LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I told them that Logar is not a safe area and if I broadcast that, I could get attacked.” Mohammad Nasir Medaruz, director of a radio station in Afghanistan’s Logar province, after being asked to broadcast a message offering money for information about the whereabouts of two U.S. servicemen Article, 1ABus tumbles into India river, killing 17
SRINAGAR, India - A minibus veered off a mountain road under construction and plunged into a river in Indian Kashmir, killing at least 17 people, a police officer said Saturday.
Rescue workers were searching the fast-flowing waters of the Chenab River for survivors, said Hemant Lohia.
The accident occurred late Friday in the Kishtwar region, 120 miles southeast of Srinagar, the main city in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were traveling on the privately owned bus or what caused the crash. Three survivors who managed to climb out and swim ashore said about 20 people were inside, Lohia said.
The minibus was negotiating a curve when the accident happened. “The entire road has been dug up for widening, and it was also slippery because of the rains,” Lohia said.
More than 110,000 people die annually nationwide in road accidents, according to police figures. Badly maintained roads, overcrowding and old vehicles are the cause of a majority of accidents in India.
Siberia miner dies in methane blast
MOSCOW - A methane-gas explosion at a coal mine in western Siberia early Saturday killed one miner and left two hospitalized with burns, officials said.
A sudden buildup of the gas at the Krasnogorskaya mine ignited as 66 miners were at work, and 65 were evacuated, said Valery Korchagin, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman. The extent of the burn injuries was unclear.
State television reported that the Krasnogorskaya mine is one of the region’s oldest, built in the 1940s, but that new safety equipment had recently been installed.
In Saturday’s blast the methane accumulated so quickly that it wasn’t picked up by detectors in time, the Rossiya-24 news channel reported.
The mine is one of dozens in and around Kemerovo, an industrial city atop one of the world’s largest coal basins.
Fatal accidents are common there, with workers often ignoring - or being told to ignore - dangerous levels of volatile gases to raise production figures.
Gunmen kill 2 at Russian food market
MOSCOW - Gunmen opened fire on security guards at a provincial food market in the southern Russian city of Samara on Saturday, killing at least two and wounding at least five other people, investigators said.
At least six attackers arrived at the market in three cars and opened fire before fleeing, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Five people were hospitalized, it said.
Even the smallest of Russian enterprises employs security guards, who are often in the line of fire when business disputes turn violent.
State television reported the Samara market was changing ownership.
Russian news agencies earlier reported 14 had been hurt in the shooting.
Mubarak to forgo Uganda summit
CAIRO - Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak will not go to the African Union summit in Uganda despite officials earlier citing his planned attendance as proof of his good health, state media reported Saturday.
Mubarak delegated Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to represent Egypt at the summit in Kampala, which is expected to address the sensitive issue of sharing Nile River water, the official Al-Ahram daily reported.
The government press earlier reported that the president would be attending the summit, and then on July 14 officials specifically cited the summit trip to discount rumors proliferating about the 82-year-old president’s declining health.
On Wednesday, presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad again dismissed reports Mubarak was ill, saying his staff was “out of breath” just trying to keep up with his schedule.
Mubarak underwent surgery in Germany in March to remove his gallbladder and a benign growth in the lining of his small intestine, setting off speculation about how long he will stay in office.
Front Section, Pages 14 on 07/25/2010