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AN AVALANCHE slammed into a mountain road in eastern Turkey, wiping out a huge team of rescue workers sent to find people missing in an earlier avalanche.
Officials said 33 emergency workers were killed, 53 were injured and others are still buried under the snow.
Today’s avalanche increased the overall death toll from the disaster to 38.
Some 300 emergency service workers were called to a road near the mountain-surrounded town of Bahcesaray in Van province, which borders Iran, after an avalanche struck late yesterday.
That snow slide killed five people and left two missing.
At around noon today, the team was struck by the second avalanche.
Turkey’s emergency and disaster management agency AFAD said 33 bodies were recovered from the mass of snow on the steep slope.
Earlier, governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said the dead included eight military police officers, three government-paid village guards, three firefighters and nine volunteers.
Emergency teams were still searching for other colleagues under the snow, Mr Bilmez said.
He did not provide a figure of how many more could be missing.
Some 30 emergency workers were either pulled out of the heap of snow or escaped themselves and were taken to hospital, the Interior Ministry said.
Video from the scene showed at least three overturned vehicles at the bottom of a hill during a snowstorm.
Some rescuers were struggling to climb out of a steep incline while others dug frantically into the snow with shovels and pickaxes.
Fog, heavy snow and strong winds were hampering the rescue efforts.
The head of AFAD’s operations in Van province, Osman Ucar, was among those injured.
Speaking from his hospital bed, he said he was dragged along with an excavator that was toppled by the sliding snow.
“I was half-buried,” he said, adding that he escaped on his own.
The first avalanche buried a snow-clearing vehicle and a minibus.
The vehicle’s operator and seven passengers escaped alive.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said the driver, Bahattin Karagulle, was trapped beneath the snow for 25 minutes before he managed to break a window and escape.
He walked towards a village to get help before being picked up by a passing vehicle.
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So we’ve now entered the “it’s not all Muslims, it’s all religions”, “the back lash against Muslims”, “growth in islamophobia” phase of media reporting.
No. In the Real world the vast majority of people are well aware its not all muslims. Its the people like yourself who live in a hate filled bigoted existence that thinks that. The Daily Mail would probably suit your beliefs better. Must admit though The Journal is getting very close to Daily Mail levels of xenophobia.
What happens to the books when there finished, do they go to the families or something
They are sent to Clonskeagh for processing.
Not 1% funny
Fred…very funny…
Thanks Joachin. I should of had a bet with you Rod, you would have lost a few dinar … sorry Euros.
Lighten up will ye, and don’t come back with all the P.C. crap.
Will he also be signing a book of condolences for the 44 killed in the ISIS attack in Lebanon the day before the Paris attack? Or do we just care less for these sub-humans ?
That’s not fair, the French are our neighbours and our friends, we share a way of life, it’s proper order that we stand in solidarity with them during their hour of need.
We share a way of life so French lives are more important that Lebanese lives?
I really don’t get that.
Of course Lebanese lives matter, do Lebanon have an embassy in Dublin.
@ thejynx…: if you are so concerned go to bring flowers to the Lebanon embassy or maybe you did already…
Correct @jinx it appears he has set a precedent here as our head of state. Whilst its obvious a book of condolences hasnt been signed by him vis a vis the lebanese bombings we can only hope that the least he did was to call the Lebanese ambassador to offer condolences on behalf of the citizens of this country.
America created ISIS
Right now we are enabling America via Shannon airport
Michael D Higgins knows that is going on
Hillary Clinton said america shouldn’t intervene because this isn’t their fight. The cheek of her, if it’s anyone’s fight, it’s America’s.
Obama created ISIS when he pulled their entire military presence out of Iraq overnight and allowed these barbarians to develop in the region.
‘Created’ isis might not be completely accurate but they certainly championed and assisted them, similar as they assisted the Taliban some decades ago in order to stop the threat, via a proxy war, of Russia taking a firmer powerhold in Asia. In this case, again by proxy, they wanted isis to take out Assad in Syria so they could get proxy control over the hugely important strategical area of the region in terms of location and fuel resources. Putin has called the US out on this very recently and if you listen to some French politicians interviews over the weekend, you will hear them call out the US on this also! The opposition leader did this and also went back to the invasion or Iraq, calling Bush&Blair “liars” and that they caused the rise of extremist islamic groups in the region. The US have been very quiet (not like them in the least) over the weekend, dont you think!?
Isis existed before Obama even took over
Sounds very familiar to what America said in 1939
Embrace people whose ideology states that you should be destroyed. No change there then. I’m surprised that Colm O’Gorman didn’t use the opportunity to campaign for his mercenary who got caught and imprisoned; as if the world wasn’t a dangerous enough place already.
President Higgins should say none of this is fault of France
Mr Higgins is from the same school of geo politics and humanitarianism as Mick Wallace – France is a 1st world country,thus they have more responsibility and duty toward 3rd world failed states.this also implies failed states are not to be criticised.
Cameron will want ‘lord’ Chilcott’s report in to his governments bungling and meddling in Iraq to be buried even further given recent events.
I’d like to sign a book of condolence for all the Syrians, Iraqi’s, Afghans, Yemenis, Darfurese and other nationalities that have died in the current terrorist wars taking place in 2015. Where do I go?
Cliodhna, Ireland has 32 counties, not just 26. Belfast is Ireland’s second city, so might be worth adding that a Book of Condolences is also open at the City Hall there, as well as in The Guildhall in Derry.
Hi Cliodhna, as per comment by Tír Eoghain Gael, two other Irish cities have books of condolences open and your readers in those cities would like to know they can sign.
have your say