Canadian PM calls Air India bombing an act of 'malice'
Toronto, June 24 : Canada remembered the 329 victims of Air India Kanishka Flight 182 which was blown off mid-air on June 23, 1985.
The day is marked as National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism in Canada.
Paying tributes to the victims, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday said: "On this day in 1985, Canadians awoke to news that defied belief, and left our country in a state of shock and suffering."
"The Air India bombing remains the single worst terrorist attack in Canada's history. This horrific act of malice and destruction left families and friends grieving the loss of loved ones, and brought pain that will never completely go away," the Prime Minister said.
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my condolences to everyone everywhere who has lost loved ones to terrorism. We also thank and honour those who work each day to keep our citizens, communities, and country safe," he added.
Air India Flight 182, bound for London after picking up passengers in Toronto and Montreal, disappeared from radar off the coast of Ireland. A bomb - planted on the plane in Canada in an act of terror - exploded on board, killing 329 innocent people, including 280 Canadians.
According to the Air India inquiry, two bomb-carrying suitcases were loaded by pro-Khalistani militants at Vancouver airport, to be transferred to Air India flights in Toronto and Tokyo airports.
While the bomb transferred on Air India Flight 182 in Toronto exploded in mid-air off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people and crew on board, the other bomb went off at Narita airport in Tokyo during transfer on to Mumbai-bound Air India flight, killing two baggage handlers.
Only one person - Inderjit Singh Reyat - was ever convicted the worst mass murder in Canadian history.
In British Columbia, Premier John Horgan also paid tributes the the Air India victims as flags at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria flew at half-mast to mark the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism.
"Canadians will never forget this act of terror that took the lives of 329 people, including 280 Canadians. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims,'' the Premier said.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
