Leak found in gas main at blast site

Leak found in gas main at blast site

NEW YORK

A gas-main leak has been found at the site of the explosion that killed eight people and leveled two Manhattan buildings, federal investigators said Tuesday but cautioned that they’re still a long way from determining what caused the blast.

The leaking gas main was adjacent to 1646 Park Avenue, one of the buildings destroyed in the March 12 blast, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

According to the NTSB, the leak was detected during a pressure test on the 8-inch main beneath Park Avenue. A tracer gas escaped under normal operating pressure, investigators said.

Suicide bomber kills at least 17 in Afghanistan

KABUL

A suicide bomber riding a rickshaw blew himself up outside a checkpoint near a market in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least 17 civilians, officials said, in the latest attack in the countdown to next month’s presidential elections.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital of Faryab province, but it happened in an area where the Taliban and allied militant groups are active. The Taliban have threatened a campaign of violence to disrupt the April 5 vote, which will choose a new president to lead the country as foreign troops prepare to end their combat mission by the end of the year.

Man dies after fall at Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.

Authorities investigating the death of a Texas man at Grand Canyon National Park believe he fell about 350 feet from the canyon’s edge after trying to retrieve something, possibly a hat.

John N. Anderson, 53, of Grapevine, Texas, died Saturday after falling about 350 feet from the South Rim near El Tovar Lodge, park officials said. Witnesses reported seeing Anderson near a small rock wall that serves as a barrier between visitors and the massive gorge, but no one saw him fall, Grand Canyon Chief Ranger Bill Wright said Tuesday.

Pistorius trial

PRETORIA, South Africa

Standing with his arms straight out in front of him and gripping an imaginary pistol in court, a South African police ballistics expert showed Tuesday how he estimated the trajectory of the four bullets Oscar Pistorius fired through a toilet door while standing on his stumps to kill his girlfriend.

Capt. Christiaan Mangena said Pistorius shot at a slightly downward angle into the cubicle where Reeva Steenkamp was, with the bullet holes around 3 feet high in the wood door. Pistorius was about 7 feet away from the door when he shot, Mangena said.

Big asteroid will eclipse bright star

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Skywatchers, get ready to see a rare vanishing act — and don’t blink.

In the wee hours of Thursday, a 45-mile-wide asteroid will eclipse the brightest star in the Constellation Leo. The asteroid is 163 Erigone in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The star briefly disappearing will be Regulus.

This so-called occultation will last no more than 14 seconds, around 2 a.m. It could be as short as a fraction of a second.

What makes this unusual is the brightness of Regulus and the potential viewing audience. Weather permitting, the eclipse should be visible with the naked eye from New York City and elsewhere along a populated swath in the U.S. Northeast and eastern Canada.

Associated Press