Today in History Mutilated human leg is found
A MUTILATED human leg was found by a 70-year-old Lautoka widow when she went to bring home her cow from grazing. The widow found the leg lying in a clearing at Simla Free. Police were called and they took the leg to a doctor at the Lautoka Hospital. A Medical Department spokesman told the Fiji Times that the leg was amputated in an emergency operation on Sunday.
“A nurse placed it in a covered bin next to the incinerator to await disposal. It was taken from there probably by a dog to the place where it was found,” the spokesman said.
“The incident is deeply regretted. It would not have occurred in the normal practice of temporary storage in the mortuary refrigerator and disposal had been followed.”
1957 1964
EARTHQUAKES which raised tides 3ft above normal in Suva Harbour jolted weathermen from their beds in the lonely Kermadec Islands, 700 miles south of Fiji.
The earthquakes, one of them the strongest recorded in the world since last May came at 4.57am and 5.47am, according to measurements taken by the United States National Earthquake Information Service at Golden, Colorado, Australian Association Press reported.
The first shock was measured at 7.6 on the Richter scale. The second, at 7.8 was the most powerful recorded since May 26 when an 8.0 tremor was recorded in the North Atlantic. The Kermadecs weather stations senior meteorologist, Dace Williams told NZPA in the telephone interview that residents fled from the buildings in the tiny settlement.
The tide surge in Suva Harbour occurred about two hours after the earthquakes but a spokesman said the surge did not seem to have caused damage anywhere in the Fiji group.
1976 Thursday January 16, 1969 Friday January 16, 1976
Police nab prisoners, 2 youths
Thursday January 16, 1986
POLICE raided a squatter settlement in Delainavesi and arrested an escaped prisoner and two other youths in connection with a robbery. The prisoner 23, appeared in the Suva Court later.
A police spokesman, Inspector Sushil Chandra said the police raided the settlement about 4.30am. Inspector Chandra said the two youths both 16 years were arrested in connection with an attack on two kerosene delivery men at knifepoint near Delainavesi. “They will appear in court later.”
Inspector Chandra said a video deck worth $600 was stolen from a house in Baka Drive, Delainavesi but was recovered.
1984
PAF suspends tariffs
Saturday January 16, 1993
THE Ports Authority of Fiji suspended some of its tariffs to help in the Cyclone Kina relief effort, a statement said. The authority will not charge wharfage and storage fees for goods to be used in official relief programs. Dockage charges for government ships on relief work had been discontinued. Director General Isimeli Bose said the suspension was in line with a standing policy decided by the authority board some time ago. “It automatically applies because of the hardship caused by Cyclones Joni and Kina,” he said. “It is part of our contribution to the national welfare at this time of crisis. Mr Bose emphasised that goods qualifying for an exemption of charges must be consigned to the government or a recognised relief agency.
The front page of the Fiji Times on Saturday, January 16, 1965.
The front page of the on Wednesday, January 16, 1957.