Nation briefs 8/20/2015

Three buried in Alaska landslide

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Authorities had not started clearing tons of logs and mud to search for three men believed buried by a landslide because the debris that crashed into a southeast Alaska town was too unstable Wednesday and posed a danger to rescuers. Crews in Sitka unsuccessfully tried to stabilize the ground after part of a mountain gave way and swept tree-tangled muck into a construction site Tuesday. Workers tried using heavy equipment to divert stream water washing over the debris, which two geologists were reviewing to see how responders can begin searching safely for the missing men, officials said. Cloud cover over the mountain also slowed the effort by preventing an aerial view of the slide, which authorities believe killed city building inspector William Stortz and brothers Elmer and Ulises Diaz. "We don't want to put additional people in harm's way and compound the problem," said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

New hole opens at fatal sinkhole site

SEFFNER, Fla. -- Sometime after the sun came up Wednesday, a woman walking her dog past a fenced-off area in a sleepy suburban neighborhood near Tampa heard a loud rumble. She dialed 911. The earth had opened again. By Wednesday afternoon, a 17-foot-wide and 20-foot-deep sinkhole had formed in the same place where a man was swallowed by the earth while sleeping in 2013. Hillsborough County officials said it's likely the hole opened because of all the recent rains, and such activity isn't uncommon. In March 2013, Jeffrey Bush was asleep in his bedroom on the property when the floor collapsed, and he fell in. His body never was recovered. His brother, Jeremy Bush, was in the house and tried to rescue him, even jumping into the hole. He was rescued by authorities as the ground crumbled around him.

Man shot, killed by toddler with gun

HOOVER, Ala. -- Authorities have identified a man who apparently was shot to death by his 2-year-old son in what police are calling an accident. Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said investigators have ruled out suicide and other scenarios in the death of 31-year-old Divine Vaniah Chambliss. Rector said Chambliss was found shot once in the head in an apartment Tuesday afternoon, and no one was inside other than the toddler. Rector said there was no sign of an intruder or a self-inflicted wound, and there was a semiautomatic pistol in the apartment. Police said the Jefferson County Medical Examiner's office has completed an autopsy, and results are pending. Rector said it's not difficult for a child to pull a trigger on that kind of weapon, and investigators believe that's what happened.

-- Associated Press