Injuries reported in Kansas gas line blast
WICHITA, Kan. — More than a dozen people were injured Friday when a nitrogen line ruptured at the Beechcraft aircraft manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kan., causing part of the building to collapse, authorities said.
Daniel Wegner, deputy fire chief for Sedgwick County, said the explosion happened at around 8 a.m. at the facility, which is in the eastern part of the city. John Gallagher, the county’s emergency medical services director, said 11 people were taken to hospitals and four were treated at the scene. No one was killed, but one person has potentially serious injuries, he said.
Worker Robert Baker said he was inside the building when the explosion occurred but was on the opposite side of the facility. He told The Wichita Eagle that he saw the walls flex.
“There was dust and debris, even from the other side,” said Mr. Baker, 36.
1 dead in mall shooting
AURORA, Colo. — Gunfire broke out inside a mall in a Denver suburb on Friday, killing one person and causing shoppers to scatter in search of hiding places, police officials and a witness said.
Aurora Police Department spokesman Anthony Camacho said officers were looking for at least one suspect in the shooting that occurred at 4 p.m. inside a J.C. Penney store at the Town Center at Aurora mall.
Photos lead to arrest
The day after Christmas, a Chinese man rose early because, he said, he wanted to take photographs of the sunrise on the grounds of the Naval Air Station in Key West, Fla.
Witnesses spotted Lyuyou Liao at 6:50 a.m. Thursday walking around a perimeter fence and entering the military facility from the rocks along the water. They warned Mr, Liao that he was trespassing in a restricted area, known as the Truman Annex, as he took photographs of government buildings near “sensitive military facilities,” according to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday.
U.S. Military Police saw him snapping photos with the camera on his cellphone. The police officers immediately called a federal agent, who arrested Mr. Liao, 27, on a charge of entering naval property for the purpose of photographing defense installations.
Contractor dies in Iraq
A U.S, civilian contractor was killed Friday in a rocket attack on a base near Kirkuk, Iraq, where U.S. service members and civilian contractors were located, an Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman confirmed.
Several U.S .and Iraqi military members were wounded in the attack, which happened at 7:20 p.m. Iraq time.