Buildings are being decontaminated

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A third person has been diagnosed in the US with the most serious form of anthrax.

The unnamed Washington postal worker is being treated for inhalation anthrax but doctors expect him to make a full recovery.

This is the ninth confirmed case of anthrax in the United States since infected mail began turning up in Florida, Washington and New York following the 11 September attacks.

The only person to die from anthrax in this scare had the inhalation form of the disease but it was not caught as early.

The other victims have been infected through the skin, a less serious form of the disease.

The latest victim works at the Washington mail centre which processed an anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle.

But it is not known whether he was exposed to the disease through this letter.

US Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge said that the strain of anthrax used in the attacks on US media companies and the Senate appeared to be the same.

"We are obviously preparing for more," he said.

Nearly 40 people in the United States, including 28 who work at the US Senate, have been exposed to anthrax bacteria in the past month.

Teams of hazardous material experts have been checking the House of Representatives after an anthrax-tainted letter was found in the Ford House Office Building mailroom.

The US is offering $1m for information on who is behind the anthrax attacks.

The US postal service is sending cards to every home and business - 147 million addresses - telling people how to deal with suspicious post.  

Local miners joined in the rescue effort in a desperate bid to find survivors

At least 85 children have been confirmed dead after the tip engulfed a school, some terraced cottages and a farm in just five minutes. Many more are missing or injured.

At first the rescue was held up by fog, the same fog that delayed 50 children travelling to the Aberfan school by bus from the neighbouring village of Mount Pleasant.

About 2,000 rescuers are now working under floodlights in the hunt for survivors, despite the danger caused by the still shifting slag tip.

The tragedy happened at 0915, just as the pupils of Pantglas Junior School were about to embark on their first lessons.

Some children were still in the playground, others were filing in to classrooms ready for register.

Dilys Pope, aged 10, said, "We heard a noise and we saw stuff flying about. The desks were falling over and the children were shouting and screaming."

In one classroom 14 bodies were found and outside mothers struggled deep in mud, clamouring to find their children. Many were led away weeping.

The deputy head teacher, Mr Beynon, was found dead. "He was clutching five children in his arms as if he had been protecting them," said a rescuer.

Three people died in the farm hit by the disaster and a pregnant woman whose son was killed in the tragedy went into labour when she heard the tragic news.

As people arrived at the scene, they could hear the cries of those still trapped on the fringe of the coal waste.

One of the biggest problems facing the rescue operation was getting vehicles to the site which is located in a cul-de sac.

Many local miners shovelled to get the debris clear and worked non-stop for 10 hours, including one whose young daughter was thought to be dead.

George Thomas, Minister of State for Wales, said: "A generation of children has been wiped out. There is an abundance of tips of this sort in Wales, and we shall be looking for the possibilities that it could happen again."

anthrax: a highly infectious animal disease (especially cattle and sheep); it can be transmitted to people（炭疽熱）

slag:the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals（礦渣）

clamour: make loud demands;（叫喊）