Disasters and Accidents
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'Mountains flopping around like jelly': Why these Aussies returned to a quake zone (photos)
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A team of Australian architects and engineers is helping to build earthquake-proof schools in remote devastated areas of Nepal, including the Lower Solukhumbu region where 200 were destroyed or badly damaged.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, education, schools, community-and-society, nepal, wa
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California firefighters gain ground after 800 buildings destroyed, one dead
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With most evacuation orders lifted, residents are returning home to heartbreaking destruction, with some describing it as "apocalyptic" while others say once familiar streets are now "a moonscape".
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, fires, emergency-planning, emergency-incidents, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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WA strata property owners could see values plummet (photos)
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Thousands of West Australians are expected to see the value of their apartments plummet and insurance premiums go through the roof on Wednesday, when up to 150 strata properties are named on a list of buildings with potentially combustible cladding.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, building-and-construction, occupational-health-and-safety, wa
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California fires force 200,000 evacuations, with powerful winds on the way
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Wildfires roar through canyons, hillsides and residential areas in densely populated Southern California for a fourth day, while gusting winds hamper firefighters' efforts to knock down the flames.
Topics: fires, bushfire, disasters-and-accidents, united-states
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Rogue tyre operator Tony Di Carlo sent $40k bill over Rocklea fire (photos)
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A Brisbane businessman unleashes another foul-mouthed rant, after the environment department sends him a $40,000 bill over a blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke across a Brisbane suburb.
Topics: industrial-fires, fires, disasters-and-accidents, rocklea-4106, qld, australia, brisbane-4000
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Entire Los Angeles hillside alight as fires burn in California Video
Video
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Multiple homes have been destroyed after a wild fire ignited along a hillside near Bel-Air in Los Angeles, California.
Topics: bushfire, disasters-and-accidents, fires, united-states
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Thousands of residents flee their homes as wildfires burn around LA
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As many as five wind-whipped bushfires raging though the Los Angeles area of California destroy hundreds of homes, close highways and cast a hazardous haze across the region.
Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, weather, united-states
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Queensland 2011 flood victims didn't do enough to save properties, Seqwater argues (photos)
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Lawyers acting for 6,000 people seeking compensation in the wake of the deadly flood disaster have told day four of court hearings they will vigorously defend claimants against accusations of "contributory negligence" being levelled by the Wivenhoe Dam operator.
Topics: floods, courts-and-trials, water-management, disasters-and-accidents, qld, brisbane-4000, ipswich-4305
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Plane disappeared from radar display twice before fatal Darwin crash, ATSB says
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The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigates whether airspeed and poor weather played a role in a light plane crash that killed two pilots just outside of Darwin in October.
Topics: accidents---other, disasters-and-accidents, air-and-space, darwin-0800, nt
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Man dead, two injured after becoming trapped in ink vat
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One man is dead and two others are in hospital with leg injuries after an industrial accident left them trapped inside an ink vat at a manufacturing business in Sydney's west.
Topics: accidents, accidents---other, disasters-and-accidents, workplace, auburn-2144, sydney-2000
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Boy feared drowned after being swept out in rip near Port Macquarie
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An 11-year-old boy is missing after he and his 17-year-old brother were caught in a rip on the NSW mid-north coast.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, accidents, port-macquarie-2444
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'Lives at risk': Union calls for NT industrial manslaughter laws after Inpex worker death
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The Electrical Trades Union alleges there is a culture of "fear and intimidation" of workers who raise safety concerns at the LNG plant site where a worker died last week.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, industrial-relations, business-economics-and-finance, death, law-crime-and-justice, darwin-0800, nt
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Passengers injured after trains collide near Dusseldorf
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Several people are injured after a passenger train carrying up to 150 people is partially derailed in a crash near the German city of Dusseldorf, local officials say.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, germany
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Boaties off SA coast survive after swim to shore raises alarm
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Two people swim to shore in darkness while two others cling to an overturned boat until help arrives off Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, port-hughes-5558, sa
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27,000 evacuated, 150 structures destroyed in California wildfires
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More than 27,000 people are forced to evacuate and at least 150 structures are destroyed as ferocious Santa Ana winds raking Southern California whip up explosive wildfires.
Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, bushfire, united-states
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Kalgoorlie fatal car crash a 'death in custody' (photos)
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WA Police Commissioner confirms the death of a passenger in a car being "followed" by police in the WA city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is being investigated as a death in police custody.
Topics: police, law-crime-and-justice, disasters-and-accidents, road, kalgoorlie-6430, wa
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Man accused of Adelaide CBD crash that hurt four pedestrians faces bedside hearing
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A man charged over a crash that injured four women in Adelaide's CBD at the weekend is remanded in custody until February after a bedside hearing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Topics: traffic-offences, crime, law-crime-and-justice, road, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, adelaide-5000, sa
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Dam engineers 'bet against' BOM rain forecasts, flood class action hearing told (photos)
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Dam engineers were fixated on avoiding minor damage in Queensland's 2011 floods a class action court case hears and their inaction caused catastrophic inundations and destruction.
Topics: floods, disasters-and-accidents, courts-and-trials, qld, brisbane-4000, sydney-2000, nsw, toowoomba-4350, rockhampton-4700
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Spearfisherman dies in hospital after north Queensland diving incident
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It is understood the 25-year-old spearfisherman got into trouble while taking part in a memorial event on Saturday for a young spearfisherman who died some years ago.
Topics: emergency-incidents, disasters-and-accidents, cairns-4870, qld, brisbane-4000
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Work safety must improve on farms, industry leaders warn
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More people working in agriculture die than in the construction and mining industries combined, data reveals, as industry leaders urge an improved focus on work safety.
Topics: occupational-health-and-safety, workplace, disasters-and-accidents, farm-labour, sa, bowmans-5550, port-lincoln-5606
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Island communities initiate disaster preparedness as cyclone season approaches Audio
Audio
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Meteorologists are expecting this year's cyclone season to be more bearable compared to recent years, with an incoming La Nina weather pattern likely to bring much cooler conditions across the Pacific.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, cyclones, pacific
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Karen Jackson spars with a partner image
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Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, sport, boxing, community-and-society, community-organisations, community-development, rural, regional, dunalley-7177, tas
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Boxing trophy shelf image
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Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, sport, boxing, community-and-society, community-organisations, community-development, rural, regional, awards-and-prizes, dunalley-7177, tas
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Coach and gym owner Scott Griffiths image
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Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, sport, boxing, community-and-society, community-organisations, community-development, rural, regional, dunalley-7177, tas
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Flood clean-up underway in Victoria with more rain forecast
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Residents of north-eastern Victoria are counting themselves lucky the weekend flooding was not worse, while farmers assess crop damage and forecasters keep an eye on another weather system off the coast.
Topics: floods, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, weather, euroa-3666, vic
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