In brief: Mexico border blast kills one, injures five

MEXICO CITY – Police in Piedras Negras say that an apparently accidental explosion in a customs building on Mexico’s border with the U.S. has killed one woman and injured five other people.

The woman who died in the Sunday blast suffered a fractured skull and the other five people had burns, said Felix Alberto Lopez Arenas, director of operations for the local municipal police in the city on the border with Texas.

He said the blast, which was under investigation, occurred in a dormitory for customs agents and was likely caused by gas.

No immunity for fleeing Niger official

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – The head of Niger’s National Assembly, who faces questioning in connection with a baby trafficking scandal, is in France, a source close to the office of Burkina Faso’s president said Sunday.

Hama Amadou fled to Burkina Faso last week as officials in his home country ruled his parliamentary immunity would not save him from being questioned over the scandal, which has rattled Niger’s political class.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose Amadou’s itinerary, said Amadou was staying in Paris.

Amadou’s wife and 17 other people already have been arrested over their suspected links to trafficking babies from neighboring Nigeria.