IN BRIEF (Page 11)

India

Chemical factory blaze proves fatal

A massive fire that started in a chemical factory in western India and spread to six other factories killed at least three workers and injured 15, police said on Friday. Police officer Manjunath Shinge said the bodies were recovered early on Friday, hours after the fire swept through the factory in Palghar district in Maharashtra state. It was set off by a boiler explosion, but the cause of the explosion was not immediately known.

Japan

Official linked to land scandal dead

A Finance Ministry official at the center of cronyism allegations linked to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been found dead, local media reported on Friday. Police are investigating the death of the official in Kobe in western Japan and suspect he committed suicide, Jiji Press and Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed police sources. The unidentified official, who was found dead on Wednesday, was at the heart of a scandal over the cut-price sale of government-owned land to a close friend of Abe, the reports said.

Papua New Guinea

Earthquake toll rises above 100

The death toll from an earthquake that hit the country last month has topped 100 with thousands injured, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said on Friday, warning it will take years for the region to recover. The Pacific nation's mountainous interior was struck by a 7.5-magnitude tremor on Feb 26, triggering landslides that blocked roads, caused power outages and cut off villages. Communities have also been rattled by strong aftershocks.

United States

Island bones 'likely' were Earhart's

Bones found in 1940 on an island in the western Pacific Ocean were quite likely the remains from famed aviator Amelia Earhart, according to a new analysis. The study and other evidence "point toward her rather strongly," University of Tennessee anthropologist Richard Jantz said on Thursday. Earhart and her navigator vanished during an attempted flight around the world in 1937. The mystery has captivated the US public for decades.

AP - Reuters - AFP

(China Daily 03/10/2018 page11)