More than 300 people injured in train crash in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG >> A commuter train crashed into another passenger train during rush hour Friday in South Africa’s largest city injuring more than 300 people, an emergency services spokeswoman said.

Nana Radebe, spokeswoman for Johannesburg Emergency Services, said 326 people were rushed to nearby hospitals with minor to serious injuries. No fatalities were reported.

“For now we have removed people with minor to serious injuries, but none critical,” she said, adding that firefighters searched for commuters who may have been trapped inside the train cars.

The trains were on the same track, Radebe told The Associated Press, and it appeared that a traveling train collided with a stationary train.

“What we do know is that one vehicle rear ended the other,” said Russel Meiring, a spokesman for ER24, a private emergency service.

Meiring said his crew counted more than 200 injured on the scene. Injured passengers were treated “absolutely everywhere” where paramedics could find space around the wreckage before being taken to hospital, Meiring said.

“The one train had stopped because of a signal when another came from behind us hooting and smashed into its back,” one commuter told the African News Agency.

The accident happened at rush hour between two stations, with both trains traveling from the Johannesburg city center to the township of Soweto, said Lillian Mofokeng, the Metrorail spokeswoman for the Gauteng province.

The cause of the accident was unknown and authorities were still gathering information about the collision, Mofokeng said.

“Our priority right now is just to attend to the injured and then arrange alternative transport,” she said. About 100 passengers who were not injured would be bussed home, said Mofokeng.

In April, two passenger trains collided south of Johannesburg, killing the conductor of one of the trains and injuring 241 people.

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Feds urge bus safety rules after deadly Northern California crash

SACRAMENTO, Calif. >> Federal safety officials on Tuesday urged commercial buses to have more clearly labeled emergency exits and safety briefings similar to those on planes after their investigation of a deadly collision in California in which a tractor-trailer slammed into a bus full of students.

Dozens of students struggled to escape the burning, smoke-filled bus after the FedEx truck veered across an interstate median about 100 miles north of Sacramento and struck it head-on April 10, 2014. Both drivers, five students and their three adult chaperones died.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators determined the truck driver, 32-year-old Timothy Evans, losing control was the probable cause of the crash, but they couldn’t conclude why. The agency said the driver’s actions weren’t consistent with him falling asleep, but may suggest he had a seizure or fainted.

The federal investigation also found that students struggled to escape from the bus because of poorly labeled exits and no safety instructions as required by the bus company’s policy.

The four-member NTSB at its meeting in Washington, D.C., voted to urge regulators to improve emergency exits and add fire-resistant materials to buses so it is easier for passengers to survive crashes.

NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said the case exposed “double standards in regulations protecting motor coach passengers.”

“When plane crashes are survivable, many more people survive,” said Hart.

Board officials said buses should have the path to emergency exits light up after crashes and a black box-style data recorder, while drivers should offer safety instructions as flight attendants do.

The bus driver on the first leg of the California trip told investigators he did not show a six-minute safety video at the start of the trip, according to NTSB records.

More than half of the 29 students interviewed did not know which windows were designated as emergency exits, and some shattered other panels to escape. Those who climbed out had to drop 7 feet.

The NTSB is urging new buses to have second doors that double as easier escape options, as is standard in Europe.

The bus was equipped with seat belts ahead of a federal mandate taking effect next year, but not all students were wearing them.

The investigation also raised questions about fire safety.

The bus exploded into flames after the crash, and at least two passengers died of asphyxiation. Board officials said decades-old standards for vehicle materials withstanding fires should be updated because they treat a four-passenger sedan the same as a double-decker bus and don’t take into account fires ignited by crashes.

Victor Parra, president and CEO of the United Motorcoach Association, said some of the NTSB’s safety recommendations may make sense, but should be backed up by science showing they’ll make a difference.

“Buses are the safest way to travel on the nation’s highways, bar none,” said Parra. “We have plenty of exits now; it’s a matter of making passengers aware of what they are and how they use them.”

The NTSB can recommend safety rules, but it’s up to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to enact them. NTSB officials have criticized agencies for ignoring its calls, some decadeslong, to shore up bus safety.

The bus in California’s crash was carrying 44 students from Southern California for a free tour of Humboldt State University. Many were hoping to be the first in their families to attend college.

FedEx and the bus company, Silverado Stages Inc., are facing lawsuits from survivors of the crash and families of the victims.

FedEx did not comment on the NTSB’s findings, and Silverado Stages CEO John Busskohl did not immediately respond to an email and calls.

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This story has been corrected to show the date of crash was April 10, 2014, not April 14, 2014.

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Teen girl’s hike to safety after fiery plane crash called ‘a miracle’

SEATTLE >> A 16-year-old girl survived a small-plane crash in the rugged mountains of north-central Washington state and then hiked through thick forest to reach safety in what one official called “a miracle.”

But searchers still were looking for the wreckage and the teen’s two step-grandparents who also were aboard. There was no official word on Leland and Sharon Bowman of Marion, Montana, three days after the aircraft went down.

Autumn Veatch said the plane crashed and caught fire after flying into a bank of clouds, according to authorities. She remained at the crash site for a day before deciding to hike down, eventually finding a trail and following it to the trailhead on a highway near the east entrance to North Cascades National Park.

A motorist picked her up Monday afternoon and drove her 30 miles east to a general store, where employees called 911.

Veatch has no life-threatening injuries but was dehydrated and suffering from a treatable muscle tissue breakdown caused by vigorous exercise without food or water, said Scott Graham, CEO of Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster. She stayed at the hospital overnight to rest and get hydrated.

“It’s a miracle, no question about it,” Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lustick of the Civil Air Patrol told reporters, saying he has spent 30 years in search and rescue. “Moments of joy like this can be hard to find.”

Her father, David Veatch of Bellingham, told reporters outside the hospital late Monday that his daughter was exhausted but doing remarkably well. She was able to joke with him about the survival shows they watched together on television, he said.

“She’s just an amazing kid,” David Veatch said. “There’s more to her than she knows.”

The Beech A-35 left Kalispell, Montana, on Saturday afternoon, heading for Lynden, Washington. The plane crossed the Idaho-Washington border about 2:20 p.m. PDT but dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, about an hour later, officials said.

Leland Bowman was issued a private pilot license in 2011, and the plane, manufactured in 1949, was registered to him, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Navy helicopters searched for the wreckage until late Monday, several hours after fixed-wing planes suspended their efforts. The search would resume Tuesday, weather permitting, said Barbara LaBoe, a Washington state Transportation Department spokeswoman.

Rescuers earlier narrowed down a search area based on cellphone data and typical flight patterns. But there was no sign of the aircraft or its occupants until the teen walked out of the woods.

The girl had been “walking for a couple of days,” Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said. He called her feat “pretty impressive.”

Serena Lockwood, the manager at the Mazama Store, said the girl and a driver came in Monday afternoon, saying she had been in a plane crash.

“She was obviously pretty traumatized,” Lockwood said.

Associated Press writer Phuong Le contributed to this report.

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Formula Drift driver seeking return of stolen car trailer in San Dimas

SAN DIMAS >> A local Formula Drift driver is asking the public’s help to recover a two-car trailer that was stolen from his shop in San Dimas on Sunday.

Justin Pawlak said the approximately $6,000 trailer was taken sometime after 3 p.m. Sunday. He discovered the theft Monday morning.

“It’s the trailer we use to take our cars to local track events,” he said. “I definitely don’t have means to replace it right now.”

Pawlak said he used a forklift to move the trailer to a hard-to-access location and lock it up, “but there’s skidmarks where a truck or something yanked it out to break off the lock.”

The trailer was not insured, however, and Pawlak said he could not find paperwork to file a police report on the theft. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Elisabeth Sachs confirmed that deputies responded to a call for service Monday morning but that no report was filed.

Pawlak took to social media Monday to spread the word about the stolen trailer, and a public Facebook post had been shared more than 450 times.

The trailer had a weathered Arizona license plate, T95219, and custom-built ramps attached to the side of the trailer. This is not the first time Pawlak has been a victim of trailer thieves, he said.

“I don’t know what I have to do to secure my stuff, short of sleeping at my shop,” he said. “My only hope is that somebody recognizes it and tips me off.”

Anyone with information about the trailer was asked to email Pawlak at hotlineperformance@gmail.com.

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Lytle Creek hit-and-run kills transient woman

Authorities are searching for a driver who drove off after striking and killing a woman in Lytle Creek.

Jennifer Stoops, a 35-year-old transient, was found lying on the northbound shoulder of Lytle Creek Road, north of Glen Helen Road, in Lytle Creek on Friday night, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office.

Paramedics took the woman to a hospital, where she died in the emergency room, officials said.

California Highway Patrol officials are treating this as a hit-and-run and are looking for the driver or anyone who may have witnessed the incident. Anyone with any information is asked to call the California Highway Patrol Inland division at 909-806-2400.

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Tour de France: Leader Tony Martin out after breaking collarbone in crash

LE HAVRE, France >> Tour de France leader Tony Martin had to pull out of the race after breaking his collarbone in a crash that he caused late in Thursday’s sixth stage.

The crash also dragged down defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Tour contender Nairo Quintana, but they escaped with cuts and bruises.

A spokesman for the Etixx-Quick Step team said Martin, who was not considered a contender for the overall victory as he’s not a strong mountain climber, would not continue in the race. He is the second race leader to pull out in only six days after Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara fractured two vertebrae in his lower back in Monday’s crash-marred third stage.

Martin lost control of his bike with about 900 meters to go of Thursday’s stage. It swerved to the right, clipped another bike and then brought down some eight other riders, including Nibali and Colombian climbing ace Quintana, who both finished the stage. Czech rider Zdenek Stybar rode away amid the chaos to clinch his first Tour stage win.

Unable to hold his handlebar, with his left arm in a sling position, Martin rolled slowly over the line with several teammates alongside him.

With Martin out, British rider Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, moves into the overall lead.

Three significant crashes have marred the race so far. Two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain and Froome have escaped all of them — although the British rider almost fell when Nibali’s bike swerved into his.

In the confusion, Nibali actually thought Froome was to blame.

Then, after Froome came to Nibali’s Astana team bus to clear things up, the Italian rider performed a swift U-turn and apologized to his Tour rival.

“I was very upset with him. But then, after watching the video I said sorry to him,” Nibali said. “I moved right, (into) Froome, thought it was his fault. Did we clear it all up? Yeah. We are not footballers, we are cyclists.”

With bikes piled up and riders slowing down, Stybar rode ahead while Martin sat up on the side of the road.

When Stybar looked over his shoulder no one was behind him. Slovak Peter Sagan, chasing a fourth straight green jersey as the Tour’s best sprinter, finished in second place, two seconds behind.

“I don’t get it yet that I have won a stage on the Tour,” said the 29-year-old Stygar, a former Cyclo-cross rider who is Martin’s teammate on the Etixx Quick-Step team.

“It’s an amazing feeling, but on the other hand I feel really sorry for Tony,” Stygar said. “It’s the Tour de France; it’s just crazy, crazy. You don’t know what will happen around each corner.”

Quintana had blood dripping from his right arm and elbow as he crossed the line.

“I don’t think it’s very serious,” said Quintana, the 2013 Tour runner-up.

Froome was relieved to come through the melee with just a minor graze to his knee.

Froome leads Contador by 36 seconds; Nibali by 1:38 and Quintana by 1:56.

It’s been a painful Tour so far for many of the riders.

Australian rider Michael Matthews finished Thursday’s ride despite having two broken ribs sustained on the third stage. He is in last place overall.

Early into Thursday’s stage, Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot, Frenchman Perrig Quemeneur, and Belgian Kenneth Vanbilsen formed an early breakaway group.

Teklehaimanot scored points in the battle for the King of the Mountains jersey, meaning he will wear the famed polka-dot jersey on stage 7.

“It’s huge for African sport,” said Teklehaimanot, the first rider Eritrean to ride in the Tour.

Bruised and tired from five days of heat, ferocious winds — those scary crashes — and lashing rain, the peloton was in no mood to go quickly, rolling at a meager average of 38.4 kilometers (23.6) per hour as the riders passed through the Picardy region of northern France and into Normandy.

Teklehaimanot and Quemeneur were caught with about nine kilometers (5.6 miles) to go, while Van Bilsen held on until 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the line as the peloton accelerated.

Martin, his yellow jersey shining, moved near to the front in order to put teammate Mark Cavendish in a good position to attack.

Moments later, he was sitting against a railing, staring at the wreckage of another crash as the dazed riders looked around for their bikes.

Friday’s seventh stage is another for sprinters. It starts from Livarot in the Normandy region — home to a cheese of the same name — and ends 190.5 kilometers (118 miles) later in Fougeres, nestled in the Brittany region.

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Tour de France: Andre Greipel wins crash-marred 5th stage, Tony Martin retains lead

AMIENS, France — Andre Greipel won a rain-drenched fifth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Wednesday, while fellow German Tony Martin kept the yellow jersey and the main Tour contenders stayed safe as others tumbled around them.

Greipel attacked some 100 meters from the line and held on to beat Slovakian Peter Sagan. British sprinter Mark Cavendish finished third.

The mostly flat stage took the riders over 189.5 kilometers (117.5 miles) from Arras to Amiens in northern France, passing some of the battlefields of World War One.

Riders hoping for a stress-free stage after three days of intense racing were to be disappointed as the rain, which largely stayed away the day before, thundered down and turned the slippery roads of northern France into something of an ice rink.

Greipel clinched his second stage win of the race so far, punching the air in delight before even crossing the line. It was the third win overall in five stages for German riders after Tony Martin’s success in Tuesday’s fourth stage.

The day’s seventh and biggest crash happened at the back of the peloton with 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) to go.

While not as brutal as Monday’s huge crash in stage 3, it was spectacular and took down about 30 riders. Three went off the road to the right, tumbling into crash barriers. Behind them, others fell in a domino effect. Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, third on last year’s Tour, was among those to fall in his second crash of the day.

Thankfully, because speeds were not as high as on Monday, most riders were more groggy than hurt as they looked to see where exactly their bike was amid a myriad of spinning pedals and jutting-out handlebars.

Martin, a three-time world time trial champion wearing the leader’s yellow jersey for the first time, ended the day with a lead of 12 seconds over 2013 Tour champion Chris Froome and 25 seconds over American rider Tejay Van Garderen.

With time gaps staying the same, Froome leads two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador by 36 seconds; defending champion Vincenzo Nibali by 1:38 and Colombian rider Nairo Quintana, the 2013 runner-up, by 1:56.

After Frenchman Pierre-Luc Perichon surged ahead in an early solo breakaway, the first crash took down several Cofidis riders, including Nacer Bouhanni, who was taken away in ambulance. Team manager Yvon Sanquer said Bouhanni injured his hips, ribs and a wrist but did not break any bones.

With only 80 kilometers (50 miles) raced, there was a fifth crash with Bryan Coquard falling for a second time. American Tyler Farrar, Pinot and Portuguese rider Tiago Machado also fell. Machado clutched his bleeding right knee before carrying on.

Perichon was caught with about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to go.

After that, the main pack rolled along at a comfortable pace until the peloton split in two as the side winds became stronger.

Wednesday was also a day for remembrance as the peloton rolled past some of the cemeteries commemorating those who fell on the battlefields of World War One.

Before the stage, which passed through the farming regions of Artois and the Somme, Froome and Sky teammate Peter Kennaugh laid a wreath on the Commonwealth Memorial at the Franco-British cemetery in Arras. Australian riders from the Orica-Greenedge team joined the tribute, wearing black armbands at the stage start.

The Battle of the Somme was one of the most ferocious of the two World Wars. There were 60,000 Allied casualties on the first day, mown down by incessant machine-gun fire from the German lines. Hundreds of thousands on each side were killed and wounded as the battle raged from July to November 1916.

Riders also passed the Necropole Nationale de Rancourt, France’s biggest World War I cemetery, and the South African national memorial of Bois Delville a wooded area their soldiers defended from intense German attacks over several days of fighting in 1916.

Stage 6 is another mostly flat stage for sprinters, taking the pack over 191.5 kilometers (119 miles) from Abbeville to Le Havre, France’s biggest commercial port.

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Tour de France: Joaquim Rodriguez wins crash-filled third stage

HUY, Belgium — Spanish veteran Joaquim Rodriguez won the crash-marred third stage of the Tour de France on Monday, with British rider Chris Froome finishing second to take the race leader’s yellow jersey.

The crash happened with a little under 37 miles remaining, forcing the stage to be neutralized and then stopped altogether shortly after for nearly 20 minutes while organizers allowed those who fell to catch up.

With the race moving from neighboring Netherlands into Belgium, stage three was 99 miles from Antwerp to Huy.

It featured four short and sharp climbs but the crash took place before any of these when Frenchman William Bonnet went down and several riders tumbled around him.

All of the main Tour contenders avoided the crash, unlike Fabian Cancellara, who started the day in the yellow jersey and ended it in agony after being one of some 20 riders who fell.

After taking chunks of time out of his Tour rivals Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana on Sunday’s rain-soaked and wind-battered second stage, Froome did it again as he accelerated in the last climb. He almost caught up Rodriguez, but the Spanish rider held on with Froome closing in on him.

“It’s never too early to take the yellow jersey,” Froome said. “Really happy to come second and put more time on my GC (general classification) contenders. I was in front (of the crash) and just heard it about it on the radio.”

Rodriguez and Froome clocked the same time of 3 hours, 26 minutes, 54 seconds. Frenchman Alexis Vuillermoz was third, four seconds behind them.

Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, leads German rider Tony Martin by just one second and is 13 seconds ahead of American rider Tejay Van Garderen.

The day’s final two climbs 0.8 miles up Cote de Cherave and the famed Mur de Huy featured on this year’s Fleche Wallonne (Walloon Arrow) classic. That prompted Froome to ride the Wallonne this year, where he crashed toward the end.

He had better luck this time, gaining 11 seconds on Nibali and Quintana and 18 seconds on two-time Tour champion Contador.

“I lost quite a lot of time. I said before the stage that stages like this are often difficult,” Contador said. “It was very hard in the end and I was lacking something. Froome is very strong and he’s come here in good form.”

Monday’s heavy crash took its toll.

Cancellara was one of the last to go down, leaping into the air with his bike attached to him, then landing with a thud luckily on the grass and skidding on his side. Escaping with a few cuts and bruises, Cancellara got back on his bike.

But others were not so lucky.

Bonnet was taken off on a stretcher with a brace around his neck. Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin, competing for the best young rider’s white jersey, Australian veteran Simon Gerrans and Russian Dmitry Kozontchuk also withdrew from the race.

During Sunday’s trek along the Dutch coastline, time gaps were made when heavy side winds caused a split in the front of the peloton.

This time, the weather was not to blame.

Bonnet lost control and his bike slid forward and down.

Racing at tremendous speed on the flat, low roads of Belgium, it was impossible for those behind to either slow down or get out of the way, and one after the other they went up, down, or sideways in a bewildering flash of colors, bobbing helmets, spokes and wheels.

The end result was a tangled mess of bikes, spewed in all directions on the side of the road, while some riders lay on their backs in the grass and others were curled up in agony on the hot tarmac.

As the pack up ahead slowed down waiting stretched out in a narrow street riders started coming back into the race: cuts and bruises decorating their backs and legs. Cancellara grimaced in pain, Australian Michael Matthews looked to be in tears, and it was hard to see which team Johan Van Summeren was riding for given how shredded his shirt was.

The stage re-started for good at the top of the first climb, meaning there were about 31 miles remaining.

But it almost seemed like a training ride in slow motion for about five miles as no rider wanted to speed up.

Finally, the pace stepped up again, and about a dozen riders surged ahead. Doubtless due to fatigue, the others let them go.

Tuesday’s fourth stage stays in Belgium’s Walloon region, starting out from Seraing, and ending in the northern French town of Cambrai 138.6 miles later, making it the longest of the race.

With eight miles of cobblestone sections dotted around the route, it could also prove treacherous.

Given how Sunday and Monday went, riders will hardly be relishing it.

“It’s been an incredible Tour so far and there have been nerves and stress every day,” Contador said. “Tomorrow will be the same.”

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