Building collapse in China kills 17

Building collapse in China kills 17

BEIJING

Authorities in central China say 17 workers were killed and 23 injured when a building collapsed during renovations.

The Wuyang County government in Henan province says on its website that the building collapsed Friday afternoon while work was being done on its foundation. It says 40 people were pulled from the debris by early today, including 17 killed and 23 injured – nine of them in serious condition.

The official Xinhua News Agency says the two-story house was built in the 1990s.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Water suppliers fined for failing to meet 25% reduction

SAN FRANCISCO

State officials for the first time are fining California water suppliers for failing to meet a mandated 25 percent reduction in water use in the battle against a widespread drought.

The $61,000 fines are being imposed on Beverly Hills, Indio, Redlands and the Coachella Valley Water District.

Beverly Hills officials said in a statement they may impose additional fines and hire extra staff to meet its savings goals. Officials with the Coachella Valley Water District said they, too, will develop new ways to encourage greater water savings.

Man charged with setting church fires

ST. LOUIS

Authorities charged A 35-year-old black St. Louis man with arson for two of the seven church fires in a predominantly African-American part of the St. Louis region, and federal investigators said there is no evidence of a hate crime.

David Lopez Jackson was charged Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree arson in the fires at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and New Life Missionary Baptist Church, both in the city. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said investigations continue into the other fires – three in St. Louis, two in nearby Jennings – and Jackson is a suspect in all of them.

The fires were set between Oct. 8 and Oct. 22. Five of the congregations are predominantly black, one is racially mixed and one is mostly white.

Official: 27 die in club fire in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania

A heavy-metal band’s pyrotechnical show sparked a deadly fire Friday at a Bucharest nightclub, killing 27 people and injuring scores of the club’s mostly youthful patrons, officials and witnesses said.

Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea initially said an explosion occurred at Colectiv club, located in a basement in downtown Bucharest, a city of 3 million people, but authorities heading the rescue effort later said there had been a fire.

Witnesses told Antena 3 TV that there were 300 to 400 mostly young people at the club, housed in a former factory, and only one exit door when the metal band Goodbye to Gravity was performing and a “pyrotechnical show” went awry. The station reported that people panicked and rushed for the exit.

At least 2 die in flooding in Texas

BUDA, Texas

Punishing storms and suspected tornadoes Friday socked an already sodden swath of Texas that was still drying out from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia, forcing evacuations and shutting down a gridlocked 10-mile stretch of interstate. At least two people died and another was missing, authorities said.

More than 16 inches of rain soaked one neighborhood and Austin Bergstrom International Airport suspended all flights after a half-foot of water flooded the air traffic control tower.

Associated Press