23 children killed in India bus crash
NURPUR, India -- A school bus plunged off a mountain road Monday into a deep gorge in the Himalayan foothills, killing 23 children, some as young as 4, Indian officials said.
Four adults also died, said Sandeep Kumar, a local official. Ten children were hospitalized.
Initial reports indicated the bus driver was speeding as he took the children home and lost control at the edge of the gorge. The bus fell some 200 feet to the ground below, said police officer Sunil Kumar.
The adults killed were the bus driver, two teachers and another woman, officials said. Most of the children riding in the bus were believed to be in elementary school. The crash occurred in the Kangra Valley, about 300 miles north of New Delhi.
The search for survivors ended late Monday night, with the bodies of the dead lying on the concrete floor of the Nurpur mortuary, covered by sheets.
India's roads, particularly in the hills, have long been feared for their deep potholes, reckless drivers and often a lack of guardrails. Fatal accidents are common.
54 Indonesians killed by bootleg liquor
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- More than 50 people have died in little more than a week after drinking bootleg liquor in western Indonesia, including in the capital, Jakarta, officials said Monday.
In the latest incident, 20 people died between Thursday and Monday in Cicalengka subdistrict near the West Java capital, Bandung.
Head of the state-run hospital in Cicalengka, Yani Sumpena, said 19 people died at the hospital and one was dead on arrival.
In total, some 40 people were admitted with symptoms such as nausea, throwing up, shortness of breath and unconsciousness, and several were still being treated, Sumpena said.
In Bandung itself, Police Chief Hendro Pandowo said three people died Sunday after being admitted to hospitals the day before with symptoms of alcohol poisoning.
High taxes on alcohol have spawned a black market for liquor among the poor in Indonesia. Potentially lethal methanol can be a byproduct of bootleg distilling, and the tainted alcohol is also sometimes mixed with soft drinks.
The deaths since the beginning of April total 54. There were six deaths from drinking compromised liquor in the easternmost region, Papua, in late March.
Airstrike in Yemen kills 15 people
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni tribal officials said a Saudi-led coalition airstrike has killed at least 15 people, including children, in the southwestern city of Taiz.
They said Monday's airstrike hit a house in Dimnat Khadir district, an area that has seen heavy fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-allied Houthi rebels. They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
The Saudi-led coalition has been at war with the rebels since March 2015, in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine. U.N. officials say the fighting has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
French police eject squatters from camp
PARIS -- Some 2,500 French police tore down flaming barricades and fired tear gas at tenacious squatters Monday as they evacuated a protest camp erected nearly a decade ago to block construction of an airport.
One police officer was hospitalized after being hit in the eye with a flare, but was not in life-threatening condition, according to the national gendarme service. At least one person was arrested, and scattered clashes occurred as police moved into the site in Notre-Dame-des-Landes in western France early Monday.
Police fired some 50 tear gas grenades at a group of 30 to 50 activists throwing gasoline bombs, stones and flares at police, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Frederic Delanouvelle.
The French government in January abandoned plans for the airport after 50 years of debate, and gave squatters until spring to clear out.
But many stayed in place, seeking to turn it into a "space of social, environmental and agricultural experimentation."
A Section on 04/10/2018