Crews gather clues on fireworks accident
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – Fire crews have combed a community park northwest of Los Angeles in search of clues after a Fourth of July fireworks explosion injured dozens of revelers.
The Ventura County Fire Department completed its evidence collection Saturday at a Simi Valley park where between 8,000 and 10,000 spectators gathered days earlier to watch fireworks. Crews also gathered evidence in nearby Ojai, where a pyrotechnics operator was injured by a premature blast.
A state fire official is due in town this week to join county fire officials on the investigation.
Syrian prison shelled during Aleppo battle
BEIRUT – Shells smashed into a central prison in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, killing prisoners, a rights group said Sunday, part of a long battle for control of the ancient city.
The explosions killed six prisoners, said the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which communicates with a network of activists on the ground. The explosives hit Friday night, the Observatory said. It was not clear who fired the shells.
The Observatory reported about 70 soldiers and fighters were killed Sunday, as well as 40 civilians, in fighting across Syria. The U.N. estimates about 93,000 people have been killed in the civil war.
With government forces stepping up offensives, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood called on the United States and Europe to send arms.
Associated Press
