Avalanche, blizzard kills 12 people, including 4 Canadians in Nepal

The Associated Press Oct 15, 2014 08:26:27 AM

An avalanche and a blizzard in Nepal’s mountainous north killed at least 12 people, including four Canadians, officials said Wednesday.
The death toll was likely to rise as rescuers struggled through snow and rough terrain to help dozens who remained stranded, the officials said.
A statement from the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal said the bodies of five people — four Canadians and one Indian trekker — have been recovered from Phu area in Manang district.
A company called Panorama Himalaya confirmed death of its three Canadian clients in an avalanche while a company called Nepal Hidden Trek confirmed the death of a Canadian woman.
Panorama Himalaya also said it had rescued three other Canadian trekkers, according to the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal.
Three villagers were killed Monday in the same district, about 160 kilometres northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, and their bodies were recovered on Wednesday.
In the neighbouring Mustang district, four trekkers caught in a blizzard died Tuesday.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of the two Poles, one Israeli and one Nepali trekker from the Thorong La pass area.
It was initially thought that group had been caught in an avalanche, but government official Yam Bahadur Chokyal said that the four trekkers instead had been caught in the blizzard and died.
He said another 14 foreign trekkers have been rescued so far, and two army helicopters were picking up injured trekkers and flying them to Jomsom town.
Chokyal said it was not possible to say how many trekkers were still on the route stranded by the deep snow but several of them have reached safe ground on Wednesday because of improved weather.
Five other climbers — two from Slovakia and three Nepalese guides — were hit by a separate avalanche on Mount Dhaulagiri and remained missing.
The rain and snow in Nepal were caused by a cyclone that hit neighbouring India several days ago.
October is the most popular trekking season in Nepal, with thousands of foreigners hiking around Nepal’s Himalayan mountains.
The Thorong La pass is also on the route that circles Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak.
An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster on the mountain.
Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches on the Himalayan mountains.

http://www.570news.com/2014/10/15/avalanche-blizzard-kill-12-people-including-4-canadians-in-nepal/

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Himalaya

   WHEN-Oct 15, 2014 08:26:27 AM

   WHAT-avalanche

   WHY-a blizzard

   WHERE-Nepal’s mountainous north

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

  1. avalanche    雪崩

  2. blizzard  暴風雪

  3. rescuers 救援人員

  4. struggle  奮鬥

   5. terrain  地形

   6. trekkers  登山者

   7. army helicopters  陸軍直升機

Mount Ontake eruption: 7 rescued, 32 missing after volcano blows

At least 12 people seriously injured

The Associated Press Posted: Sep 27, 2014 5:53 AM ET     Last Updated: Sep 28, 2014 1:45 AM ET

A Japanese military helicopter rescued seven people Sunday morning from a spectacular volcanic eruption that sent officials scrambling to reach many more injured and stranded on a mountain.
Mount Ontake in central Japan erupted shortly before noon Saturday, catching mountain climbers by surprise and injuring at least 34, including 12 seriously, according to Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency. The tally was lower than reported by local officials earlier, but the disaster agency warned that the numbers could still change.
The number of those reported missing also rose sharply to 32, the agency said.

Ash from Mount Ontake covered these mountain lodges. The volcanic eruption left more than 250 people stranded near the peak, but most managed to make their way to safety. (Kyodo/Reuters)

​Nagano prefecture official Sohei Hanamura said that three people were rescued by a military helicopter. Their conditions were not known, he said, and it wasn't clear if they were part of an estimated 40 people stranded at mountain lodges. Many were injured and unable or unwilling to risk descending 3,067-metre Mount Ontake on their own.
Rescue workers were also trying to reach the area on foot Sunday morning, Hanamura said.
Lodge managers are familiar with first aid procedures and were communicating with rescue officials in town, he said.

'Totally covered with ash'

With a sound likened to thunder, the volcano erupted on a clear autumn day, spewing large white plumes of gas and ash high into the sky and blanketing the surrounding area in ash.
Smaller eruptions continued overnight. About 250 people were initially trapped on the slopes, but most had made their way down by Saturday night, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Some were in shelters set up in four nearby towns.
One witness told NHK that the eruption started with large booms.
In a video posted on YouTube, shocked climbers can be seen moving quickly away from the peak as an expanding plume of ash emerges above and then engulfs them.
Many of those who made it down emerged with clothes and backpacks covered in ash. They reported being engulfed in total darkness for several minutes.
Mikio Oguro, an NHK journalist who was on the slope on an unrelated assignment, told the station that he saw massive smoke coming out of the crater, blocking sunlight and reducing visibility to zero.
"Massive ash suddenly fell and the entire area was totally covered with ash," he said by phone. He and his crew had to use headlamps to find a lodge.
"My colleagues later told me that they thought they might die," Oguro said.
Two Jetstar flights headed to Tokyo's Narita International Airport diverted to Kansai International Airport in western Japan as a precaution.
Japan's meteorological agency raised the alert level for Mount Ontake to 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. It warned people to stay away from the mountain, saying ash and other debris could fall up to 4 kilometres away.
Mount Ontake, about 210 kilometres west of Tokyo, sits on the border of Nagano and Gifu prefectures, on the main Japanese island of Honshu. The volcano's last major eruption was in 1979.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mount-ontake-eruption-7-rescued-32-missing-after-volcano-blows-1.2779829

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Mount Ontake

   WHEN- Sep 28, 2014 1:45 AM ET

   WHAT- volcanic eruption 

   WHY-not given

   WHERE-central Japan

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

 1.military helicopter    軍用直升機

 2.mountain lodges 山上的小屋

 3.aid procedures  急救程序

4.spewing  噴湧

5.blanketing  鬱烈

6.public broadcaster   公共廣播

 

Ebola epidemic in West Africa 'out of control'

By Danielle Dellorto, CNN

June 24, 2014 -- Updated 1523 GMT (2323 HKT)

(CNN) -- The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has hit "unprecedented" proportions, according to relief workers on the ground.

"The epidemic is out of control," Dr. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement.

There have been 567 cases and 350 deaths since the epidemic began in March, according to the latest World Health Organization figures.

In April, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to Conakry, Guinea, to report on what was being done to treat patients and contain the outbreak.

"It took only moments to feel the impact of what was happening here," Gupta wrote after landing in Conakry. "There is a lot we know about Ebola, and it scares us almost as much as what we don't know."

Ebola outbreaks usually are confined to remote areas, making it easier to contain. But this outbreak is different; patients have been identified in 60 locations in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Officials believe the wide footprint of this outbreak is partly because of the close proximity between the jungle where the virus was first identified and cities such as Conakry. The capital in Guinea has a population of 2 million and an international airport.

People are traveling without realizing they're carrying the deadly virus. It can take between two and 21 days after exposure for someone to feel sick.

Ebola is a violent killer. The symptoms, at first, mimic the flu: headache, fever, fatigue. What comes next sounds like something out of a horror movie: significant diarrhea and vomiting, while the virus shuts off the blood's ability to clot.

As a result, patients often suffer internal and external hemorrhaging. Many die in an average of 10 days.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, is the only aid organization treating people affected by the virus. Since March, they have sent more than 300 staff members and 40 tons of equipment and supplies to the region to help fight the epidemic.

Still, they warn, it's not enough.

"Despite the human resources and equipment deployed by MSF in the three affected countries, we are no longer able to send teams to the new outbreak sites."

The good news is that Ebola isn't as easily spread as one may think. A patient isn't contagious -- meaning they can't spread the virus to other people -- until they are already showing symptoms.

Serious protective measures

Inside the isolation treatment areas in Conakry, doctors focus on keeping the patients hydrated with IV drips and other liquid nutrients. Health officials have urged residents to seek treatment at the first sign of flu-like symptoms.

There is no cure or vaccine to treat Ebola, but MSF has shown it doesn't have to be a death sentence if it's treated early. Ebola typically kills 90% of patients. This outbreak, the death rate has dropped to roughly 60%.

Gupta describes the scene outside an isolation ward in Guinea:

Before the doctors go into the isolation ward, Gupta says, they stop in a separate tent beforehand to gear up.

Healthcare workers dressed in scrubs and thick white rubber boots. They slipped on blue latex gloves, then a thick yellow impermeable suit, followed by a mask, then a white hood with another mask built into it. A pair of large clear goggles went over the hood, and then a large white apron.

"It has to be this way for these doctors and nurses who knowingly expose themselves to Ebola," Gupta wrote. "But you have to wonder what goes through the minds of the patients, seeing these rubber-clad aliens looming in front of them."

MSF says they'll continue to isolate and treat Ebola patients in West Africa with the resources they have available, but they urge a "massive deployment" by regional governments and aid agencies to help stop the epidemic.

World Health Organization officials say they're planning high-level meetings for the Minister of Health in the subregion July 2-3 to discuss the deployment of additional resources and experts to the area.

The outbreak will be considered contained after 42 days -- twice the incubation period -- with no new Ebola cases.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/23/health/ebola-virus-outbreak-west-africa/index.html

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Ebola virus epidemic

   WHEN-June 24, 2014

   WHAT-out of control

   WHY- 567 cases and 350 deaths since the epidemic began in March

   WHERE-West Africa

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.unprecedented   史無前例

2.proportions   比例

3.confined    密閉

4.remote  遠程

5.proximity  接近

6.clot  凝塊

7.external hemorrhaging  外部出血