World/Nation Briefs July 24, 2011

Train collision in China kills 32, injures 191

BEIJING - A Chinese bullet train crashed into another high-speed train that had stalled after being struck by lightning Saturday in eastern China, causing four carriages to fall off a viaduct and killing at least 32 people and injuring 191 others, state media reported.

The first train was traveling from the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou when it lost power in the lightning strike and was hit from behind by the second train in Wenzhou city at 8:27 p.m. local time, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The provincial emergency office told Xinhua that at least 32 people were killed and 191 injured.

Early Sunday, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao called for an all-out effort to rescue passengers still trapped in the wreckage hours after the collision, Xinhua said.

A preliminary investigation by the Zhejiang provincial government released early Sunday showed that four coaches of the moving train fell off the viaduct, Xinhua said. The cars plunged about 65 to 100 feet from the elevated section of track, Xinhua said.

The trains involved are "D'' trains, the first generation bullet train with an average speed of about 95 miles per hour and not as fast as the new Beijing-Shanghai line.

Woman injured in collision

COEUR d'ALENE - A woman was injured Saturday morning when two vehicles collided at Honeysuckle Drive and Timber Lane, according to a Coeur d'Alene Police Department press release.

Officers responded at 11:26 a.m. and discovered a female trapped inside a Ford F150 truck that had collided with a Volvo hatchback, police said. The truck was lying on its side.

Officers and citizens cooperated to remove the woman from the truck, police said. She was injured and transported to Kootenai Medical Center.

The woman's name was not released Saturday.

Fire quickly controlled

COEUR d'ALENE - Firefighters controlled a small grass fire Saturday on the hillside east of Martha Loop, just south of Dalton Avenue.

A fire approximately 12 feet by 12 feet sparked in grass and brush at 3:13 p.m., according to Coeur d'Alene firefighters.

Crews controlled the fire quickly, but remained on scene about one hour. Cause of the fire had not been determined Saturday.

Idaho tourism jobs down 10 percent

BOISE - Idaho Department of Labor officials said Idaho's tourism industry lost about 10 percent of its jobs between 2007 and 2010.

Regional economist John Van Dyke said that about 50 tourism-related companies went out of business during that time.

State officials said more than 25 percent of all tourism employment is at restaurants and bars that have been hit hard by the economic downturn.

Another 20 percent of tourism jobs are in the accommodation industry that includes hotels, campgrounds and RV parks.

Officials said many tourism jobs are concentrated in the Sun Valley-Ketchum area of central Idaho and the McCall-Donnelly area of Valley County.

- The Associated Press