Nation in brief: Apartment blast injures 20

An apparent gas leak caused a Manhattan apartment building to explode, injuring 20 people, four of them children who were critically burned, officials said.

The explosion blew out some of the 20-unit building’s walls just after 4 p.m. in upper Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood, witnesses said. Residents said they heard the explosion blocks away, then screams.

Some residents said one apartment was operating as an illegal restaurant, cooking and selling takeout food to taxi drivers. City officials said they had no evidence of an illegal business in the building.

The building and those on both sides of it were evacuated.

Minneapolis

E. Coli outbreak prompts recall

Cargill Inc. is voluntarily recalling more than 840,000 pounds of ground beef patties distributed at Sam’s Club stores nationwide after four Minnesota children who ate the food developed E. coli illness, a Cargill official said Saturday.

The Sam’s Club warehouse chain, which sold the burgers that sickened the children, had previously pulled the same brand of ground beef patties from its shelves nationwide.

The children became ill between Sept. 10 and Sept. 20 after eating ground beef bought frozen under the name American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties from three Sam’s Club stores in the Twin Cities area.

The Cargill recall comes on the heels of Elizabeth, N.J.-based Topps Meat Co.’s recall of 21.7 million pounds of ground beef amid E. coli concerns.

The recall – the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history – caused Topps on Friday to announce that it’s going out of business.