WORLD IN BRIEF : CHINA : Hilltop Blaze Kills 29 Schoolchildren

A forest fire whipped by fierce winds killed 29 elementary school children, ages 9 to 14, on a hilltop excursion 170 miles west of Beijing in northern China, burning many beyond recognition, local officials said. Distressed parents hoped to finish identifying the victims--most of them sole offspring born under China’s strict one-couple, one-child family-planning policy--by the end of the day, one official said. The children died Thursday while on a spring outing to the 330-foot hill, which was surrounded by dry bushes in an area parched by drought for months, the official said. A nearby coal mine called 170 firefighters with fire engines to the scene, but they were prevented by the steep slopes from approaching the blaze in time to save the children.