OFFICIAL PORTAL
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
BANGKOK: The basement and surrounding area of the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) building have been cleared, while officials continue the search for 13 missing individuals.
The search for trapped victims at the collapse site of the SAO building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district progressed significantly on Tuesday (May 6), according to Suriyachai Rawiwan, Director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office.
He reported that no additional survivors or victims had been found during the search from last night through Tuesday morning.
However, rescue teams have now fully cleared the concrete floor of the basement and surrounding area, covering approximately 40×40 metres.
“What remains is the collapsed section adjacent to parking zone B, which is about 3 metres tall and 15–20 metres wide,” he said. “Clearing this remaining debris is expected to take another 2–3 days.”
Meanwhile, officials plan to conduct DNA testing on 280 human body parts stored at the Police General Hospital’s Forensic Institute.
These will be compared against the list of the 13 missing persons. If all identities cannot be confirmed, authorities may need to reassess the total number of missing individuals, Suriyachai added.
The under-construction 30-storey building on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road collapsed on March 28 following an 8.2-magnitude earthquake near Mandalay, Myanmar, trapping more than a hundred workers inside.
As of Tuesday, the BMA has reported a total of 109 victims from the incident. Of these, 87 have been confirmed dead, nine were injured, and 13 remain missing. - The Nation/ANN
KOTA KINABALU (May 6): The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM) has increased its manpower in preparation for the end of the Northeast Monsoon season in the state.
Its newly appointed director, Mohd Pisar Aziz, said various measures have been implemented, including the active involvement of 350 auxiliary firefighters.
“A total of 101 newly trained auxiliary firefighters have just completed their training, and we believe this addition will help ease the workload of full-time personnel while improving fire and rescue services, especially in rural and suburban areas,” he told the media after paying a courtesy visit to the Head of State of Sabah, Tun Musa Aman, at Istana Seri Kinabalu on Tuesday.
According to him, the visit aimed to brief the Head of State on the department’s flood response operations and to inform him of Mohd Pisar’s appointment as the new JBPM director, effective April 7.
“Aside from informing Tun Musa of my new appointment, I also shared updates on the department’s operations, including preparations for the tail end of the Northeast Monsoon season and the ongoing flood incidents in several districts such as Beaufort and Sook,” he said.
Before his posting in Sabah, Mohd Pisar served as the director of JBPM Melaka and has extensive experience in fire investigations and safety.
TEHRAN: Iranian authorities ordered schools and offices closed in seven western provinces today as a dust storm swept in from neighbouring Iraq, with around 13 million people told to stay indoors.
Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Kurdistan provinces were all affected, and state television cited local officials as blaming the closures on high levels of accumulated dust.
Government and private offices also shut in several provinces including Kermanshah and Ilam, as well as Khuzestan in the southwest.
Zanjan in the northeast and Bushehr in the south were also hit.
Bushehr, nearly 1,100km south of Tehran, was given an air quality index of 108 today, rated “poor for sensitive groups”.
That figure is more than four times higher than the concentration of air microparticles deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization.
Iran’s meteorological authorities said the conditions were caused by “the movement of a large mass of dust from Iraq towards western Iran”.
State television reported low visibility in some areas and urged people to remain inside and wear face masks if they had to go out.
Last month, a similar dust storm in Iraq grounded flights and sent thousands of people to hospital with breathing problems.
Yesterday, Iran’s Irna state news agency said more than 240 people in Khuzestan province had been treated for respiratory issues because of the dust.
A spokesman for the emergency services also told Tasnim news agency today that nine people had died as a result of storms in Iran over the past seven days, ending yesterday.
“Four of the deaths were caused by strong winds and falling objects, and five were caused by lightning strikes,” it added.
NEW DELHI: Sekurang-kurangnya 14 terbunuh, manakala ramai lagi cedera selepas ribut petir disertai hujan dan angin kencang melanda negeri Gujarat, barat India, menurut pegawai pada Selasa.
Sebanyak 168 daripada 253 daerah kecil di negeri itu menerima hujan dalam tempoh 24 jam lalu, lapor Xinhua.
Menurut pegawai, kematian berlaku akibat pokok tumbang, papan iklan runtuh, renjatan elektrik, petir dan rumah roboh ditiup angin kencang.
Jabatan Meteorologi India memberi amaran ribut petir disertai kilat dan angin selaju 50-60km sejam dijangka berterusan di banyak kawasan di Gujarat dalam beberapa hari akan datang.
ISTANBUL: Kerajaan tentera melanjutkan tempoh gencatan senjata terhadap kumpulan bersenjata etnik di Myanmar sehingga akhir Mei ini di tengah-tengah usaha menangani kesan gempa bumi melanda negara itu pada 28 Mac lalu, lapor Anadolu Ajansi (AA) memetik laporan media kerajaan.
Panglima Angkatan Tentera Myanmar memaklumkan tempoh gencatan senjata sementara itu dilanjutkan dari semalam hingga 31 Mei.
Menurutnya, angkatan tentera “terus melanjutkan gencatan senjata sementara bagi menyokong usaha bantuan bencana dan kerja pembinaan semula, melindungi kepentingan negara serta membantu mewujudkan keamanan sebenar, berkekalan dan kestabilan negara”.
Myanmar dilanda gempa kuat pada 28 Mac lalu yang meragut hampir 3,800 nyawa dan puluhan ribu penduduk kehilangan tempat tinggal.
Gempa bumi itu turut menggegarkan negara jiran Thailand yang menyebabkan sekurang-kurangnya 86 maut, manakala 14 lagi hilang.
Susulan itu, kerajaan tentera mengisytiharkan gencatan senjata pada 2 April lalu, yang dilanjutkan kemudiannya.