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Letter to the editor

Pilot, 4 others killed in small plane crash

By Times Wires
Published January 6, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

A small plane crashed Saturday in waters off Kodiak Island in southern Alaska, killing at least five of the 10 people on board, authorities said. The Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed soon after takeoff at 1:48 p.m. in shallow waters, according to the Coast Guard. A private floatplane from a fish processing company pulled four people from the wreckage. Another person managed to swim to shore, said state troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. Troopers pulled five bodies from the water after the tide receded, and the pilot was among the dead, she said. Four of the survivors are in stable condition at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center and the status of a fifth survivor is unknown, according to a Coast Guard statement. Identifications have been withheld pending notification of family members.

RIVER ROUGE, Mich.

Worker killed in gas line explosion

An explosion and fire along a gas pipeline killed a contract worker Saturday on Zug Island near Detroit. The worker was part of a five-man crew preparing to reroute a coke oven gas line through part of a blast furnace line at a U.S. Steel facility, spokesman John Armstrong of Detroit-based R.J. Stacey Co. said. Officials still were trying to determine what caused the explosion. The other crew members were taken to a hospital for observation.

SAN FRANCISCO

Zoo visits are up after tiger attack

Attendance is up at the San Francisco Zoo following the tiger attack that killed a young man. A zoo spokesman said there were twice as many visitors when the zoo reopened Thursday as on the same day last year. Spokesman Paul Garcia said most of the zoo's 782 visitors Thursday arrived before 2 p.m., when heavy rain began falling. The zoo had just under 400 visitors on Jan. 3, 2007, he said. The zoo was closed for eight days after the Christmas Day tiger attack, which killed Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, and injured two brothers. Other zoos that have had incidents have seen similar spikes in attendance, which zoo officials have attributed to publicity and morbid curiosity.

NASHVILLE

Rodeo bulls found, but rustler at large

Somebody hijacked a truckload of rodeo bulls bound for a professional bull riding show, then abandoned them after running out of gas, authorities said. The truck and its cargo were found early Saturday with an empty gas tank on the outskirts of Nashville, police said. The bulls - about a dozen valued at $100,000 - were unharmed. There have been no arrests. Police Sgt. Robert Durbin said the animals were being delivered to Nashville's Municipal Auditorium for the show when the thief jumped into the cab late Friday. A woman in the truck escaped despite the hijacker's attempts to keep her inside, witnesses said.

[Last modified January 6, 2008, 00:28:15]