Tegugigalpa, Honduraz: Rescuers freed three miners who had been trapped by a landslide at an illegal gold mine in southern Honduras, but eight more remained unaccounted for as the search moved into its second day. The workers were trapped when the entrance to the mine in San Juan Arriba collapsed on Wednesday. Officials said the mine, 110km south of the Central American nation’s capital Tegucigalpa, had been ordered to close a few months ago because it was unsafe.
“We’ve rescued three of the miners, thank God, and we’re going to keep looking for the other eight,” Moises Alvarado, a senior emergency services official, told reporters. The three miners were whisked away in ambulances. Oscar Cruz, a spokesman for El Salvador’s Green Cross, which came to help with the search effort, said the men were dehydrated and one had a broken right leg.
Hopes of a major breakthrough had surged on Wednesday night when Honduran President Juan Hernandez sent a tweet from the scene, saying that eight of the miners had been freed. However, shortly afterwards he deleted the tweet and apologized for reporting false news.
Probe into LA traffic officer beating woman
washington: The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is investigating footage that shows one of its officers straddling a woman and repeatedly punching her in the head as she lies on the hard shoulder of a Los Angeles highway.
Chris O’Quinn, CHP assistant chief, said on Friday that the woman had been walking on Interstate 10, west of central Los Angeles, endangering herself and people in traffic, and the officer was trying to restrain her.
David Diaz, a passing driver, recorded the incident on Tuesday and provided it to media outlets.
The officer is on administrative leave while the patrol investigates. He has not been named. O’Quinn said the video only shows a small part of what transpired.
Diaz, a Los Angeles native, told the Associated Press news agency in a phone interview on Friday that he arrived when the woman was walking off the highway. He said she turned around only after the officer shouted something to her.
Bulgaria’s Socialist leader to step down
SOFIA: The leader of Bulgaria’s ruling Socialists (BSP), Sergei Stanishev, announced yesterday his intention to resign as party leader after a poor showing in May’s European elections.
The Socialists have bowed to pressure from their coalition partner, the ethnic Turkish MRF party, and the main opposition GERB party to hold an early election on October 5 after gaining less than a fifth of the vote at the European poll. Stanishev, who has been the subject of mounting criticism within the BSP, told a party meeting yesterday a congress on July 27 would “adopt the election campaign platform and elect a new chairperson of the party”.
“I will stay firm to the next leader,” said Stanishev, who is also the leader of the European Socialists (PES).
Malawi pardons 403 prisoners
BLANTYRE: Malawi’s new President Peter Mutharika pardoned 403 prisoners yesterday ahead of celebrations to mark 50 years since the country gained independence from Britain. “The pardon of the prisoners is a symbol of forgiveness as the country commemorates its golden jubilee of independence” today, the home affairs ministry said in a statement.Agencies
