Initial dives in collapsed Mexican mine unsuccessful

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Rescue divers’ first attempts to reach 10 miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine since last week were stopped by debris-filled shafts and poor visibility, Mexican authorities said Thursday. They made four attempts Wednesday and managed to remove more than a dozen pieces of wood and some 15 yards of hose, but were not able to go far.“They found they didn’t have space to advance,” said Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval. “With the lights they carry they don’t have the visibility they need to identify what they find.”

Hostage standoff at Beirut bank ends with gunman’s arrest

BEIRUT (AP) — A gunman demanding a Beirut bank let him withdraw his trapped savings to pay his father’s medical bills took up to 10 people hostage in a seven-hour standoff Thursday before surrendering in exchange for what a family lawyer said was $35,000 of his money. Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, a 42-year-old food-delivery driver, was promptly arrested and taken away by police as he walked out of the bank. No one was injured. Hussein’s wife, Mariam Chehadi, who was standing outside, told reporters that her husband “did what he had to do.”

Roller coaster crash at German amusement park injures 34

BERLIN (AP) — Two roller coaster trains crashed into each other Thursday at an amusement park in southern Germany, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely, German media reported. One roller coaster train braked heavily and another train collided with it at the Legoland park in Guenzburg, the German news agency dpa reported. Three helicopters were deployed to the scene, and fire and rescue services were called in to help .It was not immediately clear how the crash could happen. It took place in the station of the Fire Dragon roller coaster, an amusement park spokesperson told dpa.