weekly3 - Himalaya avalanche

Nepal snowstorms kill at least 20 people in Himalayas

Eight foreign hikers among the dead as authorities warn dozens more holidaymakers and locals are missing

The search for trekkers missing after blizzards swept through Nepal resumed on Thursday as the death toll from the extreme weather reached at least 20 people, including eight foreign hikers. 

Rescuers said the death toll could rise as dozens of other foreigners and locals who had been trekking were out of contact due to poor communication links and could have been caught in blizzards.

An avalanche buried one Indian and four Canadian trekkers in Phu on Wednesday, said the chief administrator of Manang district. The snow buried the trekkers’ bodies and digging them out would take days, he said.

Three yak herders(犛牛牧民) were killed in the same district, about 100 miles north-west of the capital,Kathmandu, and their bodies were recovered on Wednesday.

In neighbouring Mustang(野馬) district, four trekkers caught in a blizzard died on Tuesday. Rescuers recovered the bodies of the two Poles, one Israeli and one Nepali from the Thorong La pass area. The pass is on a route that circles Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak.

It was initially thought the group had been caught in an avalanche, but Baburam Bhandari, governor of Mustang, said the group perished in a blizzard.

He added that emergency workers had rescued five German, five Polish and four Israeli trekkers who were trapped in the snowfall early on Wednesday. One German tourist fractured his leg, he said. They were taken to Jomson town by helicopter.

Police said eight Nepalis had also been killed in Mustang, which is about 150 km (93 miles) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

A government official said more bodies were likely to be found and that it was unclear how many people were on the snow-covered route, but dozens were believed to be stranded.

An avalanche on Mount Dhaulagiri – near the Annapurna area – hit climbers at the base camp who were preparing to scale the 8,167m (26,800ft) peak, the world’s seventh tallest. Two of the missing climbers were from Slovakia and three were Nepalese guides.

Weather forecasters said the blizzard was caused by cyclone Hudhud, which hit neighbouring India several days ago.

October is the most popular trekking season in Nepal, with thousands of foreigners hiking in the Himalayan mountains.

An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster ever on the mountain. Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches in the Himalayas.

key words:
trekker 登山者
blizzard 暴風雪
avalanche 雪崩
administrator 管理員
perished 滅亡
helicopter 直昇機
cyclone 氣旋

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/himalayan-snowstorm-nepal-mustang-district

Weekly2 - Ontake volcano

Japan Mount Ontake(御嶽山) volcano: Death toll reaches 47

Rescue workers in Japan have recovered more bodies from Mount Ontake, bringing to 47 the number of those killed by Saturday's volcanic eruption.

The search resumed despite fears of toxic gases and another eruption.

The number of those unaccounted for is unknown but estimates say hundreds were at the summit at the time. Dozens were injured by falling debris.

Since then, volcanic tremors have been continuously detected with smoke still coming out of the volcano.

Police had earlier put the latest death toll at 48 but then revised it down by one.

The majority of bodies found near the summit on Wednesday were hikers, according to local police.

Helicopters have been used to bring the dead down from Mount Ontake.

Around 1,000 troops, police and fire fighters are involved in rescue operations.

The relatives of the dead and missing are waiting for news in a town hall in the nearby area of Kiso.

Danger continues

Experts have warned that the eruption is ongoing.

Seismologists had noticed increased seismic activity on Mount Ontake ahead of the eruption, but were still unprepared for what ensued.

The mountain, which is about 200km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, is one of Japan's 110 active volcanoes.

Its eruption on Saturday is the worst volcanic disaster in Japan for 90 years.

Key words:

Volcano 火山

Unaccounted 下落不明

Estimate 估計

Debris 廢墟

Majority 多數

Helicopters 直昇機

Seismologists 地震學家

Ensued 接踵而來

WHO- hikers in Japan

 WHEN- Saturday

 WHAT- Mount Ontake killed 47 life

WHY –Mount Ontake was volcanic eruptions

WHERE- Mount Ontake

HOW- not given

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29440982

Weekly1 - Kaohsiung gas explosion

Kaohsiung rocked by underground blasts

A series of suspected gas explosions that shook Greater Kaohsiung from late Thursday night to early yesterday morning claimed at least 26 lives and injured 269 people.

The blasts tore through the city’s roads and dug a 100m trench up to 1.8m deep. At least 1.5km of roadways were damaged.

Cars and fire trucks were trapped and overturned in the rubble. Vehicles were hurled through the air, landing on the roofs of houses. Flames erupted from manholes after their covers were blasted off, with gouts of fire reaching 15 stories high.

According to the Greater Kaohsiung Government, at 8:46pm on Thursday it received reports of manholes spewing white smoke and the suspected smell of gas near Kaisyuan 3rd Road and Ersheng 1st Road in Cianjhen District (前鎮). A few hours after the first report, a series of explosions took place on Yisin Road, Ersheng Road, Sanduo Road and Guanghua Road in the same district, and in neighboring Lingya District (苓雅).

At press time, city government information showed that the incident had claimed 26 lives and injured 269. Among the 26 confirmed dead were three firefighters and one volunteer who rushed to the scene after residents smelled gas. Rescuers were also searching for two others who went missing.

At 8:30pm yesterday, two people were reportedly discovered alive under debris, and rescue workers were trying to free them using excavators, shovels and their bare hands. It has not been confirmed whether the two men are the two firefighters who were reported missing.

Some of the fatalities were homeowners checking out their properties after being informed about the first blasts.

Two injured people rescued from a fourth-floor balcony said that they had been propelled to the rooftop by the blasts.

The Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper’s reporter Wei Bin (魏斌) was injured by the explosions, receiving second and third-degree burns over about 50 percent of his body, the paper reported.

Schools and work were called off in Cianjhen and Lingya districts yesterday.

Hundreds of troops and firefighters from neighboring Greater Tainan, Chiayi City, Taitung County and Pingtung County were deployed to support the rescue effort.

Yesterday morning, fires still burned on the streets, but the local government said that they were left burning to avoid further explosions, adding that the firefighting crew was on the scene to keep the fire from consuming nearby buildings.

The cause of the explosions had not been determined, with authorities now focusing on the volatile chemical propene — which is carried in pipelines that run alongside the city’s underground sewage system in the area — as the suspected cause.

Chemical companies such as CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化), China General Terminal and Distribution Corp (CGTD, 華運), LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學) and Hsin Kao Gas Co Ltd (欣高), which have pipelines in the area, were called in by the city government’s emergency response center amid the inquiry into the cause of the fatal blasts.

Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said yesterday morning that natural gas has been excluded from the list of possible causes, adding that gas check valves in the area have been closed.

The Greater Kaohsiung Government said a 4-inch pipeline carrying propene was found to have encountered a pressure anomaly between 8:40pm and 9pm on Thursday night.

Key words:
suspected 嫌疑
blast 爆破
trench 溝
rubble 瓦礫
spewing 噴;湧出
district 區

confirmed 確認
debris 廢墟

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/02/2003596471/1