Report: Man arrested for terrorist threats aimed at Steelers-Jaguars NFL playoff game

A man was arrested after he threatened to kill players and fans at Sunday’s NFL playoff game between the Steelers and Jaguars in Pittsburgh, San Antonio TV station KSAT reported.

The station said that according to an arrest affidavit, police said Yuttana Choochongkol, 30, of San Antonio, made multiple threats, including one to kill himself.

The affidavit said that on Thursday, a Pittsburgh station received this threat from Choochongkol:

“This Sunday’s playoff game in Pittsburgh is going to be like no other. Why? Because it’s going to be my last day on this pathetic planet. So why not take some innocent lives with me? The Steelers game will be packed, and that’s when I plan on killing Steelers football players and fans before taking my own pitiful life. After all, what does a person that is going to commit suicide have to lose? Absolutely nothing. So why not take out some million dollar Steelers players before me? Sounds like a good idea. Hahahahahah”

The San Antonio station reported that also on Thursday, Heinz Field received a similar threat from Choochongkol. Heinz Field officials were able to get a user name and IP address and send them to the FBI, which then traced the threats to a facility called Worldwide Clinical Trials in San Antonio. The suspect was then identified.

The station said that according to the affidavit, World Wide Clinical Trials said Choochonkol has been a medical trial subject with World Wide Clinical Trials 25 times in the last seven years. He is being charged with making a terroristic threat to the public, according to the station.

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Burning Iranian oil tanker has sunk after Jan. 6 accident

BEIJING (Reuters) – An Iranian oil tanker has sunk after burning for more than a week following a collision on Jan. 6 in the East China Sea, Chinese state media said on Sunday, adding that large amounts of oil are burning in the surrounding waters.

The stricken tanker, called the Sanchi (IMO:9356608), which had been adrift and on fire following the accident with the freighter CF Crystal, had “suddenly ignited” around noon (0400 GMT), China Central Television (CCTV) said.

“Currently it has already sunk,” CCTV said, citing the Shanghai maritime search and rescue centre. It showed video of a tower of billowing black smoke that it said reached as high as 1,000 metres, and flames on the surface of the water. The ship sank before 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), the broadcaster said.

China’s State Oceanic Administration said that because the hull of the ship had detonated, a large amount of oil in surrounding waters was on fire, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The Administration said it would expand the scope of its monitoring and “quickly ascertain the spread and drift of overflowing oil” from the wrecked ship.

A Chinese salvage team on Saturday recovered two bodies from the tanker. Another body, presumed to be one of the Sanchi’s sailors, was found on Monday and brought to Shanghai for identification.

The Sanchi’s crew consisted of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.

Iranian officials said the remaining 29 crew members and passengers of the tanker were presumed dead. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sent messages of condolence to the families of the crew and called for an investigation into the accident, Iranian state media reported.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif by telephone that “as long as there is 1 percent of hope, China will continue to make 100 percent effort” to rescue and recover the crew.

The tanker, owned by National Iranian Tanker Co, was carrying almost 1 million barrels of condensate, an ultra-light crude oil, to South Korea.

It collided with the CF Crystal (IMO:9497050), which was carrying grain from the United States, about 160 nautical miles (184 km) off China’s coast near Shanghai.

Reporting by Michael Martina and Tina Qiao; Additional reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, editing by Louise Heavens

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