NEW YORK, June 10 — Two people were rescued Thursday after falling into a tank of chocolate at a Mars Wrigley candy factory in Pennsylvania, US media reported.

The two were unable to get out of the tank, where they reportedly stood waist-deep in chocolate until they were rescued, according to the reports.

Emergency responders had “to cut a hole in the side of the tank to get them out,” Brad Wolfe, communications supervisor for Lancaster County 911 dispatch, told CNN.

Local media footage of the scene showed multiple police and emergency vehicles outside the factory owned by the confectionary giant in the town of Elizabethtown, in the east of the northeastern US state.

The workers were taken to hospital but their conditions are unknown, local media said. — AFP

BANGKOK, June 5 — Thailand had rescued 59 Rohingya refugees, including children, from an island who had been abandoned by people smugglers on an island close to the Malaysian border, police said today.

The Rohingya - 31 men, 23 women, and five children - were found on Dong island in Satun province, which borders Malaysia, assistant national police chief Surachate Hakparn said in a statement.

'The boat driver told them they had arrived in Malaysia and left them on the island a few days ago before being found,' he said. The island is a tourist destination but not populated.

Thailand has provided humanitarian assistance to the refugees, who have been detained for further questioning and will be prosecuted for entering Thailand illegally, Surachate added. — Reuters

ABUJA, June 5 — Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Nigeria's Ondo state during mass today, killing several people, local media reported.

A doctor at a hospital in Owo, a town in the state in Nigeria's southwest, told Reuters that 'several worshippers were brought in dead'.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Local media said gunmen had fired at worshippers and detonated explosives at the church.

Africa's most populous country has witnessed attacks and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, mostly in its northwest. Such attacks are rare in southwestern Nigeria. — Reuters

BEIRUT, June 5 — Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said today that Israel was creating a new crisis by encroaching on Lebanese resources in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy resources.

'The Israeli enemy's attempts to create a new crisis, by encroaching on Lebanon's maritime wealth, and imposing a fait accompli in a disputed area in which Lebanon adheres to its rights, is extremely dangerous,' Mikati said in a statement. — Reuters

KYIV, June 5 — Russian strikes destroyed tanks and other armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Kyiv that had been provided to Ukraine by European countries, Russia's defence ministry said today.

The ministry's statement came after the Ukrainian capital was rocked by several explosions early today. — Reuters