BEIRUT (AP) — A massive explosion rocked downtown Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings and blowing out windows and doors as a giant mushroom cloud rose above the capital. Lebanese Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh said there were dead and wounded, but did not have an exact figure, just saying there were hundreds of casualties. A civil defense official on the scene of the blast said his men had evacuated dozens to hospitals and that there were still bodies inside the port, many of them under debris. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. It was stunning even for a city that has been shaken by civil war, suicide bombings and bombardment by Israel. Dozens of ambulances ferried the injured from the port area, where the wounded lay on the ground, Associated Press staff at the scene said. Hospitals called for blood donations. The head of the Lebanese Red Cross told local TV there were hundreds of casualties although many were superficial wounds from broken glass. Video taken by residents showed a fire raging at the port, sending up a giant column of smoke, illuminated by flashes of what appear to be fireworks. Local TV stations reported that a fireworks warehouse was involved. The fire then appeared to catch at a nearby building, triggering a more massive explosion, sending up a mushroom cloud and a shock wave over the city. “It was like a nuclear explosion,” said Walid Abdo, a 43-year-old school teacher in the neighborhood of Gemayzeh near Beirut. Charbel Haj, who works at the port, said it started as small explosions like firecrackers, then the huge blast erupted and he was thrown off his feet. His clothes were torn. Miles from the port, balconies were knocked down, windows shattered, streets were covered with glass and bricks and lined with wrecked cars. Motorcyclists picked their way through traffic, carrying the injured. One woman covered in blood from the waist up walked down a trashed street while talking furiously on her phone. On another street, a woman with a bloodied face looked distraught, staggering through traffic with two friends at her side. “This country is cursed,” a young man passing by muttered. The blast came at a time when Lebanon’s economy is facing collapse, hit both by a financial crisis and coronavirus restrictions. Many have lost jobs, while the worth of their savings has evaporated as the currency has plunged in value against the dollar. The result has thrown many into poverty. It also comes amid rising tensions between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group along Lebanon’s southern border. The explosion was reminiscent of massive blasts during Lebanon’s civil war and took place only three days before a U.N.-backed tribunal was set to give its verdict in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a truck bombing more than 15 years ago. That explosion, with a ton of explosives, was felt miles away, just like Tuesday’s explosion. It was the latest chapter for a country that has suffered a 15-year civil war, repeated conflict with Israel, political assassinations and various other crises including the current unprecedented financial and economic crisis. ___ AP correspondent Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report Associated Press
JAKARTA - A suspected smoke grenade explosion on Tuesday at Indonesia's National Monument park, near the presidential palace in central Jakarta, injured at least 2 military officials, the capital's top police official said. President Joko Widodo was not at the palace at the time of the blast, a presidential spokesman said. It was not immediately clear if the blast resulted from a sectarian attack, but Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has suffered a resurgence in homegrown militancy in recent years. The park explosion was suspected to have been caused by a smoke grenade, and 2 injured military officials had been taken to hospital, Jakarta's police chief, Gatot Eddy Pramono, told a televised news conference. The 2 injured officers were doing exercises in the park at the time, Jakarta military chief Eko Margiyono added. Asked if the blast was the result of an attack, Pramono responded, "We haven't concluded so, because we're still investigating." Earlier, Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told Kompas TV "There was a blast, but we're still checking what the source was." He added, "Injured victims have been taken to hospital," but did not elaborate. Last month, 6 people were wounded after a 24-year-old university student blew himself up outside police headquarters in the Indonesian city of Medan. The attack was linked to the Islamic State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), responsible for a series of attacks across the country. In October, a suspected Islamist stabbed and wounded former security minister Wiranto at a function to open a university building. Wiranto, who uses just one name, like many Indonesians, had to have surgery, but has since left hospital. source: news.abs-cbn.com
COLOMBO -- A string of blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing at least 156 people, including 35 foreigners. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe condemned the attacks as "cowardly" and said the government was working to "contain the situation". Images circulating on social media and local news stations showed extensive damage at one of 3 churches targeted in the near simultaneous blasts on Sunday morning. Much of the church roof was blown out in the explosion, with roof tiles and splintered wood littering the floor and pools of blood in between wounded worshipers. The injured flooded into local hospitals, where officials reported hundreds of wounded were being admitted. POLICE CHIEF WARNING The nature of the blasts was not immediately clear and there were no immediate claims of responsibility. But documents seen by AFP show that Sri Lanka's police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit "prominent churches". "A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo," the alert said. The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues. The first blast was reported at St Anthony's Shrine, a well-known Catholic church in the capital Colombo. A second deadly explosion was then confirmed at St Sebastian's, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital. "A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there," read a post in English on the church's Facebook page. Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with 3 high-end hotels in the capital. Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the dead, with Britons and Japanese among those injured in the attacks. 'COWARDLY ATTACKS' President Maithripala Sirisena said in an address that he was shocked by the explosions and appealed for calm, and the prime minister was expected to speak to the media shortly. On Twitter, Wickremesinghe wrote: "I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today. "I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong. Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation." The hotels targeted in the attack are all popular destinations for tourists, among them the Cinnamon Grand, which is near the prime minister's official residence in Colombo. An official at the hotel told AFP the blast there had hit the restaurant, and reported at least one person had been killed. At the Shangri-La hotel, an AFP photographer saw extensive damage on the second floor restaurant, with windows blown out and electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. 'HORRIBLE SCENES' "Emergency meeting called in a few minutes. Rescue operations underway," Sri Lanka's Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, Harsha de Silva, said in a tweet on his verified account. He said he had been to 2 of the attacked hotels and was at the scene at St Anthony's Shrine, where he described "horrible scenes". "I saw many body parts strewn all over," he tweeted, adding that there were "many casualties including foreigners". "Please stay calm and indoors," he added. Embassies in Colombo warned their citizens to shelter in place, and Sri Lankan Airlines told customers to arrive at the airport 4 hours ahead of flights because of ramped-up security in the wake of the attacks. Only around 6 percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups. There have been no attacks in Sri Lanka linked to foreign Islamist groups, despite local media reports that a 37-year-old Sri Lankan was killed in Syria in 2016 while fighting for the Islamic State group. In January, Sri Lankan police seized a haul of explosives and detonators stashed near a wildlife sanctuary following the arrest of 4 men from a newly formed radical Muslim group. source: news.abs-cbn.com
GREECE - A homemade device exploded in front of a church in central Athens on Thursday, injuring its caretaker and a police officer, police said. The device was placed outside the Orthodox Church of Saint Dionysius in the upmarket Kolonaki neighborhood and exploded at 7:10 am (0510 GMT), police said. The police officer was hospitalized with minor injuries to his face and hands sustained when he went to inspect a "suspicious" package after being alerted by the caretaker. The caretaker was also hospitalized. A cafe worker nearby told Skai television the blast had been "powerful." Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party condemned what it called an "atrocious act" and voiced support for the 2 wounded men. Tsipras' main domestic rival Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of the New Democracy party, accused the government of tolerating repeated acts of violence and warned that "the feeling of insecurity" had reached a new level. Socialist Party leader Fofi Gennimata said: "There is a problem of security in the country, the government must take responsibility." Anti-terrorist police have launched an investigation focused on anarchists or far-left groups. Non-fatal attacks targeting centers of power, embassies, banks and media outlets have become common in Greece in recent years, and have often been blamed on such groups. Ten days ago, a homemade bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the Skai media group in a seaside Athens suburb causing major damage. There have been no claims of responsibility. source: news.abs-cbn.com
TOKYO - Japanese police were investigating Monday the cause of a powerful blast that ripped through a restaurant in the country's north overnight, injuring 42 people and damaging surrounding buildings. The explosion in the city of Sapporo on Sunday night started fires and caused the partial collapse of some neighboring buildings, forcing dozens of residents into shelters, officials said. The cause of the blast was still under investigation, police said, but there were reports that it may have been a gas leak. Some reports said fumes were leaking from spray cans that had been collected for disposal at a real estate company in the building. But investigators were also looking into at least nine propane tanks installed in the building for the various businesses located inside. Numerous customers at the restaurant on the building's first floor said they smelled gas at the time of the explosion, Kyodo News agency reported. The blast produced large flames and sent plumes of smoke rising in the night air, with witnesses describing a terrifying boom. The two-story wooden building, which also housed a clinic, was seriously damaged, a Sapporo fire department official told AFP. Police said 42 people had been injured, but there were no fatalities. Among the injured were several children, as well as a man who suffered burns and a woman who jumped from the building to escape, breaking her leg in the process. "There was an enormous sound, 'bang', then when I looked up at the sky it was filled with plumes of smoke," an elderly woman said in footage on public broadcaster NHK. "The ceiling fell, then the entire second floor collapsed and we were all stuck. We managed to escape after everyone kicked through the wall," a person who was in the restaurant at the time told Kyodo. The fire from the blast spread to neighboring buildings, and debris blasted out by the explosion shattered the windows of nearby apartments and restaurants, according to local reports. "We are investigating details about the damage together with police at the scene," the fire department official said. The blast happened around 8:30 pm (1130 GMT), and the city government opened a shelter to house dozens of people whose homes were damaged. The explosion also caused a temporary black-out, with 250 buildings losing electricity, but power was later restored, he said. The three tenants in the building were poorly prepared for possible fires, Sapporo fire department official Takashi Shida told AFP. "We instructed them to improve these points during an on-site inspection in October but they had not made progress," he said. Many small and medium-sized older buildings in Japan are built partly or entirely from wood and are vulnerable to fires. In February, 11 people were killed in Sapporo after a fire broke out at a home for elderly people with financial difficulties. source: news.abs-cbn.com
BRUSSELS - Two people were killed and 14 injured when an explosion in the Belgian city of Antwerp destroyed three buildings.
Police said two bodies were found under the debris on Tuesday following the blast on Monday evening. Five people were seriously injured and another was in a critical condition after the explosion in a part of the city where many students live.
Police said an investigation was underway into the cause of the blast. They have excluded it being the result of an attack. Belgian media said it was likely to have been a gas explosion.
Belgium has been on high alert since deadly suicide bombings in 2016 and a wave of Islamist attacks across Europe.
MOSCOW - A blast ripped through a supermarket in Russia's St Petersburg on Wednesday evening, injuring at least 10 shoppers, investigators said.
The explosion was caused by a homemade bomb packed with pieces of metal with a force equivalent to 200 grammes of TNT, they said. They have opened a criminal case on the grounds of attempted murder.
Nobody was killed in the explosion, and it was not immediately clear what the motive for it was.
Russian media reports said the bomb had been hidden in a locker where shoppers leave their belongings in a branch of the Perekrestok supermarket chain.
"All possible versions of what has happened are being worked on," Alexander Klaus, the head of St Petersburg's investigative committee, told Reuters.
"As of now, it has been established that 10 people were taken to the city's hospitals with injuries. At the moment, the lives of those injured are not under threat."
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Monday that a bomb attack by a 27-year-old from Bangladesh on New York's subway system underscored the "urgent need" for Congress to enact immigration reform.
Three people were slightly injured after the attacker's pipe bomb exploded only partially, while the suspect was sent to a hospital with apparently severe burns and wounds on his torso and hands.
"First and foremost, as I have been saying since I first announced my candidacy for president, America must fix its lax immigration system, which allows far too many dangerous, inadequately vetted people to access our country," Trump said in a statement.
He added that the suspect, identified as Akayed Ullah, had entered the country through "extended-family chain migration," a system the president is seeking to end that allows families to sponsor relatives to come to the United States.
He also cited his controversial travel ban on the entry of nationals from eight countries -- 6 of which have Muslim majorities -- as "one step forward in securing our immigration system."
Other measures Trump said he hoped Congress would pass included "increasing the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, enhancing the arrest and detention authorities for immigration officers, and ending fraud and abuse in our immigration system."
Trump also reiterated his call for terror convicts to receive "the strongest penalty allowed by law, including the death penalty."
He had previously called for the death penalty for Sayfullo Saipov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan who killed 8 people and injured 12 in an October 31 truck attack in New York.
NEW YORK - An explosion rocked New York's Port Authority, one of the city's busiest commuter hubs, on Monday morning and police said one suspect was injured and in custody but that no one else was hurt in the rush-hour incident.
Police confirmed one person was in custody but were not yet identifying the device used. Local news channel WABC cited police sources as saying a possible pipe bomb detonated in a passageway below ground at Port Authority and WPIX cited sources as saying a man with a “possible second device” has been detained in the subway tunnel.
The bus terminal was temporarily closed, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a Twitter statement.
“There was a stampede up the stairs to get out,” said Diego Fernandez, one of the commuters at Port Authority. “Everybody was scared and running and shouting.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Donald Trump have been briefed on the incident, according to local media and the White House.
News of the incident jarred financial markets as trading was getting underway for the week. Standard & Poor's 500 index emini futures pared gains, the dollar weakened against the yen and U.S. Treasury securities prices gained on a modest flight-to-safety bid.
The incident occurred less than two months after an Uzbek immigrant killed eight people by speeding a rental truck down a New York City bike path, in an attack for which Islamic State claimed responsibility.
In September 2016, a man injured more than two dozen people when he set off a homemade bomb in New York's Chelsea district.
LONDON - Armed police rushed to an incident at a London underground station on Friday with local media reporting there had been an explosion on a packed rush-hour commuter train.
Emergency services said they had been called to reports of an incident on a train at Parsons Green station in West London at 8.20 a.m. (0720 GMT) but had no further details of what had happened.
The Metro newspaper reported that passengers had suffered facial burns from a blast and others had been hurt in a subsequent stampede.
"I was on second carriage from the back. I just heard a kind of whoosh. I looked up and saw the whole carriage engulfed in flames making its way towards me," a man who was on the train told Reuters.
Outside the station, a woman was sitting on a pavement with a bandage around her leg, while armed police patrolled. A Reuters witness saw a woman being carried off on a stretcher with her legs covered in a foil blanket.
"We are aware of an incident at #ParsonsGreen tube station. Officers are in attendance," London police said on Twitter. "We would advise people to avoid the area."
An unverified picture circulating on social media showed a white bucket in a supermarket freezer bag with what appeared to be wires coming out of the top on the floor of one train carriage.
Police said they were aware of reports on social media and said they would release facts regarding the incident once they could be sure of their accuracy.
A Reuters witness could see a bomb disposal unit at the scene while the fire brigade said it had sent six engines and 50 firefighters. London Ambulance said it had sent "multiple resources" including its hazardous area response team to the scene.
"Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries," it said.
Transport for London said on Twitter there was no service on the western part of the District Line which runs through Parsons Green.
Britain has suffered four attacks blamed on terrorists so far this year which killed 36 people. In 2005, 52 people were killed when four British Islamists carried out suicide bomb attacks on three London underground trains and a bus.
(Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Elizabeth Piper, Yann Tessier and Costas Pitas; writing by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Janet Lawrence)
BEIJING - Eight people were killed and 65 injured on Thursday in an explosion at a kindergarten in eastern China that police have described as a "criminal" act, state media said.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that police had made a preliminary judgment that the blast was a "criminal offence", and they had identified a suspect.
Many parents were picking up their children when the blast took place around 5 p.m. near the entrance of the kindergarten in Xuzhou, in the coastal province of Jiangsu, the official Xinhua news agency said on China's Twitter-like Weibo.
Two people died on the spot and six more died of their injuries in hospital. Xinhua reported that the number of injured had risen to 65 by 11 p.m. on Thursday, with eight in critical condition.
Pictures circulating on Chinese social media showed about a dozen women and children lying on the ground in what appeared to be the immediate aftermath of the blast.
One video showed an injured woman with scorched clothing staggering unsteadily, while others sat on a floor holding crying children in their arms.
Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. None of the casualties were children or teachers, Xinhua said.
Blasts and other accidents are common in China, because of patchy enforcement of safety rules, although the government has pledged to improve checks to stamp out such incidents.
Police from Xuzhou city urged social media commentators to share only information from official channels after some users posted videos of an April explosion which they said depicted Thursday's incident.
