Bangladesh factory death toll hits 1,021
DHAKA, Bangladesh – The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed more than two weeks ago outside the Bangladeshi capital rose past 1,000 today, while the list of the dead from a fresh fire at a sweater manufacturer showed the entanglement of the industry and top Bangladeshi officials.
Officials said 1,021 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the fallen factory building as of this morning. There was no sign of where the toll might finally settle as more bodies were being found, but it is already the world’s deadliest garment industry disaster and one of the worst industrial accidents.
2 cruise passengers fall overboard off Australia
SYDNEY – No trace of an Australian couple believed to have fallen off a cruise ship has been found despite an intense, daylong search, officials said today.
Paul Rossington and Kristen Schroder, from New South Wales state, were discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney’s Circular Quay, at the end of a 10-day journey, said New South Wales Police Superintendent Mark Hutchings.
Surveillance camera footage showed the couple fell from the ship’s mid deck Wednesday night, Hutchings said, when the ship was about 72 miles off the coast of Forster, a city 185 miles north of Sydney.
Investigators were having the surveillance video enhanced in a bid to determine whether Rossington and Schroder had jumped or had fallen by accident.
N. Korea says American smuggled in propaganda
SEOUL, South Korea – A Korean-American smuggled inflammatory literature into North Korea and tried to establish a base for anti-Pyongyang activities at a hotel in a border city, the North said late Thursday in its most in-depth account of the accusations against the man who was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor.
Still, the long list of allegations included no statement from Kenneth Bae, other than claims that he confessed and didn’t want an attorney present during his sentencing last week for what Pyongyang called hostile acts against the state.
Associated Press
