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To: Jim Bishop who wrote (112442)	2/2/2003 7:43:08 AM
From: StocksDATsoar	Respond to of 150070

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Feb. 1) - A crowded passenger train and a freight train collided head on and burst into flames Saturday in northwestern Zimbabwe, killing 40 people and injuring about 60. Transport Minister Witness Mangwende blamed the crash on human error, saying a signal mistake sent the trains hurtling toward each other on the same track. The signals on the remote stretch of rail line had been reported faulty since November, according to state television. President Robert Mugabe sent his condolences. The southbound freight train was carrying flammable liquid, and the passenger train was headed to the northwestern resort town of Victoria Falls. They crashed near the coal mining center of Hwange, about 190 miles from the western city of Bulawayo. It was believed some passengers were carrying cans of gasoline on the train, state television reported. Acute shortages of fuel have led to black marketeering and the hoarding of gas in jerry cans. Passenger trains in Zimbabwe have become increasingly crowded in recent months as acute fuel shortages forced many commuter buses, taxis and private cars off the roads. About 1,100 people were in 13 economy cars on the train when it collided with the freight train about 3 a.m., state radio reported. POOR POOR ED (ED) :-( A crash in the same area in 2000 killed 16 people and one in 1983 killed more than 20. A train derailed near Hwange last year after hitting an elephant, injuring 22 people. Many of the train cars were mangled. One lay on its side with the ends of two twisted cars on top of it. Several were burned, and firefighters worked to put out flames in others. The railroad in western Zimbabwe is the main line to mineral rich neighbors Zambia and Congo, and Hwange is the hub for Zimbabwe's biggest coal mine. ''We must find out what is wrong in our transport network,'' provincial governor Obert Mpofu said. Zimbabwe's economic crisis and its devastating shortage of hard currency have made it nearly impossible for the state railroad to import parts and maintenance equipment. The state-owned Herald newspaper reported Friday that coal was piling up at the mine at Hwange, because there were not enough working freight cars to pick it up. The government has commandeered some working trains for distributing emergency food aid in the stricken nation. AP-NY-02-01-03 1517EST Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

To: Jim Bishop who wrote (112442)	2/2/2003 4:23:32 PM
From: StocksDATsoar	Respond to of 150070

LAGOS, Nigeria (Feb. 2) - A powerful explosion tore apart a bank and dozens of apartments above it Sunday in Nigeria's crowded commercial capital, killing at least 40 people and trapping many others, relief workers said. Police were investigating a range of motives - including that the blast was part of a bank robbery plot. Looting and bloody fights broke out as hundreds of young men grabbed fistfuls of cash from the leveled bank and battled over them. In the chaos, trapped victims cried for rescue and onlookers wailed as rescuers retrieved bloody, broken bodies. The Red Cross said searchers had recovered more than 30 dead and 32 injured. Ten of the wounded died later at Lagos General Hospital, hospital workers said. Many more victims were believed caught in the rubble, and the death toll could rise, said Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigeria Red Cross. The blast occurred about 12:30 p.m. on Lagos Island, a crowded high-rise district of banks and other businesses packed side-by-side with poor, densely populated residential blocks. The four-story bank building collapsed, bringing three floors of apartments crashing down on the ground floor Prudent Bank. Fires flared briefly after the blast, which could be heard for miles and sent a tower of smoke into the sky. Two adjoining buildings were heavily damaged, and buildings for blocks around had shattered windows and other marks of the explosion. Residents said some victims had been blocks away from the bank building. "My uncle was in the balcony of our house talking with a friend and the force of the explosion threw them down,'' resident Remi Oyebanji said. "They're both dead.'' An Associated Press reporter saw 10 crushed bodies. One covered corpse appeared to be that of a child. Resident Omololu Kassim, who was helping carry the victims, said he saw 40 dead and as many injured. Local radio put the toll at 50 or more. The blast came as many were at church, preventing an even higher death toll. Hundreds of police surrounded the damaged neighborhood, dispersing the looters and forcing back thousands of onlookers. Cranes and other heavy equipment moved in to lift up the heavy concrete slabs and other debris. Ambulance drivers fought to navigate narrow streets and push through the throngs to get to victims. Survivors bundled together what possessions they could and set off in search of safe housing. "My husband is dead,'' one middle-aged woman cried, carrying a bundle on her head and dragging a little boy behind. Lagos Island is one of two islands that, with the mainland, make up this city of 12 million. Congestion on the island has sent many businesses moving to other parts of Lagos in recent years. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 120 million people, and urban crowding contributes to high death tolls in disasters and other tragedies. On Jan. 27, 2002, a series of explosions at an army munitions depot in Lagos killed more than 1,000 people. Hundreds of them drowned after jumping in a canal to escape the blast. 02/02/03 14:40 EST Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.