GUATEMALA CITY — A small plane carrying U.S. humanitarian workers crashed in a field in eastern Guatemala on Sunday, killing 10 people, including five Americans, an aviation official and a survivor said. Four other Americans on board were injured and were being airlifted to a hospital.
The Cessna Caravan crashed about 60 miles east of Guatemala City.
The pilot called in engine trouble about 45 minutes after takeoff and tried to make an emergency landing, Civil Aviation director Jose Carlos said.
Sarah Jensen, a 19-year-old who survived the crash with minor cuts and bruises, said she and her family were headed to a village in the area of El Estor to build homes for CHOICE Humanitarian, a group based in West Jordan, Utah.
Georgia: Explosions mar residents’ return
A large explosion Sunday morning destroyed a train carrying oil through Skra in central Georgia, engulfing mangled cars in a tower of flames. Georgian officials said they suspected Russian forces had mined the track or an adjacent military base. Earlier in the day, separate blasts in the area killed a woman near a military installation on the outskirts of Gori and critically injured a man. The explosions came as Georgians returned en masse for the first time to parts of the country briefly occupied and then abandoned Friday by Russian forces.
France: Eight climbers missing
Eight climbers were missing and presumed dead Sunday after an avalanche swamped a commonly used hiking trail near Mont Blanc, western Europe’s highest peak. The avalanche was triggered when a chunk of ice as wide as two football fields broke off a mountain face.
Mexico: U.S. turns over suspect in massacre
A Mexican national wanted in connection with the 1998 drug-related massacre of 19 people, including eight children, in the Baja California resort town of Ensenada was captured and turned over to Mexican authorities, U.S. immigration officials said Sunday. Officers confronted Jesus Ruben Moncada, 33, at his Los Angeles home Thursday night as he took out the garbage. He faces first degree murder, attempted murder and kidnapping charges.
China: American protesters released
China released eight American protesters from jail and put them on a plane for Los Angeles on Sunday night. They had been sentenced to 10 days of detention after police swarmed their unauthorized pro-Tibet demonstrations last week.
England: Record for solar plane
An ultra-lightweight plane built from carbon fiber and powered using paper-thin solar panels has broken the world record for longest-lasting unmanned flight, its manufacturer claimed Sunday in London. QinetiQ Group PLC said its propeller-driven “Zephyr” aircraft flew for 83 hours and 37 minutes, more than doubling the official world record set by Northrop Grumman’s “Global Hawk” in 2001. The 66-pound plane was launched July 28 in the Arizona desert and flown by autopilot and via satellite to an altitude of more 60,000 feet, QinetiQ said. Drawing on the power of the sun during the day, the plane stayed aloft at night using rechargeable lithium-sulphur batteries.
Texas: Couple offered child sex for apartment, used car, FBI says
A San Antonio couple is accused of trying to trying to trade sex with the woman’s 5-year-old daughter for an apartment, a used car and child care for her 10-month old daughter. Jennifer Richards, 25, and her married boyfriend, Sean Michael Block, 40, appeared before a U.S. magistrate Friday. According to an affidavit, an informant told the FBI about a text message allegedly sent by Block reading: “Nice piece 5 yrs old belongs to my gf and she wants to sell it.” Richards and Block crafted a deal that, in addition to the apartment and used car, included child care for Richards’ 10-month-old daughter, whose sexual service the couple intended to sell later, Rex Miller, the FBI’s lead agent on the case, testified.
California: Gas drops 15 cents nationwide
A national survey shows gas prices have dropped 15 cents a gallon in the last two weeks. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline at self-serve stations was $3.70 Friday. Midgrade was at $3.83 and premium was at $3.95. That’s according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations nationwide, released Sunday in Camarillo.
From Herald news services
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