Colombia: Rebel hostage escapes
A former Cabinet minister emerged Friday from six years in rebel captivity and said he fled through the jungle for five days after Colombian troops attacked the guerrillas who held him. Fernando Araujo, 51, said he escaped Sunday from a guerrilla camp as army and marine troops battled members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. He then walked five days through the mountainous jungle to the hamlet of San Agustin, 350 miles north of Bogota, where soldiers found him.
Indonesia: Jetliner faced high winds
A Boeing 737 with 102 people aboard that disappeared after encountering 80 mph winds over northern Indonesian waters twice changed course, an official said, as authorities widened the search Friday for the jetliner. “Whatever happened to the plane, it was likely rapid and catastrophic,” said Patrick Smith, a U.S.-based airline pilot and aviation commentator, pointing to a possible massive structural failure due to metal fatigue or an onboard explosion.
France: Cannibalism charges
A French prisoner has confessed to killing his cellmate and then eating part of the man’s body, a prosecutor said Friday. Nicolas Cocaigne – who was charged with cannibalism and murder – claimed he stabbed his victim with scissors and suffocated him with a plastic bag before removing his heart and eating it, according to the prosecutor’s office in Rouen. But an autopsy of the victim’s body later revealed that two chest muscles and part of his left lung – not his heart – were missing, the office said.
From Herald news services
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