Damaging winds leave 2 dead in California

Damaging winds leave2 dead in California
LOS ANGELES -- Santa Ana winds that roared through Southern California contributed to two deaths and fanned wildfires that were threatening hundreds of Malibu homes.
The winds, which were expected to gust through this morning, also toppled trees, power poles and big rigs.
A woman died after a eucalyptus tree fell on her Monday morning in San Diego's historic Old Town, and a passenger in a car was killed late Sunday after being hit by a fiberglass cover that flew off a pickup truck on a freeway in Riverside.
Three homes in Malibu were damaged and hundreds more were threatened by a 1,200-acre wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains. Winds also whipped a 150-acre blaze that damaged five homes near Norco, 45 miles east of Los Angeles.
More than 600 firefighters were battling the Malibu blaze, which was 10 percent contained early today, said Inspector Mike Brown of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"The single biggest problem is definitely the wind, they are very sporadic," Brown said. He added that firefighters hoped to have the blaze controlled today, when the winds were expected to calm.
Commuter train collideswith truck; 1 killed
BURBANK, Calif. -- Tanya Aguilar watched in horror as a truck drove into the path of a commuter train, ignoring lowered gates and flashing signals at the railroad crossing.
"I started honking at him. The train was obviously coming," the 23-year-old Burbank woman said. "I started screaming, 'Oh, my God, Oh, my God ... Stop, stop!"'
The truck exploded in flames and was dragged 1,000 feet along the tracks by the 450-ton Metrolink train Monday, killing the driver. The force of the collision also derailed all four of the train's passenger cars, injuring 32 people aboard.
"I thought we were all going to die," said Susan Esquivel, 22, who boarded shortly before the crash.
"We all got scared; we went under our seats. We saw the fire on either side," she told the Daily News of Los Angeles.
The train was heading to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles from suburban Santa Clarita with 58 passengers and a two-person crew.
None of those hurt suffered life-threatening injuries, said Burbank Fire Department Battalion Chief David Starr, although several were hospitalized.
N.J. children livedin squalor, police say
NEWARK, N.J. -- For weeks, investigators say, three young brothers stayed locked in a putrid basement room furnished with a bed, dresser and light. Food was sporadic, sometimes only a doughnut or candy.
The squalid conditions came to light amid the investigation into the death of one of the boys, 7-year-old Faheem Williams, whose body was found in a plastic storage bin Sunday. Police are searching for a go-go dancer who authorities say was caring for the children at the time.
An autopsy has determined Faheem died from starvation and blunt force to the stomach, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported today. His brothers, 7-year-old Raheem Williams and 4-year-old Tyrone Hill, are at University Hospital in fair condition, being treated for dehydration and starvation.
Tyrone had burns on his body, Newark Mayor Sharpe James said.
"They are two kids with good manners and good spirits who suffered for no reason at all," James said.
Police are focusing on Sherry L. Murphy, a cousin of the children's mother, Melinda Williams. Murphy is a go-go dancer who had care of the boys while their mother was jailed on assault charges in March.
The search was focused on bars in the Newark area, the mayor said. She was nearly captured late Monday night, but James said police missed her by a matter of minutes.
3 gunmen slain
GAZA, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian militiamen for four hours early today, killing three gunmen before withdrawing from the outskirts of a refugee camp, witnesses said.
The army confirmed the firefight near the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and said several Palestinians were hit by army fire. It said troops were conducting searches, but did not say what the target of the operation was.
The firefight erupted about midnight and lasted until 4 a.m. today, witnesses said. Dozens of gunmen from several militias fought with troops backed by tanks and two helicopter gunships, the witnesses said.
Associated Press