MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino has accepted the resignation of his health minister over the purchase of pneumonia vaccines in 2012 which government investigators later questioned, a spokesman said yesterday.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona, who has been on leave since October, submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday even before the completion of a government inquiry into four deals at his ministry.
In 2012, Ona had authorised the purchase of 833 million pesos ($18.63m) worth of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)-10, used for immunisation of children against pneumonia, government investigators said. They said the health department should have bought PCV-13, a more cost-effective vaccine which could also be used for adults to prevent pneumonia.
Chinese pilot jailed over crash
BEIJING: A Chinese court yesterday jailed a pilot for three years for causing one of the worst plane crashes in Chinese history which killed 44 people in 2010, state-media reported.
Qi Quanjun, the main pilot aboard the Henan Airlines flight which crashed in heavy fog in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, was sentenced by a local court, the Legal Daily newspaper reported.
The crash at Yichun airport was the worst in the country since 2004, highlighting safety concerns amid a rapid expansion in China’s domestic airline market.
Qi was found guilty of “causing a major airline accident”, on the grounds that he had decided to land without being able to properly see the runway, the report said.
Reports at the time said that nearly half of the 91 passengers on board were government officials, and several perished in the crash.
Qi survived but was unable to speak due to severe facial injuries, the China Daily reported at the time.
Vietnam rescues trapped workers
HANOI: Vietnamese rescuers including hundreds of troops and miners yesterday freed 12 workers trapped for nearly four days after a tunnel collapsed during construction of a hydropower plant.
Bad weather and the complicated geology of the site in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong had hampered the rescue effort since Tuesday’s accident, with fears the workers might not survive after battles to supply them with oxygen and drain water rising around them.
Television footage showed rescue teams and workers emerging from the collapsed tunnel and being greeted by applause, smiles and cries of relief after a nearly 82-hour mission that gripped the country.
Most of the workers were hospitalised and in stable condition. The sole female among those trapped was given emergency treatment at the site, said the head of local health department, Pham Thi Bach Yen.
AGENCIES
