Ferry sinks with 200 on board
Dhaka, Bangladesh A Bangladesh ferry sank during a tropical storm overnight, leaving at least 37 people dead and 150 missing, rescue officials said today.
The double-deck M.V. Maharaj was carrying about 200 people when it capsized Saturday night in the Buriganga River.
“We have so far found 37 bodies and rescuers were looking for dozens still missing,” said Mahbubur Rahman, a government administrator in the area. “The accident happened in darkness, and it’s still unclear how many people died or survived.”
He said many passengers were rescued by villagers and fishing boats.
The ferry was traveling from Dhaka to the eastern town of Chandpur when gusty winds struck it. It went down near the town of Pagla outside Dhaka.
Thousands of people gathered on the banks of the river to look for their loved ones.
“I’m looking for my brother, his wife and their 1-year-old son,” said Dhaka businessman Mujibur Rahman.
Authorities ordered an investigation into the accident.
Ferry accidents are common in this South Asian nation crisscrossed by rivers. A ferry capsized in eastern Chandpur during a storm in July 2003, killing more than 500 people.
Ex-worker blamed in plant shooting
Taylor, Mich. A man who had just been fired from his job at a paper plant returned to his workplace with a handgun and shot two colleagues, killing one of them, authorities said.
The suspect, identified only as a 31-year-old Detroit man, was expected to be arraigned today, police Lt. Frank Canning said Saturday.
Police in the Detroit suburb were called Friday afternoon and told that an employee was firing shots in the International Paper Co. plant, said police Sgt. Mary Sclabassi.
She said the gunman had just been dismissed because the company wasn’t satisfied with his performance. The shooter went to his vehicle, got a handgun, returned to the building and shot the supervisor who fired him. He then shot a woman who tried to intervene, Sclabassi said.
She said the wounded supervisor and another employee who wasn’t shot tackled the shooter, took the gun away and held him until police arrived.
Man pleads guilty in phony registrations
Defiance, Ohio A man pleaded guilty to charges he filled out phony voter registration cards in the names of Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.
Chad Staton, 22, faces up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine on each of 10 counts of false registration at his sentencing April 13. He pleaded guilty on Thursday.
Election officials spotted the phony registration forms and notified the Defiance County sheriff, who arrested Staton in December. Officials said Staton had fraudulently filled out more than 100 forms.
A woman told authorities she paid Staton cocaine to sign up voters for the November election. Rather than getting legitimate voters, Staton filled out the phony forms, authorities said.
Marine recruit’s death prompts suspensions
Columbia, S.C. Four more Marines have been suspended while authorities investigate the death of a recruit who died during a training exercise, military officials said Saturday.
The four Marines saw a drill instructor grab recruit Jason Tharp by the shirt and hit him in the chest, according to a video shot by Columbia television station WIS a day before Tharp died. The drill instructor was suspended earlier. Tharp drowned Feb. 8 in a swimming pool in a water-survival training course.