NEW Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin looks to be on course to be re-elected to oversee the rebuilding of the city after topping the ballot in the first round of a poll hit by the dispersal of more than half the voters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Ten visitors to a US aquarium, including four children, fell into a shark tank and thrashed around in terror for up to 15 minutes with the animals swimming beneath their kicking feet before they were pulled out.