Flights suspended as climate activists launch protests at several German Airports

Flights were suspended at two airports after an environmental activist group launched protest actions at several German airports on Thursday.The activists infiltrated the airports of Berlin-Brandenburg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, and Cologne-Bonn, with an average of two activists per airport.According to a German police spokesman, air traffic at Nuremberg Airport has been suspended until further notice.For his part, a spokesman for Cologne-Bonn Airport announced that air traffic at the airport had been halted due to the protest, explaining that unauthorized persons had managed to reach the flight area on the airport grounds.On Aug. 1, cargo flights were halted for about three hours at Leipzig-Halle Airport in Germany, due to a protest by climate activists.The Last Generation movement has listed several countries across Europe and North America where similar disruptions are planned as part of a protest campaign calling for the German government to pursue a global agreement to exit oil, gas and coal by 2030

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688676/international/flights-suspended-as-climate-activists-launch-protests-at-several-german-airports

Japan cancels hundreds of flights, halts train services as typhoon Ampil approaches

Japan announced Thursday the cancelation of hundreds of flights to and from Tokyo's Haneda airport and Narita airport, close to the capital.Days after Tropical Storm Maria dumped record rains, Typhoon Ampil was set late Thursday to skirt the capital, which has a population of almost 40 million, before sweeping the Pacific coast on Friday and Saturday.East Japan Railway Co. said parts of the Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokuriku and Yamagata shinkansen services will be suspended Friday, as will operations between Nagoya and Tokyo stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.In the 24 hours from Thursday morning, the typhoon is forecast to bring up to 150 mm of rain to the Kanto-Koshin region, which includes Tokyo, 100 mm in the Tokai region, and 80 mm in the Tohoku region, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.The JMA warned residents of eastern regions of possible severe storms, flooding, river overflows, and landslides.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688674/international/japan-cancels-hundreds-of-flights-halts-train-services-as-typhoon-ampil-approaches

Greece counts cost as firefighters master fires around Athens

Greece yesterday counted the cost of devastating fires outside Athens that claimed one life, forced thousands to flee their homes and took three days to control.With the smoke still to clear, civil protection officials said the fire devoured 10,000 hectares, destroying about 100 homes as well as many other buildings and cars.While isolated fires still burned, there were no major active blazes, but some 570 firefighters and 174 vehicles were monitoring events, said the fire service.“We are still in the area but there is no (threat). Some pockets of fire spring up but are dealt with,” a fire service spokesman told AFP.The fire broke out on Sunday at Varnavas, near the historic town of Marathon, 40km northeast of Athens.Investigators think a faulty electricity pole may have been the cause, the Kathimerini newspaper reported.Strong winds fed the flames, turning it into the worst wildfire this year in Greece.As the flames approached the suburbs of the capital, teams from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and Turkiye mobilised through an EU scheme to help Greece master the fires.A Turkish helicopter and two Italian planes have already joined the effort in Athens while a Serbian helicopter saw action against a fire in Serres, northern Greece, the spokesman said.The largest force, over 160 firefighters and 55 fire engines sent by France, was expected later.With thousands of people forced to flee their homes, several stadiums were opened up to receive them. Some 650 people were hosted in hotels, the civil protection ministry said.The government has already earmarked €4.7mn ($5.2mn) for the eight towns hit by the fires, with pay-outs for households and individuals affected by the disaster.But there was growing anger over what critics say was a lack of preparedness.“Under-staffed, under-equipped and totally uncoordinated,” said Stefanos Kasselakis, leader of the left-wing Syriza opposition party, referring to the civil protection service, blaming Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.“We’re doing our best to improve every year,” said Mitsotakis after an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “But conditions are unfortunately becoming more difficult.”The Greek socialist party PASOK yesterday formally requested a parliamentary debate on the fire when the chamber reopens at the end of the month.The government has vowed to hold a discussion in September, after the end of the fire season.Around 200 people demonstrated outside parliament on Tuesday evening to denounce what they called the government’s “crimes”.Yesterday, as Mitsotakis visited a military base to thank pilots who had flown firefighting planes, he highlighted that the government had ordered seven new aircraft.The first two DHC-515 water bombers will be delivered in 2027.“The solution won’t just come from the air,” he added: preventative work was also essential.But the toll of annual fires is growing. According to the meteo.gr website of the National Observatory, 37% of forests around Athens have been consumed by fire over the past eight years.Scientists say that human-caused fossil fuel emissions are increasing the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world, raising the risk of wildfires.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688644/international/greece-counts-cost-as-firefighters-master-fires-around-athens

Bangladesh court opens murder case against former PM Hasina

A court in Bangladesh opened a murder investigation into ousted ex-premier Sheikh Hasina and six top figures in her administration yesterday over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month. Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India a week ago, where she remains, as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure.More than 450 people were killed during the weeks of unrest leading up to her toppling. “A case has been filed against Sheikh Hasina and six more,” said Mamun Mia, a lawyer who brought the case on behalf of a private citizen. He added that the Dhaka Metropolitan Court had ordered police to accept “the murder case against the accused persons”, the first step in a criminal investigation under Bangladeshi law.Mia’s filing with the court also named Hasina’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Obaidul Quader, the general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party. It also names four top police officers appointed by Hasina’s government who have since vacated their posts.The case accuses the seven of responsibility for the death of a grocery store owner who was shot dead on July 19 by police violently suppressing protests.The Daily Star newspaper reported that the case was brought on behalf of Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of the neighbourhood where the shooting happened and a “well-wisher” of the victim.Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents.Nobel laureate Mohamed Yunus returned from Europe three days after Hasina’s ouster to head a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of steering democratic reforms. The 84-year-old won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, and is credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty.He took office as “chief adviser” to a caretaker administration - all fellow civilians bar home minister Sakhawat Hossain, a retired brigadier general - and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.Hossain said on Monday that the government had no intention of banning Hasina’s Awami League, which played a pivotal role in the country’s independence movement.“The party has made many contributions to Bangladesh - we don’t deny this,” he told reporters on Monday. “When the election comes, (they should) contest the elections.” AFP has contacted the caretaker administration for comment.The new administration has stressed it wants to put Bangladesh on a different path. Its foreign minister Touhid Hossain told a briefing of more than 60 foreign diplomats late Monday it was “very serious about human rights”, and vowed not to “allow any violence or damages to occur”, he said.“All those committing such crimes will be investigated,” Hossain added.The unrest and political change have also shaken Bangladesh’s critical garment industry, but he assured diplomats that foreign investments would be protected. Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85% of its $55bn in annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top brands as the world’s second biggest exporter of clothing by value after China.“This is a temporary crisis,” Hossain added. “Everything will come back in the right way, as competent people are in charge.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688585/international/bangladesh-court-opens-murder-case-against-former-pm-hasina

British govt vows to ‘prioritise’ mental health after report on fatal stabbings

The UK government yesterday pledged to prioritise mental health as a report into a fatal stabbing rampage by a psychotic patient identified a litany of errors by medical authorities. Students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates died in the attacks in the central English city of Nottingham last June.Health Minister Wes Streeting said it was time to put a greater focus on mental health, amid growing public concern about treatment waiting times and big increases in demand. “It’s time we prioritise mental health so we will be updating the Mental Health Act to bring care into the 21st century to ensure that care is appropriate, proportionate and compassionate - while keeping the public safe,” he wrote in The Sun daily.Victims’ relatives said the report revealed “a catalogue of continual failures” lasting years in the handling of paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane who carried out the killings.“It’s really hard to actually pinpoint one particular point, because the failings are so systemic and they’re so gross,” said Emma Webber whose son Barnaby died. And she warned that what happened in Nottingham was “not a one-off tragedy”.“There are more Valdo Calocanes out in our community,” she said.According to the report, repeated medical assessments of Calocane underplayed the serious risk he posed to others. Key details were “minimised or omitted” such as his refusal to take his medication, violent behaviour and persistent symptoms of psychosis. “Poor decision-making, omissions and errors of judgments contributed to a situation where a patient with very serious mental health issues did not receive the support and follow-up he needed,” said Chris Dzikiti of the Care Quality Commission which produced the report.Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, said doctors had to take greater responsibility for releasing “dangerous” patients. “It’s not about depriving people of their liberty. It’s about holding clinicians responsible who put people like that out on our streets,” said Kumar, a practising doctor.“We have lost the absolute love of our life, our lovely, beautiful and brave daughter, Gracie, and at the end of the day what we want to see is that the public are safe,” he said. “I think the nation is crying out for safety from these crimes,” he added.Calocane was given an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder after multiple medical experts concluded he had paranoid schizophrenia.Streeting, a member of the UK’s new Labour government, said the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) had accepted the recommendations about improvements to the care of patients with serious mental illness.Measures already in place include £2.3bn ($2.9bn) a year increase in funding “to transform services”.“Action is already underway to address the serious failures,” he said in a statement, adding that he wanted to “assure myself and the country” that the errors seen in Nottingham “are not being repeated elsewhere”.There has been growing alarm in the UK at the state of mental health provision over recent years as the NHS struggles with increased demand, a post-Covid backlog and staffing and funding issues.The NHS says some 5.3mn children and young people were in contact with mental health services in 2023/24, up 8.1% on the previous year and over 25% on 2021/22.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688583/international/british-govt-vows-to-prioritise-mental-health-after-report-on-fatal-stabbings

Banksy lifts curtain on London animal mural series

Elusive street artist Banksy’s ninth animal-themed mural in nine days, unveiled yesterday on a shutter outside London Zoo, depicted a gorilla releasing animals from the zoo, tying together the series of artworks. Claimed by the artist on Instagram, the mural outside London Zoo showed a gorilla lifting the shutter to free birds and a seal, with some animals staring out from the inside.It is the latest in Banksy’s series populating the British capital with animals, starting with a goat revealed last week Monday, followed by two elephants the next day and then monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, piranhas and a rhinoceros in subsequent days.The frequency of artworks is unusual for Banksy - whose identity is publicly unknown - and who usually spaces out his pieces over months, leaving fans speculating about the meaning of the different animals and awaiting a “big” reveal. The latest mural was “an absolute shock and surprise to all of us here at London Zoo”, Karl Penman, commercial operations manager at the zoo said.“If it is the full stop, what a great full stop to end on,” Penman told AFP.The BBC reported the that piece was the last in the series.“You can see the watchful eyes, which to me look a little bit uncertain about whether they want to be free,” said doctor Sharmela Darne about the eyes of animals staring from behind the shutter in the latest artwork.“But the seal’s clearly going away and so are the birds flying free...so maybe it’s about freedom and being unsure about freedom,” Darne told AFP. For many, the animal safari has added some positivity to their week, as the country reeled following the death of three girls in a stabbing and ensuing violent riots.Speaking in front of two pelicans painted over a fish shop in Walthamstow, northeast London, Peter McCarthy said it had been “very nice to have it in this particular week”. “Very nice that he’s been around the country when there’s been such trouble. Doing these wonderful things.”For others, the choice of animals has meaning, with some finding the goat similar to a Palestinian mountain gazelle and others pointing out the artist’s previous work on the climate crisis. Three of the artworks have already been removed or stolen, and the rhino revealed on Monday was defaced the same day.A satellite dish painted with the wolf was stolen within hours of being claimed by Banksy, with the cat on a billboard removed by contractors and a police box painted with swimming piranhas removed by the local authority to ensure it was “properly protected”.Speaking in front of the cat on Saturday before it was removed, dentist Mitul Patel said he wished “people would leave his work alone so that other people could enjoy it as well”. Locals and tourists alike have been enjoying the artworks that are still up. Taking a brief pause from his job, construction worker Owen said the three monkeys in east London’s Shoreditch area were “very exciting” and a “big talking point”.Kevin Mazur, a photographer visiting from the US, said he had been “running around photographing all” the artworks, and was “bummed” about having to return to New York.Retiree Don Gould lives around the corner from the goat in southwest London’s Kew Green, and saw the artwork after it was revealed online last week. “It’s very good excuse for a stroll on the green and a pint, isn’t it?”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688582/international/banksy-lifts-curtain-on-london-animal-mural-series

Govt welcomes ‘de-escalation’ of riots, remains on ‘high alert’

The UK government welcomed yesterday the “de-escalation” of disorder and rioting in English towns and cities following a knife attack that killed three children, but insisted officials remain on “high alert”. “We welcome that there has been a de-escalation this weekend. But we’re certainly not complacent and remain on high alert,” a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said.The violence, blamed on the far right, came after misinformation spread about the alleged perpetrator of a mass stabbing on July 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwestern England. Three girls - Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven - died in the attack. Ten others were injured including eight children.The stabbings sparked a riot in Southport the following evening, on July 30, and violence in more than a dozen English towns and cities as well as in Northern Ireland over the ensuing week. Starmer’s spokeswoman said authorities had acted decisively to quell the unrest but that there was no room for complacency.“We also recognise that the job is not done until people feel safe in their communities, but thanks to the work of our police officers, prosecutor and judiciary, we have seen a swift response from the justice system,” she said. “Within a matter of days, we’ve seen criminals involved arrested, charged, sentenced and behind bars,” she added.Officials blamed the violence on far-right agitators and opportunist “thugs” accused of using the tragedy to further their anti-immigration, anti-Muslim agenda. Misinformation spread online in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing spree, claiming that the perpetrator was a Muslim immigrant.British-born Axel Rudakubana has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the attack. His parents hail from Rwanda, which is overwhelmingly Christian.A motive for the attack has not been disclosed, but police have said it is not being treated as terrorism-related.Man arrested after stabbing twoA woman and an 11-year-old girl were hospitalised on Monday after being stabbed in central London’s Leicester Square, police said, adding that a man had been arrested.“Officers are at the scene of a stabbing in Leicester Square. A man has been arrested and is in custody,” said a police statement. “Two victims, an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman, have been taken to hospital and we await an update on their condition,” it added.Police did not give any further details about the suspect.Boy remanded for riotingA 12-year-old boy yesterday admitted throwing a missile at a police van during far-riot inspired riots after a knife attack in a northern England town that killed three young girls.District Judge Joanne Hirst said the boy - who cannot be named due to his age - had been more involved in the violence than any other accused person she had seen “coming through these courts, adult or child”.The boy pleaded guilty to two charges of violent disorder at a court in Manchester, northwestern England. The violence, blamed by officials on the far right, came after misinformation spread about the alleged perpetrator of a mass stabbing on July 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class led to rioting in English towns and cities.Prosecutors said the boy was part of a group that gathered two days later outside a Manchester hotel housing asylum seekers. He was remanded to local authority custody and will be sentenced on September 2.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688499/international/govt-welcomes-de-escalation-of-riots-remains-on-high-alert

Greece battling wildfires amid high winds

Greece was battling several wildfires yesterday, with smoke covering parts of the capital Athens in a haze, amid warnings for extreme weather conditions for the rest of the week.By yesterday afternoon, firefighters had quickly dealt with 33 out of the 40 blazes that had broken out in the past 24 hours, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press at an emergency briefing.But the force was battling seven more were still raging on what was shaping up to be an extremely difficult day’s work for the force in the high Mediterranean summer heat, he said.The country’s minister for civil protection had warned a day earlier that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.In the region of East Attica, a blaze in the town of Varnavas was raging in an area with scattered houses, emitting so much smoke that the capital Athens glowed red at one point on Sunday afternoon.A force of 250 firefighters backed by 67 vehicles, 12 firefighting aircraft and seven helicopters was deployed to battle the flames, which “in many cases reached more than 25 metres high”, Vathrakogiannis said.As the fire was threatening dwellings the Greek army was on hand to help with their efforts, he added.Another fire that erupted earlier yesterday afternoon in Megara, West Attica, triggering an evacuation alert, was partially contained.Forty-eight firefighters equipped with 13 vehicles and additional volunteers were working on the ground, along with aerial support.In Thessaloniki, a fire in the town of Lagadas was partially under control, with 20 firefighters, 10 vehicles and one helicopter at the scene. Climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias had warned Saturday that weather conditions leading up to August 15 would be dangerous for forest fires.“Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he said during a government committee meeting.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688446/international/greece-battling-wildfires-amid-high-winds

Anti-racism protesters rally across UK

Thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied across the UK yesterday to protest recent rioting blamed on the far-right in the wake of the Southport knife attack that killed three children. Crowds massed in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and numerous other English towns and cities, as fears of violent confrontations with anti-immigration agitators failed to materialise.It followed a similar situation unfolding on Wednesday night, when anticipated far-right rallies up and down the country were instead replaced by gatherings organised by the Stand Up To Racism advocacy group. More than a dozen places across England as well as Belfast had been hit by unrest prior to that, following the July 29 stabbing spree, which was wrongly linked on social media to a Muslim immigrant.Rioters targeted mosques and hotels linked to immigration, as well as police, vehicles and other sites. However, recent nights have been largely peaceful in English towns and cities, prompting hope among authorities that the more than 700 arrests and numerous people already being jailed has deterred further violence.However, in Northern Ireland, which has seen sustained disorder since last weekend, police said they were investigating a suspected racially motivated hate crime overnight.A petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Newtownards, east of Belfast, in the early hours of Saturday, with graffiti sprayed on the front door and walls of the building, according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It said the petrol bomb thrown at the property did not ignite.“This is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime, and I want to send a strong message to those who carried this out, that this type of activity will not be tolerated and any reports of hate crime are taken very seriously,” PSNI Chief Inspector Keith Hutchinson said. There was also overnight reports of damage to property and vehicles in Belfast, as nightly unrest there rumbled on.The disturbances in Northern Ireland were sparked by events in England but have also been fuelled by pro-UK loyalist paramilitaries with their own agenda, according to the PSNI. Around 5,000 anti-racism demonstrators rallied in Belfast on Saturday without incident. In London, hundreds massed outside the office of Brexit architect Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party before marching to parliament, as a large police presence looked on.Farage and other far-right figures have been blamed for helping to fuel the riots through anti-immigrant rhetoric and conspiracy theories.“It’s really important for people of colour in this country, for immigrants in this country, to see us out here as white British people saying ‘no, we don’t stand for this’,” attendee Phoebe Sewell, 32, from London, told AFP.Fellow Londoner Jeremy Snelling, 64, said he had turned out because “I don’t like the right-wing claiming the streets in my name”. He did not hold Farage “personally responsible” for the violence but argued that the Reform party founder had “contributed” to the volatile environment.“I think he is damaging and I think he’s dangerous,” Snelling added.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688383/international/anti-racism-protesters-rally-across-uk

Bangladesh leader Yunus hails slain student in appeal for unity

Bangladesh’s interim leader Mohamed Yunus appealed for religious unity after embracing the weeping mother of a student shot dead by police, a flashpoint in mass protests that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. Nobel laureate Yunus, 84, returned from Europe this week to helm a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of ending disorder and enacting democratic reforms.“Our responsibility is to build a new Bangladesh,” he told reporters. Several reprisal attacks against the country’s Hindu minority since autocratic ex-premier Hasina’s toppling have caused alarm in neighbouring India as well as fear at home. Yunus called for calm during a visit to the northern city of Rangpur by invoking the memory of Abu Sayeed, the first student slain during last month’s unrest. “Don’t differentiate by religion”, he said.“Abu Sayeed is now in every home. The way he stood, we have to do the same,” he added. “There are no differences in Abu Sayeed’s Bangladesh.”Sayeed, 25, was shot dead by police at close range on July 16 at the start of a police crackdown on student-led protests against Hasina’s government. His mother sobbed as she clung to a visibly emotional Yunus, who had come to pay his respects alongside members of the “advisory” cabinet now administering the country.Fellow cabinet member Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old sociology graduate who led the protests that culminated in Hasina’s ouster, wept by the leader’s side. Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India on Monday as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule.Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents. Cabinet ministers left blindsided by her sudden fall have gone to ground, while several top appointees have been forced out of office – including the national police chief and the central bank governor.The chief justice of the Supreme Court became yesterday the latest to announce his departure. “It’s not possible anymore for me to perform the duty,” Obaidul Hassan said in a statement. “Therefore, I have decided to resign.”Appointed last year, Hassan earlier oversaw a much-criticised war crimes tribunal that ordered the execution of Hasina’s opponents, and his brother was her longtime secretary.His announcement came after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court to demand he and other judges step down by the early afternoon.“No one should do anything that pits the Supreme Court against the mass uprising of the students and the people,” Asif Nazrul, a student protest leader now serving in Yunus’ government, told reporters.In the immediate aftermath of Hasina’s fall, some businesses and homes owned by Hindus were attacked, a group seen by some in Muslim-majority Bangladesh as having been her supporters. Bangladeshi Hindus account for around eight percent of the country’s population. Hundreds have since arrived on India’s border, asking to cross.Hasina’s flight has heightened rancour towards India, which played a decisive military role in securing Bangladesh’s independence, but also backed her to the hilt.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged “safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities”. More than 450 people were killed in the unrest leading up to Hasina’s departure, including dozens of police officers killed during clampdowns on demonstrations. The caretaker administration Yunus helms has said that restoration of law and order is its “first priority”.Complicating its efforts is a strike declared Tuesday by the police union, saying its members would not return to work until their safety was assured. Bangladesh’s police force said more than half of the country’s police stations had since reopened. They are being guarded by soldiers from the army, an institution held in higher public regard than the police for opting not to forcibly quell the protests. “We are happy that police are returning to their duty,” university pupil Umar Faruk, 22, told AFP.“Police are needed to maintain law and order. But it’s also a matter of concern for us whether the police can gain the trust of the people.” Two attempted jailbreaks were staged at prisons north of the capital Dhaka this week, with more than 200 inmates fleeing one facility.Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty. He took office Thursday as “chief adviser” to a caretaker administration, comprised of fellow civilians bar one retired brigadier-general, and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688382/international/bangladesh-leader-yunus-hails-slain-student-in-appeal-for-unity

Brazil authorities recovering bodies from plane crash that killed 62

Work was underway yesterday by Brazilian authorities in recovering the remains of passengers on a plane that crashed on Friday in the town of Vinhedo, near Sao Paulo, killing all 62 people on board.At least 31 bodies had been recovered by 1pm local time (1600 GMT) yesterday, the Sao Paulo state government said.The crash transformed the plane’s fuselage into a mass of twisted iron.A steady overnight rain complicated the recovery efforts by some 200 workers, Vinhedo mayor Dario Pacheco told reporters.With many victims badly burned, so far only “two bodies have been identified: the pilot and the co-pilot”, he said.All the bodies are being moved to Sao Paulo’s police morgue.A Venezuelan man and Portuguese woman are among the dead, state civil defence official Roberto Farina said, adding that the local consulates have already been contacted.On Friday regional carrier Voepass said the plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew, but yesterday the firm confirmed another unaccounted-for passenger was on the flight, putting the number of casualties at 62.Authorities are using seat assignments, physical characteristics, documents and belongings such as cell phones to identify the victims, firefighter Maycon Cristo said at the crash site.“Once all this evidence has been collected, we will remove the victims from the wreckage and place them in the vehicle to be transported to Sao Paulo,” he said.Relatives of the victims have been brought to Sao Paulo to provide DNA samples to aid in identification of the remains, said state civil defence co-ordinator Henguel Pereira.The plane’s so-called “black box” containing voice recordings and flight data is undergoing analysis, said Marcelo Moreno, the head of Brazilian aviation accident investigation centre Cenipa, at a press conference in Vinhedo.The plane, an ATR-72 turboprop, was bound for Sao Paulo from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, and crashed around 1.30pm (1630 GMT) in Vinhedo, some 80km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo.Videos showed the plane in a downward spin on Friday before it crashed.Despite coming down in a residential area, no one on the ground was hurt.The aircraft was flying normally until 1.21pm, when it stopped responding to calls, and radar contact was lost at 1.22pm, Brazil’s air force said in a statement.Pilots did not report an emergency or adverse weather conditions, the air force added.Franco-Italian ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Leonardo, is the dominant producer of regional turboprop planes seating 40-70 people.ATR told Reuters on Friday that its specialists were “fully engaged” with the investigation into the crash.The plane had been in use since 2010 and was in compliance with current standards, the National Civil Aviation Agency said, adding that the four crew members were all fully certified.Marcel Moura, regional carrier Voepass’s operations director, said the plane had undergone routine maintenance the night before the accident and that “no technical problems” were found.However, experts suggested that icing of the plane’s wings may have been behind the accident.Moura said the plane was a type that flies at an altitude “where there is a greater sensitivity to icing”.Friday’s weather report had predicted possible icing but “within acceptable parameters for a flight”, he said.Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared three days of national mourning for what was one of the worst aviation accidents in the country’s history.In 2007, an Airbus A320 of Brazil’s TAM airlines overran a runway at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport and crashed into a warehouse, killing all 187 on board and 12 runway workers.Two years later, an Air France A330 on a Rio de Janeiro-to-Paris flight crashed into the Atlantic. All 228 people on board died.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/688380/international/brazil-authorities-recovering-bodies-from-plane-crash-that-killed-62