MEXICO CITY

Four people die, 26 injured trying to recover gasoline

Mexican officials say four people have died and 26 others are injured because a fire ignited as they tried to recover gasoline from a tank truck that had crashed.

Tabasco state Civil Defense official Jorge Mendez Landeros said two of the victims died Saturday and two others at the moment of the fire. State health officials said two of the dead are children.

The Civil Defense agency said the 15,800-gallon tanker crashed on the road between Villahermosa and Coatzacoalcos on Thursday and local residents defied authorities’ attempts to keep them away from the danger. Many suffered serious burns when it exploded.

BEIRUT

Syrian rebel troops hand major defeat to government

Syrian rebels captured the key northern city of Idlib from government forces Saturday in the most significant defeat for forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in two years.

The rebel force, led by the al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, surged into the city center overnight Saturday and by day’s end had ousted government forces almost entirely.

The loss for the government came amid a number of recent indications that the Assad regime is struggling to maintain the momentum it won on the battlefield last year, including the failure of two recent offensives in the north and the south of the country.

The official Syrian news agency SANA indirectly acknowledged the defeat, reporting that government forces were regrouping to the south of the city to confront what it said were thousands of “terrorists” supported by Turkey.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone

Guinea sends security forces to keep out Sierra Leoneans

Guinea has deployed security forces to the country’s southwest in response to reports that Sierra Leoneans are crossing the border to flee an Ebola lockdown intended to stamp out the deadly disease, an official said Saturday.

The deployment was sent late Friday to the town of Forecariah, said gendarmerie spokesman Mamadou Alpha Barry.

Residents reported tension in the region resulting from a large influx of Sierra Leoneans in the days leading up to the lockdown, which went into effect Friday and ends Sunday.

In Guinea’s border town of Pamelap, resident Iliassa Balde said security forces had to intervene to prevent clashes Friday night and all residents were asked to stay in their homes.

The southwest region of Guinea borders northern districts of Sierra Leone that are focus areas for the lockdown operation.

– From news service reports

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