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5 dead in plane crash in Laos, including defense chief and other senior party officials
• BANGKOK (AP) -- A military plane carrying senior Lao government officials crashed Saturday in a wooded area as it approached an airport in the country's northeast, killing at least five people, including the defense minister and other high-ranking members of the authoritarian country's ruling party.
• Lao National Television showed video of the mangled wreckage of the plane, with smoke rising from its badly charred remains. The footage showed rescuers pulling away pieces of aircraft debris and trying to dig through the remaining fuselage with shovels, as medical crews stood by watching.
• About 18 people were believed to be on board the plane, which left Vientiane, Laos' capital, early Saturday morning to bring the group to an official ceremony in Xiangkhoung province, about 470 kilometers (290 miles) away, said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee. Earlier reports had said about 20 people were on board.
• The Ukrainian-made Antonov AN-74TK-300 crashed in Xiangkhoung's Pek district, where authorities were "helping to rescue the survivors," according to Lao state news agency KPL, which cited an announcement from the Prime Minister's Office. The brief official statement did not say how many people had died in the crash or survived.
• Among those confirmed killed were Defense Minister Douangchay Phichit and his wife, said Nipat Thonglek, the Thai Defense Ministry's permanent secretary.
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Crews who have fought San Diego fires for days prepare for long season; evacuees set to return
• ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) -- Firefighters scoured charred hillsides north of San Diego on Saturday to guard against a resurgence of flames that ripped through the region, while the last of tens of thousands of evacuees prepared to return home. For those battling a series of blazes for days, the relief was mixed with a sense of dread that drought-sapped vegetation, high temperatures and low humidity portend a long fire season ahead.
• The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to more than 1,500 fires this year, compared with about 800 during an average year.
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