IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Indonesia

Forest fire claims 7 hikers in Java

Seven hikers died after being caught in a forest fire on Indonesia's main Java island, an official said on Monday. Two other hikers were severely injured in the fire on Sunday on the slope of Lawu Mountain, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. The victims were among more than a dozen hikers who were caught in the fire, which raced through the forest on the 3,265-meter mountain on the border between East and Central Java provinces.