A Naval Chetak helicopter crashed today while landing at Naval Air station Goa at about 1000 hrs.

The helicopter on transit from Mumbai to Bangalore was to make a scheduled re-fuelling halt at Goa. All three personnel onboard have died in the crash.

Naval spokesperson said in New Delhi that a Board of Inquiry to ascertain the cause has been ordered.

 Forensic experts say presence of fire crackers led to rapid spread of the blaze in the gutted bogie of Tamil Nadu Express, in which over 30 passengers were charred to death last month. A senior forensic scientist of the team that collected burnt articles from the bogie, said they had found fire cracker material from the bogie which indicates that burning of crackers rapidly spread the fire .The fire crackers or its powder seems to have been stored below at least six seats in the coach, he said.

The team of Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) experts, who examined the gutted S-11 bogie of Tamil Nadu Express, submitted a report in this regard to the Railway authorities yesterday, the official said.

Thirty-two passengers were charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke out in S-11 coach of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express on July 30 near Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

 A bag carrying diplomatic mail from India has been found on Mont Blanc in the French Alps, close to where an Air India plane crashed 46 years ago. The jute bag was recovered by a mountain rescue worker and his neighbour after some tourists spotted it on a glacier last week. The bag recovered from the glacier has markings saying "Diplomatic mail" and "Ministry of External Affairs".

The Indian embassy in Paris told a news agency that it would begin efforts to retrieve the bag. The Air India plane flying from Mumbai to New York crashed in January 1966. All 117 people on board died.

 n the United States, two people were killed, including a gunman, and up to eight others were wounded in a shootout near New York's Empire State Building. US media reported, the gunman was killed by police. Officials said, eight others were wounded in the rush-hour incident at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. 

Law enforcement officials said a recently sacked shop worker shot a former colleague to death. New York City officials are about to hold a news conference.

Local media reports say, there is currently a heavy police presence in the area, and the FBI were also on the scene. Fifth Avenue, a major traffic artery in the city, has been closed from 42nd street. Witnesses describe people running away from the scene of the shooting.

In China, three people were killed and five others injured when an eight-lane suspension bridge collapsed early today in the northeastern part of the country. The bridge, part of an airport expressway in Harbin city, was opened to traffic in November last year. 

Officials said a 100-meter section broke off when four heavy trucks drove onto the bridge, plunging them to the ground. Two people were killed on the spot, while the third died later. Five people were injured and receiving treatment at a local hospital. Chinese official news agency Xinhua said at least six major bridges have collapsed across the country since July last year, and that shoddy(घटिया) construction and over-loading were to blame.

 A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer collided with a Japanese-owned merchant vessel near the Strait of Hormuz this morning, with no injuries reported on either vessel. The USS Porter collided with the Panamanian-flagged bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan at about 1 a.m. local time Sunday , according to the statement by the Bahrain-based Fifth fleet posted on its website.

The navy said the incident, which was not related to combat, is under investigation. Damage to the USS Porter was being evaluated, but the ship is able to operate under its own power. USS Porter is on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. b of responsibility conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts, the statement said. The Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance to the Gulf, is the export route for one-third of global seaborne traded oil.

To reduce morbidity and mortality due to road accidents, the World Health Organisation sponsored Road Safety has started giving positive results in Jalandhar City of Punjab. Jalandhar is among the two cities in the country where this project is presently running as a pliot project for the last two years. The other city is Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

Jalandhar Police says that there is tremendous decrease in the deaths due to accidents. AIR Correspondent reports there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents in the year 2009. With the implementation of the project the number of deaths has decreased to 80 in 2011.

Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of over 2 crore 56 lakh rupees for the city police by fining more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic rule offenders. 

This project has been initiated by United Nations in collaboration with several international agencies and is being implemented in 10 different countries including India.

Data reveales that in the year 2009, there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents and about the same numbers of people were injured in more than 150 non-fatal accidents in the city. That means on an average basis 24 human beings were killed in road accidents every month. Whereas, after the implementation of the project in 2010, the number of deaths has come down to 185 and further decreased to 80 in 2011 and about 45 till date in this year. Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of more than rupees 2 crore 56 lakh for the city police by challaning more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic offenders. State Nodal Officer of the Project, Dr Ashok Nayyar said that the project is moving in the right direction

An avalanche near the French Alpine ski resort of Chamonix has left six people dead and eight injured. Police say the alarm was sounded shortly before 05:30 local time by one of the injured on the slopes of Mont Maudit. Foreigners are thought to be among the victims. Emergency services have begun an operation to help the injured. 

The mountain is known as a popular route for summer tourists heading for the summit of Mont Blanc. The climbers are believed to have been roped together in several groups when the avalanche struck.

 The mishap occurred when a bus carrying pilgrims to Ajmer collided head-on with a truck on Gonda-Bahraich road near Chilwaria village and caught fire. 

District Magistrate Kinjal Singh said the bus caught fire possibly due to the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder inside the vehicle. She said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered which will establish the exact cause of the accident. 




Rescuers had used gas-cutters to cut open the twisted metal of the bus to pull out bodies and survivors from inside the vehicle.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has expressed his grief sorrow over the accident and loss of life. 

 He said the Government would insure proper and free of cost treatment to the pilgrims

A US Navy amphibious assault ship and a refueling tanker collided in the Pacific Ocean but there were no injuries and no fuel spills.

The collision between the assault ship USS Essex and the oiler USNS Yukon occurred yesterday at midmorning about 120 miles off Southern California.

The US Navy said an apparent steering malfunction occurred as Essex approached the Yukon.

In Australia, two people have been confirmed dead in a glider crash in Victoria’s south-west. The accident happened at the Ararat Airfield. A gliding instructor and a 21-year-old female student died at the scene. Police say the glider crashed several hundred metres after it took off, being towed behind a plane. They say conditions were fine and it was not yet clear what caused the crash.

A cruise ship, left adrift at sea for 24 hours by a fire, has arrived in Malaysia following repairs. The ship's operator says The Azamara Quest has docked in the port of Sandakan, on the island of Borneo.

Fire broke out on the vessel on Friday, a day after it left Manila for Malaysia, carrying over one thousand people, mainly European and American tourists. Operator Azamara Club Cruises said five crew suffered smoke inhalation, but that no passengers were injured. The company has said that the rest of the ship's voyage will be cancelled.