A Liberian cargo ship carrying 640 containers, including 13 hazardous cargoes, has sunk off the coast of Kerala, raising concerns of environmental damage. The ship, MSC ELSA 3, capsized and sank in the early hours of May 25 after listing rapidly. The three remaining crew members were rescued by the Indian Navy. The Indian Coast Guard is monitoring the situation for any oil spills and has positioned a ship with pollution response equipment at the scene. The ship was carrying 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, in addition to the hazardous cargo. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has cautioned the public against touching any cargo containers or oil spills that may wash ashore.
Mock drills were conducted on Saturday in states and Union territories adjoining the western border -- from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat -- to enhance wartime emergency preparedness and response capabilities, officials said.
The leader of the 12-member team from Rockwell Enterprises, Wakeel Hassan, said he was approached for help by a company involved in the rescue operation four days ago. "The work got delayed while removing the portion of the auger from the rubble. We started at 3 pm on Monday and finished the work at 6 pm on Tuesday," Hassan said, adding, "We had said the work would be finished in 24 to 36 hours and that is what we did."
The NDMA member further stated that the health conditions of the rescued workers will be monitored for the next 48 to 72 hours.
The rain and flood situation in northeastern states remained grim on Tuesday, with lakhs people affected in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, even as the meteorological department predicted more rain in several parts of the region.
Heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh have resulted in multiple fatalities and widespread disruption, including road closures and train cancellations.
Jaymal Singh Negi mentioned that his brother informed him about the trapped men engaging in yoga and exercises inside the tunnel.
Relentless heavy rain led to a landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least five people and injuring 14, officials said.
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
At least five people were killed in separate rain-related incidents on Tuesday in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days causing widespread flooding in several residential areas and turning roads into virtual rivers.
22 of the people trapped in mid-air in a row of ropeway cable cars for around 24 hours following the accident were rescued on Monday while one person has died, officials said.
The estimated strength of these nine teams is about 240 personnel, they said.
The labourers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes, they said.
Apart from that, as part of efforts to provide assurance to 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel and relieve their stress, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has stepped in to provide them with a landline through which they can talk to their families.
Rescue operations to evacuate 41 workers trapped in the tunnel resumed on Thursday morning after an iron mesh that had come in the path of the auger machine drilling an escape path was removed.
Latest satellite pictures of Iranian military and nuclear facilities released after Israeli strikes show the sites which were damaged after the operation.
The labourers have been trapped since Sunday morning when a part of the tunnel collapsed following a landslide.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a warning of significant rainfall in Kerala due to cyclone Fengal, currently positioned as a strong low-pressure area over northern Tamil Nadu.
Heavy rains over a span of few hours flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which more than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.
Assam's flood situation remained critical on Tuesday with over 6.71 lakh people affected in 20 districts in the second wave of flooding this year, as the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 stranded fishermen from the severely-hit Dibrugarh district, an official said.
Rescue workers pulled out all 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation that hovered between hope and despair for 16 days.
The 41 workers, who were rescued from Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation, kept their spirits up while trapped inside by taking morning walks and practising yoga, a rescued worker told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A total of 113 teams were deployed by the federal contingency force in the two states and adjoining areas for launching relief and rescue in the wake of the cyclone.
Two bodies were recovered from the Manuni Khad in Kangra district while around 15-20 workers stationed at a labour colony near the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site were feared swept away following a surge in water level in the Khaniyara Manuni Khad.
'What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be "the buyer of last resort", on whom their products can be dumped, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn?' 'What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly Republican Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
After record rains wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two days, the death toll in related incidents rose to 41, most of them victims of the landslide on a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route, while there was some let-up in the showers on Wednesday, allowing relief efforts to pick up pace.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and personnel of the civic body's fire brigade rescued the two persons and carrying out the extricate the others.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday claimed that the state has achieved its 'Zero Casualty Mission' as there has been no report regarding any loss of human life or injury in the severe cyclonic storm Dana which made landfall in the coast on Thursday night.
'Imagine hanging from a thin steel cable under a helicopter with certain death staring at you below, being pulled up slowly in the din and downwash of the helicopter.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
Inching closer to their goal, rescuers have inserted wide pipes up to 45 metres through the rubble and will have to drill another around 12 metres to reach the 41 workers trapped inside the collapsed tunnel in Silkyara for 10 days, officials said Wednesday afternoon.
Over 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc.
The body of another worker, who was trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district, was recovered on Saturday from the quarry during rescue operations, an official said.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
Many in the specialised force feel they are not being treated on par with those in the armed forces. Sahil Makkar reports
Officials said around 1,300 pilgrims are stranded in Kedarnath, Bhimbali and Gaurikund, and are safe.
Two civic officials have been suspended in connection with the collapse and an offence has been registered against the building owner, an official said.
National Disaster Response Force teams and Krishna district authorities have launched a massive search and rescue operation to trace the missing people.
Some 50 people have been rescued so far from cable cars which were left dangling mid-air after a malfunction of the ropeway which saw trolley cars colliding on Sunday 4 pm.
Her husband Raja's body has been discovered, but there is no trace of Sonam Raghuvanshi.
Three Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed when their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a 500-metre deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Sunday. The Army truck was part of a convoy moving from Jammu to Srinagar along national highway-44. The accident occurred near Battery Chashma at around 11.30 am. A joint rescue operation was launched immediately by Army, police, State Disaster Response Force and local volunteers. The deceased were identified as Naib-Subedar Sujeet Kumar, driver Amit Kumar and sepoy Man Bahadur. The crash has reduced the vehicle into a mangled heap of metal. Preliminary investigation suggested that the accident was caused by a technical glitch in the vehicle.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances