Bangladesh toll 547; search gets gruesome
DHAKA, Bangladesh Ten days after the horrifying collapse of a garment-factory building, life has become still more gruesome for crews working to recover bodies at the site. The death toll rose to 547 on Saturday and the stench of decaying flesh was sickening evidence that the work is not yet done.
Rescue workers said some bodies have deteriorated so badly that they have found bones without flesh. Since the April 24 collapse in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, high temperatures generally have been 90 degrees or above, and lows rarely have dipped below 80.
The death toll was expected to climb. The official number of missing has been 149 since Wednesday, though unofficial estimates are higher.
The disaster is likely the worst garment-factory accident ever, and there have been few industrial accidents of any kind with a higher death toll.
U.S. crew bodies found at Kyrgyz crash site
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan Search teams Saturday found the bodies of two American crew members near where their military refueling plane crashed in the rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan, while the third crew member was still missing, the emergencies minister of the Central Asian nation said.
The KC-135 plane crashed Friday afternoon about 100 miles west of the air base that the U.S. operates in Kyrgyzstan to support military operations in Afghanistan.
Emergencies Minister Kubatbek Boronov said Kyrgyz search teams found the two fragmented bodies Saturday morning, and they have not yet been identified. He said the Kyrgyz rescuers were working with U.S. military personnel from Manas to search for the third crewman and the flight recorders.
3 killed ahead of vote in Pakistan port city
KARACHI, Pakistan Two blasts in Pakistans southern city of Karachi killed three people near the office of a political party critical of the Taliban, a police officer said, heightening tensions ahead of the countrys historic May 11 election.
Police officer Aamir Farooqi said the explosions late Saturday also wounded 22 people. A spokesman for the Taliban, Ahsanullah Ahsan, claimed responsibility.
Pakistan has been experiencing a wave of violence connected to historic elections scheduled for Saturday, mostly at the hands of Taliban militants targeting various political parties and their candidates. The vote will be the countrys first transfer of power from one elected civilian government to another.
Associated Press
