US school massacre: Victims' kin get $2.1m

NEW YORK • Families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre three years ago have been awarded US$1.5 million (S$2.1 million) in damages from the estate of the shooter's mother, their lawyers' office said on Wednesday. Twenty children and six educators were killed when Adam Lanza went on a deadly rampage at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec 14, 2012.

US media reported that eight separate lawsuits, involving 16 plaintiffs, were filed seeking compensation from the estate of Ms Nancy Lanza, who was fatally shot by her son Adam moments before the massacre. The lawsuits accused Ms Lanza of negligence for leaving a rifle unguarded in her home, within the reach of her son who had a history of mental illness, media reported.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

25 killed, 107 injured in Saudi hospital fire

RIYADH • A pre-dawn fire at a hospital in Saudi Arabia's south-western port city of Jazan yesterday killed 25 people and injured 107, the Saudi civil defence agency said in a statement.

The blaze at Jazan General Hospital broke out on the first floor, in the intensive care unit and the maternity ward, the agency said.

The fire was brought under control and an investigation into its cause was under way, the agency added.

REUTERS