Tag: explosions

Maryland condo explosion leaves 12 people, including 4 kids, injured | CNN

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A condo explosion in Montgomery County, Maryland, left a dozen people injured, two of them critically, kicking off a massive search-and-rescue operation Wednesday, the county fire chief said.

The “significant” blast resulted in a structural collapse, Goldstein said.

Authorities are “still working on the basis that there are unaccounted for personnel,” Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said. “We are diligently working to identify all the occupants.”

There was a “gas-fed fire” in the building’s basement that fire crews are handling, and utility workers are attempting to turn off natural gas to the building, he said.

Ten people were taken to hospitals, including two adults in critical condition. Four adults and four children were transferred with mild to moderate injuries. Two individuals were treated on scene and declined to go to the hospital, Goldstein said.

The fire impacted two condo buildings with six units. Two other buildings were evacuated. Authorities are homing in on nine apartments, trying to account for each unit’s residents, Goldstein said.

Residents told authorities they smelled gas Wednesday morning. Maintenance staff on site used a ladder to rescue a resident from a rear balcony and assisted a resident at the back of the building, the fire chief says.

“Our 911 center has checked, and this morning there (were) no calls prior to the explosion for a gas leak or a gas smell,” Goldstein said, adding authorities were looking into whether there were reports of a gas odor last week.

The fire remained active late Wednesday morning, Goldstein said, calling it a multi-day event. More information is expected at a Wednesday afternoon briefing.

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November 16, 2022
Istanbul explosion that killed 6 and injured dozens is considered a terrorist attack, Turkish vice president says | CNN

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Istanbul
CNN
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[Breaking news update at 1 p.m. ET]

An explosion that killed at least six people and injured at least 81 others in Istantbul on Sunday is considered to be a terrorist attack, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said, according to state news agency Anadolu.

“We consider it to be a terrorist act as a result of an attacker, whom we consider to be a woman, detonating the bomb,” Oktay told reporters.

[Previous story, published at 12:22 p.m. ET]

At least six people have been killed and 53 injured in an explosion in the heart of the Turkish city of Istanbul on Sunday afternoon, according to the city’s governor.

Those who were injured are being treated, the governor, Ali Yerlikaya, added.

“We wish God’s mercy on those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured,” he tweeted.

Yerlikaya earlier confirmed that the explosion took place on Istiklal Street in Beyoglu Square and that emergency services were at the scene. “Developments will be shared with the public,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the explosion might be terror-related, but that it is not certain at this point.

In a news conference, Erdogan said: “It may be wrong if we say this is definitely terror but according to preliminary findings, what my governors told us, that there is a smell of terror here.”

The president also said that, according to preliminary information, a woman played a role in the explosion and that the Istanbul police chief and authorities in the Istanbul Governor’s office were reviewing CCTV footage.

“All the responsible figures will be identified and punished,” Erdogan said.

He added that he and his delegation would be departing shortly for the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, as planned.

An investigation has been launched into the explosion, the country’s official Anadolu news agency reported.

Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has begun the investigation, with five public prosecutors assigned to it, according to the agency.

The city’s criminal court issued a broadcast ban on all visual and audio news, as well on social media sites, related to the explosion, Anadolu added.

Local media reports and images from the area showed a large number of emergency vehicles in the aftermath of the blast, with at least one person receiving medical attention. Some people could be seen fleeing the scene in the pictures and the area was being cordoned off by security services.

One eyewitness, journalist Tariq Keblaoui, told CNN that several people could be seen lying on the ground following the blast on Istiklal Street.

Keblaoui said he was in a store on Istiklal Street when the explosion occurred about 10 meters ahead of him.

The extent of the injuries of those he saw was not clear but several people were bleeding from their legs and arms, he said.

Keblaoui said Istiklal Street, a popular tourist area, was heavily crowded on Sunday. Istiklal Street is one of the main streets leading to Taksim Square.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu called for assistance for police and health worker teams as they respond to the explosion in the city.

“It is essential to assist our police and health teams regarding the explosion on Istiklal Street, and to avoid posts that may cause fear and panic. All relevant teams are in the region, we will provide healthy information,” he tweeted.

The news of the explosion was met with dismay on the international stage, with Charles Michel, European Council President, saying: “Horrific news from Istanbul tonight. Condolences to the victims of the explosion at Istiqlal.

“All our thoughts are with those currently responding and the people of Türkiye at this very distressing time.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted his “deepest condolences” to the Turkish people, adding that NATO “stands in solidarity with our ally” Turkey.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen expressed his “sincere condolences to the people of Turkey and the citizens of Istanbul,” adding: “In view of the horrific explosion this afternoon in the heart of Beyoğlu my thoughts are with the families of the victims. Wishing a speedy recovery to all injured.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said: “Italy expresses its closeness to the Turkish government and people and its heartfelt condolences for the innocent victims. Our crisis unit is monitoring the situation and contacting our compatriots.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted of his “deep sadness” at the news of the blast. “I offer my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain,” he said.

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November 13, 2022
Bomb rocks avenue in heart of Istanbul; 6 dead, dozens hurt

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ISTANBUL — A bomb rocked a major pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people, wounding several dozen and sending people fleeing the fiery explosion.

Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene on Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square. In one video posted online, a loud bang could be heard and a flash seen as pedestrians turned and ran away.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blast a “treacherous attack” and said its perpetrators would be punished.

He did not say who was behind the attack but said it had the “smell of terror” without offering details and also adding that was not certain yet. The president said investigations were ongoing by the police and the governor’s office, including reviewing footage of the area.

Erdogan said six people were killed. Vice President Fuat Oktay later updated the wounded toll to 81, with two in serious condition, and also said it appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Numerous foreign governments offered their condolences, including neighboring Greece with which relations are tense. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was “shocked and saddened by the news of the heinous attack.”

Turkey was hit by a string of bombings between 2015 and 2017 that left more than 500 civilians and security personnel dead. Some of the attacks were perpetrated by the Islamic State group, while others were executed by Kurdish militants who have led a decadeslong insurgency against the Turkish state for increased autonomy or independence.

Turkey has been fighting the militants — known as the PKK and considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union — in the country’s southeast for years.

Following the string of attacks, Turkey launched cross-border military operations into Syria and northern Iraq against Kurdish militants, while also cracking down on Kurdish politicians, journalists and activists at home through broad terror laws that critics say are a way to silence dissent.

Turkey’s media watchdog imposed temporary restrictions on reporting on Sunday’s explosion — a move that bans the use of close-up videos and photos of the blast and its aftermath. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has imposed similar bans in the past, following attacks and accidents.

Access to some content on Twitter and other social media sites, such as videos, was limited.

———

Associated Press reporter Cavit Ozgul contributed to this report.

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November 13, 2022
12 killed in Nigeria gasoline tanker explosion, police say

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ABUJA, Nigeria — At least 12 people were killed when a gasoline tanker crashed on a major road and then exploded in Nigeria’s northcentral Kogi State, police said Friday.

The tanker had a brake failure along a major road in the Ofu council area on Thursday night when it collided with a vehicle obstructing the highway, causing a fireball, a police spokesman told The Associated Press.

The vehicle “crushed cars on the way” and “12 people were killed” — all burnt to death, said William Ovye Aya with the Kogi police command.

Bisi Kazeem with Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps said 18 people were involved in the crash. Seven sustained “various degrees of injuries while the remaining 11 were burnt beyond recognition” at the scene, Kazeem said in a statement.

The road has been cordoned off and road safety workers are working to identify the victims, Kazeem said.

Such crashes are common along most major roads in Nigeria, with new measures introduced by the country’s road safety corps failing to curb their occurrence. Kogi is a known hot spot with more than 10 people killed in a similar crash in September.

Authorities in Kogi are investigating the latest crash, Kingsley Fanwo, the state commissioner for information, told the AP.

“As a state government, we have always been harping on this issue of road safety. It is becoming one occurrence too many,” Fanwo said.

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November 11, 2022
Neighborhoods evacuated near burning Georgia chemical plant

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BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Authorities evacuated neighborhoods Monday near a chemical plant where a large fire was burning in coastal Georgia.

Smoke hazards and a risk of explosions prompted officials Monday morning to order people to evacuate three neighborhoods within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius of the Symrise chemical plant, Glynn County government spokesperson Katie Baasen said. People within a 3-mile (5-kilometer) radius were being told to shelter in place.

The fire sent a thick plume of smoke rising into the air from the plant located outside the port city of Brunswick, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Savannah.

The fire had been contained and was expected to burn itself out, Baasen said in an email message to The Associated Press. She said hazards from the smoke posed the largest concern, though there was also a potential the fire could cause explosions.

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November 7, 2022
Fireworks injure 17 at Mexico town’s Day of Dead celebration

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MEXICO CITY — A fireworks explosion at a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico injured 17 people, authorities said Sunday.

The accident occurred Saturday in the township of Huejutla in Mexico’s Gulf coast region known as the Huasteca.

The Huejutla municipal government said residents of the village of Tehuetlan were celebrating the end of Xantolo, which is the Huasteca regional variant of the Day of the Dead. Its celebrations last beyond the normal Nov. 1-2 observance.

A pile of fireworks were set alight in the street and exploded, showering the surrounding crowd in sparks and explosions, the government said.

The township said two pregnant women and three children were among the injured. One of the girls suffered second-degree burns.

Fireworks accidents are not uncommon in Mexico.

In September, one person died and 39 were injured when fireworks exploded during a festival in a town festival just west of Mexico City.

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November 6, 2022
Stellantis: Park older models due to 3 Takata air bag deaths

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DETROIT — Stellantis and the U.S. government are warning owners of 276,000 older vehicles to stop driving them after Takata air bags apparently exploded in three more vehicles, killing the drivers.

The company, formerly Fiat Chrysler, is telling people to stop driving Dodge Magnum wagons, Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars and Chrysler 300 sedans from the 2005 through 2010 model years.

Stellantis says it confirmed the driver’s air bag inflators blew apart in two cases, killing two drivers. The company suspects an inflator rupture in another case that also killed a driver. All three deaths were in warm-weather U.S. states and happened in the past seven months in 2010 model year vehicles, the company said.

The fatalities bring the death toll from exploding Takata air bags to at least 32 worldwide, including 23 in the United States.

Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can become more volatile over time when exposed to moisture in the air and repeated high temperatures. The explosion can blow apart a metal canister and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

Most of the deaths and about 400 injuries have happened in U.S. states with warmer weather.

The Stellantis vehicles under the “Do Not Drive” warning were all recalled in 2015, and free repairs were available since then. Stellantis said it made numerous attempts to reach owners but the repairs were not made. The recalls affect vehicles in which the air bag inflators have not been replaced as part of the recall.

“Left unrepaired, recalled Takata air bags are increasingly dangerous as the risk of an explosion rises as vehicles age,” Ann Carlson, acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in a statement. “Every day that passes when you don’t get a recalled air bag replaced puts you and your family at greater risk of injury or death.”

On Thursday, NHTSA urged all owners to check to see if their vehicles have an unrepaired Takata air bag recall. Drivers can go to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if they have any open recalls.

The agency said even minor crashes can cause air bags to inflate with the potential for explosions that can kill or hurt people.

Stellantis said any of its customers who aren’t sure if their vehicles have been recalled can call (833) 585-0144.

The company said it has made 210 million attempts to reach owners with recalled Takata air bag inflators, including letters, courier deliveries, emails, text messages, phone calls and home visits. The company has recalled nearly 2 million vehicles with Takata inflators.

In the three recent cases in which people were killed, Stellantis said it made 153 attempts to reach owners.

The company “extends its sympathies to the families and friends of those affected by these incidents,” Stellantis’ statement said.

Potential for the dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators recalled. The U.S. government says that millions have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding air bags sent Takata Corp. of Japan into bankruptcy.

Most of the deaths have been in the U.S., but they also have occurred in Australia and Malaysia.

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November 3, 2022
Deadly Indiana house explosion traced to leaking gas line

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. — An August house explosion that killed three people in a southern Indiana neighborhood has been ruled accidental after investigators traced the blast to a leaking natural gas line in the home’s basement, officials said Wednesday.

The Indiana State Fire Marshal said its joint investigation with the Evansville Fire Department into the Aug. 10 explosion determined the leaking gas line “was found uncapped, with the valve in the open position.”

Gas line meter data “showed a sharp increase in gas usage beginning two days before the blast,” the State Fire Marshal said in a news release. “No additional evidence was found to determine how the valve was opened; however, there is no indication of foul play.”

Investigators said testing found that the gas lines between the home’s meter and the mainlines of the local utility, CenterPoint Energy, were in “proper working order.” Testing also confirmed that the odorant additive Mercaptan was present in the gas line leading into the home.

“It could not be determined how the occupants were unaware of the gas accumulating in the home,” the news release states.

The cause of the deadly explosion was ruled accidental. Although investigators could not conclusively identify the ignition source that ultimately ignited the gas, they found that “electrical devices and other appliances in the home could have served as an ignition source.”

CenterPoint Energy said in a statement the State Fire Marshal’s report “further supports the company’s findings, determining that an accident inside the house, independent of CenterPoint Energy’s system, was the cause of the incident.”

The explosion, which was captured on video, launched wooden boards, window glass, insulation and other debris at least 100 feet (30 meters) into the air in Evansville, the Evansville Courier & Press reported.

Authorities said the explosion damaged 39 homes, leaving 11 of them uninhabitable in the Ohio River city about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis.

A married couple, 43-year-old Charles Hite and 37-year-old Martina Hite, were killed when their house exploded. A neighbor, 29-year-old Jessica Teague, also died. The Hites died of blunt force trauma to their chests, while Teague died of compression asphyxia, the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office said.

Mike Larson, the division chief of the Evansville Fire Department, said Wednesday that he hopes the findings bring closure to all the people who were affected by the explosion.

“The investigation is complete, these are the findings and hopefully it will help everybody be able to move forward from this point,” he said.

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November 2, 2022
Two explosions rock Somalia’s capital, leaving “scores” dead

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MOGADISHU, Somalia — Two car bombs exploded Saturday at a busy junction in Somalia’s capital near key government offices, leaving “scores of civilian casualties” including children, national police said. The attack came five years after a massive blast at the same location.

The attack in Mogadishu occurred on a day when the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss combating violent extremism, especially by the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab group that often targets the capital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Al-Shabab rarely claims attacks with large numbers of civilians killed, as in the 2017 blast.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw “many” bodies and said they appeared to be civilians traveling on public transport. He said the second blast occurred in front of a busy restaurant during lunchtime. The blasts left crushed tuk-tuks and other vehicles in an area of many restaurants and hotels.

The Aamin ambulance service told the AP they had collected at least 35 wounded. One of the ambulances responding to the attack was destroyed by the second blast, director Abdulkadir Adan added in a tweet.

“I was 100 meters away when the second blast occurred,” witness Abdirazak Hassan said. “I couldn’t count the bodies on the ground due to the (number of) fatalities.” He said the first blast hit the perimeter wall of the education ministry, where street vendors and money changers were located.

The Somali Journalists Syndicate, citing colleagues and police, said one journalist was killed and two others wounded by the second blast while rushing to the scene of the first.

The attack occurred at Zobe junction, which was the scene of a huge al-Shabab truck bombing in 2017 that killed more than 500 people. Police said the new attack occurred at the exact spot as the 2017 one.

Somalia’s government has been engaged in a high-profile new offensive against the extremist group that the United States has described as one of al-Qaida’s deadliest organizations. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has described it as “total war” against the extremists, who control large parts of central and southern Somalia and have been the target of scores of U.S. airstrikes in recent years.

The extremists have responded by killing prominent clan leaders in an apparent effort to dissuade support for that government offensive.

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October 29, 2022
Russian warplane falls on building in Siberia, 2 pilots die

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MOSCOW — A Russian warplane crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk Sunday, killing both crewmembers — the second incident in less than a week in which a combat jet has crashed in a residential area.

Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev said the plane came down on a private, two-story building housing two families. There were no casualties on the ground.

The local branch of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said the Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight, sparking a fire.

A surveillance cam video posted on Russian social networks showed the fighter coming down in a nearly vertical dive. Other videos showed the building engulfed by flames and firefighters deployed to extinguish the blaze.

The crash came less than a week after another Russian warplane crashed near an apartment building in the Sea of Azov port of Yeysk and exploded in a giant fireball, killing 15 and injuring another 19.

Sunday’s crash was the 11th reported noncombat crash of a Russian warplane since Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Military experts have noted that as the number of Russian military flights increased sharply during the fighting, so did the crashes.

Irkutsk, a major industrial center of more than 600,000 in eastern Siberia, is home to an aircraft factory producing the Su-30 fighter planes.

The Su-30 is a supersonic twin-engine, two-seat fighter that has been a key component of the Russian air force and also has been used by India and other countries.

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October 23, 2022
Family mourns miner’s death in Turkey, demanding punishment

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AMASRA, Turkey (AP) — “My one and only, where are you,” a mother cried at a cemetery beside a freshly-laid mound of earth. She couldn’t process the death of her 33-year-old son who was killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey.

Selcuk Ayvaz was among the first to be buried, following a funeral Saturday where his coffin was wrapped in the red and white Turkish flag. Relatives told his stunned 3-year-old daughter to say farewell to his coffin. His wife, who is expecting their third child —a boy — any day now, was distraught, slowly eating a chocolate bar from the hand of a social worker.

Friday’s explosion at the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise’s (TTK) mine in the Black Sea town of Amasra killed 41 miners and injured 11. Five of the injured are in critical condition in an Istanbul hospital, suffering from burns that cover 65% to 85% of their bodies, according to the health minister.

There were 110 miners when the blast occurred. Fifty-eight of them made it out on their own or were rescued.

Ayvaz’s father kissed a photo of him twice, saying “my baby.” Recep Ayvaz, 62, said he rushed to Amasra from his village when he heard of the mine explosion.

“I waited and waited and there was no news,” he explained. He then received word that his son was at the children’s hospital. When he got there, he saw cars in front of the morgue and his eldest son identified his brother’s body.

“I asked them to show me and they showed me my child,” the father said, describing his son’s head injuries. “His hair, his mustache were all burned, his sides blackened, it’s still in front of my eyes, I can’t forget it.”

The Turkish flag was hanging on their house of mourning.

“Our pain is huge. What can I say? My daughter-in-law is at home, she’s about to give birth in two or three days. My wife is doing very bad. She fainted two or three times and the same for my daughter-in-law,” Recep Ayvaz said.

Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said preliminary assessments indicated the tragedy was caused by a firedamp explosion — when methane mixes with air and fire — creating a dangerous underground situation.

The minister announced Sunday coal production at the Amasra mine would be stopped until investigations are completed, the state-run Anadolu Agency said. Five prosecutors were investigating, according to the justice minister.

But Ayvaz’s mother Habibe wasn’t appeased. The 63-year-old said she heard there was a gas leak in the mine and questioned why her son was sent into it at all.

“It’s a massacre outright, a massacre,” she said, inconsolable. “I am calling on our president, I am calling on Mr. Suleyman (Soylu, interior minister), punish them and may God damn them,” she said referring to the mine’s contractors.

Another deceased miner’s mourning relative told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday during a live broadcast that there had allegedly been a gas leak in the mine. Erdogan said earlier the mine was the most advanced in Turkey and the energy minister had inspected it only a month ago.

A 2019 report by Turkey’s Court of Accounts, which was shared by an opposition lawmaker and some media, said there were “serious accident risks” of firedamp explosions at a depth of 300 meters below sea level and urged the mine to follow inrush directives as gas content was already high where samples were taken.

Friday’s blast took place at that level. It’s unclear if the mine followed the directives, but TTK said the claim was “completely false” and that the high methane readings referred to the levels of gas in the coal rather than the mine itself.

The deadliest mine disaster in Turkey was in 2014 when 301 coal miners died following an explosion in the western town of Soma.

“My only thought is the children. We can’t cry next to them,” Ayvaz’s aunt Elmas said.

The sentiment was echoed by her brother, the elder Ayvaz, who was trying to plan ahead.

“We need to get them accustomed to it. When they ask ‘where’s my father’ at age 10 or 15, I will tell them. But until they ask me, I will just get them accustomed.”

___

Zeynep Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul.

___

A previous version of this story was corrected to show that the energy minister’s last name is Donmez, not Durmaz.

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October 16, 2022
Death toll rises to 28 in Turkey coal mine explosion

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AMASRA, Turkey — The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey rose to at least 28 people and rescue efforts continued as a fire burned in the mine, officials said Saturday.

There were 110 miners working in the shaft when the explosion occurred Friday evening at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin.

Energy Minister Fatih Durmaz said rescue efforts continued for 15 people with a majority of them in the mine’s gallery where a fire still burned.

“It’s not a huge fire, but to get there safely, the fire and carbon monoxide gas must be eliminated,” he told journalists at the site.

Four or five other miners were trapped in cave-ins, Durmaz added. The minister earlier said that preliminary assessments indicated that the explosion was likely caused by firedamp, which is a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 28 miners were dead and 11 rescued miners were hospitalized in Bartin and Istanbul. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 58 people had been rescued alive.

Ambulances were on standby at the site. Rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighboring provinces, Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said.

Turkey’s president was expected to visit Amasra on Saturday.

In Turkey’s worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Turkey.

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October 14, 2022
Official: 14 dead, 28 hurt after blast in Turkish coal mine

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Miners carry the body of a victim in Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin, Turkey, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. An official says an explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey has trapped dozens of miners. At least 14 have come out alive. The cause of Friday’s blast in the town of Amasra in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin was not immediately known. (Nilay Meryem Comlek/Depo Photos via AP)

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October 14, 2022
Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

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BRUSSELS — The European Union joined an international chorus of criticism and condemnation following the Russian missile attacks across Ukraine early Monday.

“Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for. It is terror and brutality,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I know Ukrainians will not be intimidated. And Ukrainians know that we will stand by your side, their side as long as it takes.”

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders had to be rushed to an underground shelter as he was visiting the Ukraine capital Kyiv to assess evidence of possible war crimes with local officials.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said such acts have “no place” in the 21st century.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola called the attacks “sickening. It shows the world, again, the regime we are faced with: One that targets indiscriminately. One that rains terror & death down on children.”

———

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

Putin calls Kerch Bridge attack “a terrorist act” by Kyiv

‘War crime:’ Industrial-scale destruction of Ukraine culture

Indian minister says Ukraine war serves no one’s interests

Singer driven from Belarus for speaking out tries to rebuild

Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

———

MOSCOW — Russian war bloggers and political commentators lauded Monday’s attacks but and argued that the strikes on energy infrastructure should incur lasting damage to Ukraine.

The hawkish Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has long pushed for ramping up strikes on Ukraine, said he is now “100 percent happy.” He taunted Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying “we warned you that Russia hasn’t even started it in earnest.”

Margarita Simonyan, the head of the state-funded RT television, cheered the strikes on her messaging app channel and said Ukraine had crossed a red line that by attacking the bridge to Crimea.

Andrei Kots, a war correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda, the top Russian tabloid, voiced hope that Monday’s strikes were “a new mode of action to the entire depth of the Ukrainian state until it loses its capacity to function.”

“It was just one massive attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure,” noted Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based political analyst. “The Russian public wants massive attacks and the full destruction of the infrastructure that could be used by the Ukrainian army.”

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TALLINN, Estonia — Several thousand Russian troops will be stationed in Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced Monday.

Speaking at a meeting with defense and security officials, Lukashenko said Belarus will host the Russian soldiers. He did not give a specific number, but said they would not number a mere one thousand.

“Be prepared to take in these people in the nearest future and place them where necessary, in accordance to our plan,” Lukashenko told them.

Russia used the territory of Belarus as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine. Moscow and Minsk have maintained close economic and military ties.

Ukrainian military analysts worry that the Belarusian military could invade Ukraine from the north in order to draw Kyiv’s forces from the east and south.

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MOSCOW — A top Russian official said Monday that Moscow will try to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia, along with protecting its people and borders, should “aim for the complete dismantling of Ukraine’s political regime.”

He alleged that “the Ukrainian state in its current configuration with the Nazi political regime will continue to pose a permanent, direct and clear threat to Russia.”

Russia has repeatedly sought to cast the government of the Ukrainian president, who is Jewish, of Nazi inclinations, claims which have been mocked by Ukraine and its allies.

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MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry said that strikes waged against Ukraine on Monday hit all the designated targets.

The ministry spokesman, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Russian military launched “massive strikes on military command and communication facilities and energy infrastructure of Ukraine.”

“The goals behind the strikes have been fulfilled, all the designated facilities have been struck,” he said. Konashenkov didn’t offer any details, and his statement couldn’t be independently confirmed.

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BERLIN — Germany has condemned a barrage of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and promised help in repairing damage to civilian infrastructure.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said the German leader assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the solidarity of the Group of Seven industrial powers in a phone call on Monday.

He said that “Germany will do everything to mobilize additional help and, in particular, to help with the repair and rebuilding of damaged and destroyed civilian infrastructure, for example electricity and heating supplies.”

Germany currently chairs the G-7. Hebestreit said the group’s leaders will hold a video conference Tuesday on the situation, which Zelenskyy will join.

Germany said in June that it would provide IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Monday that the first of four systems will be ready “in the coming days.”

She said Monday’s attacks underlined the importance of the quick delivery of air-defense systems.

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MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a series of strikes Monday across Ukraine came in retaliation against the Ukrainian attack on a bridge to Crimea and other attacks in Russia that he described as “terrorist” actions.

Putin said the Russian military launched precision weapons from the air, sea and ground to target key energy and military command facilities.

He warned that if Ukraine continues to mount “terrorist attacks” on Russia, Moscow’s response will be “tough and proportionate to the level of threats.”

The intense, hours-long attack marked a sudden military escalation by Moscow. It came a day after Putin called the explosion Saturday on the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea a “terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.

The missile strikes across Ukraine marked the biggest and most widespread Russian attacks in months. Putin, whose partial mobilization order earlier this month triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age from Russia, stopped short of declaring martial law or a counter-terrorist operation as many expected.

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to create a joint “regional grouping of troops,” but offered no details as to where or when such a grouping might be deployed.

Lukashenko’s statement follows his repeated claims that Ukraine is plotting an attack on Belarus. At a meeting with military and security officials on Monday, the Belarusian leader reiterated that “carrying out strikes on the territory of Belarus is not just being discussed, it is being planned in Ukraine.”

Lukashenko added that the Belarusian government was warned “through unofficial channels” about the alleged plans to attack.

In more than seven months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been no indication that Kyiv’s forces are planning an attack on Belarus.

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Moldova’s deputy prime minster says three cruise missiles launched Monday morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea on Ukraine crossed Moldova’s airspace.

Nicu Popescu, who is also the minster of foreign affairs and European integration, said he had summoned the Russian ambassador for an explanation.

Moldova’s defense ministry said the three missiles crossed over the northern part of the country, and that they “posed a danger to the infrastructure (of Moldova) and, in particular, to civil aircraft flying over the country’s airspace.”

Moldova, a former Soviet republic which shares a border with Ukraine to the south, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine during the war.

Russian troops have occupied its breakaway Transnistria region since 1991, when the region fought a brief war for independence from Moldova with Moscow’s support.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched dozens of missiles and Iranian-built drones against Ukraine.

“They want panic and chaos. They want to destroy our energy system,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on Telegram.

He also said that Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.”

The General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said 75 missiles were fired against Ukrainian targets, with 41 of them neutralized by air defenses.

Zelenskyy said that the attacks Monday morning were clearly timed to inflict the most damage.

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KYIV, Ukraine — At least eight people were killed and 24 were injured in one of the strikes in Kyiv, said Rostyslav Smirnov, an advisor to the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs.

Explosions on Monday rocked multiple cities across Ukraine, including missile strikes on the capital Kyiv for the first time in months.

The attacks came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin called a Saturday explosion on the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea a “terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.

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DNIPRO, Ukraine — A telecommunications building was hit in the central city of Dnipro, one of several strikes that caused at least three deaths.

Bystanders said that two rockets hit the building in the western end of the city. A heavily damaged bus could be seen on the street in front of the building, which was strewn with rubble and broken glass.

Oleksandr Shuklin, a construction worker who was working on a site just adjacent to the strike, said he’d seen one person who had died and another that was taken away by ambulance with injuries. He said he believed the strikes across Ukraine on Monday were Russian retaliation for the explosion on the Kerch bridge on Saturday.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says that there are casualties and damage to several objects of critical infrastructure as a result of strikes on the Ukrainian capital on Monday.

The strikes on Kyiv injured several residents who were seen on the streets with blood on their clothes and hands. A young man wearing a blue jacket was sitting on the ground as a medic wrapped a bandage around his head.

A woman with bandages wrapped around her head had blood all over the front of her blouse. Several cars were also damaged or completely destroyed.

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KHARKIV, Ukraine — The eastern city of Kharkiv was struck multiple times Monday morning, knocking out power in parts of the city.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that the energy infrastructure building was hit. There is no electricity and water in some of the districts of the city.

The strikes come two days after a series of explosions rocked the city on Saturday, sending towering plumes of illuminated smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital as other cities across Ukraine also came under attack.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the city’s Shevchenko district, a large area in the center of Kyiv that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices.

Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing that at least one explosion occurred near the main building of the Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.

The spokesperson for Emergency Service in Kyiv told the AP that there are killed and wounded people. Rescuers are now working in different locations, said Svitlana Vodolaga.

Ukrainian media reported explosions in a number of other locations, including the western city of Lviv that has been a refuge for many people fleeing the fighting in the east, as well as Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi.

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October 10, 2022
Death toll rises to 10 in blast at gas station in Ireland

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LONDON — The death toll from a gas station explosion that shattered a small village in northwest Ireland rose to 10 on Saturday, and emergency workers who combed through piles of rubble said they did not expect to find more bodies.

Irish police said no one remained missing after Friday’s explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal. Police are investigating the cause of the blast, and Superintendent David Kelly said evidence “is pointing toward a tragic accident.”

Ireland’s police force, An Garda Siochana, said the midafternoon explosion killed four men, three women, two teenagers and a girl of primary school age. Eight people were hospitalized — one in critical condition — after the blast destroyed the Applegreen service station in the community of about 400 people near Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coast.

Emergency responders from Ireland and neighboring Northern Ireland joined in what police said Saturday was “search and recovery” operation. Sniffer dogs combed the debris, and a mechanical digger lifted piles of rubble from the site on Saturday.

The explosion leveled the gas station building, which holds the main shop and post office for the village, damaged an adjacent apartment building and shattered the windows in nearby cottages.

“There were blocks thrown a hundred yards away from the scene,” local medic Dr. Paul Stewart told Irish broadcaster RTE. “The whole front of the building collapsed… and the roof of the first floor collapsed down into the shop. It’s a miracle they got anyone out.”

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said it was one of the “darkest of days for Donegal and the entire country.”

“People across this island will be numbed by the same sense of shock and utter devastation as the people of Creeslough at this tragic loss of life,” Martin said.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, who represents Donegal in Ireland’s parliament, said the service station was well known across the country because of its prominent position on the area’s main N56 road, and was “the heart” of the local community.

“People are shocked and numbed,” he told Irish broadcaster RTE. “People have been rallying together and everyone’s concern is with the families of those who have lost their loved ones and how they can support them.”

Another local lawmaker, Pearse Doherty, said people in the community were in shock.

“(It’s) something nobody ever thought could happen in a little village like this where everyone knows each other,” he said. “A quarter past three yesterday, kids were coming out of school, people were going to collect their welfare payments. For such a nightmare to occur, that will take some time to sink in.”

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October 8, 2022
Two teens and a child among 10 people killed in Ireland gas station explosion | CNN

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CNN
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Ten people, including two teenagers and a young child, were killed in Friday’s explosion at a gas filling station in the northwest of Ireland, local authorities said.

Irish police said that among the 10 dead in the blast in Donegal ere four men, three women, a teenage boy, a teenage girl, and another younger girl. Police said earlier that eight people had been injured.

The explosion happened shortly after 3 p.m. local time on Friday in County Donegal at the Applegreen petrol station on the outskirts of the village of Creeslough.

Police said they believed it was a “tragic accident,” and the largest number of civilian casualty seen in decades in the region.

Superintendent David Kelly said: “This is a tragedy for our community. There are families left devastated.

“I want to offer, on behalf of myself and my colleagues that attended the scene, our very sincere condolences.

Speaking on Saturday morning to the national broadcaster RTE, Irish Prime Minister, known as the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin expressed his condolences.

Martin said: “It is absolutely devastating and quite shocking in terms of the enormity of this tragedy, the scale of it. An explosion ripping through the normality of a community, with people going to the shop, the normal toing and froing of life.

“Community is what defines our people and we are witnessing a terrible tragedy in a wonderful community,” he said.

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October 8, 2022
Massive explosion on Crimea’s Kerch bridge, Russian state media reports | CNN

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CNN
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A fuel tank exploded early Saturday on Europe’s longest bridge, which links Russia to the annexed territory of Crimea, according to Russian state media RIA and social media footage.

Images of the Kerch bridge posted on social media appear to show a portion of the roadway of the vehicle and rail bridge had fallen into the waters below it. Flames are seen burning from rail cars above.

The tanker was located on the 19-kilometer (11 mile) long bridge – strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region with the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

The bridge spans the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

The source of the explosion remains unclear.

In an interview in August, a senior Ukrainian military commander said the Kerch bridge was a legitimate target.

“This is a necessary measure in order to deprive them (Russia) of the opportunity to provide reserves and reinforce their troops from Russian territory,” Maj. Gen. Dmytro Marchenko said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Work is “underway to extinguish the fire,” the adviser to the Russian administration head of occupied Crimea, Oleg Kryunchkov, said in a Telegram post, adding that the bridge’s “shipping arches were not damaged.”

The Kerch bridge is able to handle 40,000 cars a day and to move 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo per year, state news agency RIA Novosti reported when the bridge opened in 2018.

After the bridge opened, the United States condemned its construction as illegal.

“Russia’s construction of the bridge serves as a reminder of Russia’s ongoing willingness to flout international law,” a US State Department statement said.

“The bridge represents not only an attempt by Russia to solidify its unlawful seizure and its occupation of Crimea, but also impedes navigation by limiting the size of ships that can transit the Kerch Strait, the only path to reach Ukraine’s territorial waters in the Sea of Azov.”

This is a developing story. More to follow.

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October 7, 2022
Large fire reported on key bridge linking Russia to Crimea

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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian state-backed media are reporting that a fire has occurred on the bridge linking mainland Russia with the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula.

RIA-Novosti and the Tass news agency quoted local Russian official Oleg Kryuchkov as saying an object thought to be a fuel storage tank caught fire and that traffic has been stopped on the bridge.

Images shared on social media purported to show fire and damage to the span.

The authenticity of the reports and images could not be immediately verified.

The crossing is a pair of road and rail bridges that Russia built after it seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in violation of international law in 2014.

The fire occurred hours after explosions rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Saturday, sending towering plumes of smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the early-morning explosions were the result of missile strikes in the center of the city. He said that the blasts sparked fires at one of the city’s medical institutions and a nonresidential building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

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October 7, 2022
Crash of small plane into house investigated; 3 dead

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HERMANTOWN, Minn. — Federal investigators hope to determine what caused a single-engine plane to crash into a house in northern Minnesota, killing three on board and narrowly missing two people asleep in the house.

Officials say the Cessna 172 Skyhawk went down shortly before midnight Saturday in Hermantown minutes after departing from Duluth International Airport.

Authorities on Sunday identified the victims as passengers Alyssa Schmidt, 32, of St. Paul, her brother Matthew Schmidt, 31, of Burnsville, and the pilot, Tyler Fretland, 32, of Burnsville.

Jason Hoffman told Minnesota Public Radio that he and his wife had been asleep on the second floor of their home when they were jolted by what sounded like an explosion. The plane tore through the roof above their bed, he said.

“We couldn’t hardly see each other through all the insulation dust. I was able to grab a flashlight next to the bed and the first thing I saw was an airplane wheel sitting at the end of our bed,” Hoffman said. “That’s when we looked out and noticed the entire back half our our house was gone.”

Hoffman said the wreckage of the plane wound up wedged between his truck and the garage.

The Hermantown Police Department was notified by the control tower at the Duluth airport after the small airplane had left radar and was believed to have crashed. The control tower advised the last location on radar was 1 to 1 1/2 miles south of the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

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October 3, 2022
At least 23 dead after suicide bomb blast at educational center in Kabul | CNN

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Kabul, Afghanistan
CNN
—

A suicide bomb attack on an education center in Kabul has killed at least 23 people, most of whom are believed to be young women, in the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital.

The explosion took place on Friday at the Kaaj education center, in a predominantly Hazara neighborhood – an ethnic minority group that has long faced oppression.

Students were taking a practice university entrance exam at 7:30 a.m., local time (11 p.m. ET) when the blast first took place, Kabul Police Spokesman Khalid Zadran told CNN.

Abdu Ghayas Momand, a doctor from Ali Jinah Hospital, where some of the victims have been taken, said 23 people had been killed and 36 more injured.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Taiba Mehtarkhil, an eyewitness, told CNN many of the casualties were young women. She had gone to the center to look for her friend after she heard news of the attack and was confronted with scenes of chaos and despair, she said.

“I saw parents, other members of the families of the Kaaj students, screaming and running up and down,” she said. “Some were trying to get emergency medical attention to their loved ones and some others were looking for their sons and daughters. I saw around 20 killed and many more wounded with my own eyes.”

Mehtarkhil’s friend survived the attack as she was running late and hadn’t reached the classroom when the blast occurred, she said.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, there have been multiple attacks against the Hazara community.

The Islamic State of Khorasan Province has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against the Hazaras and been linked to three more that have killed and injured at least 700 people, according to Human Rights Watch.

“The Taliban authorities have done little to protect these communities from suicide bombings and other unlawful attacks or to provide necessary medical care and other assistance to victims and their families,” the report added.

A string of attacks in Kabul have claimed dozens of lives in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, two Russian embassy employees were among six people killed in a suicide blast near the Russian embassy, and in August, an explosion at a mosque during evening prayers killed 21 people and injured 33 more.

This is a breaking news story. More to come.

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September 30, 2022