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Deadly tiger escape under investigation

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Officials at San Francisco General Hospital said two men injured by an escaped zoo tiger that killed one other person could be released as early as Wednesday.

Dr. John Brown, an emergency room physician at the hospital, said the tiger inflicted deep bites and claw cuts to the injured men's heads and upper bodies, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Officials said the men, whose injuries were first considered life-threatening, were able to talk about the attack Tuesday and could soon be released.

Zookeepers said they haven't determined how the tiger, a 4-year-old named Tatiana, was able to escape from the grotto where the tigers are kept. They said the tiger, which injured a keeper during an attack in December 2006, didn't go through the grotto's only door.

"We don't know how it was able to get out," said Robert Jenkins, director of animal care at the zoo. "The tiger should not have been able to jump (out). This is the first thing we will be investigating."

Police said they haven't ruled out carelessness or criminal activity as causes of the escape.

The animal was shot and killed by police officers at the zoo.

200 missing after Nepal bridge collapse

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Police in southwestern Nepal said about 200 people were missing after a bridge over the Bheri River collapsed.

The police said the year-old suspension bridge was holding as many as 1,000 Hindu pilgrims Tuesday when it collapsed, sending hundreds some 150 feet into the water below, CNN reported Wednesday. Many people swam to safety and 15 bodies were pulled from the water, police said. Twenty women and 12 men were hospitalized after the collapse. About 200 people were missing Wednesday.

"The rescuers have not given up yet. They're still there and they're still looking for bodies," journalist Manesh Shrestha told CNN.

"The bridge collapsed because there were hundreds of people on it," said Nepalese police officer Nibandha Budha. "They had gone to the river for a three-day Hindu religious festival on the occasion of full moon."

He said between 700 and 1,000 people are thought to have been on the bridge when it collapsed. Budha said most of the pilgrims were women and children and women in the country aren't encouraged to learn how to swim.

Wreckage of S.Korean ship believed found

YEOSU, South Korea, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The South Korean navy has located an object on the sea floor that may be the hull of a cargo ship that sank Tuesday off the southern coast of South Korea.

A navy official said Wednesday that a patrol ship, using sonar, located wreckage 20 miles east of Geomun Island in Yeosu, The Korea Times reported Wednesday.

The navy and South Korean coast guard investigated the object, which is believed to be the wreckage of the Eastern Bright, which sank Tuesday en route to Taiwan. The navy determined the object was facing Taiwan and there are no similar objects nearby.

One Myanmarese sailor from the sunken vessel was rescued and 14 others -- 12 Koreans and two Myanmarese -- were missing Wednesday.

The rescued crewman said he believed he was the only person who was able to put on a flotation device before the ship went down. He said the sinking occurred while the crew was sleeping and he was awakened by the shaking of the ship.

Five Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Turkish military sources said five Kurdish rebels were killed in fighting with Turkish forces in the southeastern part of the country.

The sources told Turkish daily Hurriyet that two women were among people killed during fighting in Kupeli near the Iraqi border, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported Wednesday.

Six rifles, explosives and cellular phones were found in the possession of the slain rebels, the sources said.

They also said 150-170 Kurdish Workers Party insurgents were killed Dec. 16 by warplanes in Kandil Mountains. Six people were injured in the attack.

An explosion late Tuesday in the European part of Istanbul killed at least seven people. Police suspect militants with the Kurdish Workers Party, known by its Kurdish language initials of PKK and listed by the U.S. State Department as a terror group, may have been responsible.

Two suspected militants dead in Iraq

BAQUBA, Iraq, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Multi-National Forces in Iraq announced Wednesday that two suspected militants were killed by soldiers with the Multi-National Division North.

The statement said, "MND-North Soldiers killed two suspected extremists and detained four more in an intelligence-driven raid in Baquba," KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported Wednesday.

"MND-N Soldiers confirmed one of the suspected extremists killed was a member of a Concerned Local Citizens group," the name given by the U.S. Army to Al-Sahwa fighters, the statement said. "The CLC movement has been an effective part of the strategy to improve security throughout Iraq and in MND-N. Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security Forces screen and monitor members to ensure they are not involved in extremist activity."

"CLCs are a stationary force under contract to guard critical infrastructure. They are prohibited from conducting offensive operations," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi police discovered a spy plane hidden among a depot of heavy arms in the southern city of Basra. Police said the plane was discovered Tuesday alongside a large amount of heavy weapons, explosives, documents and videos.