MOSCOW: At least 59 miners were killed in a methane gas explosion at a coal mine near Novokuznetsk in western Siberia, Russian news agencies said on Tuesday. Rescue workers recovered 39 bodies, but at least 67 miners were in the pit at the time of the blast, which occurred on Tuesday night. The explosion has caused a major scare in and around adjoining areas. Authorities also had to evict several people.

Bangla pact

DHAKA: Bangladesh Government and tribal leaders signed a landmark peace accord on Tuesday to end the 23-year old tribal insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) which claimed more than 20,000 lives. The historic agreement was signed by tribal leader Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, chief of the Parbattya Chhat Ragram Jana Shanghati Samity, the political wing of the Shanti Bahini militants and chief Government negotiator Abul Hasnat Abdullah.

St Kitts trial

NEW DELHI: Former Premier PV Narasimha Rao's name did not figure in the FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the St Kitts forgery case and ``he was falsely implicated'' in it, his counsel told the High Court. His counsel said the FIR was based on newspaper reports in which he was never accused of being a party to the said conspiracy.

Urea scam

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday fixed December 17 for orders in regard to the release of personal items seized at the time of arrest from Tuncay Alankus and Cihan Karanci, main accused in the Rs 133-crore urea scam.

The two Karsan officials were arrested at the Delhi's international airport here on October 3 and the CBI had seized their personal belongings and Rs 5 lakh from them.

Lankan ambush

COLOMBO: Eight Sri Lankan armymen and a civilian were killed and 32 wounded in two separate attacks by suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels on two buses in the north and east on Tuesday, even as fighting raged between troops and militants in northern Vanni.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.