Nation, world briefs 8/17/16

8 killed after elevator falls

BEIJING -- Eight people in an eastern Chinese city died when the construction elevator they were in plummeted from an apartment building, the local government said Sunday. The Longkou city government in Shandong province said on its official microblog page the elevator fell from the 18th story of the building under construction. Eight people who were in the elevator when it fell Friday were taken to hospitals immediately, but none survived, the government said. Despite improvements in recent years, work safety remains a problem in China, where regulations routinely are ignored and cost-cutting often leads to accidents.

Tainted liquor kills 19, blinds 6

LUCKNOW, India -- At least 19 people died, and six others were blinded after drinking toxic bootleg liquor in northern India, police said Sunday. Another 50 people fell ill after consuming the home-brewed liquor Friday and were being treated in hospitals in Etah district in Uttar Pradesh state, said senior police officer Ajay Shankar Rai. The Press Trust of India news agency put the death toll at 21. Illicit liquor is a hugely profitable industry across India, where bootleggers pay no taxes and sell enormous quantities of their product. Manufacturers operate from homes, hidden warehouses and even forests. Rai said the victims bought the liquor from a village shop Friday evening and began falling ill and dying. The shop owner, who has been arrested, was selling pouches of tainted liquor for 4 cents each, six times cheaper than the legal drink, he said. India's poor often buy cheap bootleg liquor made of syrups and medicines spiked with methyl alcohol and other industrial spirits to give it a kick.

Firefighters rescue 2 from storm drain

PHOENIX -- A man and a woman who became stuck after crawling miles through a storm-drain system were rescued by Phoenix firefighters. Fire officials said the two entered a storm drain early Sunday morning to search for a dog. According to firefighters, they crawled several miles, then became trapped. A bicyclist riding by heard their screams for help and called 911 sometime before 1 a.m. Firefighters spent nearly an hour using tools to gain access into the storm drain and rescue the victims. Both people, who are in their early 40s, showed no signs of injury. They also never found the dog.

Some benefits cards list a sex line

LEWISTON, Maine -- Some holders of electronic benefits-transfer cards find dialing the phone number on the back of the cards gets them a sex line, not their balances. A Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said officials have been aware for months the phone number on some cards is off by one digit. L.J. Langelier of Lewiston discovered the error last week when he went to check his EBT balance before going to the grocery store. What he got instead was a message welcoming him to "America's hottest talk line." Langelier said he thought he'd misdialed but kept getting the same message when he called back. The department plans to replace the misprinted cards and strengthen its review process.

-- From wire reports