Car hits beam of elevated train; 4 die

Car hits beam of elevated train; 4 die

CHICAGO

A speeding car hit a support beam of a Chicago elevated train track, crashing with enough force for the vehicle to split in two and killing four female passengers inside, authorities said Sunday.

Family and friends grieving on Mother’s Day said all four women were mothers who were out for the night and had planned to attend a party.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office said three died at the scene — Tyshyra Hines, 21; Bernadette Harris, 25; and Alicia Josten, 22. A fourth woman, 21-year-old Ieshia Nelson, was pronounced dead at an area hospital early Sunday.

Chicago Police Department spokesman Hector Alfaro said the car hit a cement beam that supports Chicago Transit Authority train tracks on the city’s West Side before it ran into a light pole.

Police were investigating the cause of the crash, which happened about midnight Sunday.

The four women were headed to a party, Nelson’s mother, Yvette Harris, told Chicago’s WBBM-Radio.

Suspect offers victim’s foot for deal

ANDERSON, S.C.

A homeless man charged with killing and dismembering his friend says he can’t remember much about the crime.

But in a jailhouse interview, Leslie Sandoval told the Anderson Independent-Mail he remembers where he put the victim’s missing left foot and is willing to tell a prosecutor if she will make him a deal.

Sandoval says he went on a January drinking binge with Seth Foster. Foster’s torso was found under an Anderson home, and his head, hands and right foot were found different places.

Sandoval says he is confused about exactly what happened. But he disagrees with a coroner’s finding he beat Foster and denies a claim from investigators that he confessed and gave them the knife used to dismember Foster.

Fla. police probe fire at travel agency

CORAL GABLES, Fla.

A new report says a blaze that scorched the offices of a Cuba travel agency in Miami was deliberately set, one of the first acts of violence in years against a company arranging visits to the island.

The Coral Gables Fire Department reported that investigators found a disposable lighter, the remains of a green bottle, and a piece of asphalt after the April 27 fire at the Airline Brokers Co.

The report was obtained by the Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald, which published a copy on its website.

No possible suspects have been named.

Greek coalition talks collapse

ATHENS, Greece

Critical talks to form a governing coalition in crisis-struck Greece foundered once more, leading the country one step closer to new elections — and bringing its continued presence in the euro into serious doubt.

Last-ditch efforts by President Karolos Papoulias to broker a deal between wrangling party leaders ended with no deal in sight late Sunday, a week after national elections produced a deadlock, with no party winning enough seats to form a government.

State television said talks would continue this evening between the heads of the parties that came in the top three spots in the elections, the conservative New Democracy, radical left-wing Syriza and socialist PASOK, plus the head of the small Democratic Left party, which is in a king-maker position.

But Syriza said it would not attend the talks, state television said, throwing the entire meeting into question.

Associated Press