India: Sekolah ambruk karena longsor, 18 anak tewas

Masih segar dalam ingatan kita ttg adanya peluncuran Kampanye Sejuta Sekolah dan Rumah Sakit Aman. Di tingkat global kampanye itu diinisiasi oleh PBB dan di Indonesia oleh Planas PRB, BNPB, MPBI dll. Kliping kampanye di Indonesia dapat dibaca disini.

Pada hari Rabu, 18 Agustus 2010 di Utara India (sekitar 600 kilometer barat daya Lucknow, ibu kota negara bagian Uttar Pradesh) longsor telah menghancurkan sebuah bangunan sekolah. Sedikitnya ada 18 anak yang tewas yg berusia antara 6 dan 13 tahun.

Berkaca dari kejadian bencana di Utara India itu, bagaimana keseriusan kita dlm melakukan Kampanye Sejuta Sekolah dan Rumah Sakit Aman?

salam,
djuni

----------------------------------

Bangunan Sekolah di India Ambruk Akibat Longsor, 18 Anak Tewas
Rabu, 18 Agustus 2010, 19:39 WIB

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LUCKNOW, India--Lumpur longsor yang dipicu hujan lebat telah menghancurkan sebuah banguan sekolah di utara India, Rabu (18/8). Musibah itu merenggut nyawa sedikitnya 18 anak, demikian menurut Menteri Negara untuk Bantuan, Khazan Das,

Khazan mengatakan jenazah delapan anak telah dievakuasi dari bangunan berlantai satu di Sumgarh, sebuah desa di negara bagian Uttrakhand. Tim penyelamat kini tengah berjuang mencari sepuluh jasad anak tersisa dan dua guru yang diyakini terkubur di dalam reruntuhan bangunan.

Anak-anak yang meninggal itu berusia antara 6 dan 13 tahun, demikian menurut Khazan. Wilayah itu berjarak sekitar 600 kilometer barat daya Lucknow, ibu kota negara bagian Uttar Pradesh.

Hujan lebat yang terus-menerus mengguyur wilayah itu telah menyebabkan longsor di beberapa bagian Uttrakhand, pekan ini. India tengah dilanda hujan musim monsun yang umumnya berlanjut hingga Oktober.

Awal bulan ini, banjir bandang yang dipicu muntahan hujan deras tiba-tiba telah membunuh sekitar 175 orang di kawasan terpencil dan berbukit di wilayah Ladakh, bagian Kashmir yang dikuasai India.

http://www.republika.co.id/berita/breaking-news/internasional/10/08/18/1...

Indian school collapse kills 18 children
By Mahesh Pandey (AFP) – 17 hours ago

DEHRADUN, India — At least 18 children died Wednesday when a school collapsed after heavy rains in northern India as the region's monsoon wreaked more havoc.

An unknown number of others were missing after the single-storey school toppled in mountainous Uttarakhand state's Bageshwar district, one of several populated areas near the Indian border with Tibet, a minister told AFP.

"Eighteen bodies of children have been brought out so far from the debris and a search is on for more and we fear the toll could go up further," state Disaster Management Minister Khajan Dass told AFP in Dehradun.

The victims were aged between five and 12 years, rescuers said.

Heavy rains have caused devastation in parts of Asia over the last month, with thousands dead in China and neighbouring Pakistan, where floods have caused the nation's worst natural disaster.

A cloudburst 12 days ago in the northern Indian region of Ladakh killed 189 people, with another 400 missing. Six foreign trekkers also died in the popular high-altitude tourist destination.

Local people at the site of the disaster reached by telephone from Dehradun said that at least 35 students and up to six teachers and staff were in the building when it collapsed.

"A massive rescue operation is under way," Dass added, as hundreds of paramilitary troopers were rushed to the disaster site in Sumgarh town, some 450 kilometres (279 miles) from state capital of Dehradun.

Piyush Rautela, who heads Uttarakhand's disaster management agency, said six children had been plucked alive from the debris. Other houses in the area have also collapsed, causing an unknown number of casualties, he added.

Elsewhere in Uttarakhand, troops rushed to help thousands of Hindus who were stranded near a pilgrimage site after torrential rains Sunday washed away a key bridge on a highway, Indo-Tibetan Border Police spokesman Deepak Pandey said.

"The situation improved today after the bridge was repaired for light vehicles and more than 2,000 people who were stranded in the open for the past three days can now reach their destinations," Pandey told AFP in New Delhi.

In Pakistan, foreign aid began flowing Wednesday to the 20 million victims of catastrophic floods there, but many remained without food or shelter as Islamabad responded slowly to their needs.

Weather forecasts have signalled that some respite was due after three weeks of torrential rains killed at least 1,400 people.

Copyright © 2010 AFP.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gWVdk_8vMv6NM2mGqSCeu...