• 38 dead in horrific blaze at Russian psychiatric hospital

    At least 38 people were killed in a fire at a psychiatric hospital north of Moscow. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    Thirty-eight people were killed by a fire that raged through an isolated psychiatric hospital north of Moscow on Friday, killing some patients in their beds and others who were trapped by barred windows.

    Most of the patients died in their sleep inhaling the fumes as they were likely sedated by prescribed medicine, a police source told the RIA Novosti news agency.

    Firefighters were delayed getting to the single-story building because of a closed river crossing. The trip took an hour instead of the expected 20 minutes, according to Russia Today, citing local news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda.

    A small tunnel was discovered dug out under the burned hospital, suggesting that one of the patients may have been planning an escape, Russia Today said.

    Only three people - one nurse and two patients - escaped from the fire, which broke out at about 2 a.m. local time Friday (6 p.m. ET Thursday) in the village of Ramensky, 70 miles north of Moscow. 

    Pavel Sergeyev / AP

    Firefighters and authorities work at a site of a fire of a psychiatric hospital north of Moscow on Friday.

    The blaze tore through a collection of wood and brick huts with bars on some windows that was home to people sectioned by Russian courts.

    Russia’s Emergencies Ministry published a list of 41 patients and medical staff – ranging in age from 20 to 76 - who were inside the facility when the fire started [PDF link in Russian]. Two medical staff listed as “to be verified” are believed to be dead, Russia Today reported.

    By mid morning, a few blackened walls were left standing, Reuters reported. The roof had caved in on top of the twisted metal of what were once beds. Bodies lay on nearby grass, covered with blankets. 

    Irina Gumennaya, aide to the head of the chief investigative department of the Moscow region, dismissed suggestions they had been physically restrained as "rubbish" but promised blood tests to check whether there were high levels of sedatives. 

     

    "The wards ... did not have doors, the sick could have escaped from the building by themselves," she said, according to Reuters, adding that she believed the most likely cause of the blaze was patients smoking, or perhaps a short circuit. 

    Andrei Vorobyov, interim governor of the Moscow region, told Russia 24 television: "Those who were in there said it happened in a flash. The nurse opened the door to the room and there was smoke, and even when she saw the fire she could not get to the fire extinguisher. It all happened very quickly."

    Reuters said more than 12,000 people were killed in fires in Russia in 2011 and more than 7,700 in the first nine months of 2012.

    The per capita death rate from fires in Russia is much higher than in Western nations including the United States. Reuters reported:

    President Vladimir Putin called for an explanation of the "tragedy" and told emergency services to do all they could to help.

    Fires at state institutions in Russia such as hospitals, schools, drug treatment centers and homes for the elderly or disabled often cause casualties, raising questions about safety measures, conditions and escape routes.

    Some people stood on the opposite bank of the Moscow canal from the hospital, trying to get across to check whether their relatives had survived. The police had stopped the ferry and fishing boats were not allowed to cross.

    "They are not letting the relatives in. Why? How can we get there?" said Konstantin, whose father was in the hospital. "Living conditions? It was a slum in there. No conditions."

    Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related:

    AFP - Getty Images

    A handout photo released by emergency services shows flames rising from the burning psychiatric hospital.

    This story was originally published on Fri Apr 26, 2013 4:43 AM EDT

  • Many still trapped in Bangladesh factory rubble as death toll surpasses 250

    Munir Uz Zaman / AFP - Getty Images

    Bangladeshi volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors at the scene of an eight-story building collapse in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh on Thursday.

    By Serajul Quadir and Ruma Paul, Reuters

    DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Survivors from a building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing more than 250 mainly women workers described hearing a deafening crack before the complex housing factories supplying Western clothes retailers crashed down in a matter of seconds.

    Dozens more victims were thought to be still trapped in the rubble after the disaster, which comes five months after a factory fire killed 112 people. The tragedy could further hurt Bangladesh's reputation as a source of low-cost goods for European and North American firms.

    Local residents helped pull survivors from the twisted wreckage of the eight-story Rana Plaza building which collapsed on Wednesday in Savar, 20 miles outside the capital Dhaka. More than 1,000 people were injured.

    Relatives identified their dead among rows of corpses.

    "An unspecified number of victims are still trapped," said Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, as he clambered over the wreckage. "We can't be certain of getting them all out alive. We are losing a bit of hope."

    Dhaka's district police chief Habibur Rahman said the death toll could rise further.

    "I was at work on the third floor, and then suddenly I heard a deafening sound, but couldn't understand what was happening," said factory worker Zohra Begum. "I ran and was hit by something on my head."

    An eight-story building that housed several garment factories at a shopping mall in Bangladesh has collapsed. More than 100 are dead and scores are trapped. John Sparks, Channel Four Europe reports.

    The government declared a national day of mourning and flags were flown half-staff at all official buildings.

    Dhaka city development authority had filed a case against the building's owner for faulty construction, police chief Rahman said. It filed another case against the owner and the five garments factories for causing unlawful death.

    Images: Desperate search for survivors

    Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mohammad Atiqul Islam said there were 3,122 workers in the factories on Wednesday. He said there had been indications from local officials that cracks had been found in the building the day before.

    "We asked the garment owners to keep it closed," Islam said.

    Rana Plaza's owner had told proprietors of the building's five garment factories that the cracks were not dangerous, Islam added. "After getting the green signal from the plaza owner all the garment factories opened," he said.

    However, police official Mohammad Asaduzzaman said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after a crack was detected on Tuesday.

    More than 1,000 textile workers besieged the BGMEA offices on Thursday, pelting it with stones and clashing with riot police, TV channels showed. The workers demanded all garment factories be shut and the owners harshly punished for accidents.

    Mohammad Mosharraf, who was rescued on Thursday after 26 hours, said he had been hit on the head by something heavy and knocked unconscious when the building came down.

    "When I regain my sense I found another four colleagues are also trapped under the debris of the building," he told Reuters. "We desperately tried to shout for someone to rescue us. Initially we didn't receive any response, but we moved to another part of the floor and found some light and heard voices."

    Munir Uz Zaman / AFP - Getty Images

    A Bangladeshi woman reacts after identifying the body of her husband at scene of a collapsed building in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh on Thursday.

    The Rana Plaza building collapse follows a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory on the outskirts of Dhaka that killed 112 people in November and another incident at a factory in January in which seven people died, compounding concerns about worker safety and low wages in Bangladesh.

    U.K. clothing retailer Primark confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.

    Canada's Loblaw, a unit of food processing and distribution firm George Weston Ltd, also confirmed a connection with the building. It said one factory made a small number of "Joe Fresh" apparel items for the company.

    Documents including order sheets and cutting plans obtained by Reuters appeared to show that other major clothing brands such as Spain's Mango and Benetton had used suppliers in the building in the last year. A Benetton spokesman said none of the factories were suppliers to the company.

    About 3.6 million people work in Bangladesh's garment industry, making it the world's second-largest apparel exporter.

    Wal-Mart said on Wednesday it had not determined whether a factory in the building that collapsed was producing goods for the company.

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • At least 21 dead, 4 missing in China mining accident

    At least 21 miners have died and four others are trapped after a mine explosion in China. NBCNews.com's Richard Lui reports.

    BEIJING — China says 21 coal miners have been killed and four more are missing following an accident inside a mine in the southern province of Guizhou.

    The State Administration of Work Safety said Wednesday that a rescue effort had been mounted. State media reported that another 58 miners escaped the accident.

    China's mines have long been the world's deadliest, although the government announced last month that the total death toll fell by more than 30 percent last year to 1,384 as a result of stricter management.

    China is the world's largest producer of coal, which generates about two-thirds of its energy needs.

    The Associated Press

  • Egypt branded more dangerous for tourists than Yemen

    Nasser Nasser / AP

    A foreign tourist takes a souvenir picture with an Egyptian guard during a visit to the Hatshepsut Temple, in Luxor, Egypt on Feb. 27, 2013.

    By Atia Abawi and Charlene Gubash, NBC News

    Tourists have long flocked to Egypt to see the pyramids, take a trip up the majestic Nile or relax on one of its many sun-kissed beaches.

    But, in a potentially damaging blow to its economy, Egypt has now been ranked below countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Chad for "safety and security" in an influential report on tourism by the World Economic Forum.

    It is perhaps little wonder that tourists are spooked — amid ongoing political unrest, Molotov cocktails, gunfire and tear gas have become almost commonplace in some areas.

    Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Tahrir Square to mark the 2011 uprising that led to Egypt's change in power. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports. 

    Two years after the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, protesters still return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square — where it all began — to demonstrate against the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and lament the country’s failing economy.

    Earlier this month, Bedouin gunmen kidnapped a British couple who were on their way to the glittering beaches of Sharm El Sheikh. They were quickly released, but Bedouins have taken other hostages and also attacked police stations and blocked access to towns to show their discontent with what they see as their poor treatment by Cairo.

    Last month, thugs attacked and entered the InterContinental hotel in Cairo, forcing it to close down while it implemented heightened security measures.

    And there has been also been unrest over death sentences handed out to 21 soccer fans over a deadly riot at a stadium last year.

    From terrorism to road accidents
    The World Economic Forum report, The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013, ranked Egypt overall in 85th place out of the 140 countries considered by the group, down 10 from last year. 

    The safety and security category looked at "the costliness of common crime and violence as well as terrorism." It also considered the reliability of the police and the number of road traffic accidents.

    Angry soccer fans took to the streets of Cairo Saturday, storming Egypt's soccer federation headquarters and setting it on fire. Two people were killed. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    Egypt was in 140th and last place on this list behind Yemen at 139, Chad at 138, and Pakistan at 137. The U.S. State Department has current travel warnings for the latter three countries, but not Egypt.

    According to the Egypt’s state information service, tourism makes up 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product.

    In 2010, before the revolution, Egypt welcomed an estimated 14.7 million tourists who brought $12.5 billion in revenue. Last year, it had 11 million tourists bringing $10.5 billion in revenue.

    Emile Asaad, manager of an American Express travel agency in the ancient city of Luxor, home to King Tut's tomb and the famous temples of Luxor and Karnak, said that “the important thing is that when people need to walk in the street they want to feel safe."

    "We have over 400 boats on the Nile, there is still 20 to 25 percent occupancy on some of the most popular boats, but others are just sitting and not operating," he said. "We don't know how the future looks."

    Adla Ragab, an economic advisor to the Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou, said officials were taken aback by the WEF report.

    "When we first saw it, we were shocked. We held a lot of workshops to discuss this issue," she said by phone.

    Ragab said media reports had led people to believe that Egypt is more dangerous than it actually is. She added that during a trip to the U.S., hotel staff had insisted on escorting her to a nearby restaurant after dark, but that didn’t mean she would advise people not to go to the U.S.

    'It's a nice country'
    A selection of foreign tourists in Egypt appeared to support Ragab’s view.

    "I can say to anybody, go to Egypt! It's a nice country. There [are] so many things to see. It's very good weather, it's warm in the winter and there's no problem," Dirk Posner, of Leipzig, Germany, said while visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

    Yuan Ye, from Shandong province, China, recommended that tourists use a trusted travel agency and explore the country with a group because of difficulties with facilities and services.

    "I think generally it is safe for tourists, but you should be careful, very careful from the peddlers who try to sell you something — force to sell you something," he said with a smile.

    Jaffar and Francoise Bentchikou, from Paris, France, also encouraged foreigners to visit.

    "We saw that the problems were limited to some places so we just try to avoid them," Jaffar said. "[Tourists] have to be conscious of the situation, but for the time being we have seen nothing against tourists especially."

    "We feel very bad about the revenue lost for tourism for the Egyptians," Francoise added.  "That is something that makes us very unhappy."

    But travel companies said many people were staying away.

    Bob Atkinson, a travel expert with the U.K.-based price-comparison website TravelSupermarket.com, said unrest in Egypt had "seriously affected the tourist trade."

    "The Arab uprisings very much put the Egypt market into a tailspin," he said.

    Flavia Jaber, owner of Toronto-based company Road to Travel, which includes Road to Egypt, said that "our business to Egypt is dead in the water at the moment."

    "People are not going to Egypt right now, at least not from North America," she said.

    "Definitely there are things going on in Egypt that are very unsavory and when you are considering going on a holiday, you want to go and relax, have a good time," she added. "You might say let’s not go to Egypt this year, let’s wait until things settle down."

    However, there was at least one thing in Egypt's favor in the WEF report — the price. The country was ranked the fourth cheapest tourist destination in the world "with competitive hotel prices, low fuel costs and low prices more generally." 

    Related:

    Egypt violence is rooted in the economy, not just politics

    Egypt could 'collapse,' army chief warns as violence continues

    Freed American: Egyptian kidnappers 'were very nice'

  • Ikea withdraws chocolate cake after tests find bacteria

    A public worker rides a bicycle in front of an Ikea shop on March 6 in Shanghai, China. Chinese authorities say they have destroyed nearly two tons of chocolate cake imported by Sweden's Ikea for violating food quality standards.

    By Peter Jeary, Senior Foreign Desk Editor, NBC News

    LONDON — Furniture chain Ikea has removed chocolate cake from store restaurants in 23 countries after authorities in China identified high levels of bacteria commonly found in human and animal feces in one batch of the treat.

    However, none of the contaminated batch had been shipped to stores in the U.S. and the food in question — an almond, chocolate and butterscotch cake — had not been sold as a take-home product.

    "This is not a product recall," Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said. "There’s no risk that anyone has a contaminated cake at home in their freezer."

    The contamination came to light earlier this week when the Shanghai quarantine bureau revealed it had destroyed 4,100 pounds of imported Ikea chocolate cake that was found to contain excessive levels of coliform bacteria.

    The food, from a supplier based in Sweden, was destroyed in November and December, but Ikea’s head office only found out about it Monday.

    As a precaution, Ikea announced it had removed the cake from sale in 23 countries. Magnusson said there was no health risk. "None of the [affected] cakes made it to our restaurants," she said.

    Czech Republic officials say traces of horse meat were discovered in frozen packages of meatballs sent to their country for sale at furniture giant Ikea. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Some forms of coliform bacteria are commonly found in the environment and Ikea said the type found in Shanghai did not pose a health risk. However, it said its own quality controls required no coliform be present at all.

    This latest food scare came just days after Ikea's trademark meatballs were removed from sale in Europe after horse meat was found in some batches - part of a wider scandal over mislabeled meat there. The tainted batches were traced to a Sweden-based supplier. Meatballs sold in Ikea’s US stores contain only beef and pork from animals raised in the U.S. and Canada.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Related:

    Horse meat in the US? Unlikely, but tests are rare

    'Fraud on a massive scale': Europe's horse meat scandal keeps on growing

    'Criminal conspiracy' blamed for European horse-in-burger scandal

     

  • After 23 years, British government apologizes over 1989 soccer disaster

    Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

    Children lay floral tributes at a memorial to the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough soccer disaster at Anfield stadium after the publication of the independent report into the incident on Sept. 12, 2012.

    By ITV News and Reuters

    LONDON – Britain’s government apologized Wednesday after an independent report said there had been failures and cover-ups in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough soccer disaster in which 96 spectators died after a crowd crush.


    There were gasps from lawmakers as Prime Minister David Cameron announced the findings of the report, which marked the culmination of a 23-year campaign the families of victims of Britain's worst sporting disaster.

    "On behalf of the government, and indeed our country, I am profoundly sorry,” Cameron said, adding: "It was wrong that the families have had to wait for so long - and fight so hard - just to get to the truth."

    The victims died in an overcrowded fenced-in enclosure at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, northern England, minutes prior to the start of a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

    It was a tragedy that changed the face of soccer in Britain and ushered in a new era of modern, all-seated stadiums. Britain was shocked by harrowing images of young fans crushed against metal fences, bodies lying on the pitch and spectators using wooden placards as makeshift stretchers on a warm spring afternoon.

    Read full coverage at ITV News

    The report concluded police had sought to blame the Liverpool fans, portraying them as aggressive, drunk and ticketless and bent on packing into the already crowded stadium.

    "The tragedy should never have happened," the report's authors said in a statement. "There were clear operational failures in response to the disaster and in its aftermath there were strenuous attempts to deflect the blame onto the fans."

    Senior police edited their officers' witness statements from the day to paint them in a less damaging light, the report said. Their emergency response was flawed and badly organized.

    While inquiries found hooliganism played no part in the disaster, the police crowd management plan was preoccupied with preventing disorder, the report said.

    Liverpool fans had been tainted by the Heysel stadium disaster in Belgium in 1985. Fighting inside that stadium led to Juventus fans being crushed against a wall that collapsed. Six Liverpool fans and 33 supporters of the Italian team died.

    The real danger at Hillsborough lay in the emergency services' poor planning and a stadium that failed to meet minimum safety standards, the report said. Its capacity was overstated and previous crushes at Hillsborough had been ignored.

    The disaster is still an open wound in Liverpool, the port city of nearly half a million people that is passionate about soccer and has fielded players such as Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard.

    All the victims during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, held at the neutral ground of Sheffield Wednesday, were Liverpool supporters.

    Trevor Hicks, of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: "We feel vindicated... We have had all sorts of accusations thrown at us over the 23 years." He added: "If today says one thing to the world, we are vindicated in our search for the truth."

    In the aftermath of the disaster, a government spokesman incensed families by blaming the disaster on drunken fans. The report found no reason for the coroner's decision to take blood alcohol samples from all of the victims, including children. "The pattern of alcohol consumption among those who died was unremarkable," the report said. "The weight placed on alcohol levels was... inappropriate and misleading."

    The disaster was also one of the low points for Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group, currently reeling from a phone hacking scandal that has led to criminal charges against former senior executives and reporters. Its tabloid title, The Sun, accused Liverpool fans of stealing from the dying, urinating on policemen and beating up an officer who was attempting to resuscitate a victim. The newspaper's executives have since apologized for the story, which was found to be untrue. The editor at the time, Kelvin MacKenzie, apologized again on Wednesday - although his words were unlikely to end a long-standing boycott of the newspaper by consumers in Liverpool.

    The Hillsborough Independent Panel, headed by the Bishop of Liverpool Rt. Rev. James Jones, was set up in 2010 to oversee the release of thousands of previously unseen documents related to the incident. 

    ITV News is the UK partner of NBC News.

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    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • 'Happy tears' as Peru miners are rescued after six days trapped underground

    Martin Mejia / AP

    An unidentified miner, left, is helped by an emergency worker after being rescued from the Cabeza de Negro gold-and-copper mine in Yauca del Rosario, Peru, on Wednesday. They had been trapped there since April 6.

    By msnbc.com news services

    ICA, Peru -- Nine workers trapped inside an abandoned mine in southern Peru were rescued and brought to daylight early Wednesday after spending almost a week underground.

    The men had been stuck about 656 feet below ground since the so-called "wildcat" copper-and-gold mine partially collapsed on Thursday. They had been receiving oxygen and liquids through a giant hose that was in place before the accident at the Cabeza de Negro site.

    "All of them are healthy but obviously dehydrated and dizzy," President Ollanta Humala said. "They need to get used to the sun still, that's why they are wearing sunglasses."

    Miner Jesus Japatinta said he was overwhelmed after walking out alive.

    "I spilled tears, happy tears," he said.

    Humala, who witnessed the rescue operation, warned informal miners to stay away from abandoned mines like Cabeza de Negro, saying they were dangerous.

    PhotoBlog: Peruvian miners rescued

    The mine is located 4,400 feet above sea level on a mountainside about 175 miles southeast of Lima.

    On Sunday, Peru's government appealed to mining companies for heavy equipment. Until then, several dozen rescue workers had used pickaxes and shovels to try to remove the 26 feet of collapsed earth and rock blocking the entrance of the mine.

    The cave-in spurred calls to formalize Peru's vast informal mining sector, which generates as much as $2 billion a year in income, according to private estimates.

    Mining is the main engine of Peru's economy, accounting for more than 60 percent of its exports. It is the world's No. 2 copper exporter after neighboring Chile and ranks sixth in gold exports.

    According to official figures, 52 miners died in Peru last year in work-related accidents, a third of them in mine shaft collapses.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contibuted to this report.

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