Over 100 dead in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN: Clashes between Nigerian troops and Sierra Leonean forces loyal to the new military junta here have left more than 100 people dead, residents said on Monday. About 30 civilians have been killed since Sunday in four villages situated between 20 and 30 km east of the capital Freetown, residents said. Nigerian troops and Sierra Leonean troops have been engaged in clashes near the airport since Wednesday.

Plane crash

RIO DE JANEIRO: Eight people died and 10 others were injured when a single-engine plane crashed in a heavily populated area of the city of Conselheiro Lafaette, military police said. The plane plunged into city streets after striking an electric utility pole in this city on Sunday some 300 km north of Rio de Janeiro. Sources said the plane was flying low over a city square in order to shoot videotape for a local television station when the accident occurred.

Volcano alert

GUATEMALA CITY: Firefighters and rescue crews were on alert today as lava continued to flow out of a volcano some 45 km southwest of the Guatemalan capital. Some 5,000 people in three communities near Pacaya remained in their homes even though the El Pacaya volcano spewed rocks and lava late on Sunday. A new crater has appeared on its north slope, officials said.

Hotel blast BELGRADE: AN explosion has rocked a hotel used by United Nations police and other western officials in Bosnian Serb territory, a Bosnian Serb news agency said on Monday. There were no casualties, though some vehicles parked outside the Drina Hotel at Zvornik were damaged by the blast on Sunday. The bomb blast came on the same day that Bosnian Serbs buried war crimes suspect and former Prijedor police chief Simo Drljaca, shot dead by NATO troops sent to arrest him.

Kidnappers killed

MANILA: The Philippines police shot and killed six suspected kidnappers in a gun battle in the capital on Monday, according to media reports. The police had been tipped that the suspects were about to kidnap a businessman in a middle class residential enclave in suburban Paranaque and had laid an ambush, People's Television said. There were no police casualties. Ethnic Chinese business people are often the targets of kidnapping for ransom in the Philippines.

Consul-general

JOHANNESBURG: MYSORE Kapanaiah Lokesh has taken charge as India's new Consul General in Durban. He took over from the first Consul General Latha Reddy who was one of the most successful and popular diplomats in Durban. Lokesh was earlier posted in Washington.

Bangla flood

DHAKA:Epidemic broke out among victims of Bangladesh's flood disaster as the death toll rose to 79, despite a let-up in the monsoon downpours. Major roads were cut and ferry services disrupted, as another 22 deaths were reported. An old highway bridge collapsed under pressure from floodwaters in northeastern Sylhet region on Sunday, transport officials said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.