March 2012

Costa Cruises’ Costa Concordia ran aground off the island of Giglio, Italy, with more than 4,200 people on board on Jan. 13, 2012. After running into some rocks, the ship capsized, resulting in 17 deaths and, at press time, 15 people being listed as missing. The captain of the ship has been charged with manslaughter and abandoning the ship. Poor weather delayed searches and the pumping out of fuel oil to prevent a spill. It may take up to 10 months to remove the wreck. Costa has offered compensation to all passengers, and class-action lawsuits have been filed against the company.

Three office buildings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collapsed on the evening of Jan. 25, killing at least 17 and leaving 22 missing in the rubble. A 20-story building went down first, pulling two nearby buildings down with it. They were located just behind the Municipal Theater downtown. The cause is under investigation.

The demonstrations that began in February 2011 by pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain escalated to more violent actions in January 2012. Protesters set trash can fires, threw Molotov cocktails and rocks, established unofficial checkpoints and blockaded highways. The government broke up demonstrations with tear gas, stun grenades and beatings. Most of the clashes happened at night or on weekends.

In April 2012, Bahrain will host the Formula One Championship race, which may draw more protests. The US Department of State warns travelers to avoid demonstrations.

The Department of State warns that, while most of the recent incidents of terror in the Philippines have occurred in the Sulu Archipelago, including on Mindanao — with bombings resulting in injuries and death — attacks could occur in any area of the country.

Sporadic clashes have occurred between criminal groups and the Philippine Armed Forces throughout Mindanao, particularly in rural areas. A state of emergency is in effect for Cotabato City in Mindanao as well as for the Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces.

Reuters published a rough tally of foreigners taken hostage in several African countries — Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, Algeria, Nigeria and Niger — from April 2008 to Jan. 25, 2012.

In the northern town of Hombori, Mali, two Frenchmen working for a cement firm were abducted on Nov. 23, 2011. On Nov. 25, three more Westerners were kidnapped and a fourth tourist, a German, was killed on a street in Timbuktu. The al Qaeda group Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), claimed responsibility and has continued to hold the hostages captive.

As of January, it was believed that at least 12 Europeans were being held by AQIM in the Sahel region of Northwest Africa, near the Sahara Desert.

On Jan. 17, a group of 27 tourists traveling in the remote region of Afar, Ethiopia, was attacked by the rebel group Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front. Five tourists were killed and one injured during the attack on their campsite, and two German tourists and two Ethiopian staff members were kidnapped.

Afar is in the northeast of Ethiopia near the border with Eritrea. What attracts adventurers to the area are the volcanoes, the desert Danakil Depression and the salt mines.

The Department of State warns that, in Sudan, violent flare-ups break out between armed militia groups and Sudanese military forces with little notice, particularly in the Darfur region, along the border between Chad and Sudan and near the border with South Sudan. Similar hostilities occur in the states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan and the disputed area of Abyei.

The Department of State warns that armed militia groups, bandits and poachers present real dangers in the Central African Republic (CAR). There have been repeated attacks on Central African and expatriate travelers in the countryside. Attacks in past months have occurred as close as 70 kilometers from the capital, Bangui.

Poachers and armed men pose a threat to game hunters in the north and east. The Lord’s Resistance Army poses a similar threat to hunters in eastern CAR.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (aka Congo-Kinshasa, or DRC), armed groups, bandits and elements of the Congolese military remain security concerns in the east and northeast, according to the US Department of State.

These armed groups are known to pillage, steal vehicles, kidnap, rape, kill and carry out military or paramilitary operations in which civilians are indiscriminately targeted.