Mke 'ajiyejiteka' nyara akamatwa Nigeria

Polisi Kusini Mashariki mwa Nigeria, wamemkamata mwanamke mmoja aliyejidai kutekwa nyara kama njama ya kupata pesa kutoka kwa mumewe. Nancy Chukwu anadaiwa kushirikiana na wanaume wengine kudai kuwa wamemteka nyara mjini Enugu na kisha kumshurutisha mumewe kulipa dola 780 za kimarekani kama kikombozi ili aachiliwe. Lakini mumewe alikwenda kwa polisi ambao baadaye walimzuilia mkewe na washirika wake. Utekaji nyara ni biashara maarufu sana Nigeria. Jamaa za wanamichezo mashuhuri, kasisi na mamake waziri wa fedha, pamoja na wafanyakazi wengi katika viwanda vya mafuta wamewahi kutekwa nyara huku watekaji wao wakidai kikombozi kabla ya kuwaachilia. Bi Chukwu, ambaye ni mfanyabiashara, alimpa mumewe nambari ya simu ya mtu aliyejidai kumteka nyara na mwanamume huyo baadaye alimpigia simu mumewe Chukwu na kumtaka kulipa pesa kwenye akaunti moja ikiwa alitaka kumuona mkewe hai tena. Mwanamke huyo kumbe alikuwa amejificha na wanaume hao, akisubiri kupata habari njema kutoka kwa mumewe Marcus Chukwu za kulipa kikombozi hicho. Lakini badala ya kulipa pesa hizo, mumewe mwanamke huyo alikwenda kwa polisi ambao waliweza kufuatilia nambari hiyo ya akaunti ambayo ilijulikana kuwa ya rafiki ya mtu aliyekuwa anajidai kuwa mtekaji nyara. Bi Chukwu na washirika wake walikamatwa na msemaji wa polisi akasema kuwa baadaye walikiri kufanya uhalifu huo. Mumewe mwanamke huyo alielezea kushutushwa sana na kuhusika kwa mkewe katika kashfa hiyo. Hata hivyo haijulikani ikiwa kisa hiki kitakuwa mwisho wa ndoa kati ya wawili hao.

Mamia wafariki wakiwa wamezuiliwa Nigeria

Jeshi la Nigeria limekuwa likipambana dhidi ya Boko Haram Mamia ya watu wamefariki katika vituo vya kuwazuilia washukiwa wa uhalifu Kaskazini Mashariki mwa Nigeria huku jeshi likijaribu kupambana vikali na kundi la wapiganaji wa kiisilamu Boko Haram katika eneo hilo. Shirika la kimataifa la Amnesty International linasema kuwa vifo vya baadhi ya vimetokana na msongamano kwenye magereza na wengine kutokana na kukosa chakula na mauaji ya kiholela. Taarifa zinazohusianaSiasaShirika hilo linaitisha uchunguzi wa haraka kuhusiana na vifo hivyo. Serikali, hata hivyo haijatoa kauli rasmi kuhusu ripoti ya Amnesty. Lakini jeshi la Nigeria limekanusha madai hayo na mengine ya awali kuhusu ukiukwaji wa haki za binadamu. Afisa mmoja mkuu wa jeshi aliambia Amnesty kuwa takriban watu 950 walifariki kwenye operesheni ya kijeshi, mapema mwaka huu. Wengi walisemekana kuwa uhusiano na kundi la Boko Haram. Boko Haram inapigana dhidi ya serikali ya Nigeria ikitaka kubuni utawala wa kiisilamu na imefanya mashambulizi kadhaa katika shule za umma. Takriban wanafunzi 50 waliuawa mapema mwezi huu wakiwa kwenye mabweni yao katika shambulizi ambalo kundi hilo lililaumiwa kutekeleza. Hali ya hatari ilitangazwa katika majimbo matatu ya Kaskazini mwezi Mei , ikiwemo Yobe, Borno na Adamawa kama hatua ya kuzuia mashambulizi yanayofanywa na Boko Haharam.

Tuzo ya Mo Ibrahim yakosa mshindi tena

Wakfu wa Mo Ibrahim ambao humzawidia Rais mstaafu aliyeonyesha uongozi mzuri umesema hakuna kiongozi wa Afrika aliyetosha kutuzwa mwaka huu. Hata hivyo utafiti wa wakfu wa Mo umeonyesha kuwa Afrika imepiga hatua pakubwa tangu mwanzoni mwa karne hii katika maswala ya uongozi. Taarifa zinazohusianaAfrikaTuzo hiyo haijapata mshindi kwa miaka minne mfululizo tangu kuzinduliwa kwake miaka saba iliyopita. Katika mkutano na waandishi wa habari mjini London, wakfu wa Mo umesema kuwa baada ya ukaguzi kufanyika hakuna hata kiongozi mmoja alistahili kutuzwa. Tuzo hiyo ambayo hutolewa na mfanyabiashara bilionea mzaliwa wa Sudan na raia wa Uingereza, Mo Ibrahim hutoa dola milioni 5 kwa kipindi cha miaka kumi na dola laki mbili kila mwaka hadi kiongozi huyo atakapofariki. Na pia dola laki zingine mbili hutolewa kwa mradi wowote unaoungwa mkono na mshindi wa tuzo hiyo kwa kipindi cha miaka kumi. Hata hivyo, kwa mujibu wa takwimu za wakfu huo, kuna baadhi ya sehemu ambapo hali bado ni mbaya ikiwemo kutii sheria. Wakfu huo wake Mo Ibrahim tajiri mkubwa sana mwenye uraia wa Sudan ulianza kutoa takwimu zake kuhusu utawala barani Afrika mwaka 2007. Katika mwaka ambapo Afrika ilisherehekea miaka hamsini tangu kuzinduliwa kwa muungano wa nchi za Afrika, AU. Kwa mujibu wa utafiti wa wakfu wa Mo Ibrahim, mustakabali wa Afrika sio mbaya. Washindi wa tuzo ya Mo 2005 Joaquim Chissano: Msumbiji 2008 Festus Mogae : Botswana 2011 Pedro Pires : Cape Verde Asilimia tisini na nne ya waafrika sasa wanaishi katika nchi ambayo angalau imeonyesha uongozi umeimarika tangu mwaka 2000. Nchi 18 kati ya hamsini na mbili, zilionekana kupata alama nzuri tangu mwaka 2007. Utafiti huu unaanganzia mambo kadha kwa kadha kama vigezo vya utawala mzuri ikiwemo, ukuwaji wa uchumi , afya na sheria. Taifa lililopata alam,a nzuri kuliko zote ni Mauritius,ikifuatiwa na Botswana na Cape Verde. Mataifa yaliyoshika mkia ni pamoja na Eritrea, DRC na Somalia. Nchi zenye uchumi mkubwa barani Afrika,ikiwemo Afrika Kusini na Nigeria zilishika nambariya sita na 45 mtawalia. Ripoti ya Mo inaonyesha kuwa mizozo sasa imepungua barani humo kuliko ilivyokuwa mwongo mmoja uliopita. Hata hivyo, bado kuna tatizo la pengo kubwa kati ya masikini na matajiri na ripoti hiuyo inaonya kuwa ikiwa tatizo hili litapuuzwa huenda mizozo zaidi ikaibuka.

At hospital, baby-waiting crowd converges

LONDON (AP) — The wait is almost over. News that Prince William's wife Kate is in labor invigorated the makeshift encampment outside St. Mary's Hospital — a melange of journalists, photographers, curious onlookers and a few die-hard royalists. Reporters filed updates in a dozen languages outside the Lindo Wing, although no news has emerged since Kate was admitted early Monday. Tourists photographed the plain, 5-story brick building, its front door flanked by four police officers, and snapped the scurrying, coffee-swilling photographers and journalists. Terry Hutt, a 78-year-old carpenter from Cambridge in eastern England, sensed an end to the vigil he has kept for 12 days, sleeping outside the hospital on a bench covered with a Union Jack blanket. Hutt, who is proud to have met every royal from the late Queen Mother on, said he was doing his bit for Britain by camping outside the hospital in his red, white and blue Union Jack suit, holding flags and congratulatory banners. "To me, the royal family play a very, very important role," he said. "Visitors from all over the world haven't got a king and queen. It's a plus for us." As London commuters rushed past the hospital to work, Pascal Faure, a maintenance contractor originally from South Africa, stopped to snap a picture on his phone for friends at home and in Australia. "It's part of their heritage, I guess, their culture," said Faure, who claimed his own tenuous royal connection: "Apparently my third cousin once removed is Chelsy" Davy, Prince Harry's former girlfriend. He also had more insight than most into the 5,000-pound ($8,000) -a-night private wing where the Duchess of Cambridge is giving birth. He fixed the air-conditioning there last week — a good thing, too, as Monday is scheduled to be the hottest day of the year in London. "If the air-con stops working, I'll probably be the one to go in," he said. Some bystanders were bemused by the scale of the media throng, but many were happy to enjoy the sense of occasion. "It's probably quite good for the whole country and likewise for the rest of the world," said Matt Hicks, an event manager from Australia's Gold Coast. "I love the royals — what it's all about, the history behind it," he said. "I know this country is quite divided about it, but back in Australia we love the royals." Whether a boy or a girl, the baby will be third in line to the British throne. Most bystanders expressed no preference about the baby's gender. "A girl maybe, if it's as beautiful as Kate," said Katya Im-Albon, a tourist from Switzerland.

Egypt: ElBaradei's appointment put on hold

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's new president moved to assert his authority and regain control of the streets Saturday even as his Islamist opponents declared his powers illegitimate and issued blood oaths to restore Mohammed Morsi, whose ouster by the military has led to dueling protests and pitched street battles between rival sides. But underscoring the sharp divisions facing the untested leader, Adly Mansour, his office said it was naming Mohammed ElBaradei, one of Morsi's top critics, as interim prime minister but later backtracked on the decision. Mansour's spokesman Ahmed el-Musalamani denied that the appointment of the Nobel Peace laureate was ever certain. However, reporters gathered at the presidential palace were ushered into a room where they were told by an official to wait for the president who would arrive shortly to announce ElBaradei's appointment. A senior opposition official, Munir Fakhry Abdelnur, told The Associated Press that the reversal was because the ultraconservative Salafi el-Nour party objected to ElBaradei's appointment and mediation was underway. Tensions were high as tens of thousands of Morsi supporters rallied for a third day near a mosque in a Cairo neighborhood that has traditionally been a stronghold of Islamists, chanting angry slogans against Wednesday's toppling of the country's first democratically elected president by Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The general has denied the military staged a coup, saying he was acting on the wishes of millions of Egyptians protesting the ex-Islamist leader. ." But no major violence was reported Saturday as all sides regrouped after a night of fierce clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents that turned downtown Cairo into a battlefield. Setting up another showdown, the youth opposition group behind the series of mass protests that led to Morsi's ouster called on Egyptians to take to the streets on Sunday to show support for the new order. Mansour, 67, the former chief justice of the country's constitutional court who was installed by the military as an interim leader, met earlier Saturday with el-Sissi and Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police. He also met separately with the three young leaders of Tamarod, or Rebel, which organized the massive opposition protests that began June 30, the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, has promised to boycott the political process, saying the military maneuver was a coup that overturned a democratically elected government. Morsi, a U.S.-trained engineer who was widely accused by critics of monopolizing power for himself and his Muslim Brotherhood as well as his failure to implement democratic and economic reforms, remained under detention in an undisclosed location. ." The 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak opened the way for the political rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was long under suppressed by Mubarak's Western-backed regime, and Morsi was elected last year by a narrow margin. The fundamentalist movement swiftly rejected earlier news of ElBaradei's appointment, calling the 71-year-old former U.N. nuclear negotiator a remnant of Mubarak's regime. The Brotherhood has promised to boycott the political process, saying the military maneuver was a coup that overturned a democratically elected government. "Now it's clear that the Mubarak regime has the upper hand," Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref alleged. "We cannot accept the strategy of arm twisting; we cannot accept the authority being snatched by force." The silver-haired new president, meanwhile, insisted national reconciliation was his top priority. "We all need national reconciliation and we will work to realize it," he was quoted as saying in a brief interview with the independent el-Tahrir daily. "Egypt is for everyone." "I want everyone to pray for me. Your prayers are what I need from you," he told worshippers on Friday who approached to shake his hand and wish him well, according to el-Tahrir. On Saturday, he met with el-Sissi and Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police. Later he met with the three young leaders of Tamarod, or Rebel, which organized the massive opposition protests that began June 30, the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration. Despite his words, both sides braced for the possibility of more violence as Egypt's political unraveling increasingly left little room for middle ground or dialogue. In the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, gunmen shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market on Saturday. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the political crisis, but minority Christians have faced increased attacks in the wake of the Islamist rise to power in the nation of 90 million people. In Cairo's eastern suburb of Nasr City near the Rabaah al-Adawaiya mosque — the main rallying Muslim Brotherhood rallying point — lines of fighters brandished homemade weapons and body armor at road blocks decorated with Morsi's picture. ." "The people here and in all of Egypt's squares are ready for martyrdom to restore legitimacy," said Abdullah Shehatah, a senior leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political arm. "This coup and all its institutions are illegal." Next door in the relatively upscale Heliopolis district, people chanted against Morsi and honked car horns in appreciation of roadblocks manned by Egypt's military. Security forces boosted their presence with armored personnel carriers and checkpoints across the nation's capital. A Cairo court, meanwhile, adjourned to Aug. 17 the retrial of Mubarak over charges of corruption and involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him. Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who are on trial for corruption, appeared at the court session on Saturday. ." Mubarak is charged with both corruption and responsibility for the deaths of some 850 protesters during the early days of the 2011 revolt. The former leader was convicted in 2012 of the charges, but an appeals court granted a retrial.

Ex-prisoner chosen to lead Syria opposition group

In this Wednesday, July 3, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Lens Young Homsi, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows buildings damaged by Syrian government airstrikes and shelling, in the Jouret al-Chiyah neighborhood of Homs, Syria. Gunfire echoed and tank shells slammed in Homs Friday in what activists and residents described as one of the worst barrages on the central city in a furious attempt to recapture opposition-held districts in the country's strategic heartland. The U.N. warns of a humanitarian catastrophe involving up to 4,000 civilians trapped in city amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine. (AP Photo/Lens Young Homsi) . View gallery In this Wednesday, July 3, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Lens Young Homsi, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows buildings damaged by Syrian government airstrikes and shelling, in the Jouret al-Chiyah neighborhood of Homs, Syria. Gunfire echoed and tank shells slammed in Homs Friday in what activists and residents described as one of the worst barrages on the central city in a furious attempt to recapture opposition-held districts in the country's strategic heartland. The U.N. warns of a humanitarian catastrophe involving up to 4,000 civilians trapped in city amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine. (AP Photo/Lens Young Homsi) Associated Press BASSEM MROUE 6 hours ago PoliticsSyriaSyrian opposition BEIRUT (AP) — A former Syrian political prisoner with close links to Saudi Arabia was picked Saturday to lead Syria's main Western-backed opposition group, filling a post long vacant due to divisions among President Bashar Assad's opponents. Inside Syria, government troops advanced into rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, pushing into a heavily contested neighborhood after pummeling it with artillery that drove out opposition fighters, an activist said. The election of Ahmad al-Jarba as the head of the Syrian National Coalition came during a meeting in Turkey in what was the second attempt in recent months by Assad's opponents to unify their ranks. The opposition bloc is primarily composed of exiled politicians with little support among Syrians back home who are trying to survive the third summer of conflict that has killed more than 93,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes. Al-Jarba's election suggests the opposition is trying to unite despite its differences after Assad's forces gained ground last month in and around the strategic town of Qusair near the border with Lebanon. It also underscored the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are vying for influence among the Sunni-dominated Syrian opposition. Both have been prominent backers of forces struggling to oust Assad. The Saudi-backed al-Jarba won 55 votes, edging out Qatar-endorsed businessman Mustafa Sabbagh who got 52 votes, according to a statement from the 114-member SNC in Istanbul, where many of Syrian opposition figures are based. The SNC statement did not say who the remaining members voted for. Al-Jarba, a 44-year-old lawyer with a law degree from Beirut's Arab University, is from Syria's northeastern province of Hassakeh and is a member of the powerful Shammar tribe that extends into Iraq. He was a little-known anti-Assad figure before Syria's civil war though he was detained in March 2011 — days after the uprising against Assad began. It was his second arrest, following one in 1996 when he was held for two years because of anti-government activities. After his release, al-Jarba left Syria in August in 2011 and became active in the opposition. He is close to secular politician Michel Kilo's Democratic Bloc, which recently joined the SNC. Al-Jarba could not be immediately reached for comment after his election Saturday. An SNC statement quoted him as saying that his priorities will be "to follow-up on the situation inside Syria, especially in Homs," and that "all efforts should be in this direction." But even with al-Jarba's election, it is unclear if the SNC can overcome deep divisions among its politicians. Also, the council has in many ways become irrelevant to rebels battling regime troops in Syria, despite its appointment in March of Ghassan Hitto as head of an interim government meant to administer areas seized by the rebels. So far, Hitto has not formed a Cabinet. The vote in Turkey came as the U.S. and Russia hope to bring the warring sides in Syria together at an international conference in Geneva. The SNC said recently it will not attend the Geneva talks unless they are about Assad handing over power. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. welcomed al-Jarba's election and would work with him "to prevent the total collapse of Syria into chaos." The U.S. also urged the Syrian opposition to unite, Psaki said, adding that a "united opposition is essential to achieve a negotiated solution." Assad has repeatedly dismissed his political opponents as foreign-directed exiles who don't represent the people of Syria. The president also has shrugged off international calls to step down, saying he will serve the rest of his term and may consider running for another one in next year's presidential elections. In Syria, meanwhile, government troops gained ground in the rebel-held Khaldiyeah district of Homs. The push was the first significant gain in the city for Assad's forces. Government troops have been waging an eight-day campaign to seize parts of the central Syrian city that has been in rebel hands for more than a year. Tariq Badrakhan, an activist based in the neighborhood, said government troops used rockets, mortars and cannon fire to flush out the area's "first line of defenses" on Friday evening. The offensive continued Saturday morning, he said via Skype, as explosions were heard in the background. "We feel like they are shaking the sky," Badrakhan told The Associated Press. Another activist said eight rebels were killed in the fighting. He requested anonymity because rebels have accused him in the past of damaging their morale by reporting their casualties. He could not confirm that government forces had entered Khaldiyeh but said the report was consistent with the fighting he was following there. State-run media said government forces had seized buildings in the nearby Bab Houd area. Fighting also continued Saturday in the northern city of Aleppo, a crucial stronghold for the rebels, as well as the Damascus suburb of Qaboun. The Syrian conflict, which began with months of peaceful protests against the Assad regime more than two years ago, deteriorated into an all-out civil war after a violent government crackdown. Government forces, sometimes backed by fighters of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, have recently launched a major countrywide offensive to reclaim territory lost to rebels, who operate in chaotic groups with ideologies ranging from secular to hard-line Islamic extremists. Hard-line Sunni Muslims from other countries have also joined the fighting. The fighting in Syria has increasingly taken on sectarian undertones as Assad enjoys support from many in his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the rebels are mainly Sunnis. Activists, who consider Homs "the capital of the revolution," say the regime wants to capture the entire city to include it in a future Alawite state stretching to the coast, where many believe Assad would take refuge in a last resort. In the vote in Turkey, the SNC also elected three vice presidents, including Mohammed Farouk Taifour, a senior official with Syria's Muslim Brotherhood. The other two vice presidents are Salem al-Muslit and prominent opposition figure Suhair Atassi. Badr Jamous was voted in as the SNC's secretary general.

Three Latin American leftist leaders offer asylum to Snowden

LA PAZ/CARACAS (Reuters) - Bolivia offered asylum on Saturday to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, joining leftist allies Venezuela and Nicaragua in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret U.S. spy programs. Snowden, 30, is believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport and has been trying to find a country that would give him sanctuary after he landed there from Hong Kong on June 23. Bolivian President Evo Morales had said earlier this week that he would consider granting asylum to Snowden. But he took a harder line on Saturday, angered that some European countries banned his plane from their airspace this week on suspicion it carried Snowden. "I want to tell ... the Europeans and Americans that last night I was thinking that as a fair protest, I want to say that now in fact we are going to give asylum to that American who is being persecuted by his fellow Americans," Morales said during a visit to the town of Chipaya. "If we receive a legal request, we will grant asylum," he said. Bolivia's Foreign Ministry was not immediately available to comment on whether a formal asylum request had been received. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also offered refuge to Snowden late Friday, but the government said that by Saturday night it had not received any word back. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country had received an asylum request and could agree to it "if circumstances permit." All three nations are members of the leftist ALBA bloc of countries that was forged by Venezuela's late Hugo Chavez and whose leaders often denounce U.S. "imperial" aggression. Russia has kept Snowden at arm's length, saying the airport's transit area where passengers wait between flights is neutral territory and that he would only be on Russian soil if he went through passport control. It was not clear whether the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor would accept any of the Latin American offers, nor how he would reach the countries if he does. There are no direct commercial flights between Moscow and Venezuela's capital, Caracas, and the usual route involves changing planes in Havana. It is not clear if Cuban authorities would let him transit, however, and there was no sign of Snowden aboard the flight to Havana on Saturday. To obtain refugee status in Bolivia, Snowden would have to submit a request to the Bolivian Embassy in Russia and would not have to be physically in Bolivia, said former Foreign Minister Armando Loayza. Ecuador, which also backs Snowden, says it could only consider granting him asylum if he made it that country. Given the dramatic grounding in Vienna of Morales' plane, using European airspace could prove problematic. Moscow has shown signs of growing impatience. Its Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that Snowden had not sought asylum there and needed to choose a place to go. Moscow has made clear that the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff over his fate causing lasting damage to relations with Washington. Both Russia's Foreign Ministry and President Vladimir Putin's spokesman declined to comment on Venezuela's offer. "This is not our affair," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. But senior pro-Kremlin lawmaker Alexei Pushkov, head of the lower house of parliament's international affairs committee, said asylum in Venezuela would be Snowden's best option. The White House declined to comment. But one U.S. official familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity, said: "It's fair to say in general that U.S. officials have been pressuring governments where Snowden might try to go to do the right thing here." Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous leader and a former union leader for the country's coca leaf farmers, and Maduro both condemned the U.S. spy programs that Snowden revealed and said he deserved protection. "Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the U.S. government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate President Bashar al-Assad?" Maduro asked, to applause and cheers from ranks of military officers at a parade. "Who is the terrorist? Who is the global delinquent?" Foreign Minster Elias Jaua said late on Saturday that Venezuela had not heard from Snowden since Maduro made his offer. "There has not been any type of communication," Jaua told state television. "We are waiting until Monday to know whether he confirms his wish to take asylum in Venezuela." Since narrowly winning a presidential vote in April that followed Chavez's death from cancer, Maduro has often lambasted the United States, even accusing it of plotting to kill him. But the former bus driver and union leader has at times also struck a much more conciliatory note, saying he is ready for better relations with Washington, based on mutual respect.

Crash landing at San Francisco airport kills 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An Asiana Airlines flight packed with more than 300 people slammed into the runway while landing at San Francisco airport Saturday and caught fire, forcing many to escape by sliding down the emergency inflatable slides as flames tore through the plane. At least two people died in the crash, while another 181 people were taken to hospitals, most with minor injuries, authorities said. Five people, including one child, remained in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital, the region's main trauma centre. As the plane approached the runway from the waters of San Francisco Bay around noon, travellers in the terminals and others eyewitnesses could see that the aircraft was swaying unusually from side to side and that at one point the tail seemed to hit the ground. Kate Belding, who was jogging a few miles away, said she thought: "Oh my God. That plane is crashing." By the time the flames were out, the top of the Boeing 777's fuselage had burned away. The tail section was gone, with pieces of it scattered across the beginning of the runway. One engine appeared to have broken away. Emergency responders could be seen walking inside the burned-out wreckage. News of the crash spread quickly on Twitter and the Internet in this wired city, with eyewitnesses tweeting their stories, posting images of the plumes of smoke rising above the bay and uploading video of passengers fleeing the burning plane. "It just looked really bad," Belding said. "I've seen the pictures of it since then, and it's amazing anyone walked out of that plane." The investigation has been turned over to the FBI and terrorism has been ruled out, said San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said. Federal aviation and transportation investigators were heading to the scene. Asiana, Boeing and the engine manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney, pledged to work with them. Vedpal Singh, who was sitting in the middle of the aircraft and survived the crash with his family, said there was no forewarning from the pilot or any crew members before the plane touched down hard and he heard a loud sound. "We knew something was horrible wrong," said Singh, who suffered a fractured collarbone and had his arm was in a sling. "It's miraculous we survived," he said. A visibly shaken Singh said the plane went silent before people tried to get out anyway they could. His 15-year-old son said luggage tumbled from the overhead bins The entire incident lasted about 10 seconds. Based on witness accounts in the news and video of the wreckage, Mike Barr, a former military pilot and accident investigator who teaches aviation safety at the University of Southern California, said it appeared the plane approached the runway too low and something may have caught the runway lip — the seawall at the end of the runway. San Francisco is one of several airports around the country that border bodies of water that have walls at the end of their runways to prevent planes that overrun a runway from ending up in the water. Since the plane was about to land, its landing gear would have already been down, Barr said. It's possible the landing gear or the tail of the plane hit the seawall, he said. If that happened, it would effectively slam the plane into the runway, he said. Noting that some witnesses reported hearing the plane's engines rev up just before the crash, Barr said that would be consistent with a pilot who realized at the last minute that the plane was too low and was increasing power to the engines to try to increase altitude. Barr said he could think of no reason why a plane would come in to land that low. Belding was out jogging just before 11:30 a.m. on a path across the water from the airport when she noticed the plane approaching the runway in a way that "just didn't look like it was coming in quite right." "Then all of a sudden I saw what looked like a cloud of dirt puffing up and then there was a big bang and it kind of looked like the plane maybe bounced (as it neared the ground)," she said. "I couldn't really tell what happened, but you saw the wings going up and (in) a weird angle." "Not like it was cartwheeling," she said, but rather as though the wings were almost swaying from side to side. The flight originated in Shanghai, China, and stopped over in Seoul, South Korea, before coming to San Francisco, airport officials said. The airline said there were 16 crew members aboard, and the 291 passengers included 77 South Koreans, 141 Chinese, 61 Americans and one Japanese citizen. The nationalities of the remaining passengers weren't immediately known. Airport spokesman Doug Yakel said 49 people were in serious condition and 132 had less significant injuries. The airport closed for several hours, and when it reopened, two of the four runways were operating. Asiana is a South Korean airline, second in size to national carrier Korean Air. It has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States, and joined the Star Alliance, which is anchored in the U.S. by United Airlines. The 777-200 is a long-range plane from Boeing. The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another. The airline's website says its 777s can carry between 246 to 300 passengers. The flight was 10 hours and 23 minutes, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. The 777 is a smaller, wide-body jet that can travel long distances without refuelling and is typically used for long flights over water. The most notable accident involving a 777 occurred on Jan. 17, 2008 at Heathrow Airport in London. British Airways Flight 28 landed hard about 1,000 feet short of the runway and slid onto the start of the runway. The impact broke the 777-200's landing gear. There were 47 injuries, but no fatalities. An investigation revealed ice pellets that had formed in the fuel were clogging the fuel-oil heat exchanger, blocking fuel from reaching the plane's engines. The Rolls-Royce Trent 800 series engines that were used on the plane were then redesigned. Bill Waldock, an expert on aviation accident investigation, said he was reminded of the Heathrow accident as he watched video of Saturday's crash. "Of course, there is no indication directly that's what happened here," he said. "That's what the investigation is going to have to find out." The Asiana 777 "was right at the landing phase and for whatever reason the landing went wrong," said Waldock, director of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University accident investigation laboratory in Prescott, Ariz. "For whatever reason, they appeared to go low on approach and then the airplane pitched up suddenly to an extreme attitude, which could have been the pilots trying to keep it out of the ground," he said. The last time a large U.S. airline lost a plane in a fatal crash was an American Airlines Airbus A300 taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in 2001. Asia remains one of the fastest-growing regions for aviation in the world. Even with slowing economies in Japan and China, airlines there saw 3.7 percent more passengers than a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association. Finding enough experienced pilots to meet a growing number of flights is becoming a problem. A 2012 report by aircraft manufacturer Boeing said the industry would need 460,000 new commercial airline pilots in the next two decades — with 185,000 of them needed in Asia alone. "The Asia-Pacific region continues to present the largest projected growth in pilot demand," the report said.