IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Russia

Govt gets telegram from Syria's Assad

The Kremlin said on Thursday it had received a telegram from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which he expressed his condolences over a Russian military plane being downed near Syria earlier this week, the Interfax news agency reported. Russia's Defence Ministry said the Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, with 15 Russians on board, had been downed by Syrian government anti-aircraft guns in a "friendly fire" incident on Monday, but blamed Israel for the incident.

United States

Two women die after van hits floodwaters

As South Carolina rivers overflowed from Florence's torrential rain, deputies taking two women to a mental health facility drove into floodwaters that engulfed their van and trapped the women inside, officials said on Wednesday. The two deputies worked to free the women, who were being transported on Tuesday night as part of a court order.

India

30 injured in plane pressure drop

As many as 30 passengers have been injured after cabin pressure dropped in a passenger plane soon after it took off from India's financial capital Mumbai Thursday, aviation officials said. The Boeing 737 aircraft belonged to private carrier Jet Airways and was on its way to the western Indian state of Rajasthan's capital Jaipur with 166 passengers on board.

The Philippines

New landslide kills 10, buries houses

A massive landslide buried dozens of homes near a central Philippine mountain on Thursday, killing at least 10 people and sending rescuers scrambling to find survivors after some sent cell phone text messages pleading for help. The avalanche surged down on about 30 houses in two rural villages after daybreak in Naga city in Cebu province, Roderick Gonzales, the city police chief said. Seven injured villagers were rescued.

The Netherlands

4 children killed in train, bike collision

Four children were killed and two other people were critically injured on Thursday after a train slammed into an electric cargo bike in the Netherlands. Police said the accident happened on a railway line in the town of Oss, 100 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, at a rail crossing close to the town's railway station. The two critically injured victims were taken to a hospital.

Ap - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 09/21/2018 page11)