NATION IN BRIEF : COLORADO : Mine Gas May Have Caused Bank Blast

A buildup of methane from old mines may have set off the explosion that leveled Crested Butte State Bank, killed three employees and injured 14 other people, authorities said. A pathologist who examined the bodies said he found no evidence that a bomb caused the blast Tuesday in the Rocky Mountain ski resort. The dead were identified as Donna Smith, Jade Woelk and Monica Henning, all of Crested Butte. Seven of the injured remained hospitalized, three of them in serious condition. Bill Denning of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration in Denver said that methane from coal beds and abandoned mines under and near the town may have seeped into the two-story, brick building. The gas, produced by decaying organic matter, is odorless and invisible.