Three killed in plane crash

BANGKOK: Three people were killed on Saturday when their light airplane exploded while trying to make an emergency landing in northwestern Thailand, police said. A Thai businessman was piloting the four-seat plane carrying his wife and their nephew from Chiang Mai. The aircraft requested an emergency landing at Bhumibol Dam in Sam Ngao, before midday on Saturday but then exploded as it hit the runway. — AFP

Quake jolts island

JAKARTA: An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale rattled the Indonesian town of Manado on the island of Sulawesi overnight, causing panic but no reported damage or casualties, seismologists said on Saturday. Residents fled their homes when the tremor struck, fearing a repeat of the December tsunami that devastated western Indonesia’s Sumatra, police said. — AFP

Three killed in blast

DHAKA: Three people were killed and more than 30 injured when a boiler exploded in a textile dyeing factory in Fatullah, police said on Saturday. The explosion ripped through Rapid Dyeing Industry at Fatullah around 1:15 am, wrecking the factory and causing fires which burned down two houses. — AFP