NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : 10 Drown When Van Plunges Into Canal

A farm labor van plunged off a curve on a Florida road and into a rural canal in heavy fog Wednesday, trapping and drowning 10 migrant workers from Mexico, authorities said. “Some of them had stuck their arms out trying to get out, but they just didn’t make it,” Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Chamness said. The driver and one passenger escaped through windows with minor injuries as the van sank in 12 feet of murky water near Clewiston, he said. in rural Hendry County, he said. Nine men and one woman could not get out, he said. The driver, 28-year-old Rentilio Escobedo of LaBelle, told investigators he lost control of the van when the steering failed.