Two Americans, two Canadians and a Sherpa climber were evacuated from Mount Everest Saturday, two days after they were hit by an avalanche on the world’s highest peak and then stranded because of treacherous weather. Snow and high winds abated sufficiently for a rescue helicopter to land at the base camp, where it picked up American climbers James Bach and Jason Barilla and Canadians Jowan Gauthier and Pierre Bourdeau. They were brought to Katmandu and hospitalized for treatment of injuries.
Afghanistan: Internet cafe bombed
An explosion rocked an Internet cafe in Kabul Saturday, killing two Afghans, police said. Officials were investigating whether the blast was caused by a suicide attacker. Five people were injured in the explosion at the Park Net Cafe in the upscale Shahr-e-Naw district, a hangout also popular with foreigners, police said, adding that all the victims were Afghans. A foreign official, who advises relief groups and sent representatives to the scene, said chest injuries to one man suggested a suicide attack.
Australia: Passenger plane crashes
An airplane carrying 15 people slammed into a hillside in remote northeastern Australia Saturday, killing everyone on board, authorities said. A recovery operation was under way today on a rugged hillside in Queensland state where the plane crashed in Australia’s worst civil aviation disaster in almost four decades. The twin-propeller Fairchild Metroliner, with two pilots and 13 passengers on board, was traveling to Lockhart River, an Aboriginal community of 350 people in Queensland, authorities said.
Myanmar: Blasts leave 11 dead
Three explosions rocked Yangon Saturday, killing 11 people and wounding 162 others in the latest bombings blamed on ethnic rebels in the military-ruled country. The blasts occurred in rapid succession at a convention center and two bustling supermarkets in neighborhoods across the city of 5 million people starting around mid-afternoon. It was not immediately known how many people died at each site. Myanmar officials are often reluctant to speak on the record for fear of being reprimanded by the country’s secretive military regime.
From Herald news services
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