News briefs

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 11:47 a.m.

2-year-old girl dies en route to hospital

A 2-year-old girl died Tuesday night, despite her mother and grandmother's efforts to rush her to the hospital.

Maria Calleros was in the back seat of a 1992 Nissan driven by her 61-year-old grandmother Eliena Saavedra speeding west on Desert Inn Road about 6:30 p.m. when Saavedra decided to try to run a red light at Eastern Avenue, Metro Police said.

But the Nissan was hit by a 1988 Chrysler that had started to drive south through the intersection on Eastern when the light turned green. The impact spun the Nissan around and forced the Chrysler into a 1989 Honda also traveling south on Eastern.

"The mother was in the back seat with the 2-year-old attempting to revive her," Sgt. Curt Albert said. "We don't know what was wrong with the little girl."

The child was taken to Sunrise Hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The cause of death was not known.

Residents may return after explosion

Thirty residents displaced from their homes by a Sunday evening explosion at a downtown apartment complex could move back in today.

The electricity at the Vegas Court Apartments, at the corner of Stewart and 11th streets, was cut off after the complex's manager accidentally triggered an explosion with his cigar as he was attempting to repair a leaky valve on a propane tank.

The explosion demolished the manager's apartment and did only minor damage to the rest of the complex, but with the power off the other residents could not stay in the building.

A private contractor is working to run electricity to the other units, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Leonard Hale, 63, the apartment manager, remains in serious condition at the University Medical Center Burn Unit recovering from second and third degree burns on 30 percent of his body.

A neighbor reported finding Hale's two missing kittens alive and well in the wreckage, Szymanski said.

Gibbons headed to Australia

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., joined fellow members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence today on an oversight tour of intelligence and secrecy issues in Australia and New Zealand.

As Defense Department budgets shrink, Gibbons said that it is "critical" for the United States to improve international intelligence gathering.

Instead of the superpower spying from the Cold War days, terrorism, narcotics, weapons of mass destruction and other transnational issues are emerging as threats, Gibbons said.