SNIPPETS

4 killed in bus mishap

JAMMU: At least four people were killed and 17 critically injured early on Tuesday when a bus carrying pilgrims from the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir skidded and fell into a gorge. The incident occurred at Domel, about 35 km north of Jammu. Police said the pilgrims were mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. — HNS

Two soldiers killed

JAMMU: At least two Indian soldiers and a guerrilla were killed in a fierce gun battle in a village close to the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Army officials said the firefight started at Jagal village in Poonch district, 210 km north of here, Tuesday morning. Four soldiers were hurt, and two of them later succumbed to their injuries. The exchange of fire between the soldiers and guerrillas continued till late Tuesday afternoon. — HNS

Search for miners on

BEIJING: With dimming hope, rescuers searched on Tuesday for 102 miners trapped for two days in a flooded illegal coal mine in southern China as officials urged 65 managers who fled the scene to return, the government said. Only four miners managed to escape after the

tunnel 420 metres underground became flooded on Sunday at the privately owned Daxing Colliery in Wanghuai Town of Meizhou City in Guangdong province. — AP

Blast hurts educators

BANGKOK: Four high-ranking educators in violence-plagued southern Thailand were seriously injured on Tuesday when a bomb exploded as they were eating lunch together, police said. Police Col. Somchit Nasomyon said the bomb in Pattani town, the capital district of Pattani province, was detonated remotely by mobile phone and was believed to have been aimed at the four because they were attending a meeting of senior education officials. — AP