Caribbean Times 81st issue - Monday 4th April 2016

18 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Monday 4th April 2016
Scores of bodies reportedly found in mass grave
PALMYRA - Syrian engineering
teams and popular
defense groups uncovered a
mass grave in a neighborhood
in the newly recaptured ancient
city of Palmyra, Syria’s
state-news agency reported
Friday. The remains of about
40 people, 23 of them women
and children, were found in
the graves.
SANA news agency reported
they were killed by
Islamic State militants and
said some of the bodies were
beheaded and bore signs of
torture. Syrian army experts
detonated hundreds of mines
they say were planted by the
Islamic State before they were
forced out of Palmyra last
Sunday, according to the Associated
Press.
Reporters were able to
tour the archaeological gem
that had attracted tens of thousands
of tourists every year
before the Islamic State captured
the city and destroyed
most of its Christian artifacts.
While, some parts of the site,
including the Roman-era
grand colonnades and amphitheater
appeared relatively
untouched, the damage every
else was very much visible.
The Temple of Baalshamin
and parts of the Temple
of Bel, one of the best-preserved
Roman-era sites, are
also destroyed. The town was
completely deserted Friday,
except for Syrian army soldiers
working on dismantling
Suspected MH370 debris found on beach
PORT LOUIS - A piece of debris
thought to be from the Malaysian
airliner that went missing more than
two years ago over the Indian Ocean
has been found in the island nation
of Mauritius. The debris suspected
to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight
370, which vanished in March 2014
with 239 people on board, was found
Thursday on the coast of Rodrigues
Island, an employee of the Mourouk
Ebony Hotel, where the debris was
stored for safekeeping, told CNN.
Jean Josie Milazare said two hotel
guests, Jean Dominique and Suzy
Vitry, from La Reunion, found a piece
of debris on the beach. Milazare said
police now have the debris. Malaysian
authorities expected to lead the
investigation Mauritius, a volcanic
island nation in the Indian Ocean that
is a bit over 10 times the size of Washington,
D.C., is known for its beaches,
lagoons and reefs. It lies about 700
miles east of Madagascar, in the Indian
Ocean.
Debris thought to be from MH370
was found on Reunion, an island
southwest of Mauritius, last July. And
another piece of debris thought to be
from the missing airliner was found
on a sandbar off Mozambique in February.
Dan O’Malley, a spokesman
for the Australian Transport Safety
Bureau, said Australian authorities
were aware of the debris found on
Rodrigues Island, but he expected
Malaysian authorities to take the lead
in the investigation. (CNN).
explosives and visiting journalists.
The town is completely
deserted; its remaining residents
had fled as the Syrian
army’s offensive against ISIS
began last month. At the entrance
to the Roman amphitheater,
where the Islamic
State filmed children shooting
captive Syrian soldiers in the
head, black graffiti is sprayed
on a stone wall.
A Syrian officer told reporters
that more than 3,000
mines have so far been
dismantled. “They booby-trapped
everything, trees,
doors, animals,” he said,
speaking of the militants. Russian
sappers have arrived in
Syria to help the Syrian army
clear mines in and around the
town. (Fox News).
Vanuatu hit by 6.9
magnitude earthquake
PORT VILA - A strong earthquake has
struck off the south Pacific island of Vanuatu,
but authorities said any threat of tsunamis had
mostly passed, and there were no immediate reports
of injuries or damage. The magnitude-6.9
quake struck 50 miles (80km) north of the town
of Port Olry and 253 miles north of Vanuatu’s
capital, Port Vila, according to the US Geological
Survey. It had a depth of 22 miles.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially
said “hazardous tsunami waves” were possible
for coasts located within 186 miles (300km)
of the quake’s epicentre. But shortly afterwards
it said the tsunami threat” had mostly passed”.
Vanuatu sits on the Ring of Fire, the arc of seismic
faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes
are common. The island is also prone to
volcanoes and cyclones, and has been ranked
by the United Nations University as the world’s
most at-risk country for natural disasters. (The
Guardian).