■HONDURAS
Legislator electrocuted
A legislator said one of his colleagues had been electrocuted while making repairs on his ranch. Eric Amador said Victor Argenal of the opposition National Party died when a metal tube he was holding came in contact with a high-tension public utility cable. Amador told Radio America that Argenal died on Saturday in Choluteca. He was 51. Argenal was a civil engineer by training and became a businessman, rancher and president of the National Sugar Cane Producers Association. He represented Choluteca as a congressman for 16 years.
■UNITED STATES
Mystery safe opened
A locksmith has managed to open a 159-year-old safe from Oregon that baffled other professional safecrackers and an expert from MIT. In two-and-a-half hours, Tom Gorham of Longview, Washington, got the safe open by spinning the dial and feeling for grooves to get the combination — a technique called manipulation. “You’ve got to have a lot of patience, and concentration doesn’t hurt,” Gorham said. Gorham trekked to Astoria, a town about 64km west of Longview to try his luck with the 1-tonne safe found during renovation at a cannery there. The cannery’s owner, Floyd Holcomb, wanted it opened without damage. Holcomb won’t reveal what was inside until he tells the cannery’s board next month.
■COLOMBIA
Earthquake kills seven
A strong earthquake struck on Saturday, killing at least seven people and sending thousands of panicked residents into Bogota’s streets, authorities said. The quake shook the capital for several seconds. State geological agency Ingeominas put the strength of the quake at 5.5 on the Richter scale — the strongest temblor to jolt the capital in a decade. Seven people were killed in at least three car crashes on highways as a result of the temblor, officials said. Thousands panicked in the streets under heavy drizzle as firefighters and police were mobilized and residents reported several aftershocks. The city of 7 million people suffered only minor damage.
■UNITED STATES
Knievel stunt successful
Robbie “Kaptain” Knievel, son of the late daredevil Evel Knievel, successfully jumped over 24 delivery trucks on Saturday at the site of one of his father’s most famous stunts. “Hopefully I’ll see you after the jump,” Knievel told the crowd before he climbed the start ramp. Knievel, 46, had said he would need to be going 153kph at take off for the 61m jump, which began from a three-story tall ramp and was completed amid wild cheers, booming explosions and shooting flames at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati, Ohio. Robbie Knievel dedicated his stunt to his father, US war veterans and those serving in the military.
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