Morocco flash floods leave dozens dead

At least 31 people washed away and dozens missing as storm hits southern part of the north African country.

Source: aljazeera.com

Flash flooding in southern Morocco has reportedly killed at least 31 people, with many others still missing.

Heavy storms have swept across several regions including tourist hub Marrakesh, where torrential rain destroyed many mud homes on Sunday.

Roads and highways were blocked off, making it hard for emergency crew to reach people.

Donate to our Brothers and Sisters in Gaza

Assalamualaykum waRahmatullahi waBarakatuhu

Virgin Money Giving is supporting Human Aid by sending 10 Medical Delegates to assist the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza (where Dr Mads Gilbert worked) with emergency medical equipment.

Imagine all the thousands of people who were injured severely and still awaiting medical attention, plus injuries dont just go away. Our brothers need us more than ever now as winter approaches.

May Allah bless you!

Human Aid runs a 100% donation policy which means their staff wont be paid with your money or their hotel/flights.

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Documentary: Japan – Aftermath of a disaster (Video)

Source: Al Jazeera

 Japan had been waiting decades for “the big one” to hit, an earthquake powerful enough to devastate the country.

Emergency services and the public were drilled in how to respond when the earth moved; thousands of kilometers of sea walls were built to protect the coast from tsunamis, the deadly after-effects of quakes out at sea.

But when the earthquake came on March 11, few would have predicted the devastation it caused.

The magnitude 9.0 quake, unleashed a tsunami so powerful, it tore through Japan’s defenses as though they were not there. The surge turned towns and cities into matchwood, killed thousands of people and caused a still-to-be resolved nuclear crisis.

Among the communities hit was the small port city of Miyako. In the days after the disaster its surviving citizens somehow had to carry on with their lives. This is their story.
Watch more documentaries…

How Twitter Users Are Saving Lives In Kenya (Video)

 If you’re in Kenya and see a crash, jump onto Twitter to lend the Kenyan Red Cross a helping hand in locating and responding to crashes. See why it’s a big help in a country without a nationwide emergency phone number.

The UN Just Called Syria the “Biggest Humanitarian Emergency of Our Era”

Source: mic.com

By: Tom McKay

The news: Just as the number of fleeing refugees passed the 3 million mark on Friday, the United Nations has declared the war in Syria to be the “biggest humanitarian crisis of our era,” according to a statement by António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

UN: Syrian refugees now more than 3 million

Source: VOA News

By: Lisa Schlein

GENEVA – The U.N. refugee agency says more than three years of civil war in Syria has forced three million people to flee their homeland, and the fighting is only intensifying. UNHCR reports the flight from Syria has created the world’s largest population of refugees under that U.N. agency’s care.

Dozens killed in Taiwan plane crash

More than 40 people reportedly killed after TransAsia Airlines flight crash-lands in typhoon-hit area of island.

Sources: http://www.aljazeera.com/, RT Youtube Channel

More than 40 people have been killed after a TransAsia Airways passenger plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing in typhoon-hit Taiwan.

TransAsia Airways flight GE222 was carrying 58 people when it crashed into houses near Magong airport on the Penghu island chain after requesting a second attempt to land there, local media reported on Wednesday.

The ATR 72-500 twin turboprop was flying from the southwestern city of Kaohsiung to the islands off the west coast and had been delayed due to bad weather as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan, according to authorities.

“We have found 42 bodies and some body parts so far,” an official surnamed Tsai at the Penghu county fire department told AFP news agency early on Thursday.

Television images showed firefighters working in heavy rain to douse the mangled plane and soldiers on the scene.

“There were 58 people on board including four crew members, four children and, so far, according to the information we have, 12 were injured and were sent to hospitals,” Transport Minister Yeh Kuang-shih told reporters.

Two French nationals were on board the plane and the de facto French embassy had been notified, Yeh said.

Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration director general Shen Chi earlier said 51 were feared dead in the crash, but later revised the figure to 47.

“The control tower lost contact with the aircraft soon after they requested a go-around,” Shen told reporters.

Local fire chief Hung Yung-peng told TVBS there were 11 survivors, with all others on board feared dead.

“The weather was bad and some witnesses said there were storms and lightning when the plane went down,” Hung said.

“We rushed 12 people to hospitals soon after our arrival. One died at the hospital.

“We kept searching for the other passengers from the wreckage but with more and more bodies pulled out, I’m afraid the rest of them might be dead.”

EMERGENCY: Syria Appeal – Ummah Welfare Trust

The oppression in Syria continues.

Men, women and children continue to be murdered. Homes, clinics, hospitals and schools continue to be bombed. The sanctity and honour of Muslims continue to be violated.

Families continue to be butchered by militia, illegally detained and tortured. Their wounded continue to die slow deaths and their dead continue to remain unburied.

Over 100,000 have been martyred. Hundreds every day, murdered in cold blood, continue to add to this tally.

Whatever one can say to describe the suffering that has taken place, it has been more than this.

Ummah Welfare Trust has been appealing for funds to help our brothers and sisters for many months now. Alhamdulillah through your generosity, much relief has been administered.

Aiding the Displaced in Syria (chronologically since early 2012):

• 8,000 food packs distributed to families across Homs, Damascus and Aleppo
• 200 wounded victims in Homs received emergency medical treatment
• For the 2012 Qurbani programme, 108 sheep and 50 cows were sacrficed. Meat was distributed in Homs, Idlib and Aleppo.
• 1,200 medical kits (550 at one time and then 650 later) provided to medical centres across northern Syria
• 50 tonnes of flour distributed across rural areas
• Winter aid kits provided to hundreds families in Aleppo
• In April 2013, 7,000 newly-affected families across the Idlib, Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Homs, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and the coastal areas received food supplies.
• Through May and June 2013, over 8,500 families from Daraya, Shab’a, Aqraba, Nashabiya, and Marj as-Sultan received food supplies.
• Cooked food was provided to thousands of newly arrived refugees in Bab al-Salamah.
• 4,000 women and girls in Bab al-Salamah all received new abayas.
• For Ramadhan 2013, nearly 16,000 families received food provisions. Families in Idlib, Aleppo, Homs Raqqa, Hama, Lazkiye and Tal Abyad all benefited alhamdulillah.
• For the Qurbani programme in 2013, 100 cows and 200 sheep were sacrificed. Meat was distributed to families in Damascus, Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Hama and Homs. Approximately 10,000 families received Udhiyyah meat.
• Since June 2013, widowed and orphaned families have been living in Ummah Welfare Trust’s Ummah Camp in Samarda. Alhamdulillah this camp caters for all the families’ needs. More information can be found here.
• For Eid ul Adha, gifts were distributed to children in Daraya.
• In Mouadamiah, where ‘ulema has passed a fatwa that families are allowed to eat cats, food baskets were distributed to nearly 400 families.
• New clothing and medical supplies have been distributed to families in Ghouta.
• Through September 2013, a total of 2,500 families from Khaydariya, Batan al Qas or Al Jallom (Aleppol) received food packs.
• Through the same month, 350 families (of martyrs) from the Idlib areas of Marafat Numaan and Jesr Shugur received food packs.

Aiding newly-arrived Refugees in Jordan and Turkey (through 2012 and start of 2013):

• 24,000 families provided with emergency food provisions
• 4,000 families received kitchen and wash utensils
• 4,000 families received hygiene kits
• Winter aid kits provided to wounded refugees

Allah is our witness; we must continue to help. Ummah Welfare Trust needs your donations in order to continue supporting families affected by the violence.