Accidents kill 427 in Indonesia

JAKARTA: At least 427 people were killed and more than 1,400 others injured in traffic accidents across the country during this year’s Eid al-Fitr holiday season, marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, media reports said on Sunday. National police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said the figures were tabulated from reports between September 25 and October 4, with a total of 970 accidents involving 1,258 vehicles. “The figures may still increase because our traffic operation to ensure the safety of homeward-bound travelers during the Eid al-Fitr holiday is not over yet,” The Jakarta Post quoted Nataprawira as saying. Last year, police recorded 1,875 accidents during Eid al-Fitr that killed 798 people, which was up by 82 per cent compared from the fatality figures in 2006.



Skydivers plunge past Mt. Everest

KATHMANDU: Three skydivers in Nepal entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world’s highest drop zone. The daredevil adventurers — from Britain, New Zealand and Canada — said they had magnificent views as they rocketed past the world’s highest peak. “It was amazing, just spectacular,” Holly Budge told AFP by telephone after making a safe landing at 3,900 metres (12,870 feet). “We had one minute of freefall and while we were above the clouds you could see Everest and the other high mountains popping out of the top.” The skydivers faced sub zero temperatures and fast changing weather when they jumped in front of Everest to touch down in the foothills of the mountain.



Court tells govt not to arrest Hasina

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s High Court asked the army-backed government on Sunday not to arrest paroled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina when she returns home this month to lead her party ahead of a Dec 18 election, lawyers said. The interim government has vowed to make the election fair and credible with the participation of all major parties to end nearly two years of emergency rule. Hasina’s Awami League and the country’s other major party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) headed by Hasina’s arch-rival and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, have threatened to boycott the polls if barred from contesting. Both parties have pressed the government to lift the state of emergency it imposed since it took charge in January 2007, following deadly political violence.



Four hurt in Nepal mosque blast

KATHMANDU: Four people were injured in a small bomb blast at a mosque in southeast Nepal, police said on Sunday. There was no major damage to the mosque after the blast late on Saturday, police official Gopal Pradhan said from Biratnagar, the biggest town in the region. “No one has been arrested and we are looking for the culprits,” Pradhan said. Majority-Hindu Nepal has little history of religious conflict with minority Muslims. Two people were killed in a similar blast on a mosque in the same region in March, an attack owned by a little-known group called the Nepal Defence Army.









Illgal immigrants

ANKARA: A truck packed with illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Myanmar overturned in western Turkey on Sunday, killing 18 people and injuring 23, authorities said. The accident occurred near the town of Malkara, about 100 kilometres west of Istanbul, when the driver apparently lost control, authorities said. No other vehicles were involved, authorities said. The back of the truck had hidden compartments for smuggling people, the state-run Anatolia news agency said, reporting from the scene. Gov Aydin Nezih Dogan of Tekirdag province said the driver of the truck fled after the accident. Dogan said all the immigrants were planning to sneak into Greece. Turkey is a major transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe illegally.