Deaths confirmed in chemical incident at US plant

LOS ANGELES — A number of people have died and several have been badly injured after a chemical leak at a plant in the northwestern US state of Washington, officials said Tuesday. A tank containing a substance known as white liquor burst at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company in Longview, an hour north of Portland on the Washington-Oregon border, a statement said. "Preliminary information indicates the rupture resulted in multiple critical injuries," said the statement, issued jointly by