Incident: Ethiopian B763 near Cairo on Nov 20th 2010, medical emergency

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Nov 21st 2010 15:14Z, last updated Sunday, Nov 21st 2010 15:14Z

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration ET-ALJ performing flight ET-701 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) with 154 passengers, was enroute near Cairo (Egypt) when a female passenger showed symptoms of angina pectoris with her health condition deteriorating prompting the crew to divert to Cairo for a safe landing. The passenger was taken to a local hospital. The aircraft departed Cairo after about 50 minutes on the ground.

The Aviation Herald

Ethiopia launches electric car

Ethiopia has launched an electric car, despite suffering from power shortages. It is only the second African country to do so, after South Africa. Two versions of the Solaris Elettra will be manufactured in Addis Ababa, costing around $12,000 and $15,000.The cars will be sold in Ethiopia and exported to Africa and Europe.

But some doubt if Africa, where erratic power supplies, low levels of personal wealth and poor infrastructure are common, is ready for electric cars.

Carlo Pironti, general manager of Freestyle PLC, the company producing the Solaris, told the BBC's Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa that Ethiopia's electricity shortages were not a major obstacle to operating an electric car.

"Ethiopia in future will have lots of power supply," he said.

"In any case, the car can be recharged by generator and by solar power."

Taxes on cars in Ethiopia can be more than 100% and many Ethiopians with low incomes will struggle to afford an electric car.

To overcome this problem, Mr Pironti says his company will develop a credit system for less affluent customers.

Six Solaris Elettras will be produced every week for the next three months, rising to 30 per week when Freestyle's factory in Addis Ababa is fully operational, he says.

Mr Pironti says he wants to take the Solaris "from a green country to a green world," referring to the company's plans to export the car from Ethiopia to Africa and beyond.

But Wayne Batty, senior writer at South Africa's Topcar magazine, believes only a small percentage of Africa has the necessary infrastructure to support an electric car.

Mr Batty told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that electric cars are fine for short trips of 40 to 50 km (25 to 31 miles), but African countries lack the recharging points for longer journeys.

Ethiopia's electric car comes after Rwanda launched its first bio-diesel bus last week.

It is currently building a huge hydro-electric dam on the Omo river and hopes to become a major exporter of energy when that is completed.

BBC.

Latest English Premier League Results

Watch Video>>

Spain La Liga Weekend Update

    Almeria vs Barcelona                         Read Madrid vs Atletic Bilbao

Doctors dare death to save Ethiopian national

His doctors had given up hope as his condition deteriorated with each passing day. But 64-year-old Worku Hassen, an Ethiopian national, was a fighter. From a losing battle against thyroid cancer which damaged his spine to a paralytic attack, Hassen braved it all with a smile. His strong will to live and positive approach gave doctors the confidence to put him through a thrombolysis — treatment for clearing blood clots — soon after the surgery for thyroid cancer.

Hassen, an economist, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier this year, which spread to his spinal cord, involving two vertebral columns. "The sixth vertebra — known as D6 — was completely damaged by the tumour. And the tumour was exerting pressure on the nervous system. The lower end of the cord was also damaged," said Dr Sunil Katoch, senior consultant, orthopaedics, Max Healthcare.

As his condition started deteriorating, doctors decided to operate on the thyroid cancer and the spinal defects simultaneously. In an eight-hour-long surgery, the spine was reconstructed using a special type of bone cement and spacer — a device which helps in maintaining the gap between the vertebras. "We first removed the tumour from the thyroid gland. It was a big tumour that was exerting pressure on the spinal cord, thus causing the paralytic attack. He couldn't walk and his bladder movement were also affected," said Dr Harit Chaturvedi, head onco-surgeon, Max Healthcare.

Recalling the pain and trauma he underwent, Hassen said: "It was the most difficult period of my life. I was shattered when doctors in Ethiopia told me that they won't be able to do much and I should go abroad. The cancer was in the fourth stage and was spreading fast." His son, an intensivist in US, asked him to go to India.

Hassen's ordeal didn't end with the surgeries. Three days after the operation, he developed clots in the lungs. His saturation had dropped to 50%. "It was a tricky situation and we had no option but to go for thrombolysis to get rid of the clot. This could have proved fatal as thrombolysis soon after surgery results in uncontrolled bleeding," said Dr Chaturvedi.

As feared by doctors, Hassen bled excessively in the neck, the part from where the tumour was removed. He was taken to the operation theatre within 48 hours. "It is nothing less than a miracle that he is alive and doing so well. We had lost all hope at one point. It's been a few months since his surgery and he has made remarkable progress," said Dr Katoch.

When in India for his last few sessions of chemo and radiation therapy, Hassan was all set to get back to work. "I have been out of work for a long time. Now, I want to get back to my research," he said.

Read more: Docs dare death to save Ethiopian national - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Docs-dare-death-to-save-Ethiopian-national/articleshow/6962599.cms#ixzz15tCKVvzq

Defending champion Merga pulls out of Delhi half Marathon

NEW DELHI: An estimated 30,000 Delhiites are set to run in the company of world-class athletes and India's most sought after celebrities in the third edition of the $210,000 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday.

The competitive part of the 21-km half marathon involves 8,680 Indian and foreign athletes, the 6-km Great Delhi Run will bring 20,000 plus fun-loving residents out on the streets, the 2.5-km wheelchair race will see 200 differently-abled and the 4-km run will get over a thousand senior citizens to brave the early morning chill.

Thirty elite runners from overseas -- including 12 Kenyans and eight Ethiopians -- will hit the road. Runners from six other nations will also be there.

Ethiopian Deriba  Merga, two-time defending champion, had to pull out of the race at the last moment and that has left the field open for the Kenyan athletes in the $25,000 men's half marathon.

And the pick amongst the Kenyans will be Geoffrey Mutai, the long-distance runner's forte being cross-country running.

"The course is good, I should be able to run close to 59 minutes," Mutai said.

Mutai's countryman Joel Kimurer won the Prague Half Marathon in March and will be looking to do it again here.

In the women's section, 2009 champion Keitany of Kenya is not competing this time and in her absence the favourite will be the 2008 winner Aselefech Mercia of Ethiopia.

Kenya have enough fire power here, too, to spoil the Ethiopian party.

Sharon Jemutai, fresh from her maiden major marathon victory in Hamburg, will be another strong contender to take home the winner's purse of $25,000 and so will be another Kenyan Lydia Cherome.

Sveitlana Kouhan of Belarus and Ukraine's Olena Burkovska are expected to spring a surprise in the field dominated by the Africans.

The celebrity list comprise industrialists, Bollywood actors and a handful of sportspersons.

The likes of Anil Ambani, Dhanraj Pillay, Arshad Warsi, Gul Panag and Rahul Bose will be part of the race to spread the message of importance of 'being healthy.'

Bipasha Basu has replaced Shahrukh Khan as the face of the event.

Times of India