At least 9 wounded as suspected suicide bomber targets Indonesian church

JAKARTA  - A suspected suicide bomber blew themselves up outside a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday, wounding nine people on the first day of the Easter Holy Week, police and a witness said.

The congregation had been inside the church on the island of Sulawesi at the time of the explosion and the lone attacker was the only fatality, police said.

Father Wilhemus Tulak, a priest at the church, told Indonesian media that the suspected bomber tried to enter the church grounds on a motorbike, but had been stopped by a security guard.

Security camera footage showed a blast that blew flame, smoke and debris into the middle of the road.

Police did not say who might be responsible for the apparent attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police blamed the Islamic State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group for suicide attacks in 2018 on churches and a police post in the city of Surabaya that killed over 30 people.

Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the country's National Counterterrorism Agency, described Sunday's attack as an act of terrorism.

Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto said the blast could have caused far more casualties if it had taken place at the church's main gate instead of a side entrance.

Makassar, Sulawesi's biggest city, reflects the religious makeup of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country with a substantial Christian minority and followers of other religions.

"Whatever the motive is, this act isn't justified by any religion because it harms not just one person but others, too," Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Indonesia's religious affairs minister, said in a statement.

Gomar Gultom, head of the Indonesian Council of Churches, described the attack as a "cruel incident" as Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, and urged people to remain calm and trust the authorities.

Indonesia's deadliest Islamist militant attack took place on the tourist island of Bali in 2002, when bombers killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

In subsequent years, security forces in Indonesia scored some major successes in tackling militancy, but more recently there has been a resurgence of militant violence. 

Agence France-Presse

Huge explosion rocks Beirut with widespread damage, injuries

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

Suspected grenade blast near Indonesia's presidential palace hurts 2

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.

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12 dead, 50 injured in chemical factory blast in western India

NEW DELHI - At least 12 people were killed and around 50 injured after a series of explosions at a chemical factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Saturday, hospital officials and police said.

An official at Shirpur's sub-district hospital in Dhule district said that 12 people had died in the explosion.

"There are around 37 injured admitted here, and we have transferred another 12 patients," D.N. Wagh told Reuters.

The first explosion at the factory took place around 9.30 a.m. (0400 GMT), police officer Sanjay Ahire said. Videos from the incident on local news channels showed thick black smoke billowing out of the factory.

"There was a 200-liter chemical barrel that exploded first, then the fire spread to other parts of the factory and there were more blasts," Ahire said.

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Car bomb explodes in Libya's Benghazi, killing 3 UN staff

BENGHAZI, Libya - A car bomb explosion in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed three U.N. staff members and two other mission members on Saturday, the United Nations said.

The attack came as the United Nations was brokering a truce in the capital Tripoli, where the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) force launched a surprise attack in April, part of the chaos in Libya since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the attack, a spokesman said in a statement.

"The U.N. does not intend to evacuate from Libya," the assistant secretary-general for peace operations, Bintou Keita, later told the Security Council, which also condemned the attack.

The United Nations gave no more details, saying only some of its casualties had been members working in Benghazi, where its Libya mission had been boosting its presence recently.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told reporters two of those killed were guards with the U.N. Libya mission (UNSMIL). He added that 10 people had been wounded, including children.

The explosion happened in front of a shopping mall and bank. At least one burned-out U.N. car could be seen at the scene.

The LNA has yet to advance beyond the southern suburbs of Tripoli, which is home to the internationally recognized government.

Around the time of the blast, LNA commander Khalifa Haftar announced a halt to military operations for 48 hours during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which started on Saturday, according to a statement from his forces in Benghazi.

On Friday, the government in Tripoli said it had already accepted a U.N. proposal for a ceasefire during the holiday.

However, it was not clear whether fighting in the capital would actually cease. More than 105,000 people have been displaced during the clashes, according to the United Nations.

UNSMIL will be responsible for monitoring any violations, the Tripoli government said. Analysts say it is unclear whether UNSMIL has the capacity to monitor a truce as it has moved out most of its staff for security reasons.

Benghazi and the east is controlled by Haftar's LNA allied to a parallel government in the east challenging the Tripoli administration.

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Tanzania tanker blast kills dozens as crowd siphons fuel

DAR ES SALAAM—A fuel tanker exploded in eastern Tanzania on Saturday killing at least 60 people, authorities said, as flames ripped through a crowd that had gathered to siphon petrol from it.

Video clips circulating on social media showed the charred remains of dozens of young men and burnt motorbikes. In footage from before the explosion, a large crowd was collecting liquid from puddles in yellow jerry cans.

"The fire was huge and it was challenging to rescue victims. I have seen about 65 to 70 people being rescued because the fire was fast spreading across the accident area," witness Daniel Ngogo told Reuters.

"...The situation is really bad. Many people died, here even those who were not stealing fuel because this is a busy place."

In the aftermath, one man held his face in his hands as he watched a huge plume of black smoke twist onto the sky.

"People started running and I fell down, everyone tried to escape but it was too late," said local resident Hasani Oligenes, twisted bodies and motorbikes piled up behind him.

Government spokesman Hassan Abbasi said at least 60 people died and 70 were injured in the blast, which occurred in Morogoro, a town around 200 km west of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

The government was helping coordinate the salvage operation "to ensure we bury the bodies... relatives identify the bodies of their loved ones, and those injured get proper treatment," he added, in comments broadcast live by a state TV channel.

President John Magufuli was "shocked and saddened" by the accident, his office said in a statement. (Writing by Hereward Holland; editing by John Stonestreet)

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Easter Day blasts at Sri Lanka hotels, churches kill 156

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.

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2 firefighters, Spanish tourist killed in Paris gas-leak blast

PARIS—A powerful gas explosion tore through a building in central Paris on Saturday, killing two firefighters and a Spanish woman, injuring dozens of people and badly damaging nearby apartments, officials said.

Around 200 firefighters were mobilized to battle the fire that broke out after the blast and evacuate victims and residents in the area, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters at the scene.

The explosion came with the city on edge during the latest "yellow vest" anti-government demonstrations, which have often degenerated into violence and vandalism in Paris and other cities in recent weeks.

Cars were overturned by the blast and glass and rubble was strewn across large swathes of the street after the explosion gutted the lower part of the building. Dozens of residents were treated by rescue workers on the street.

"I was sleeping and was woken up by the blast wave," Claire Sallavuard, who lives on the Rue de Trevise where the explosion occurred, told AFP. "All the windows in the apartment exploded, doors were blown off their hinges, I had to walk on the door to leave the room, all the kids were panicking, they couldn't get out of their room."

"Firefighters advised us to leave but the elevator shaft had been blown out, there was no railing, nothing, and there was too much smoke," she said.

Besides the two dead firefighters, 47 other people were injured in the blast, 10 of them seriously, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

A source in the Spanish foreign ministry said a woman who was holidaying with her husband in Paris died in hospital after the blast while another Spanish national was also injured.

Around 100 police officers blocked off several streets in the area, home to restaurants and tourist attractions including the Musee Grevin wax museum and the popular Rue des Martyrs.

Police also closed off streets in front of the Garnier Opera house as emergency services landed two helicopters in front of the historic building to evacuate victims.

The explosion occurred shortly after 9:00 am (0800 GMT) in building that housed a bakery as well as a restaurant on the ground floor in the Ninth Arrondissement. 

"It happened when there were people in the street, and firefighters inside," the interior minister said.

'Like an earthquake'

The shockwave was felt as far as four blocks away, Commander Eric Moulin of the Paris fire service said, adding that rescuers were still searching for other victims.

Firefighters had been responding to an alert of a gas leak at the site when the explosion occurred, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said at the scene.

"First there was a gas leak and the firefighters arrived, then there was an explosion that caused the fire," Heitz said.

Dozens of tourists, suitcases in hand, were evacuated from the many nearby hotels in the area, a popular weekend shopping destination for locals and visitors alike.

Other residents were in bathrobes or quickly dressing in the street as police helicopters circled overhead.

"We were sleeping when we heard the noise, it sounded like an earthquake," a teenager who lives on a nearby street told AFP.

"We came downstairs and we saw a building on fire," her brother said.

Many homes and buildings in Paris use gas for heating and cooking, though explosions due to leaks are relatively rare.

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2 injured in blast outside Athens church

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.

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Japan police investigate cause of blast that hurt 42

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.

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Explosion at Japan restaurant injures 42: police

TOKYO - An explosion at a restaurant in northern Japan injured 42 people late Sunday, police said, with the blast reportedly causing surrounding buildings to collapse.

Fires broke out following the incident in the northern city of Sapporo, Kyodo news agency said, and images from the scene showed large flames and plumes of smoke rising in the night air.

A police official for the Hokkaido region told AFP "there are 42 injuries" but no one was killed.

The cause of the blast is being investigated. One witness reportedly said he had smelled gas after the explosion.

The building that housed the restaurant was heavily damaged, as were other nearby businesses, including a real estate company, Jiji news agency said.

Children were injured in the blast, Jiji added, citing police.

National broadcaster NHK said it took firefighters several hours to extinguish the flames.

Police warned earlier of possible secondary explosions, according to Kyodo, which described buildings collapsing following the incident around 8:30 pm.

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Crimea college blast kills 13 in 'terrorist attack' - officials

MOSCOW - Thirteen people were killed and 50 more wounded on Wednesday, most of them teenagers, after a blast tore into a college canteen in Russian-annexed Crimea in what Moscow called a "terrorist" attack.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major incidents, said it had "opened a criminal case into a terrorist attack" after an "unidentified explosive device" went off in the polytechnical college in Kerch city.

A committee spokeswoman said the death toll had risen to 13 after initial reports 10 people were killed in the explosion that detonated at around noon.

Investigators said the explosive device went off in the college's canteen and that it was "packed with metal objects."

"Currently we know of 13 dead and around 50 injured," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in televised comments. 

The "most of the (victims) are teenagers," the committee said. The college's website says it accepts students in the last three grades of school, from the age of 14.

An unnamed witness who worked nearby said in a video on Kerch.tv website victims "were taken away in public transport, in minibuses and buses, with 2 or 3 people in each ambulance."

"They are children and staff," the witness said. "I saw people without legs, without arms."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the "tragic news" from Kerch and that he "expresses deep condolences to those who lost relatives and loved ones."

Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said on Facebook he had gone to the scene and "all the necessary services are working at the scene of the incident."

The emergency services ministry said that it had flown out three helicopters and a plane with rescuers.

Kerch is linked to the Russian mainland by a bridge opened by Putin in May this year.

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One dead in explosion at military hardware factory in UK - media

An explosion at a military hardware factory in Salisbury, Wiltshire has left one person dead, British media reported on Friday, citing a police statement.

The explosion at the Chemring Countermeasures factory also injured another person who was taken to a hospital, the BBC and other media reported.

The resulting fire at the site was extinguished, according to the BBC report, which cited the Wiltshire Police.

"We have two casualties that have been identified. One of them sadly died at the scene and the other has been taken to hospital in a critical condition," a representative of the Wiltshire Police was quoted as saying.

Reuters could not immediately reach the police force for comment.

Chemring Countermeasures makes products to safeguard military ships and aircraft from attack.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the incident, which has been contained and poses no risk to the people in the area, the reports said.

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5 injured in 'minor' explosion at London underground station

LONDON, United Kingdom - A "minor" explosion at an underground train station in London late Tuesday left 5 people injured, none seriously, British police said, adding that the incident appeared to be caused by an electrical short circuit.

The London police said they were alerted by a phone call that an explosion had taken place at Southgate station in North London.

Emergency services rushed to the area and the station closed down.

"Inquiries are ongoing to establish the cause of the reported explosion, which appears to have been minor. We are not aware of any serious injury," police said.

"We do not believe this to be terror related at time," British transport police said in a tweet.

Scotland Yard said later that the cause appeared to be a "battery short circuit".

The London ambulance service said that 2 people were taken to hospital while 3 others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Passengers spoke on Twitter of scenes of panic.

"I was at Southgate Station when this commotion started. I could smell burning (like rubber) and saw multiple people hurrying for the exits," wrote @Nakzokulah.

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Two men set off bomb in restaurant in Canada, 15 wounded

TORONTO - Two unidentified men walked into a restaurant on Thursday in the Canadian city of Mississauga and set off a bomb, wounding more than a dozen people, and then fleeing, authorities said.

The blast went off in the Bombay Bhel restaurant at about 10:30 p.m. Fifteen people were taken to hospital, 3 of them with critical injuries, the Peel Regional Paramedic Service said in a Tweet.

The two male suspects went into the restaurant and detonated their improvised explosive device, Peel Regional Police said in a Tweet. The men then fled.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police posted a photograph on Twitter showing two people with dark zip-up hoodies walking into an establishment with one of them appearing to be carrying an object.

The attack in Mississauga, Canada's sixth largest city, comes a month after a driver plowed his white Ryder rental van into a lunch-hour crowd in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15.

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Multiple injuries, wide evacuations in US oil refinery explosion

SUPERIOR, Wisconsin - Several people were injured and an expansive area was evacuated Thursday after an explosion and fire at an oil refinery in the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin. 

Residents were ordered to evacuate across a wide area of Superior, a city with a population of 27,000 near the northern tip of the state and less than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the Canadian border. 

An initial explosion occurred around 10:06 am (1506 GMT) at the Husky Energy oil refinery. It was followed by multiple subsequent explosions and a spreading fire that appeared to burn out of control inside the refinery complex -- spewing thick black smoke high up into the sky.

Six people were injured and taken to hospitals, along with several "walking wounded" treated at the scene, Superior Mayor Jim Paine told a news conference. 

"At this point there have been no fatalities," Paine said. 

The smoke prompted officials to order evacuations within a two to three-mile radius of the refinery and 10 miles to the south. 

Area schools were closed and evacuation centers opened for residents. 

"I'm told that this fire will likely burn until the fuel is consumed -- and that could be a couple of days," Superior police chief Nicholas Alexander told television station WDIO.

ASPHALT BURNING

The fire was concentrated around areas of the refinery where asphalt is stored, officials said. The complex processes crude oil and makes asphalt. 

"The asphalt is on fire," said refinery manager Kollin Schade. "It's a little like tires. Once you get going, they're very hot and they're hard to extinguish."

Officials said they did not know the cause of the explosions. 

The fire department was attempting to keep the fire from spreading, but was not actively fighting the fire, awaiting additional equipment and resources. 

"We can't get people close enough to actually put the fire out," fire department battalion chief Scott Gordon said. 

The initial explosion on Thursday morning shook local residents. 

Cheryl Thielman, 58, who manages a mobile home park near the refinery, described hearing a "huge boom."

"It shook the trailer park," she said, at the time suspecting that "maybe a train had possibly derailed" at the nearby railroad tracks. 

A man leaving a local hospital, identified only as "Jesse," told television station WDIO that he was a refinery worker injured by the blast, suffering a burst eardrum in one ear and a sprained ankle.

"It was pretty intense... shook my brain," he said. "I was trapped in a flame ball... smoke everywhere. Barely got out of there."

The refinery, which Husky Energy purchased last year, processes crude oil from Canadian and North Dakota fields. 

Roughly 165 employees work at the refinery at any given time, Schade said, along with contractors.

"Fortunately, they all are accounted for," Schade said. 

The facility processes about 2.3 million gallons of oil per day, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

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Blast rips through supermarket in Russia's St Petersburg, 10 hurt

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."

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Trump wants Congress to fix 'lax' immigration after NY attack

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.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Blast rocks New York; suspect in custody

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.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

UK police investigate reports of blast on London underground train

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)

source: neews.abs-cbn.com