Steam-engine explosion kills four at county fair
 |
|
||||||||||
MEDINA, Ohio — A steam engine exploded at a county fair yesterday, killing four people and injuring dozens when it blasted shrapnel and hot oil across the fairgrounds.
The engine was being moved into place for an outdoor exhibit about antique farm equipment when it exploded at about 6:30 p.m., Medina County Sheriff Neil Hassinger said.
Two of the men killed were close to the engine, and the third man was found 30 feet away. A fourth person died later at a hospital.
Shrapnel was found in a parking lot about 100 yards away, said fire Chief Bill Herthneck.
Brian Witt, 15, was watching a bird-judging competition when he heard the explosion.
"It sounded like a big boom. I heard all kinds of people crying, people screaming," said Witt, who was treated for burns to his arms and face.
A hospital spokeswoman said 18 people had been admitted for injuries in the explosion at the Medina County Fair, about 25 miles southwest of Cleveland.
Floods, slides plague Virginia, West Virginia
MAN, W.Va. — Heavy rain caused flooding and mudslides in Virginia and West Virginia yesterday for the third time in a month, chasing people from creekside homes and campgrounds. Two deaths were blamed on the flooding.
Flooding and mudslides were not as severe as the downpour that devastated parts of West Virginia on July 8, but larger areas were affected, officials said.
The body of a West Virginia boy believed to be 2 or 3 years old was recovered yesterday in the Big Ginny area, just outside the town of Davy, firefighters said. The boy had been playing outside his home and was swept into a drain pipe.
In southwest Virginia, a man was killed yesterday when his mobile home was washed away by flash floods triggered by torrential rains. Grady Baker, 77, was inside when flash flooding hit just after 5:30 yesterday morning, said Scott County emergency-management coordinator Jeff Brickley.
Amtrak's Texas Eaglederails in Missouri
SABULA, Mo. — An Amtrak train derailed early yesterday on a section of rural track that had been undermined by heavy rain. Hospitals said they treated 10 people for minor injuries.
The Dallas-bound Texas Eagle had left Chicago late Saturday with 174 passengers and 12 employees, Amtrak said.
5 in critical conditionafter car hits restaurant
JOHANNESBURG, Mich. — A car slammed into a restaurant yesterday, collapsing part of the roof and injuring 11 people.
Several customers and employees were briefly trapped in the restaurant after the collapse.
Three children, including a 6-month-old baby, were hospitalized in critical condition, as were two adults. Another patient was in serious condition.
The 38-year-old woman driving the car suffered back injuries and was in stable condition.
Break from weather aidsfirefighters in Wyoming
JACKSON, Wyo. — Firefighters got a break from the weather yesterday as they fought to maintain their advantage against a forest fire burning within feet of expensive mountain homes.
The blaze, estimated at 4,620 acres, was considered 50 percent contained yesterday, a week after being sparked by a campfire.
Its plume of smoke was thinning over Jackson Hole, the 40-mile-long valley surrounded by three mountain ranges and gateway to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.
Children's media outlet,short of funds, will close
NEW YORK — Twenty-five years after it gained fame by scooping the media at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, the Children's Express news service is shutting down, a victim of debt and questionable management decisions.
The nonprofit Children's Express is $2.4 million in debt with no money to continue operations, Ed Jones Jr., vice chairman of the organization's board of trustees, told The New York Times in yesterday's editions.
Children's Express was founded in 1975 by former Wall Street lawyer Robert Clampitt to train children 8 to 18 years old as journalists.