Terrorism ruled out in crash killing 114

MILAN, Italy

An SAS airliner slammed into a private jet during takeoff, then swerved into an airport building and burst into flames, killing all 114 people on both planes yesterday, officials said. Four ground workers were missing.

The Interior Ministry ruled out terrorism and said the crash was most likely the result of human error and poor visibility from the heavy morning fog at Milan"s Linate airport.

The small jet, a Cessna carrying four people, entered the takeoff runway by mistake after air traffic control directed it to taxi to a different runway, the Interior Ministry said in a written statement.

The SAS plane, an MD-87 carrying 104 passengers, six crew members and a full tank of fuel, was accelerating for takeoff when it hit the twin-engine Cessna Citation II, which had taxied onto the takeoff runway, said Alessandra Tripodi, a spokeswoman at the central government"s office in Milan. The SAS airliner then hit a baggage handling depot and caught on fire, the Interior Ministry said.

Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi put the death toll at 114 all 110 from the SAS flight and four from the Cessna with four ground workers missing. Fifty-six of the SAS victims were Italians, 16 were Danes and two others were foreigners living in Denmark, Italian and Danish officials said.

PLO declares state of emergency after riots

JERUSALEM

Crowds of Palestinian supporters of Osama bin Laden attacked their own security forces in the Gaza Strip yesterday in the most violent challenge to Yasser Arafat"s administration since shortly after it was established in 1994. At least two people were reported killed and scores injured after police opened fire.

As rioting spread yesterday evening, the Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip, an impoverished, 147-square-mile band of territory fenced off by Israel. Hundreds of police officers carrying clubs patrolled the streets, all demonstrations were outlawed and Gaza"s two main universities were ordered closed.

The demonstrations were triggered by the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan and Palestinian sympathy for bin Laden, the suspected terrorist mastermind who praised the Palestinian cause in a taped statement broadcast worldwide after the attacks began Sunday night. Simmering anger with Arafat"s leadership also appeared to be fueling the protests.

Arafat had ordered his police forces to quash any demonstrations sympathetic to bin Laden, to maintain U.S. support and distance himself from extremism.

Russian sub raised from bottom of sea

MURMANSK, Russia

In an immaculate and unprecedented salvage effort, the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine was raised from the Barents Sea floor yesterday and began its final journey to shore, clamped under a jumbo barge.

Salvage crew members who were prepared for the worst drew a deep sigh of relief after the trouble-free lifting, which followed more than four months of technical problems and uncertainty.

"I"m very proud that we made a success," said Frans van Seumeren, president of the Dutch Mammoet company, which raised the Kursk together with another Dutch company, Smit International.

"We worked hard, sometimes it was difficult but in the end we succeeded," van Seumeren said, his voice trembling with emotion.

Nobel Prizes awarded to 3 cell researchers

STOCKHOLM, Sweden

An American and two British researchers won the 2001 Nobel Prize in medicine yesterday for basic discoveries in cell development that are expected to lead to new cancer treatments.

Leland H. Hartwell, director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle R. Timothy Hunt of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Hertfordshire, England and Paul M. Nurse, 52, of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London will share the $943,000 award.

The scientists were honored for discovering key regulators of the cell cycle, which is the process cells go through to divide. Cells must grow, duplicate their chromosomes the tiny DNA segments that contain genes and distribute these chromosomes to the cells that result from the cell division.

FAA imposes new restrictions on bags

WASHINGTON

Airline passengers are now limited to one carry-on bag and one pocketbook or briefcase each.

The new restrictions were announced yesterday as airline security already was at its highest level because of last month"s terrorist attacks. The Federal Aviation Administration again warned airports about security following Sunday"s attacks on Afghanistan.

The limits on carry-on bags extend the restrictions imposed on passengers to and from Reagan Washington National Airport when it reopened last week.