt to ashes in the explosion.
Police are still searching the disaster site, and the heart of the town is being treated as a crime scene.
At the centre of the destruction was the Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was busy at the time of the explosion.
The train, carrying 72 cars of crude oil, was parked shortly before midnight on Friday in the town of Nantes about seven miles (11km) away.
It later rolled downhill, gathering speed until it derailed in Lac-Megantic and exploded.
The train, bound from the Bakken oil region in the US state of North Dakota, was heading to a refinery on the east coast of Canada.
 
 
FRANCE:
 

Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge

                    
The BBC's Hugh Schofield says the train derailed at high speed
Six people have been killed and more than 20 injured in a train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge, south of Paris, French officials have said.
The intercity train had just left Paris and was heading towards Limoges when it derailed, crashing into a station platform at 17:14 (15:14 GMT).
Passengers were left trapped inside carriages.
French President Francois Hollande visited the scene and expressed his shock at the accident.
Six people died and 22 others were seriously injured, Mr Hollande told reporters. All those with serious injuries were now in hospital, he added.
Shortly after the crash, officials said as many as eight people were thought to have died.
BBC Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield said there was a strong possibility that the number of fatalities could rise again because some of the injured were very badly hurt.
The French president spoke of his "solidarity" with the families of those caught up in the accident, saying that the station would be closed for three days while investigations were carried out to determine what led to the derailment.
The rail company SNCF said 385 passengers were on board when the train crashed. The station platforms were crowded at the start of a holiday weekend.
Distressing accounts have emerged from the scene of the crash. British student Marvin Khareem Wone was on a train on another platform when the carriages of the intercity ploughed into the station.
"The train went off the railway; it just went on the platform and kind of flew in the air for a second and went upside down," he told BBC Radio.
"The first and the second coach were completely destroyed. I really thought no-one could survive that because it was completely mashed up. Everyone was crying and running everywhere. A woman was crying for her daughter who was still on the train."
Because of the damage to the station, he said ambulances could not reach the platform and the lift was not working.
Other media reports spoke of passengers being electrocuted and crushed.
"I saw many wounded women children trapped inside," Vianey Kalisa, who was waiting for his train from Bretigny to Paris, told AFP.
"People were screaming. A man had blood on his face. These are images of war," he said.
Bretigny mayor and local MP Michel Pouzol said four of the carriages were lying wrecked on the station platform.
He said the emergency services responded to a "red alert", put into action when many casualties are expected.
Guillaume Pepy, president of SNCF, described the accident as a "catastrophe" and explained that the train's third and fourth carriages derailed first and the other coaches followed.
A witness named only as Ophelie told the I-Tele news channel everyone was shocked and some people on the platforms were among the injured.
French transport routes were particularly busy at the time of the crash due to the run-up to a holiday weekend marking Sunday's Bastille Day.
"There were plenty of people on the platforms because of it being a holiday weekend," said Jean Paul Huchon, Socialist president in the IIe de France area around the capital.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield says that in May, SNCF warned passengers that points work was being carried out in the area, where intercity and commuter lines dovetail.
It is not clear if the earlier points problems are connected with Friday's crash, he says.
"We can't confirm anything without proof. I'll speak when it's clear. I will be completely transparent but right now everything must be done to help the victims," Mr Pepy told reporters in Bretigny.
Judicial and transport ministry inquiries as well as an SNCF investigation have been launched.
The train had left Paris-Austerlitz station at 16 :53 local time and was due to arrive at Limoges-Benedictins at 20:05, the company said in a statement.
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ARGENTINA

Deadly train crash near Buenos Aires

                      
The passenger train apparently slammed into an empty train during the morning commute
At least three people have been killed and 315 injured in a rush-hour train crash in the outskirts Buenos Aires, Argentine officials say.
The accident happened near the Castelar station, about 30km (19 miles) west of the capital, when a commuter train hit another empty, stationary train.
Rescue crews and volunteers went to the scene to help the injured, who were taken to nearby hospitals.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
Media reports say that the moving train may have had faulty brakes.
But Transport and Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said the train "had new brakes".
"We want to establish whether it was an accident or an attack," said Mr Randazzo.
Yellow light ignored The two train drivers have been detained. Blood alcohol content tests showed they were sober, said the minister.
"The train stopped in three previous stations without any problem," Mr Randazzo explained.
"But after the train left Moron station, its speed continued to rise, even when it passed a yellow light where it should have slowed down."
The crash happened in the morning rush hour, at 07:07 local time (10:07 GMT).
"I heard a loud noise and everyone started falling down, and people were shocked and crying," 26-year-old passenger Lida was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
The two trains did not leave the rails after the incident on the Sarmiento line.

Mr Randazzo said most survivors have been discharged, but more than 30 are still in hospital - some remain in a serious condition.
There were many cases of severe fracture, which could have caused life-threatening vascular damage.
In February last year, 51 people died and more than 700 were injured in a train crash on the same line.
The authorities later revoked a local company's right to operate trains on the line and pledged to make new investments in safety.
Commuters complain of frequent delays and bad service and it is not uncommon to see travellers crammed into trains on their way to work, says the BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Buenos Aires.

USA:

Maryland train crash and blast leaves one hurt

29 May 2013 Last updated at 01:18 GMT Help
A cargo train carrying chemicals in the US state of Maryland has hit a lorry and derailed, causing a blast felt half a mile away.
The train derailed shortly after 14:00 EST (18:00 GMT) near Baltimore. The driver of the lorry was taken to hospital and is said to be in a serious condition.
The incident is the third major rail crash in the US in the past two weeks.
Susana Mendonca reports.


Baltimore train crash leaves one injured

29 May 2013 Last updated at 00:09 GMT Help
One person has been injured after an apparent collision between a freight train and a refuse truck, which derailed 15 carriages and sparked a huge explosion.
The injured person, the driver of the van, is said to be in a "serious but stable condition".
Kevin Kamenetz, Executive of Baltimore County, described what happened.

Dozens injured in head-on train crash in Connecticut

                  
Governor Dannel Malloy said the damage was "devastating"
More than 60 people were injured, at least two critically, after a head-on, rush-hour collision between two commuter trains near New York City.
Hundreds of people were on the trains involved in Friday evening's crash just outside Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Officials said a train that left New York City's Grand Central en route to New Haven, Connecticut, derailed then was hit by another train.
Amtrak has suspended its service between New York and Boston.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said on Friday night that the front of one of the trains had been extensively damaged and its wheels were "sticking into the other train".

He said five people had received serious injuries, describing one person as being in a "very critical" condition.
The two hospitals in Bridgeport that received the wounded said they were each treating one person in a critical condition. By Saturday morning, many of injured passengers had been released from hospital.
Investigators are trying to find out what caused the crash, which happened shortly after 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT).
Governor Malloy said he had no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident.
Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said most of those hurt were walking wounded.
"Everybody seemed pretty calm," he told the Associated Press. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families."
But Canadian passenger Alex Cohen told NBC Connecticut that "people were screaming... they had to smash a window to get us out".
One witness, Brian Alvarez, told CNN: "I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed and they were pulling people out of the car. They were all bloody."

At least 60 hurt in train crash near NYC

18 May 2013 Last updated at 07:55 GMT Help
At least 60 people have been injured after a commuter train derailed and collided with another just outside New York City.
An investigation is now underway to find out what happened.
Julie Peacock reports.

This collection was made by BBC Correspondents