PHOTOS: Woman Killed And Many Injured As Truck Crushes Six Vehicles In Abuja

 

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tragedy struck in Abuja on Saturday when a woman was crushed to death by a heavy-duty  truck and injured many others at Biaji Road in Kubwa .
The accident which occurred at 12. 00pm was attributed to the brake failure from the truck which made the driver to lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a woman who about to climb a motorcycle known as (Okada) and killed her on the spot while many others were said to have broken their hands and legs.

An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said that the truck hit the woman, throwing her body parts and her body into pieces.

The vehicle somersaulted several times before it plunged into the ditch. “The car was coming from Biaji to Kubwa Village and was loaded with beer but if not because of these bumps (speed breakers) the truck would have rammed into the residential building and kill many people.

The woman wanted to climb a motorcycle but was hit from behind by the truck, and the okada man escaped unhurt.

The accident, which involved six cars includes;  a Toyota Carina 11,  Gulf 3, Saloon Jeta,  Mercedes Benz (230), Nissan Sunny and a Toyota Rav 4 were all damaged beyond repair. The  vehicles were parked along the shoulder of the road while the owners were said to have been relaxing at a beer joint nearby.

As  the time of filing this report the body parts of the woman were still scattered about the scene of the accident while the Toyota Carina and Saloon Jeta was trapped under the truck as large numbers of onlookers  gathered at the scene.

 Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigerian Police were seen at the scene of the accident collating necessary information on how the accident occurred. The Kubwa-Biaji road has become a death trap in the recent times as many people have met their untimely death as a result of incessant crashes of vehicles and motorcycles. Residents of this area have made several appeals to the Bwari Area Council and the authorities  of the  Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to come to their aid to no avail. It would be recalled that some people lost their lives recently in a fatal motor accident in Zuba when a truck rammed into several commercial vehicles, including BRT bus popularly called (El-Rufai) .





#saharareporters

Switzerland apologizes to Oprah Winfrey after racist incident

Switzerland's national tourism board has issued an apology on behalf of the country saying, "We are very sorry for what happened to her." Asking for Oprah Winfrey's forgiveness after a racist shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a handbag because it was "too expensive" for Oprah.

The board also begged for Oprah's forgiveness on Twitter ... saying the shop assistant "acted terribly wrong."

The incident occurred last month, when Oprah was in Zurich to attend Tina Turner's wedding and walked into the upscale Trois Pomme boutique where she noticed a $40,000 handbag. When Oprah asked to see it, the shop assistant refused... insisting it was out of O's price range. RACIST!!!!

Oprah described the exchange:

"One more time, I tried. I said, 'But I really do just want to see that one,' and the shopkeeper said, 'Oh, I don't want to hurt your feelings,' and I said, 'Okay, thank you so much. You're probably right, I can't afford it.' And I walked out of the store."


FYI, Oprah reportedly made $77 million dollars last year ...



#tmz

Robot falls in love with woman!...Meet Kenji, a third generation humanoid Robot programmed to fall in love

Ten mnths ago, researchers at Toshiba’s Akimu Robotic Research Institute were thrilled when they successfully programmed Kenji, a third generation humanoid robot made to convincingly emulate certain human emotions.

At the time, they even claimed that Kenji was capable of the robot equivalent of love, but now they fear that the robot is going too far and his programming has taken an extreme turn for the worst.







Kenji was part of an experiment involving several robots loaded with custom software designed to let them react emotionally to external stimuli. After some limited environmental conditioning, Kenji first demonstrated love by bonding with a a stuffed doll in his enclosure, which he would embrace for hours at a time. He would then make simple, but insistent, inquiries about the doll if it were out of sight. Researchers attributed this behavior to his programmed qualities of devotion and empathy and called the experiment a success.

What they didn’t count on were the effects of several months of self-iteration within the complex machine-learning code which gave Kenji his initial tenderness. As of last week, Kenji’s love for the doll, and indeed anybody he sets his ‘eyes’ on, is so intense that Dr. Takahashi and his team now fear to show him to outsiders.

The trouble all started when a young female intern began to spend several hours each day with Kenji, testing his systems and loading new software routines. When it came time to leave one evening, however, Kenji refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly. The intern was only able to escape after she had frantically phoned two senior staff members to come and temporarily de-activate Kenji.

“Despite our initial enthusiasm, it has become clear that Kenji’s impulses and behavior are not entirely rational or genuine,” conceded Dr. Takahashi.

After that incident, each time Kenji is re-activated, he instantaneously bonds with the first technician to meet his gaze and rushes to embrace them with his two 100kg hydraulic arms. It doesn’t help that Kenji uses only pre-recorded dog and cat noises to communicate and is able to vocalize his love through a 20 watt speaker in his chest.

Dr. Takahashi admits that they will more than likely have to decommission Kenji permanently, but he’s optimistic about one day succeeding where Kenji failed.

“This is only a minor setback. I have full faith that we will one day live side by side with, and eventually love and be loved by, robots,” he said.


#realitypod.com

Oprah Winfrey 'was victim of racism' in Switzerland

US talk show host Oprah Winfrey says she was the victim of racism during a recent visit to Switzerland.

She said an assistant refused to serve her in an upmarket handbag shop in Zurich.

Winfrey, one of the world's richest women, was apparently told the bags on display were "too expensive" for her.

Her claims, made to a US television programme, come amid a political row over plans by some Swiss towns to ban asylum-seekers from some public places.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Berne says human rights groups have likened the plans - which include banning asylum-seekers from swimming pools, playing fields and libraries - to apartheid.

 

The star made an estimated $77m last year

Winfrey, who stars in Lee Daniels' new film The Butler, visited Zurich last month to attend singer Tina Turner's wedding. The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Switzerland.

Winfrey said she left the shop calmly without arguing, but that the experience was proof that racism continues to be a problem.

"There's two different ways to handle it," she said.

"I could've had the whole blow-up thing... but it still exists, of course it does."

Shop owner Trudy Gotz told the BBC that an assistant had shown Winfrey several other items before the "misunderstanding" over a $35,000 (£22,500) bag, which was kept behind a screen.

Winfrey's claims are a public relations disaster for Switzerland, BBC correspondent says.

About 48,000 people are currently seeking asylum in Switzerland. It has twice as many asylum seekers as the European average.

Officials say the curbs, which will also see asylum-seekers housed in special centres, are aimed at preventing tensions with residents.

The country's asylum laws were tightened in June.

Girl (2) and mother horribly savaged by tapir at the Dublin Zoo

the Dublin Zoo tapir involved in an attack on a two-year-old girl yesterday, with her new calf

Rio,

 

A TWO-year old girl is in serious condition in hospital after being attacked by an animal in Dublin Zoo.

The young girl received serious abdominal and arm injuries after she was attacked by a female tapir in the zoo.

The toddler's mother was also hurt when she tried to intervene and stop the usually docile animal from savaging her young daughter.

The horrific incident happened yesterday afternoon during a supervised encounter visit to the Brazilian tapir enclosure.

It is understood to have left the child unconscious and with deep lacerations on her stomach and arm caused by the animal's powerful jaws.

The child was last night continuing to receive treatment from surgeons at Temple Street Children's Hospital while the toddler's mother was treated in the Mater Hospital.

The incident happened after the family were allowed to view the animals from a closer vantage point than most visitors.

Despite being closely monitored by expert workers, it is understood the female tapir called Rio, who just gave birth to a calf last month, was panicked.

The attack followed, resulting in the child receiving serious injuries.

A Dublin Zoo spokesperson said "there was an unfortunate accident involving a mother and her child in the Brazilian tapir area" during one of the facility's "regular supervised animal visits".

She said zoo managers have launched an investigation into what exactly happened. As a result of the incident they are reviewing all procedures, especially in relation to supervised animal visits.

"Dublin Zoo would like to underline this was very much an isolated incident. We would also like to emphasise that our immediate concern is the health and well-being of the visitors involved in this accident."

"The staff of Dublin Zoo are deeply upset by this incident and their utmost concern lies with the visitors and their speedy recovery," she added.

A tapir is a Brazilian animal that looks similar to an anteater. The usually docile animal is fast and powerful.

Rio gave birth to a baby tapir in the zoo recently. The calf was the second to be born to the tapir at the zoo.

In 1998 a zookeeper lost her arm after being attacked by a tapir at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Zoo officials were not certain why the tapir, a female from Malaysia, attacked the keeper, who was feeding the animal before the zoo opened to visitors. The tapir's two-month-old calf was also in the cage at the time.

Irish Independent