Quake rattles Sumatra

JAKARTA: A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, where many residents fled their homes to higher ground fearing another tsunami, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the magnitude 6.1 quake, which struck about 11:43 pm on Saturday. The quake was centered 107 km southwest of Gunung Sitoli. — AP

3 hurt in Kandahar blast

KANDAHAR: Suspected Taliban rebels set off a bomb next to a fuel tanker parked outside the US military base in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, setting off a chain of large explosions that destroyed five tankers and injured three drivers. The attack took place just after 3 a.m., while Pakistani and Afghan drivers waiting to deliver fuel to the US base at Kandahar airport were sleeping, said local Afghan military commander. No American soldiers were injured. — AP

B’desh factory toll 69

DHAKA: Rescuers pulled another eight bodies from the rubble of a collapsed factory in Bangladesh, bringing the death toll to 69 with about 100 people still reported missing, an army spokesman said on Sunday. “Wwe are conducting our work carefully as most of the bodies we are retrieving are in very bad shape.” The illegally-constructed nine-storey building housing Spectrum Sweater and Knitting Industries at Palash Bari collapsed on Monday. — AFP

Wreckage of plane spotted

JAKARTA: The wreckage of a small passenger plane that crashed last week in Indonesia’s remote West Papua province was found on Sunday, police said. All 18 people on board were feared dead. Lt Col Paulus Waterpau said he had received a report early on Sunday that a passing plane had spotted the tail of the ill-fated aircraft inside a ravine near a mountain. He said a rescue team has been sent to the area. — AP

Monkeys go berserk

BHUBANESWAR: A group of monkeys descended on an Orissa village, quaffed down pots of an intoxicating brew lying in the open and then set upon the villagers, injuring three of them in Baralapokhari. Irate villagers struck back at the inebriated monkeys with sticks and other weapons and drove them away. The ‘pana’ drink had been prepared from marijuana leaves as part of an offering to Hindu gods on the occasion of the Oriya new year on Friday. — HNS