Bolts suspected in tunnel collapse

Collapse of Sasago Tunnel is being blamed on failure of "anchor bolts" The bolts secure concrete slabs to the ceiling of the tunnel Nine people died when concrete slabs fell on traffic on Sunday morning Forty-nine other tunnels of similar construction are being inspected across Japan Hong Kong (CNN) -- The mangled wrecks of cars being carried out of Japan's Sasago Tunnel suggest there was little motorists could do to escape the sudden collapse of the ceiling above them. A day after the disaster, one main theory has emerged as to what caused the collapse, which killed nine people who were trapped in their cars by rubble or the flames that broke out shortly after. At a press briefing on Monday, the executive officer of the tunnel's operator said it appeared that some "anchor bolts" used to secure concrete slabs to the tunnel ceiling were missing. "There were parts of concrete (slabs) where bolts had fallen off," Ryoichi Yoshizawa said, according to a spokesman for Central Japan Expressway Company or NEXCO-Central. Tunnel collapse in eastern Japan "The aging of the bolts or the concrete slabs could be a potential cause (of the collapse)," Yoshizawa said. He did not say how many bolts were found to be missing or how they came to be loose. Yoshizawa added that while regular checks had been performed on the tunnel, they were visual checks and there was no physical testing. Read more: Nine bodies recovered from tunnel Emergency inspections have been ordered on 49 tunnels across the country with the same ceiling structure, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. There are 1,575 highways tunnels in Japan and around a quarter of those are more than 30 years old, including the Sasago Tunnel which opened in 1977, the ministry said. The tunnel's ceiling gave way on Sunday morning at around 8 a.m. local time. Witnesses recalled the horror of smoke filling up the tunnel as huge concrete slabs rained down on traffic below. Charred bodies were pulled from the wreckage, including five from a single station wagon. Three others were in a burned vehicle, according to a police spokesperson, while another body was found in a truck. "It was terrifying. I don't think I could ever drive through the tunnel again," one shaken survivor told TV Asahi, as black and white video released by NEXCO showed rescue workers in flashlight-topped helmets stepping over rubble. The aging of the bolts or the concrete slabs could be a potential cause (of the collapse) Ryoichi Yoshizawa, NEXCO-Central The tunnel has been closed for the removal of debris and while experts ascertain the risk of a secondary accident. NEXCO says it's unsure how long the process could take. Speaking to reporters at the scene, Motohiro Takamisawa, the chief of NEXCO's Otsuki Safety Center, also referred to a potential problem with the bolts securing the tunnel's ceiling slabs. "At this moment we're presuming that the top anchor bolts have come loose," he was reported as saying. Takamizawa added that the bolts hadn't been changed since the tunnel first opened in the late 1970s. However, a company spokesman told CNN that Takamizawa's comments should not be interpreted as the company's official statement and that it could not confirm whether that was the case. One expert told Asahi TV said that it's possible that years of traffic vibrations had contributed to the tunnel's collapse. "Over the course of 35 years, all the shaking caused by cars has probably caused the bolts and nuts in the tunnel to loosen. As a result they fell off," said Hiroshi Chikahisa, head of the Geosystem Engineering Institute at Yamaguchi University. Immediately after the disaster, a company spokesman said the Sasago Tunnel, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo, was subject to annual inspections with more detailed checks every five years. It had been checked in the last couple of months. At the company's Monday briefing, a NEXCO spokesman said, "There was no record that we have conducted the tapping inspection at top of the ceiling in the tunnel." He was referring to a method used to identify potential damage within concrete structures that was mentioned in the company's 2011 annual report. It says, "although hammer tapping test is commonly carried out to investigate concrete structures, it takes enormous time and cost to conduct the test on all concrete structures we have." Instead, it says the company inspects concrete structures using infrared cameras, an inspection technology which measures the difference in temperature between "sound conditions and damaged areas" to detect potential weak points. There as no explicit reference to testing carried out on tunnels. The Sasago Tunnel runs for 4.7 kilometers along a stretch of the Chuo Expressway which runs for 367 kilometers, through a mountainous region, connecting Tokyo with the Nagoya in the Chubu region of Japan. Its operator, NEXCO-Central is one of three companies started in 1995 after the privatization of Japan's Highway Public Corporation. NEXCO-Central manages more than 1,700 kilometers of expressways in Tokyo and the Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki regions, used by almost 1.9 million cars on any given day. Journalist Toshi Maeda, CNN's Junko Ogura and Alex Zolbert contributed to this report.

Syria witness: 'Arms and legs missing'

A Syrian airstrike targeted a town near the Turkish border, witnesses say Warplanes targeted a three-story building where rebels were holed up, they say NATO is considering Turkey's request for Patriot missiles, an official says NATO is widely expected to sign off on Turkey's request (CNN) -- Syrian warplanes bombed a town within sight of the Turkish border Monday, sending panicked civilians running to the fence that separates the two countries, witnesses told CNN. The attack came as NATO ministers considered whether to send missiles to Turkey should the civil war spill across its border. The bombing is the latest in a series of airstrikes across Syria launched by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in an attempt to drive back rebel advances in a number of locations, including in and around the capital city of Damascus, according to opposition activists. Thick, black smoke rose from the border town of Ras An Ail, where witnesses said warplanes dropped two bombs. One appeared to strike at three-story building "that the opposition forces were staying in," said neighborhood mayor Mehmet Saitavci. Terror on Syria's front lines Assad shuts down Internet in Syria Children fight for food in Aleppo It was not immediately known how many people were killed or wounded in the airstrike. But Saitavci said the wounded were making their way to the border where they were then picked up by ambulances. "There are people with arms and legs missing coming across," he said. The airstrike on Ras An Ail followed weekend claims by the opposition that Syrian warplanes pounded rebel strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus, where rebels were waging a pitched battle for control of the main road leading to Syria's largest commercial airport. The airport was shuttered for three days because of fierce fighting. Egypt Air announced it would resume flights Monday after government forces appeared to retake the area, though opposition activists said firefights were still under way. The airstrikes signal a sharp escalation in the fighting by forces loyal to al-Assad and rebels seeking his ouster, raising concerns among Syria's neighbors that the 21-month-old civil war could spill across the borders. Neighboring countries have reported deadly border skirmishes with either Syrian forces or rebels. In June, Syrian anti-aircraft defenses shot down a Turkish military reconnaissance jet, killing two pilots, after it briefly crossed into Syrian airspace in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Months later, errant Syrian artillery shells hit the border town of Akcakale, killing five Turkish civilians. As a result, Turkey has asked NATO for Patriot missiles to bolster its air defenses. NATO is widely expected to sign off on Turkey's request during a two-day summit that began Monday in Brussels. "This is a NATO ally. We've said from the start that we have strong commitment to NATO allies when they feel threatened, and so we would like to be able to be responsive in a positive way to the request that Turkey made to bolster its air defenses," a U.S. senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the summit in Belgium. But even if NATO gives the go ahead as expected, it would be at least several weeks before the missiles could be deployed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as a matter of practice. Aleppo power out, rubble everywhere Syria's Internet blackout Syrian crisis nearing end game? The United States, Germany and the Netherlands, which all have Patriot capabilities, have signaled they may be willing to contribute missiles should NATO approve the deployment to Turkey. The anticipated decision by NATO also comes as U.S. intelligence officials say there are "worrying signs" in recent days about Syria's intent with its vast chemical weapons stockpiles "There are concerns the regime may be considering use of chemical weapons" one intelligence official told CNN on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter. "This isn't just about movement, but about potential intent to make certain chemical weapons ready for use." The official said it is not entirely clear to the United States what the Syrian government is up to, or if this latest development was ordered specifically by al-Assad. The official declined to specify the exact intelligence that the United States has gathered in recent days. Syria is known to store its chemical stockpile, in many instances, separately from the artillery shells, rockets or missiles that would deliver those chemical weapons in an attack. As rebels make some gains, capturing military weapons as well as bases, U.S. and Middle Eastern intelligence services have been watching for some months for any sign the Syrians would be loading up those weapons with chemical agents. President Barack Obama has warned that any use of chemical weapons by Syria in its civil war would be crossing a "red line" that would prompt a swift U.S. response. Clinton warned Syrian on Monday not to test the U.S. response. "We have made our views very clear. This is a red line for the U.S.," she said, adding that the United States would not "telegraph" what steps it would take if there was credible evidence but "suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action if it were to occur." CNN's Arwa Damon in northern Syria, Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz in Istanbul, Barbara Starr in Washington and Jill Doughtery in Prague, Czech Republic, contributed to this report.

6M pounds of explosives found in 'True Blood' town

Louisiana State Police via AP This photo released by the Louisiana State Police shows piles of explosive powder that authorities at the Camp Minden industrial site in Doyline, La. By NBC News Police have evacuated a town in northwest Louisiana while they move out around 6 million pounds of illegally stored explosives. About half of the approximately 800 residents of Doyline were evacuated Friday after authorities discovered around 1 million pounds of explosive powder stored by Explo Systems Inc. at Camp Minden, a former army ammunition plant. Authorities moved to evacuate the town of its remaining residents Sunday after discovering up to six times more M6 artillery propellant -- 6 million pounds -- at the site, according to NBC station KTAL in Shreveport. Police and Explo employees have moved just under 1 million pounds of the explosives into 18-wheelers, and have segregated another 250,000 pounds of the material for future removal, KTAL reported late Sunday. 'Time-consuming' process In a statement, police said the process was "time-consuming" but so far there had been "no unexpected problems, incidents and injuries." The explosives had been improperly stored, officials said. The material should have been housed in a bunker approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and registered with the Louisiana State Police explosives division. Webster Parish Sheriff Gary Sexton did not expect the evacuation order to be lifted until Tuesday, KTAL reported. Doyline has shut local schools on Monday and was considering staying shut on Tuesday as well, according to Webster. Doyline is situated about 270 miles northwest of New Orleans. According to the Internet Movie Database, scenes from HBO's popular "True Blood" series have been filmed in Doyline. Louisiana State Police Col. Mike Edmunson said that the owners of Explo were in South Korea, but were scheduled to return to the United States on Monday, according to KTAL. State police said the improperly stored materials were discovered during a follow-up inspection to an Oct. 15 explosion at the Camp Minden property. Complete US coverage on NBCNews.com According to its website, Explo "has been demilitarizing / recovering explosives / propellant for over 15 years" and "has a unique, on-site capability for purifying valuable TNT from tritonal for reuse." It has operated for seven years, according to the site. Phone calls to the Louisiana State Police went unanswered early Monday. The man who answered the phone at the Webster Parish Sheriff's Office said he was not authorized to comment to the media. More content from NBCNews.com: Police: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker kills girlfriend, then himself Cuba pushes swap: its spies jailed in US for American contractor held in Havana Passengers killed when tour bus hits Miami airport overpass Women warriors pass elite Army training course Teacher lured boys online to get nude pics, cops say 66 species of coral proposed for protection by US Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Serial killer found dead in Alaska jail cell, officials say

AP FBI officials say they believe Israel Keyes was a serial killer. He had confessed to eight murders. By NBC News staff and wire reports ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A confessed serial killer awaiting trial for the kidnapping death of an Anchorage teenager was found dead in his jail cell Sunday in an apparent suicide, law enforcement officials said. Israel Keyes had admitted to abducting and killing 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, who disappeared in February from an espresso stand in Anchorage, officials said at a news conference Sunday. Keyes also admitted to killing a Vermont couple, Bill and Lorraine Currier, in June 2011, and up to five more people whom he did not name, prosecutors said. Keyes revealed his past crimes in dozens of hours of interviews conducted after he was arrested for Koenig's death, officials said. "He did tell us that he had killed other people and that there were bodies of up to four other people in Washington state, as well as a body disposed of in New York state," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis said after the press conference. There may be even more murder victims, Feldis said. Keyes also admitted to two bank robberies, one of them committed in Texas after Koenig's murder, Feldis said. FBI officials said they considered Keyes to be a serial killer, NBC station KTUU reported. "We've developed information that he was responsible for multiple additional victims. To our knowledge there are no other victims here in Alaska. They're all in the Lower 48," FBI Special Agent Mary Rook told the station. "We do know he traveled extensively and he didn't always stay where he landed. He would land in one airport, rent a car and drive hundreds of miles," she added. AP Alaska barista Samantha Koenig, 18, was abducted after she closed up a coffee stand in Anchorage. Father of abducted barista, 18, pleads for her return The FBI told the station that it had spoken with its behavioral analysts in Quantico, Virginia, to get insight into Keyes' personality. "He was very, very sensitive to his reputation," Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew said, according to KTUU.  "As odd as that sounds, we had to keep things extremely quiet in order to keep him talking with us." Details about the cause of Keyes' death were not released, but a spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers said he was alone in his cell and that foul play was not suspected. Texas arrest in case of abducted 18-year-old Alaska barista Sunday's news conference was the first public release of many details about a case that has transfixed Anchorage residents. Koenig's disappearance from the coffee stand in February triggered a city-wide search and a reward fund. Keyes was arrested in Texas after using a debit card linked to Koenig. Investigators found Koenig's body in early April in an iced-over lake north of Anchorage. Officials said Sunday that Keyes' initial confession led them to that location, and that he had admitted using a chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice to dump her body in the lake. Body in icy lake is missing Alaska barista, police say Koenig's body is the only one of Keyes' victims that has been found, officials said Sunday. Although Keyes told investigators that he placed the Curriers' bodies in an abandoned Vermont house, that house was demolished and searchers were unable to find the victims' remains at the site, officials said. Law enforcement officials described Keyes as methodical and a frequent traveler, able to conceal his actions and dispose of his victims' bodies without easy discovery. Keyes, 34, was a self-employed carpenter and Army veteran who had been stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington state. He moved to Anchorage in 2007. He also had a house and property in Constable, New York. He had been scheduled for trial in March on federal charges, and faced a possible death penalty. The investigation into Keyes' crimes - some of which date back 14 years - will continue, a process that could take years, officials said. "Mr. Keyes never showed no remorse for his actions," Feldis told KTUU. Michelle Tasker, a spokeswoman for the Koenig family, told KTUU Sunday that news of Keyes' apparent suicide was not the outcome they wanted. "We would've obviously liked for him to have gone in front of a jury of his peers and answer for what he's been accused of doing," said Tasker. "He did an injustice again to Samantha." Reuters contributed to this report. More content from NBCNews.com: Florida guide uses hunting as rustic therapy for combat veterans Police: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker kills girlfriend, then himself Cuba pushes swap: its spies jailed in US for American contractor held in Havana Passengers killed when tour bus hits Miami airport overpass Women warriors pass elite Army training course Teacher lured boys online to get nude pics, cops say 66 species of coral proposed for protection by US Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Third storm in days soaks N. California

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com. By NBCBayArea.com and wire reports SAN FRANCISCO -- The third powerful storm in a week drenched an already saturated Northern California, but concerns of serious flooding eased as the system moved through faster than expected. The storm dropping as much as an inch of rain per hour Sunday in some areas, toppling trees and knocking out electrical service to tens of thousands of people, officials said. Rivers across Northern California swelled from the deluge, but did not flood as extensively as had been expected, officials said. NBC Bay Area reported that Santa Rosa received 7.65 inches of rain with 4.08 inches falling in San Francisco. Forecasters had issued flood warnings for the Napa and Russian rivers, two rivers north of San Francisco with a history of flooding, as well as the Truckee River, near Lake Tahoe, but by Sunday afternoon had canceled the warning for the Russian River. "It (the storm) moved through a lit bit faster than it was looking like it would, so it didn't plant on top of us and keeping raining," said Austin Cross, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The period of heavy rain didn't last as long." More coverage from weather.com In Napa, where officials had handed out more than 8,000 sandbags and about 150 tons of sand before the storm hit, officials breathed a sigh of relief Sunday afternoon after the heaviest rain moved out of the area and the city appeared to avoid any major damage from the storm. Noah Berger / AP A can makes it way through a flooded underpass in San Rafael, Calif., on Sunday after days of heavy rain drenched the region. "There were predictions of the river getting above flood stage, but that did not occur," Napa city spokesman Barry Martin said. "We've had some minor street flooding and some of the intersections were flooded." Flood construction projects were credited with keeping the river within its banks through the city, while most of anticipated flooding, expected around 6 p.m. Sunday, was expected to hit a mostly agricultural area outside of the city, officials said. More news from NBC Bay Area In Truckee, 30 miles west of Reno, city officials were focusing on snow removal Sunday afternoon instead of flood control after the town received 4 to 5 inches of snow in the morning, said Assistant City Manager Alex Terrazas. "We continue to keep an eye on the river, but things are certainly better than they could have been," he said. "We'll transition back to flood management if we need to." Besides the speed in which the system moved through the area, weather officials were heartened by colder temperatures than expected in the mountains, meaning more snow and less rain fell. In far Northern California, flood warnings remained in effect Sunday for the Eel, Navarro and Mad rivers. Meanwhile, as Pacific Gas & Electric crews worked on restoring power, about 57,000 people from Santa Cruz to Eureka, including about 13,000 people in the San Francisco Bay area, remained without electricity Sunday afternoon as the powerful winds from the storm knocked down trees and sent broken tree limbs and branches across power lines, officials said. "It really did broadside California," PG&E spokesman Joe Molica said of the storm. Weather.com: Flood, wind, snow reports  Wind gusts were blamed for knocking over a big rig truck as it drove over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge at around 5 a.m. Sunday. Tow crews had to wait for the winds to subside later in the morning before they could remove the truck, officials said. NBC Bay Area reported that one wind gust was "clocked at 80 mph in the hills of Los Gatos." Also, train service on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system was disrupted for about an hour Sunday morning because of an electrical outage blamed on the weather. The Associated Press and NBC Bay Area contributed to this report.

Coast Guardsman dies after boat is rammed

By Jason Kandel and John Cádiz Klemack, NBCLosAngeles.com LOS ANGELES -- A U.S. Coast Guardsman died and a second was wounded Sunday when they were thrown from a vessel that was rammed by a panga fishing boat under investigation for smuggling in the waters off the Southern California coast, officials said. The Coast Guard Cutter Halibut was investigating a panga about 1 a.m. near Santa Cruz Island when it was struck by a boat suspected of smuggling drugs, officials said. The guardsman was identified as Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, 34, who was based in Marina del Rey. During a press conference in Long Beach on Sunday, Capt. James Jenkins, the Coast Guard commander for the L.A. sector, praised Horne. "Our fallen shipmate stood the watch, on the front lines, protecting our nation and we are all indebted to him for his service and sacrifice," Jenkins said. Read more from NBCLosAngeles.com Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert J. Papp said in a statement that the Coast Guard mourned his loss. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends and his shipmates aboard Coast Guard Cutter Halibut," Papp said. The incident happened after a panga was spotted in the water near the island, the largest in the chain of Channel Islands in Santa Barbara County that sits about 20 miles southwest of Port Hueneme. Mexican troops arrest 2 in killing of U.S. border agent When the Coast Guard boat got closer, the panga motored toward them and struck the Coast Guard boat. The impact threw two of the four guardsmen from the boat into the water, officials said. The other guardsman had minor injuries. He was taken to a hospital and released Sunday. Read more US stories from NBC News Horne died from severe head trauma. The Coast Guard eventually stopped the fleeing panga, detained two people and seized drugs found onboard, officials said. It's one in a string of cases in recent years -- a nearly daily occurrence -- in which boats are being found further north along the California coast ferrying both drugs and human cargo to evade a beefed-up law enforcement presence along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to authorities.

A message of thanks from Malala

Malala Yousafzai, 15, reads a book on November 7 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, where she is being treated after being shot by the Taliban in her native Pakistan in October. See photos of the global rally behind Malala. Malala talks with her father, Ziauddin, on November 7 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She was attacked for advocating for girls' education in Pakistan. Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher on October 9 after she was shot in the head by the Taliban in Mingora. Malala recovers at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on October 19 after being treated. Malala sits up in bed on October 25 after surgery for a gunshot wound to the head. In a CNN interview in late 2011, Malala said the Taliban thrive on ignorance, and she is defiant about her mission, saying, "where in the Koran does it say that girls should not be educated?" Malala Yousufzai says thank you for "the outpouring of love and support" She is recovering in Britain after being shot by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan Her father says she is walking and reading books She expresses commitment to the cause of promoting girls' education (CNN) -- Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban, has expressed gratitude to the people around the world who have supported her as she recovers from the traumatic attack. "Thank you so much for the outpouring of love and support," Malala said in a message read by Anderson Cooper at the CNN Heroes ceremony in Los Angeles. "I thank the people that supported me without distinguishing religion and color." She is now at a hospital in Britain, where she was transferred to soon after the assassination attempt in northwestern Pakistan in October. Examinations there revealed that she had suffered no major neurological damage, but she still faces a long struggle to recover from her injuries. Gordon Brown supports Malala's message Malala continues her recovery Malala, who for years has been campaigning for girls' right to education in a conservative area of Pakistan, is reading books and walking in the hospital in the city of Birmingham, according to her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai. Her story generated a huge amount sympathy and support in Pakistan and across the globe. The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to go after her again, but Malala appears to be undeterred from her campaigning. "People have actually supported a cause, not an individual," she said in her message. "Let's work together to educate girls around the world." CNN's Kyle Almond and journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report.