Toxic spill forces mass evacuation
Salt Lake City A railcar leaking toxic chemicals sent plumes of gas into the air Sunday and forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people.
Authorities evacuated a half-square-mile area downwind from the accident site and closed at least nine roads after the leak was discovered by crews loading chemicals into a parked railcar in South Salt Lake.
The chemicals involved – hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid – can cause severe burns if they come into direct contact with skin or eyes. Cleanup crews were working to transfer the chemicals to tankers.
Ice-cream truck driver allegedly kills toddler
West Palm Beach, Fla. A 2-year-old boy was fatally injured when he ran into the path of an ice cream truck in the parking lot of his apartment complex, and the driver allegedly left the scene, authorities said Sunday.
Angela Rodriguez, 27, later turned herself in and was charged with leaving the scene of a fatality, which carries a possible 15-year prison sentence. She was jailed Sunday. Witnesses said the driver got out of her truck after Saturday’s accident and moved the boy before driving away.
Vietnam reports fifth flu case in two weeks
Hanoi, Vietnam A man who worked as a nurse for a bird-flu patient has contracted the deadly virus, but it was unclear whether he caught the disease from the patient, a Vietnamese health official said today in announcing Vietnam’s fifth case in two weeks.
Tests late last week showed that the 26-year-old man contracted the H5N1 virus. Four of the last five cases, including one death, have been from the area of Thai Binh.
Bird flu has killed a total of 46 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia since it surfaced on Asian poultry farms in 2003, then spread last year among birds across a wide swath of the region.
Bolivian chief offers to quit amid protests
La Paz, Bolivia Bolivian President Carlos Mesa announced Sunday he would submit his resignation in a nationally televised speech that came amid growing protests and frustration with his government.
Mesa took office in October 2003, succeeding President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who resigned in the wake of bloody protests that took the lives of at least 56 people. Mesa’s government has struggled with a growing push for greater political autonomy in Bolivia’s most prosperous region.
Mesa’s government has faced continued protests in recent weeks from groups backing demands on such issues as constitutional amendments and rural schools.
Soldiers patrol town after drug violence
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico More than 700 soldiers and federal and state agents took to the streets of this city on the Mexico- U.S. border Sunday to help local authorities control a wave of apparently drug-related crime.
The influx of law enforcement came after four more killings over the weekend, bringing the total number of people killed in ambush-style shootings in Nuevo Laredo to 20 for this year.
The region has seen an increase in violence after the area’s alleged kingpin, Osiel Cardenas, was arrested in 2003. Authorities say violence has intensified because another drug lord is fighting smugglers loyal to Cardenas.