Nation in brief

Train engineer saw bad track before accident

KENSINGTON, Md. -- The engineer of the Amtrak train that derailed this week saw a "misshapen" area of track just before the accident and investigators later found the rails more than 2 feet out of alignment, a federal official said Tuesday.

Carol Carmody, vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, wouldn't say whether the misaligned track caused the double-decker passenger train to derail about 10 miles from its destination.

The engineer of the Capitol Limited told investigators he applied the brakes after seeing the "misshapen" area, which he said was about 18 inches long, Carmody said. The train derailed about 45 seconds later.

The train was traveling from Chicago to Washington when it went off the tracks, injuring 101 people. Sixteen of them remained hospitalized Tuesday, including one in serious condition.

What caused the track to buckle wasn't immediately known, but experts speculated that Monday's hot weather was to blame. The number of accidents due to heat-twisted track has dropped over the years, but no technology exists to stop it.

Mine official says he spoke to 9, will pay them

SOMERSET, Pa. -- A mining executive said Tuesday that he had been in touch with all nine men rescued from a flooded coal mine over the weekend, one day after some of them complained their boss hadn't been in touch.

Dave Rebuck, president of Black Wolf Coal Co., said he was able to see eight of the men and spoke with the ninth on the telephone.

Rebuck said he did not have time to speak with the miners after their rescue but had slept in his pickup truck at the mine during the rescue operation.

He said the men would be paid for the time they were in the mine and would receive medical and workers' compensation benefits.

Thomas Foy, 51, was the only miner still hospitalized Tuesday. Foy, who was in good condition, has a history of heart problems.

Abuse review board asks for report by bishops

WASHINGTON -- The sexual abuse review board appointed to police the nation's Roman Catholic bishops convened Tuesday and promptly called on the bishops to lay out the steps they had taken to fulfill promises to protect children.

But the board's chairman, Gov. Frank Keating, stopped short of making a clear call for the prosecution of bishops who have covered up abuses.

Already, one victims group, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, has said at least nine dioceses have failed to live up to their promises.

The board met with four leaders of the survivors group and promised to spend part of the next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 16 in Oklahoma City, listening to victims of priestly abuse.

In wildfires . . .

COLORADO: A 2,600-acre wildfire charred the mesa above one of Mesa Verde National Park's signature cliff dwellings Tuesday and fire workers scrambled to protect scores of archaeological sites. Officials said none of Mesa Verde's treasures had been damaged.

OREGON: Two wildfires that have charred almost 170,000 acres of southwestern Oregon threatened to unite Tuesday as they marched toward a string of towns. All 17,000 residents of the Illinois Valley had been urged to prepare for an evacuation.

NATIONWIDE: Wildfires around the nation have burned more than 4-million acres so far this year, double the average, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday.

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