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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Officials at two hospitals say they're treating nearly 60 patients, including more than a dozen children, after a massive tornado hit suburban Oklahoma City.

Integris Southwest Medical Center spokeswoman Brooke Cayot (KAY'-ot) said 10 of 37 patients being treated at that facility Monday are listed in critical condition. Twelve are in serious and 15 others are listed in fair or good condition.

Five of the patients are children, including two who came from the Plaza Towers Elementary School, where an Associated Press photographer saw several children being pulled from the rubble. Cayot could not confirm the children's conditions.

Spokesman Scott Coppenbarger says another 20 patients of various ages are being treated at OU Medical Center. He says eight of them are children.

UPDATE: Five people are dead following a single-vehicle accident on I-70 near Vandalia, IL.

The Vandalia Leader-Union reports the fatalities. Police say a van drove off the highway and flipped over. There were at least 14 passengers on board. Some of the people sustained serious injuries and are on their way to St. Louis hospitals.

Emergency crews have closed eastbound 70 near the accident.

FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) - A 22-year-old Farmington, Missouri man is badly burned, and may face criminal charges, after a fire at his apartment was blamed on a methamphetamine lab.

The Daily Journal reports that the fire broke out last week in Farmington. A man in the apartment suffered serious burns to his face and arms.

Witnesses contacted police early Wednesday after seeing burning clothes on the sidewalk and a nude man running from the scene. The man was not found immediately but was eventually tracked down in St. Louis, where he sought treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Inside the burned apartment, police found equipment that appeared to be remnants of a meth lab.

Police are planning to charge the man with first-degree arson.

 

   

   PRAGUE (AP) - A powerful explosion has damaged a building in the center of the Czech capital, Prague, injuring up to 40 people. Authorities say they believe some people are buried in the rubble.

   Police spokesman Tomas Hulan says it is not certain what caused the blast in Divadelni Street, but it was likely a natural gas explosion

   The street was covered with rubble and has been sealed off by police who have also evacuated people from nearby buildings and closed a wide area around the explosion site.

   Zdenek Schwarz, head of the rescue service in Prague, says up to 40 people have been injured.

   Windows in buildings located hundreds of meters from the blast were shattered, including some in the nearby National Theater.

Two people remain in critical condition at Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur after an explosion at the American Steel Foundries plant in Granite City Thursday morning. They've been identified as Reginald Golliday and Danny Wilson.

At least seven other people were less seriously injured in the 8 a.m. blast.

Granite City Fire Captain Bert Houston says the explosion happened after gas caught fire in the finishing area of the plant, which makes rail car components. Investigators are still trying to determine what ignited the gas.

St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced the club has placed forward Andy McDonald on Injured Reserve today. McDonald is listed as week-to-week after suffering a left knee injury during practice yesterday at St. Louis Mills. In addition, the Blues have listed forward Alex Steen as day-to-day with an upper body injury. Steen was also injured during yesterday’s practice.

McDonald, 35, has appeared in all 18 of the Blues’ games this season tallying 11 points including three goals and eight assists. Overall, the 5’10, 175-pound forward has dressed in 666 National Hockey League (NHL) games accumulating 479 points including 178 goals and 301 assists.

Steen, 28, has appeared in all 18 of the Blues’ games this season and leads the team with 16 points including four goals and 12 assists. Overall, the 6’0, 212-pound forward has dressed in 515 NHL games totaling 292 points including 119 goals and 173 assists. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native was originally drafted by Toronto in the first round, 24th overall, of the 2002 Entry Draft.

MOSCOW (AP) -- A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 1000 people, many of them hurt by broken glass.

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

"We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions.

Kolsenikov also said about 600 square meters (6000 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed.

Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles (28,000 kilometers). There was no immediate demonstrable connection.

Russia Today posted videos of the meteorite streaking over Chelyanbinsk.