41 killed as subway train derails in Spanish port city
Valencia, Spain – A subway train accelerated, shuddered and flipped off the tracks Monday in the Mediterranean port of Valencia, killing at least 41 passengers and injuring at least 40 others in one of Spain’s worst rail accidents, officials and witnesses said.
Regional authorities and a witness said the train was going too fast and one of its wheels broke into pieces, derailing the first car, which overturned. Victims were strewn in the tunnel. Officials did not say whether the second car derailed.
Authorities ruled out terrorism but had not determined the cause of the crash.
Justice Ministry official Rosa Sanchez said officials had identified just 14 victims and were trying to determine whether the driver of the train was among the dead.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero cut short a visit to India. Pope Benedict XVI, who was to arrive in Valencia on Saturday for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Meeting of the Families, prayed for the victims and “has followed with pain … the dramatic reports,” the Vatican said.
WASHINGTON
Fireworks crowd will test evacuation plan
The hordes of people leaving the July Fourth fireworks display on the National Mall will help authorities test the city’s emergency evacuation plan.
More than 500,000 people typically attend the show, and officials hope those who are directed along designated evacuation routes will get out of the city more quickly than usual. Traffic signals along the routes will be adjusted to ease vehicle flow. Pedestrians and subway riders also will be monitored.
LIMA, Peru
Bodies of 3 climbers from Tucson found
A Peruvian rescue team has found the bodies of three young American mountaineers killed during a climb high in the Andes, authorities said Monday.
A 15-member team located Kristen Yoder, 21, her brother Dustin Yoder, 23, and Brennan Larson, 24, on Sunday in a deep crevasse on Artesonraju peak, said police Maj. Edmundo Vidal of the High Mountain Rescue Unit.
The bodies were being removed Monday.
The three climbers from Tucson went missing last week about 2,000 feet from the 19,682- foot summit. Authorities said they were on a fairly treacherous route without a guide.
FREDONIA, Ariz.
North Rim road open after closure for fire
A steady stream of tourists drove to the Grand Canyon’s North Rim on Monday after a highway closure prompted by a 58,600-acre wildfire was lifted.
The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park was closed last week after the fire jumped the only paved highway leading to the remote area. Hundreds of tourists were briefly marooned.
The area in northern Arizona was reopened Monday after rain and humidity helped crews build a line around the fire.
TRENTON, N.J.
Lawmakers must stay until budget is settled
As the state government shutdown threatened to close Atlantic City’s casinos, Gov. Jon Corzine on Monday said New Jersey lawmakers must report to the Statehouse today and stay there until they adopt a budget.
Corzine called for a special session of the Legislature after Monday’s negotiations with the lawmaker who is leading opposition to the governor’s proposed sales-tax increase failed again.
Barring a breakthrough, the state planned to force the 12 casinos to stop taking bets Wednesday morning because they cannot operate without state gambling monitors, whose work is not deemed “essential.”
HARTFORD, Conn.
Sen. Lieberman may run as an independent
Facing a stronger-than-expected Democratic primary challenge and sagging poll numbers, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday that he’ll collect signatures for an independent campaign for a fourth Senate term if he loses next month’s primary.
Once a Democratic stalwart and the party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee, Lieberman has fallen into disfavor among some Democrats for his support of the Iraq war and his perceived closeness to President Bush.
LONDON
Police still seek any bombing conspirators
Police are still hunting for conspirators who knew about plans to carry out the transit bombings in London a year ago that killed 52 commuters and the four bombers, a senior counterterrorism officer said Monday.
Peter Clarke, the head of London’s police anti-terrorist branch, said officers were dissecting the planning of the attacks in hopes of discovering if the bombers confided in others who failed to raise the alarm.
“We need to know who else, apart from the bombers, knew what they were planning,” Clarke told reporters before the first anniversary of the July 7 attacks.
Police have yet to prosecute anyone in the bombings on three subway cars and a double-decker bus.
KABUL, Afghanistan
30 Afghans released from U.S. detention
Thirty Afghan men were released Monday from detention at the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan, an official said.
The men had been held for a year or longer, said Syed Sharif Yousafi, spokesman for the national reconciliation commission.
Several hundred Afghans remain at the facility at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.
