Officials charged in fire that killed 47 children

Officials charged in fire that killed 47 children

MEXICO CITY — Seven state officials have been arrested on charges of negligent homicide in a day-care fire that killed 47 children in northern Mexico, an official said Monday.

The seven are officials with the northern Sonora state Finance Department, which operated a warehouse where the June 5 fire started, then spread to the adjacent day-care center, said Sonora State Attorney General Abel Murrieta. He said arrests warrants have been issued for six additional Finance Department officials.

Investigators say the fire may have been caused by a short circuit or overheating in the warehouse air-conditioning system. There were no fire alarms or extinguishers at the warehouse for cars, tires and paperwork.

The blaze spread to the roof of the day care, sending fire raining down on the children and teachers.

Thirty children died the day of the fire in Hermosillo, the Sonora state capital, and many more were badly injured. The 47th victim, a 3-year-old girl with burns on 65 percent of the her body, died Sunday.

Bombings, shootings kill more than 30 in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Bombings and shootings killed more than 30 people across Iraq on Monday, including high school students on their way to final exams, part of a new round of violence ahead of next week’s deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from urban areas.

Police said the attack on the students’ bus killed at least three students and wounded 13 people. The U.S. military said only one civilian was killed and eight wounded. Conflicting casualty tolls are common after bombings in Iraq because victims are often taken to multiple hospitals.

The attacks pushed the three-day Iraqi death toll over 100, shattering a recent lull and adding fresh doubt to the ability of government forces to protect people without U.S. soldiers by their sides.

Overall levels of violence remain low, but Iraqi officials have warned that militants will likely carry out more attacks to erode public confidence in the government as the Americans pull out of cities by June 30 — the first step toward a full withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011.

New policy on Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. commander in Afghanistan will soon order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding among villagers, an official said Monday, announcing one of the strongest measures yet to protect Afghan civilians.

The most contentious civilian casualty cases in recent years occurred during battles in Afghan villages when U.S. airstrikes aimed at militants also killed civilians. American commanders say such deaths hurt their mission because they turn average Afghans against the government and international forces.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pressed U.S. forces for years to reduce civilian casualties, but his pleas have done little to stem the problem.

The U.N. says U.S., NATO and Afghan forces killed 829 civilians in the Afghan war last year.

Aftershock jolts Italy

ROME — A powerful aftershock has hit the quake-struck areas of central Italy, rattling buildings as far away as Rome.

The temblor Monday had a preliminary magnitude of 4.6, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its epicenter was just north of L’Aquila, the city that was hardest hit by the earthquake in April.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Monday’s quake struck just before 11 p.m. and was felt as far as the Italian capital, some 75 miles away.

The April 6 earthquake killed nearly 300 people, displaced some 50,000 and toppled entire blocks of buildings in L’Aquila and the surrounding Abruzzo region.

Earthquake shakes Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A strong earthquake jolted a swath of southern Alaska on Monday, sending people diving under desks and huddling in doorways but causing little damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 5.4 magnitude tremor struck about 24 miles from the town of Willow at 11:28 a.m. The rumbling lasted several moments in Anchorage, 58 miles from the epicenter, and was felt as far south as Kenai and north to Fairbanks, a span of 300 miles.

The quake was 26 miles deep, a reason for both the minimal damage and the vast area over which it was felt, according to Janet Herr, an employee fielding many of the calls residents were making to the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

Associated Press