Pune blast toll 12

NEW DELHI: The death toll from a blast that ripped through a packed restaurant last weekend in western India, which was claimed by a previously unknown Islamist group has risen to 12, a report said on Saturday. The explosion at the German Bakery restaurant in the city of Pune was the first major attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai massacre in which 166 people died. The latest fatality was a 26-year-old Sudanese student, Amjad Elgazoli, who was studying at college in Pune, the Press Trust of India reported.

Plane hits turbulence

TOKYO: Eighteen people were injured, with one breaking a leg, when a passenger plane hit turbulence en route from Washington to Tokyo, Japanese police said on Saturday. The United Airlines Boeing 747-400 was carrying 245 passengers and crew when it hit turbulence over Alaska, seven hours from Tokyo’s Narita airport, a police officer at the airport said. Footage broadcast by NHK showed rescuers carrying some of those injured from the plane. It reported three people were hospitalised.

Rwanda attacks

KIGALI: One person was killed and 18 injured in three simultaneous grenade attacks on public places in the Rwandan capital Kigali, national public radio said on Saturday. Five of the injured were in a serious condition following the attacks on a train station a restaurant and a building housing city centre businesses. No arrests had been made and no official reaction was issued following the attacks on Friday evening.

Lunar mishap toll 300

HANOI: Lunar New Year holiday road accidents killed almost 300 people in Vietnam, and most of the crashes involved alcohol, official media reported. The deaths occurred over seven days since the holiday began on February 13, Vietnam News Agency said in a report on Friday. Known locally as Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday ends on Sunday and is Vietnam’s most important annual festival. As part of their celebrations many people travel on the roads to make family visits.