Hunt for bridge disaster survivors Egyptian hajis battle rise in costs
ITALIAN rescue workers used jackhammers and cranes to lift giant slabs of concrete from the Genoa bridge collapse, hoping to find survivors buried in the rubble of the disaster that killed at least 38 people.
A fire held up part of the operation in the early morning, sending up clouds of smoke before being extinguished. A spark from metal-cutting equipment was thought to have caused the blaze in a warehouse under the ruined bridge.
But then the more than 300 firefighters who have been working non-stop since Tuesday resumed their task. As many as 20 people are still unaccounted for, Genoa’s chief prosecutor said.
Chances of finding survivors appear to be slim. Vehicles on the highway that links the port city to the French border plummeted 50m when a 200m stretch collapsed on Tuesday. Firefighters, who are using sniffer dogs as well as heavy machinery, have not yet reached all the cars.
“We are trying to find points where we can penetrate these incredibly heavy slabs. Then the earth-moving equipment moves in to create a passageway where the dogs can enter,” firefighter Stefano Zanut said.
Rescuers were hoping the large chunks of debris may have created a “triangle of survival” when they fell, where someone could still be alive.
About 600 people have had to leave their apartments below the remaining spans of the bridge for fear of further collapse. They will be demolished as officials said it would be too dangerous to leave them there. The government has said alternative housing would be found.
A state funeral for many of the victims is due to be held today, led by the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, and attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. But some families plan to boycott the event and hold their own private services, in protest against what they say was the negligence that caused the bridge to collapse.
An engineering study commissioned by toll-highway operator Autostrade per l’italia last year warned about the state of the bridge’s concrete-encased cable stays, Italian newspapers reported.
Autostrade has said it monitored the bridge on a quarterly basis, as required by law, and carried out additional checks by hiring external experts.
The government has declared today a national day of mourning – Reuters MAHMOUD Aouni has always wanted to make the hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, an important religious duty for all Muslims, but said he might never be able to do so now because of Egypt’s economic woes.
“They say charity begins at home. In the current economic climate, that’s where it stays,” said Aouni, a 47-yearold youth ministry worker who, like many Egyptians, has been forced to put off his plans indefinitely by the rising cost of living.
Even wealthier pilgrims are now finding the journey more difficult after Saudi Arabia and Egypt both imposed additional fees for Muslims repeating the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the “umrah”, within three years.
Unlike the past two years, when all those who signed up for the hajj made the journey to Mecca, state news agency MENA quoted Parliamentary Affairs Minister Omar Marwan as saying only 64 000 of Egypt’s 80 000 hajj quota would now make the pilgrimage – a drop of 20%.
Last year approximately 80 000 Egyptians went on the hajj. – Reuters US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said he cancelled his planned military parade and would instead visit Paris on November 11 to commemorate Veterans Day, after the Defence Department said it had postponed the parade to at least next year.
Critics blasted the parade cost, which comes as the US is mired in conflicts overseas and the Pentagon has sought to stabilise an over-stretched military. – Reuters/african News Agency (ANA) THE German cabinet will soon decide on a proposal to make it easier for skilled workers from outside the EU to move to Germany to take a job as Germany seeks to alleviate chronic labour shortages.
The plan will relax migration policy for professionals outside the EU, since EU citizens enjoy free labour movement in the bloc. – Reuters/ African News Agency (ANA) THE Australian government expects to seal free trade agreements with Indonesia and Hong Kong by year’s end, its trade minister Steven Ciobo has said.
Concluding the two agreements would wrap years of talks, which in the case of Indonesia have dragged on since 2010, stalling along the way as diplomatic tensions between the two sides flared. – Reuters