QUETTA, Pakistan — Thousands of Pakistanis ran into the streets praying for their lives Tuesday as a powerful earthquake rocked a remote area in the southwest, killing at least 39 people and possibly creating a small island off the coast.
Earthquake kills
39 in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan — Thousands of Pakistanis ran into the streets praying for their lives Tuesday as a powerful earthquake rocked a remote area in the southwest, killing at least 39 people and possibly creating a small island off the coast.
The Pakistani military said it was rushing troops and helicopters to Baluchistan province’s Awaran district, where the quake was centered, and the nearby area of Khuzdar. Local officials said they were sending doctors, food and 1,000 tents for people who had nowhere to sleep as strong aftershocks continued to shake the region.
Most of the victims were killed when their houses collapsed, according to the chief spokesman for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, Mirza Kamran Zia, who gave the death toll.
He warned the toll might rise and said the agency was still trying to get information from the stricken area.
6 more people found alive after Colo. floods
DENVER — The final six people who were unaccounted for after massive flooding in Colorado have been found safe and well, authorities said Tuesday, but new spills were reported in water-damaged oilfields.
Only one person remained missing and presumed dead. Eight deaths have been confirmed.
It was a remarkable outcome after a disaster that damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, washed out hundreds of miles of roads and left many small mountain towns completely cut off.
In the early days of the flooding, more than 1,200 people were listed as unaccounted for, but the list shrank quickly as people checked in after they were evacuated.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said three new spills totaling at least 7,600 gallons had been discovered as flood waters recede.
Regulators are now tracking 11 notable leaks totaling at least 34,500 barrels, mostly from storage tanks that toppled or otherwise failed.
Search on for Nevada teen accused of
killing mom, brother
LAS VEGAS — Police said Tuesday they were searching nationwide and at the Mexican border for a southern Nevada teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother and living for at least a short time with their bloody bodies in the bathroom of their apartment.
Henderson police investigators think the killings happened Tuesday, but the bodies weren’t discovered until Friday after a relative and the mother’s boyfriend called to say they were worried about whether Elvira Canales-Gomez, Adrian Navarro-Canales and Cesar Navarro were OK.
FAA nears new rules
on electronic devices
WASHINGTON — Airline passengers in the U.S. may soon be able to text, email and use iPods, Kindles and other electronic devices during takeoff and landing.
A Federal Aviation Administration advisory panel this month will recommend to the agency how it could expand the use of personal electronic devices during flights, said Douglas Kidd, executive director of the National Association of Airline Passengers and a member of the panel.
The panel will recommend the FAA tell airlines how to permit the use of email, text and Web surfing as well as allowing e-readers and MP3 players during takeoff and landing, a person familiar with the report said.
Recommendations won’t include allowing in-flight mobile-phone calls, which the panel isn’t considering. The FAA bans phone use because signals can interfere with ground towers in cellular networks.
The FAA currently prohibits use of electronic devices while a plane is below 10,000 feet, with the exception of portable recorders, hearing aids, heart pacemakers and electric shavers.
By wire sources
