Briefly

Rhode Island: Lawsuit blames state for fatal nightclub fire

A lawsuit filed Tuesday is the first one to blame the state and the Rhode Island fire marshal for a nightclub fire that killed 99 people and injured nearly 200 others.

So far, three lawsuits have been filed over the Feb. 20 blaze at The Station in West Warwick and more are expected. A grand jury is also weighing whether criminal charges are warranted.

The lawsuit filed in Providence does not specify damages, but plaintiffs’ attorney Ronald Resmini estimated Tuesday that the amount could be more than $3 million. The suit was brought on behalf of two survivors and one woman whose husband died in the fire.

It alleges the state and state Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens failed to adequately inspect the nightclub’s property and to properly prepare local fire inspectors for their duties.

California: U.S.’ oldest person dies

The nation’s oldest person, a 113-year-old woman who witnessed the aftermath of the great San Francisco earthquake, enjoyed junk food and lived alone until she turned 102, has died.

Mary Dorothy Christian died Sunday at the Creekside Care Center in San Pablo, where she had lived since 1992. She had come down with a cold that turned into pneumonia, said nurse Ester Aballa.

The world’s oldest person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, is Kamato Hongo of Japan at 115. The oldest person on record was France’s Jeanne Calment, who was 122 when she died in 1997.

Florida: Seven rescued whales swimming on their own

Seven pilot whales rescued from shallow water in the Florida Keys were swimming on their own Tuesday as their conditions slowly improved, rescue officials said.

The six adults and one calf were upgraded from “extremely guarded condition” to “guarded condition,” said Denise Jackson of the Florida Keys Marine Mammal Rescue Team.

The seven whales were among 28 that became stranded Friday near Big Pine Key. Seven died, five were euthanized, six were later seen swimming in deeper water and three were unaccounted for.

One rescue official said the stomachs of many of the dead whales were empty, meaning they had been away from their natural habitat in deeper water, and they were weak from hunger.