World Nation Briefs April 21, 2013
Shots fired at Colo. pot holiday gathering
DENVER - Gunfire erupted at a Denver park Saturday, injuring two people and sending tens of thousands gathered for an annual pot celebration fleeing the area, police said.
A crowd of marijuana smokers expected to swell to 80,000 had gathered at the park to mark the counterculture holiday known as 4/20 on the first celebration since Colorado and Washington made pot legal for recreational use. The shooting happened about 5 p.m. and shortly after pot smokes shared hugs and joints in a mass 4:20 p.m. smoke-out.
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson confirmed two people had been shot and both were taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threating. The gunshots quickly dispelled the festive atmosphere, with police swarming the scene.
Witnesses said they heard three or more shots and crime tape was around the pavilion where the celebration was being held.
Strong quake jolts China, killing 160
YA'AN, China - Residents huddled outdoors Saturday night in a town near the epicenter of a powerful earthquake that struck the steep hills of China's southwestern Sichuan province, leaving at least 160 people dead and more than 6,700 injured.
Saturday morning's earthquake triggered landslides and disrupted phone and power connections in mountainous Lushan county five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region. The village of Longmen was hit particularly hard, with authorities saying nearly all the buildings there had been destroyed in a frightening minute-long shaking by the quake.
Snowboarders killed in avalanche
GEORGETOWN, Colo. - Authorities have recovered the bodies of five snowboarders who were killed in a backcountry avalanche on Colorado's Loveland Pass.
Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger said multiple search and rescue crews located the bodies Saturday. A sixth snowboarder was caught in the slide. That person's condition was unknown.
Krueger said authorities are pretty certain the snowboarders triggered the avalanche, which he said was about 600 yards wide and eight feet deep.
Residents allowed back after Texas blast
WEST, Texas - After days of waiting, the first group of residents who fled their homes when a Texas fertilizer plant exploded in a blinding fireball were allowed to go home Saturday to find out what remained.
The news came after a nervous day where West officials told residents packed in a hotel waiting for updates about their neighborhood that leaking gas tanks were causing small fires near the blast site, keeping authorities from lifting blockades. But officials emphasized that the fires were contained and the town was safe.
Residents with homes inside the zone were told to assemble at a designated location and show identification.
- The Associated Press