Jul 12, 2013

Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge

Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge

Journalist Olivier Ravanello was one of the first at the scene of the crash

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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.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield says the train derailed at high speed
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.
Map
"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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Heathrow reopens after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire--Does this story affect San Diego Lindbergh Field

Heathrow reopens after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire

Heathrow airportAn area in front of the tail area on the fuselage appeared to be scorched

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Flights have resumed at London's Heathrow Airport after a fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet.
All runways were closed for nearly 90 minutes after the fire at 16:30 BST. No passengers were aboard the plane at the time, a Heathrow spokesman said.
Fifty Dreamliners worldwide were grounded in January after malfunctions with the plane's lithium-ion batteries.
Boeing modified the jets with new batteries and flights resumed in April.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport has despatched a team to the scene.
The Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner in the Heathrow incident - named the Queen of Sheba - flew from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on the first commercial flight since the grounding.
Pictures of the Heathrow fire showed the Queen of Sheba close to a building and surrounded by fire vehicles. London Fire Brigade said its crews assisted Heathrow staff.
Fire-retardant foam was sprayed at the airliner, and an area on top of the fuselage in front of the tail appeared to be scorched.
Ethiopian Airlines said smoke was detected from the aircraft after it had been parked at Heathrow for more than eight hours.
Production difficulties
Aerial pictures show the plane surrounded by emergency crews
A Heathrow spokesman said: "Heathrow's runways are now fully open following an earlier fire on board an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft which the airport's emergency services attended.
"The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand and there were no passengers on board. Arrivals and departures were temporarily suspended while airport fire crews attended to this incident.
"This is a standard procedure if fire crews are occupied with an incident."
Heathrow reopened shortly before 18:00 BST but was advising passengers to check the status of their flights with the airlines.
Gatwick Airport said it experienced minor delays on departing flights as it assisted Heathrow with flights that were diverted.
Meanwhile, Thomson Airways said one of its Dreamliners travelling to Florida returned to Manchester Airport as a precautionary measure, not connected to the Heathrow fire.
Thomson, which became the first British carrier to operate the aircraft earlier this week, and is taking delivery of eight of the planes, said the plane had "experienced a technical issue".
British Airways is taking delivery of the first two of its 24 Dreamliners.
Virgin Atlantic said it "remains committed" to taking on the first of its 16 Dreamliners in September 2014.
The British pilots' union Balpa said: "The Boeing 787 Dreamliner forms an important part of many of our airlines' future plans, and it is vital that the cause of this fire is established as quickly as possible.
"All parties in the industry need a full and transparent explanation as to what has been identified as the root causes in this series of events."
The battery problems followed production difficulties for the Dreamliner, marketed as a quiet, fuel-efficient aircraft carrying between 201 and 290 passengers on medium-range routes.

Dreamliner troubles

It was due to enter passenger service in 2008 but it was not until October 2011 that the first commercial flight was operated by Japan's All Nippon Airways.
The groundings of all Dreamliners in service in January followed two major incidents concerning the plane's two lithium-ion batteries.
On 7 January, a battery overheated and started a fire on a Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport. Nine days later, an All Nippon Airways 787 had to make an emergency landing in Japan after a battery started to give off smoke.
The two batteries are not used when the 787 is in flight.
They are operational when the plane is on the ground and its engines are not turned on, and are used to power the aircraft's brakes and lights.
The new versions of the batteries, which run at a much cooler temperature, are now enclosed in stainless steel boxes.
Boeing shares fell on the New York Stock Exchange on news of the fire.
A Boeing spokesman said: "We're aware of the event. We have Boeing personnel on the ground at Heathrow and are working to fully understand and address this."
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Malala Yousafzai: "I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child"

copied from BBC news.........

Shot Pakistan schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai addresses UN


Malala Yousafzai: "I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child"

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Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban, has told the UN that books and pens scare extremists, as she urged education for all.
Speaking on her 16th birthday, Malala said efforts to silence her had failed.
She was shot in the head on a school bus by Taliban gunmen because of her campaign for girls' rights.
The speech at the UN headquarters in New York was her first public address since last October's incident in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley.
Malala has been credited with bringing the issue of women's education to global attention. A quarter of young women around the world have not completed primary school.
'Afraid of women'
After the shooting, Malala was flown from Pakistan to the UK for treatment, and now lives in Birmingham, England.

Latest figures show Pakistan has the second highest number of children out of school in the world.
To a standing ovation, Malala told the UN on Friday that the Taliban's attack had only made her more resolute.
"Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, courage and fervour was born," she said.
"The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens," Malala added. "They are afraid of women."
She continued: "I speak not for myself but for those without a voice."
The Taliban "thought that the bullet would silence us, but they failed", she added.
Malala said she was fighting for the rights of women because "they are the ones who suffer the most".

BBC School Report at the UN

Holly and Lauren
  • Holly and Lauren are 15-year-old pupils from Bartley Green School in Birmingham who are travelling to New York as part of the BBC's reporting team to cover a unique Youth Assembly and Malala Yousafzai's keynote speech
  • In March on School Report's annual News Day they co-presented BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour with Jenni Murray
  • Stories covered by the girls on air included the issue of safety on buses in the wake of the fatal stabbing of schoolgirl Christina Edkins on her way to school
She called on politicians to take urgent action to ensure every child has the right to go to school.
"Let us pick up our books and pens," Malala summed up. "They are our most powerful weapons.
"One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first."
A passionate campaigner for female education, Malala addressed more than 500 students at a specially convened youth assembly.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opened the session, telling the youths gathered they were a "new superpower" in the world, and appealing to them to help overcome obstacles to accessing education.
"You cannot say there is anything other than an education emergency that we need to solve," Mr Brown said on Friday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also addressed Friday's session.
Calling Malala "our hero" and "our champion", he said: "She is calling on us to keep our promises, invest in young people and put education first."
The schoolgirl, who set up the Malala Fund following the attack, is also presenting a petition of more than three million signatures to the UN secretary general demanding education for all.

Girls' education in Pakistan

  • Out of nearly 160,000 public schools only 38% are for girls
  • Out of nearly 23 million enrolled students only 42% are girls
  • Out of more than 700,000 teachers only 40% are women
  • Source: Plan International
The event, described by the UN as Malala Day, has been organised by Mr Brown, now the UN Special Envoy for Global Education.
He said: "Getting every girl and boy into school by 2015 is achievable.
"It is only impossible if people say it's impossible. Malala says it is possible - and young people all over the world think it is possible."
Aid agencies say that female access to education in Pakistan is a particular problem.
They say that the country ranks among the lowest in terms of girls' education enrolment, literacy and government spending.

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