Bridgeport, Conn. – A woman chased her minivan as it rolled down a steep hill and jumped in before it sank into a pond Wednesday, killing her and two children inside, authorities said. A third child was in critical condition.
The woman, mother of one of the children, had gotten out of the van, then noticed it was rolling away and jumped back in before it went into the water, Police Chief Bryan Norwood said.
The van rolled about 60 or 70 yards into the pond in a park where many people had gathered to celebrate the holiday.
The victims were trapped inside in 15 to 20 feet of water for 20 to 25 minutes before members of the Bridgeport police scuba team were able to pull them out.
Police said all three children in the van were younger than 7.
Additional nation/world news briefs:
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil
Security shortage kills Live Earth show
A Brazilian judge has canceled Saturday’s Live Earth concert in Rio because police said they do not have enough officers to guarantee crowd safety.
Organizers of the free show on Rio’s Copacabana Beach said Wednesday they were trying to overturn the order to prevent Latin America from being left out of the worldwide music fest aimed at stopping global warming.
Promoted by former Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth concerts are scheduled for London; Tokyo; Johannesburg, South Africa; Shanghai, China; Sydney, Australia; Hamburg, Germany; and East Rutherford, N.J. A band of scientists also will perform in Antarctica.
MEXICO CITY
Landslide buries bus carrying passengers
A crumbling hillside buried a bus carrying at least 40 passengers on a mountainous road in central Mexico on Wednesday.
About 500 soldiers and rescue workers dug through tons of rock and dirt near Eloxochitlan, Puebla, where heavy rains triggered the landslide, said German Garcia, operations director for the state civil protection department.
As night fell, a crew unearthed the body of a dead female, Garcia said. Garcia said it was impossible to know the exact number of passengers because the bus made stops along the way.
TEHRAN
Dozens arrested after gas-rationing protests
Authorities have arrested about 80 suspects on the charge of damaging gas stations and looting shops during last week’s protests against fuel rationing, state- run TV reported Wednesday.
The report was the first confirmation that people were arrested for protesting the new fuel-rationing measures. Announced June 27, the government’s rationing drove angry Iranians to smash shop windows and set fire to more than a dozen gas stations in Tehran and other cities.
BOGOTÁ, Colombia
Rebels release video of 7 longtime hostages
Colombian rebels released a video showing seven kidnapped police officers and soldiers – some of whom have spent nearly a decade in captivity – pleading for the government and rebels to negotiate their freedom.
The video was made by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and given to the news channel al-Jazeera, according to Colombia’s RCN news.
In the video, soldier Giovanni Dominguez mentions meeting former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, abducted five years ago with her campaign manager, Clara Rojas.
The rebels want their imprisoned compatriots freed in return for the liberation of about 50 prominent hostages.
