Monday, October 17, 2011
In Central America, rains kill at least 66
san salvador, el salvador
Central American authorities said Sunday that at least 66 people had died in six days of heavy rains that caused landslides, floods and bridge failures throughout the region. Officials ordered evacuations as the rain was expected to continue.
El Salvador’s director of civil protection, Jorge Melendez, said in a news conference that at least 24 people had died in the country, most of them buried in their houses by landslides.
The country is in a state of alert and preparing for “major disasters,” Melendez said.
Authorities were evacuating people from the area around a volcano near the capital of San Salvador, where hundreds died in landslides in 1982.
Aging pope uses wheeled platform
vatican city
Pope Benedict XVI began using a wheeled platform Sunday to navigate the long aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica, adopting the device employed by his ailing predecessor to reduce fatigue.
As the platform, pushed forward by aides, glided up the marble floor toward the main altar, Benedict gripped his pastoral staff with one hand and the device’s support bar with the other.
The 84-year-old pontiff occasionally took his hand off the bar to wave to thousands of faithful flanking his route in the basilica, where he celebrated a Mass dedicated to encouraging missionary zeal.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi insisted the platform wasn’t being used for any “medical reason.”
Libyans bulldoze Gadhafi’s compound
tripoli, libya
Libyan revolutionary forces bulldozed the green walls surrounding Moammar Gadhafi’s main Tripoli compound Sunday, saying it was time “to tear down this symbol of tyranny.”
The sprawling, fortresslike compound known as Bab al-Aziziya has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk nearby during Gadhafi’s more than four decades in power and its capture was seen as a turning point in the civil war as revolutionaries overran the capital in late August.
Ahmad Ghargory, commander of a revolutionary brigade, said the area will be turned into a public park accessible to all Libyans
2 teen girls die after being hit by train
spanish fork, utah
Two 15-year-old girls died and a 13-year-old girl was critically injured after they were struck by a freight train in Utah.
Utah County sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon says the three girls were taking photos when they were hit Saturday evening in Spanish Fork Canyon. He says the teens apparently knew one train was coming, but did not realize another train was coming from the opposite direction and became caught between them.
The Deseret News reports Essa Ricker and Kelsea Webster were killed in the accident. Kelsea’s sister, Savannah Webster, underwent surgery Sunday at a hospital.
Soldiers rescue 61
mexico city
Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor.
The army says the men were found guarded by three Zetas kidnappers in a safe house in the border city of Piedras Negras on Saturday.
In a press conference Sunday, Gen. Luis Crescencio Sandoval Gonzalez said one of the captives was from Honduras and others were from various parts of Mexico. He said the three kidnappers were arrested.
Associated Press