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Austria
freight train crash kills at least seven people
WAMPERSDORF,
Austria (AP) — Two freight trains collided near a village station
south of Vienna on Tuesday, killing at least seven people and injuring
more than a dozen, some critically, railway officials said.
Six
bodies had been recovered by early evening, and the officials, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said rescue crews could see another trapped
by twisted metal. One survivor pinned by the wreckage was freed
after about three hours and taken to hospital.
Railway
officials said 15 people were believed hurt, including four in comas.
One
of the trains was not supposed to be on the track, railway officials
said without providing more details.
Building
collapse kills at least 22 in Egypt Tuesday
DAMIETTA,
Egypt (AP) — Rescue workers searched through the rubble of
a four-story building on Tuesday after it collapsed and killed at
least 22 people, including brides and attendants who had been in
a beauty salon preparing for weddings.
At
least 25 people were injured when the aging Nile-front building
toppled Monday in Damietta, 105 miles north of Cairo, officials
at Damietta Specialist Hospital said.
All
but one of those killed were women — and at least two were
brides. Some of the victims had been in a popular women-only hairdressing
salon inside the building preparing for
weddings later that day, family members and witnesses said.
Hundreds
of relatives and townspeople converged on local mosques to pray
over coffins bearing the victims. Funerals for some of the victims
were expected to be held following noon prayers.
It
wasn’t clear what caused the building to collapse, but local
council official Sameer Abu Hussein said there had been a demolition
order on it for five years and that he didn’t know why it had
not been torn down.
Angry
residents said ambulance and rescue crews took more than an hour
to arrive at the accident scene, by which time locals had found
bulldozers and begun their own ad-hoc rescue.
Neighbor
charged with murder of 7-year-old girl
SAN
DIEGO (AP) — A neighbor of 7-year-old girl who vanished from
her bedroom was charged with murder, kidnapping and possession of
child pornography Tuesday.
David
Westerfield, 50, was to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in the death
of Danielle van Dam, the subject of an intense search since she
was reported missing more than three weeks ago.
The
three-page complaint against Westerfield did not provide specific
dates for the alleged kidnapping and murder.
The
single count of murder includes a so-called special circumstance
— murder during kidnapping — that carries the possibility
of the death penalty or life in prison if Westerfield is convicted.
Pfingst said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death
penalty.
Westerfield’s
attorney, Steven Feldman, promised a “vigorous defense.”
Westerfield,
who lives two doors from the van Dam home, was arrested Friday on
investigation
of kidnapping and jailed without bail.
Authorities
have said they found traces of Danielle’s blood in Westerfield’s
motor home and on an article of his clothing.
The
absence of a body creates a legal challenge, but the district attorney’s
office has successfully prosecuted four such cases, the most recent
in August.
Catholic
priest sentenced for molesting teenage boys
WAUSAU,
Wis. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to 18 months
in jail and 20 years probation after pleading guilty to molesting
and exposing himself to teen-age boys under his care at two churches.
The
Rev. Timothy E. Svea, 39, was convicted Monday of second-degree
sexual assault of a child under 16 and several counts of exposing
himself to a child. Svea also pleaded guilty to charges of false
imprisonment.
“I’ve
hurt these young men and I’ve hurt their families,” Svea
told Marathon County Circuit Judge Patrick Brady. “I’ve
hurt the church and I’ve offended my God.”
District
Attorney Jill Falstad said Svea had shown remorse and cooperated
with authorities, but he abused his position as a religious leader,
abusing the boys and giving them sleeping pills and alcohol.
Ceremony
honors soldiers killed in helicopter crash
FORT
CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Eight members of an elite Army regiment
who died when their helicopter crashed in the Philippines were remembered
Tuesday as heroes who followed
their unit’s motto: “Night Stalkers don’t quit.”
In
honor of the soldiers, dark green flight helmets sat atop assault
rifles placed next to black combat boots. The soldiers’ dog
tags were attached to the rifles. Below were portraits of each soldier.
A
21-gun salute followed the ceremony.
The
160th, based at Fort Campbell, is an elite group trained to slip
special forces commandos behind enemy lines aboard Black Hawk and
Chinook helicopters. The regiment earned the nickname “Night
Stalkers” because of its ability to strike undetected in the
darkness.
The
regiment was recently depicted in the film “Black Hawk Down.”
The
eight soldiers died while on a counterterrorism training exercise
in the southern Philippines. Two Air Force para-rescuemen, assigned
to a base in Japan, also died in the crash. Three of the bodies
have been recovered.
Missing
tugboat crew members presumed dead
PORT
HERMAN, Md. (AP) — Four crew members missing from a tugboat
that sank after colliding with a cargo ship were presumed dead Tuesday
as crews assembled equipment to raise the vessel from a busy inland
waterway.
Five
other crew members were rescued after the tug Swift sank in the
Elk River, about 40 miles north of Baltimore.
The
Coast Guard suspended its search Monday evening for the four missing
crewmen and officials said Tuesday that water temperatures in the
low 40s made it doubtful the crewmen were still alive.
“All
reasonable chances of finding them alive have passed,” said
Coast Guard spokesman Patrick Montgomery. “This has switched
from a search-and-rescue to a salvage operation.”
The
Elk River remained closed Tuesday, along with a 14-mile-long canal
connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware bays that connects to the
river.
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