127 killed in plane crash near Islamabad

Islamabad, April 20 (IANS) A passenger plane carrying 127 people crashed in stormy weather and burst into flames while approaching Pakistan's Islamabad airport Friday evening. There were no reports of survivors.

The commercial airliner, Bhoja Air 737, on its maiden flight, was descending for landing when it crashed a few miles from Islamabad airport, near Chaklala airbase, Rawalpindi.

There were 118 passengers and nine crew on-board. However, some reports say there were 131 people on board.

The B4-213 was coming from the port city of Karachi to Islamabad when it crashed into a residential area.

The Bhoja Airlines' officials said that the plane was scheduled to land at the Islamabad airport at 6.45 p.m.. The plane had left Karachi airport at 5 p.m., Xinhua reported.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) said that the crash was apparently due to bad weather.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and ordered investigation into the incident, Geo News reported.

According to rescuers, the wreckage area - around one sq km - was scattered with mangled bodies, severed body parts, burnt luggage, and parts of the fuselage strewn all over.

Local residents said they could see flame rising from the crash site.

An emergency was declared at hospitals in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi city and rescue teams and ambulances were rushed to the site.

Saifur Rehman, from a police rescue team, said the plane came down in Hussain Abad village, two miles from the main Islamabad highway.

According to sources in the CAA, the flight was given clearance to land at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, but it lost contact with the control tower minutes before the crash.

"Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage was on fire, the plane is completely destroyed. We came with teams of firefighters and searchlights and more rescuers are coming," Rehman told Geo television.

A local resident told Geo News, the plane was already on fire in the midair and seemed like a ball of fire coming at us.

The plane fell on top of houses in the village toppling building before hitting the ground, said eyewitnesses, but there were no reports of people on the village dying.

According to Geo News, Bhoja Airlines had reportedly bought the 27.4 years old aircraft from Shaheen Airlines after it was scrapped by the latter for its compromised flight-worthiness.

Bhoja Airline officials have not commented.

President Zardari has ordered that a chartered plane be arranged to bring relatives of the crash victims to Islamabad.

Source : Yahoo.com

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Man Survives Shooting a 4-inch (10-cm) Nail Into His Heart

A New Jersey man who survived accidentally shooting a 4-inch (10-cm) nail into his heart while trying to clear a jammed nail gun said on Friday he feels like he won the lottery.

Dennis Hennis, 52, who was revived from cardiac arrest before being airlifted for surgery to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, laughed off Dr. Michael Rosenbloom's suggestion that he buy a lottery ticket.

"I've already won the lottery," said Hennis of Vineland, New Jersey, in an interview.

"I got a new grandson on my birthday on March 23 and a week later I'm almost dead. Now we can celebrate birthdays together," he said.

Hennis, a self-employed builder, was working with his son, age 28, on a neighbor's roof on
Saturday when his nail gun jammed and he tried to clear it, mistakenly pointing it toward him.

The powerful tool was built to fire 4-inch nails at 120 pounds per square inch (8.4 kg per square cm), said hospital spokeswoman Lori Shaffer.
"It was about a foot away and it went right into my chest, right into my heart," Hennis recalled.

The nail pierced his right ventricle, which supplies blood to the lungs, and Hennis soon went into cardiac arrest.

Hennis, whose son called an ambulance, was rushed to a local hospital and revived but clearly needed immediate surgery at a trauma center like Cooper, nearly an hour's drive away, Rosenbloom said.

"Imagine there is a nail in the heart and they have to do CPR. It turns a little puncture wound into a laceration," the surgeon said.

Fog had grounded the medical helicopter but it suddenly lifted and Hennis was flown to Cooper and rushed into the operating room.

Hennis' recovery from surgery has been remarkable and he was expected to be discharged in time to celebrate Easter with his family, including his third and newest grandchild.

"We closed the hole and his heart is strong," Rosenbloom said by telephone.

Hennis lucked out with knowing to not remove the nail himself, prompt medical attention and suddenly cooperative weather, Rosenbloom said.

"I told him he should go play the lottery," the surgeon said.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in Maplewood, New Jersey; Editing by Greg McCune and Cynthia Osterman)

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At Least 33 Dead in Clashes in Egypt

At least 33 dead in clashes in Egypt

In Egypt during the recent violent clashes between security forces and protesters after hospital information for at least 33 people were killed. The Egyptian Health Ministry confirmed 22 deaths initially. The riots were the third day in a row. In Tahrir Square protesters flocked together numerous. Police fired tear gas there in the morning against hundreds of demonstrators, as seen on live broadcasts on television was.

Hundreds of people were injured, according to hospital officials in the protests in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities. Next Monday will begin the general election in Egypt. It is the first election since the overthrow of longtime President Hosni Mubarak in February. The demonstrations in recent days were directed against the military's power, especially against Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Military Council.

Tantawi was 20 years of Defense and one of Mubarak's closest aides. The military council had taken over after the forced resignation of Mubarak through mass protests and violence, the government wants to hand over power by its own account after the presidential election. For the election of head of state still has not set a date.

Because the reaction of the Egyptian leadership to the protests against the military's power came back the culture minister of the country. Emad Abu Ghazi had submitted his resignation to the Supreme Military Council to protest against "the government handling of the recent events in Tahrir Square" in Cairo, told the news agency Mena. He'll make this decision could not be reversed, he said thus. According to Mena, he filed his petition already on Sunday evening. Readmore...