Atty: Worker in Pa. bldg collapse misused machine

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An attorney representing the contractor hired to demolish a Philadelphia building that collapsed onto a thrift store, killing six people, says his client did not instruct an excavator operator to use the machine for demolition that day.

Attorney Kenneth Edelin said in a statement that contractor Griffin Campbell hired excavator operator Sean Benschop because of his experience but Benschop was to use the machine to remove debris on June 3, the day the building collapsed.

Benschop faces numerous charges, including manslaughter. At least six survivors have filed lawsuits against Campbell and the building's owner, and a grand jury was being convened to investigate the collapse.

A handful of investigators emerged from Campbell's home Monday evening, carrying a box.

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Mayor: 1 dead in Philadelphia building collapse

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A building that was being torn down collapsed with a thunderous boom Wednesday, raining bricks on a neighboring thrift store, killing a woman and injuring at least 13 other people in an accident that witnesses said was bound to happen.

The woman who died was 35 years old, the mayor said, but no other information about her was released.

Rescuers pulled another woman, trapped amid the rubble of a Salvation Army thrift store, after they heard her voice, city fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said, and the search for survivors continued hours after the 10:45 a.m. collapse on the edge of downtown.

Rescuers used buckets and their bare hands to move bricks and rubble.

"We do not know how many people were actually in the thrift store this morning when the wall collapsed on the building," Mayor Michael Nutter said late Wednesday afternoon.

Survivors were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Ayers said.

The collapse involved an empty building that once housed a first-floor sandwich shop and apartments above. The thrift shop was on one side. The other side was an adult bookstore and theater that had been taken down within the last few months.

Several witnesses said they had been casting a wary eye on the demolition site and questioned how the workers were tackling the job. That raised questions about how closely the highly visible spot on Market Street — one of Philadelphia's signature boulevards — was being monitored.

Roofer Patrick Glynn said he had been watching workers take down the doomed building over the past few weeks, and said he suspected a collapse was inevitable because of the methods the workers were using.

"For weeks they've been standing on the edge, knocking bricks off," he said. "You could just see it was ready to go at any time. I knew it was going to happen."

Glynn and Anthony Soli were working on a roof atop a nearby building when they heard what sounded like two loud bangs or explosions. They immediately ran down the scaffolding and helped pull out two women and a man.

Steve Cramer, who has been working as a window washer across the street for several days, said the demolition crew left 30 feet of a dividing wall up with no braces and it compromised the integrity of the building

"We've been calling it for the past week — it's going to fall, it's going to fall," his co-worker Dan Gillis said.

There were no existing violations on the building and the demolition company had proper permits for the work they were doing, according to Carlton Williams of the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections.

The city issued a demolition permit for the four-story structure on Feb. 1. Online records list the contractor as Plato Marinakos Jr., an architect. He told The Associated Press that Campbell Construction was handling the demolition. A message was left at a listing for Campbell Construction in Philadelphia.

A demolition expert wondered what precautions were taken to protect the Salvation Army store, especially since it remained open. Stephen Estrin, a Florida contractor who has testified as an expert at several trials involving building collapses, also questioned whether the demolition was being done by hand or with machinery. A piece of equipment with a claw device was seen amid the debris Wednesday.

"This is an inner-city demolition of a masonry building, which would normally be done manually because of the inherent risk — predictable if certain things are not done very slowly and very carefully — of a collapse," Estrin said. "One of the problems with claw work is it sets up a vibration in the walls."

Witnesses said they heard a loud rumbling sound immediately before the collapse. More than 100 rescuers and several police dogs searched through the rubble.

"I was standing there looking out my window, watching the men at work on the building, and the next thing I know I heard something go kaboom," said Veronica Haynes, who was on the fifth floor of an apartment building across the street. "Then you saw the whole side of the wall fall down ... onto the other building."

Bernie DiTomo was driving past Salvation Army store in his white pickup truck, on his way to an appointment, when the collapse happened.

"The next thing you know, I heard a rumble, and a building and a sign fell on my truck," he said.

He said he lay down in the seat of his cab. It was probably over in about 30 seconds, he said. There was a lot of dirt and dust, but he was able to open the door and get out, unhurt. His truck remained nearby, partially covered in debris, as DiTomo watched recovery efforts from across the street.

High school student Jordan McLaughlin said a thick cloud of dust immediately enveloped the area.

"It was hard to breathe," he said.

The accident happened on the western edge of downtown, between the city's business district and its main train terminal, 30th Street Station. The block had long been a seedy link between gleaming skyscrapers and the busy area around the station.

Maj. John Cranford of The Salvation Army in Philadelphia said officials were coordinating with the police and fire department and sent their own disaster response team to the site to serve survivors and first responders.

"Our No. 1 concern is for the safety of our customers and the employees who were involved," he said. "We ask for the public to pray for those involved."

Records show the collapsed building was sold in 1994 for $385,894. Marinakos, the architect, said plans tentatively called for the block to be redeveloped into retail stores and apartments.

___

Associated Press writers Maryclaire Dale, Michael Rubinkam and Ron Todt contributed to this report.

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Source: Jail time at heart of collapse of plea talks in Edwards case

"I did not break the law. And I never, ever thought I was breaking the law," former Sen. John Edwards told reporters Friday.John Edwards insisted on "minimal" impact on his youngest kids, source saysJustice Department wanted six months' jail time, newspaper reportsEx-candidate indicted on charges of breaking campaign finance laws

Washington (CNN) -- The insistence that former Sen. John Edwards serve some jail time over allegations he broke campaign finance laws caused a collapse in plea negotiations between lawyers for the former presidential candidate and the Justice Department last week.

Edwards wanted to have as "minimal" impact on his two younger kids as possible, a source with knowledge of the talks confirmed to CNN Sunday. Edwards has a 10-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter.

The Raleigh News and Observer, which first reported the story, said the Justice Department was insisting that Edwards serve six months in jail if he pleaded guilty.

After initially saying Edwards had to agree to plead guilty to a felony in earlier discussions, CNN is told prosecutors last week offered for him instead to plead guilty to some misdemeanors.

But the jail time was the breaking point.

"He did not want to have an extended period of time away from his kids," said the source, who would not speak on the record because the details of the plea discussions have not been made public.

After the breakdown in negotiations, a grand jury indicted Edwards, a former Democratic vice presidential nominee, on six felony counts.

In court on Friday, Edwards pleaded not guilty.

"I will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that I've caused to others. But I did not break the law. And I never, ever thought I was breaking the law," he told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The News and Observer also reported that Edwards' lawyers were not confident they would be allowed to urge a judge to consider alternatives for incarceration such as a halfway house, weekend passes or home arrest in order to give him more time with his children. After the death of his wife, Elizabeth, Edwards is the primary caregiver for the two younger children.

CNN

Worker dies after collapse in Fukushima

An aerial view of the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Fukushima prefecture on March 12, 2011.He was not exposed to lethal amounts of radiation, Tokyo Electric Power Co. saysThe man in his 60s had worked at the plant for two days Company: He was wearing protective gear at the time

(CNN) -- A worker died after collapsing at a facility in the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, its owner said Saturday.

The man in his 60s was rushed to hospital unconscious after working for 50 minutes, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's owner.

He was declared dead at the hospital on Saturday morning. The cause of death is unknown.

The contract worker was on his second day at the plant, and was wearing protective gear at the time, the company said.

He was exposed to 0.17 millisieverts of radiation, the company said.

Japanese health officials have set a cumulative limit of 250 millisieverts per year before workers must leave the plant.

The plant has faced a series of setbacks since a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11. The disasters triggered a glitch in the plant's cooling system, and caused radiation to leak.

As crews work to bring the problems under control, the government said this week it would compensate more than 78,000 displaced by the nuclear disaster.

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Gulf bid to end Yemen crisis nears collapse

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A deal to end Yemen's political crisis neared collapse on Sunday after the country's embattled president refused to personally sign it, leaving a deadlock that threatens to plunge the impoverished Arab nation and key U.S. ally deeper into disorder and bloodshed.

var data = blocks.columnist;if (data != undefined){document.getElementById('columnistmug').innerHTML=data;} By Muhammed Muheisen, AP

Yemeni boys react during a demonstration by anti-government protesters in Sanaa,Yemen, on Sunday.

By Muhammed Muheisen, AP

Yemeni boys react during a demonstration by anti-government protesters in Sanaa,Yemen, on Sunday.

An unraveling of the deal for Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after nearly three months of protests against his rule would greatly increase the prospects of more bloodshed in a nation long beset by serious conflict and deep poverty and which is home to al-Qaida's most active offshoot.

At least 140 people have been killed in the government's crackdown on the protesters, who have nonetheless grown in number week after week. The violence, which has included sniper attacks, has prompted several top military commanders, ruling party members, diplomats and others to defect to the opposition, largely isolating the president.

Still, Saleh has clung to power, thanks in part to the key backing of Yemen's best trained and equipped military units, which are under the command of one of his sons and other close relatives.

"There will likely be more violence now," said analyst Fares al-Saqqaf. "In the end, we may have foreign intervention to end the chaos and bloodshed," he predicted.

Continued unrest in Yemen risks the stability of a region that is home to important shipping lanes at the southern mouth of the Red Sea. Yemen is also close to the massive oil and gas fields of the Gulf Arab region.

The country has over the years been wracked by rampant corruption, a weak central government, a Shiite rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and, since early February, the massive protests demanding Saleh's ouster.

Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the protests pose the most serious threat to Saleh's authoritarian rule. Saleh has sought to cling to power by offering the protesters concessions, pledging not to run again in 2013 elections or allow his son to succeed him. The protesters stood their ground, demanding his immediate resignation and his trial for the killing of protesters and corruption.

A mediation plan put forward by six U.S. allies grouped in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, looked close to fruition, with the established opposition political parties and Saleh himself agreeing to it. The plan called for Saleh to step down within 30 days and for a national unity government to run the country until elections are held.

The proposals also gave Saleh immunity from prosecution.

The street protesters, who say the opposition parties taking part in the talks do not represent them, rejected the deal and said nothing less than Saleh's immediate resignation would persuade them to halt their massive demonstrations. Still, the Gulf initiative held some promise, but that subsequently vanished when Saleh told a GCC envoy late Saturday that he would send representatives to sign the deal ? rather than signing it himself ? at a ceremony that had been scheduled for Sunday or Monday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

The opposition said it would not sign it unless Saleh did too and the GCC, a loose alliance of oil-rich Gulf Arab nations, said it was indefinitely postponing the ceremony, blaming Saleh's refusal to sign.

"President Saleh, like any dictator, does not want to leave power and is doing everything he can to win time and stay longer in power," said Mohammed al-Sabri, a spokesman for the opposition political parties. "He cannot be trusted."

The GCC nations' foreign ministers met Sunday in Riyadh and said they were sending the council's secretary-general, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, back to Yemen to try to salvage the deal.

The council "hopes to remove the obstacles that are still hindering reaching a final agreement between the parties in Yemen," it said in a statement.

The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

The Yemeni government said Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Saleh discussed the GCC proposals by telephone Sunday but gave no details.

Government officials said Saleh had told al-Zayani of the GCC on Saturday that he intended to ratify the deal after sending a close aide and a senior ruling party official to sign it. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Saleh's ratification would be in his capacity as head of the ruling party and not as president.

The opposition feared Saleh was leaving himself room to stay in power and leaders of the street demonstrations said they planned to step up their protests to force Saleh out.

Tens of thousands of protesters were out Sunday in a number of Yemeni cities, including Aden and Taiz in the south, to demand that he step down.

"We will not pay attention to any mediation or foreign intervention," said protest leader Abdel-Hadi al-Azazi in Sanaa, the capital. "We will continue to march and protest until the uprising's goal is achieved ? the ouster of the regime."

Despite gunfire, protesters in Aden pushed their way back into a central square that had been cleared by security forces a day earlier, said Shaher Masaabeen, one of the demonstrators. Medics said two protesters were injured by gunfire.

In the eastern province of Hadramawt, unknown gunmen firing from a moving car killed four soldiers and fled, said a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

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