Libya boat sinking: 5 Bangladeshis among dead

Thousands have died, and many thousands more rescued, trying to cross the Mediterranean. Photo: BBC

Star Online Report

Five Bangladeshi nationals were among those killedafter two boats carrying about 500 migrants sank off Libya, confirms a Bangladesh’s embassy official from Tunisia.
At least 200 migrants lost their lives in the accident, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told BBC Bangla.
Mozammel Haque,Charge de Affaires of Bangladesh embassy in Libya, told BBC Bangla from Tunisia that there were 31 Bangladeshis on the two boats that sank after leaving Zuwara.
Two children were among the deceased, he added.
Most of the Bangladeshis could be rescued as they were wearing life-jackets, he also said.
Thirty-one Bangladeshis including four families were trying to go to Italy on a boat from Libya’s Zuwara,BBC Bangla quoted Mozammel Haque as saying.
A six-month-old baby and a six-year-old child died on the spot and four members of two of the families were still missing. The rest remained afloat throughout the night by their life-jackets and were rescued early in the morning, Mozammel added.
Embassy officials from Tunisia have spoken to all the families affected by the accident.
Two families used to reside in Sirat while the other two lived in Tripoli. All the families lived in Libya for a long time and their children were born in that country.
Since Libya’s condition deteriorated due to political turmoil and insurgency, the families were looking for a safer route to Italy by sea, Mozammel added.
The boats sank on Thursday after leaving Zuwara, a major launch pad on the Libyan coast for migrants hoping to reach Italy, added BBC World.
The UN says about 2,400 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year.
More than 100,000 others have landed in Italy, whilst another 160,000 have crossed to Greece.
The Libyan coast guard worked overnight on Thursday to search for survivors from the latest tragedy.
But Libya is poorly equipped to carry out rescue operations as the ships available to its coastguard are small, BBC North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad reports from Tunis.
At least 100 bodies were taken to a hospital in Zuwara, west of Tripoli, a resident told the BBC.
The victims included migrants from Syria, Bangladesh and several sub-Saharan African countries, the resident said, but the information could not be independently verified.
A detention facility for illegal migrants in Sabratha, west of Tripoli, received 147 people, an official told Reuters.

10 killed as India, Pakistan trade border fire

AFP . Islamabad | Update: 14:19, Aug 28, 2015

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At least 10 civilians were killed Friday as India and Pakistan traded fire across their disputed border, officials said, less than a week after high-level talks were aborted amid a row over Kashmir.
Six died near the city of Sialkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province and at least four villagers were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. Officials said more than 50 were wounded.
A meeting between the Indian and Pakistani national security advisors in New Delhi on Sunday was called off at the last minute amid a dispute about whether the agenda should include Kashmir, the Himalayan territory both sides control in part but claim in full.
The two sides regularly fire shells and mortars across the disputed border both in Kashmir and to the south in Punjab, killing civilians.
A senior Pakistani security official told AFP that Indian forces began firing around 3:00 am on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) and continued intermittently during the morning.
“Six civilians embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and 46 were severely injured including 22 females due to Indian unprovoked firing/shelling on working boundary near Sialkot in Chaprar and Harpal sector,” a statement from the Pakistani military said, adding that they had returned fire.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, Border Security Force (BSF) official Rakesh Kumar Sharma accused Pakistan of targeting civilians with “unprovoked” mortar fire.
“Four villagers died in the shelling from across the border, three of them were killed early morning and one died of injuries in a hospital later,” Pawan Kotwal, the top administrator of the region told AFP.
Another BSF officer, J.S.Oberio, put the number of injured at 16, saying at least 10 border posts and several villages were targeted by Pakistani troops.
Age-old tensions
Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region since both gained independence in 1947, and it remains a major source of tension.
About a dozen militant groups have been fighting since 1989 for either the independence of the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.
Shelling across the de facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC) in disputed Kashmir and the “working boundary” in Punjab, has been on the rise this month.
Sunday’s talks had brought hopes of a possible easing of tensions, but these were dashed as the meeting was sunk amid a welter of angry rhetoric on Saturday.
The plan for Sunday’s talks came from a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at a regional summit in Russia last month.
Little of substance was expected but the very fact that the security advisors, Sartaj Aziz for Pakistan and Ajit Doval for India, were to meet at all was seen as progress.
But the plan faltered at familiar obstacles: Aziz’s intention to meet Kashmiri leaders in New Delhi—an issue that scuppered foreign secretary-level talks last year—and India’s insistence the agenda should focus on terrorism.
Pakistan’s failure to hand over or prosecute the alleged masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks has infuriated India, particularly when the suspected ringleader, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, was freed on bail.
Islamabad, for its part, insists talks must be wide-ranging and include thorny issues like Kashmir.

Erosion hits Padma bridge site in Bangladesh

Large portions of two jetties at Padma bridge construction yard are eroded. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Around 80 square metre land of the Padma bridge construction yard was eroded by strong currents in the Padma at Kumarbhog of Munshiganj yesterday. The erosion damaged two jetties and some construction equipment.
It was the second incident of erosion at the bridge construction site in the last four days. The erosion was caused by strong currents and rising water levels in the river, said officials of the Padma bridge project.
Over 10,000 square metre land on the river bank has been wiped out since Sunday night. Two out of three jetties of the project have been damaged. Those were used for transporting construction materials from the shore to the mid river and beyond.
The erosion also devoured the road leading to the jetties, a concrete mixing plant and rails, disrupting construction work, added the officials.

Construction materials devoured, by strong currents. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Seeking anonymity, an executive engineer of the project said they took prompt measures to keep the damage to a minimal. He hoped that they would be able to repair the technical damages in around two weeks.
The project authorities put sandbags and bamboo poles on the bank to contain the erosion. But their attempt proved futile.
A trawler carrying sandbags sunk in the river yesterday. Around a dozen workers, who boarded the vessel, managed to swim ashore safely, but the trawler could not be salvaged, said Yunus, in-charge of Mawa Police Camp.
Talking to The Daily Star last evening, Project Director Shafiqul Islam said he was not aware of the erosion or damage.

Workers, were seen trying to stop the erosion by putting sandbags on the banks, but to little use. The photos were taken yesterday. Photo: Anisur Rahman

FERRY SERVICE DISRUPTED
The ferry service on Shimulia-Kawrakandi route has slowed almost to a halt in the last six days due to poor navigability caused by sedimentation, said sources at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation.
Witnesses said around 400 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the river at 4:00pm yesterday. Passengers, drivers and staff of the vehicles suffered a lot due to the inordinate delay in service.
The BIWTA and Bangladesh Bridges Authority yesterday deployed a dredger to improve navigability through the route which is considered the gateway to 21 southern districts. The existing dredgers could not be operated smoothly due to strong currents.