WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Bomb blast at an Oregon bank kills 1
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-13 14:19 WOODBURN, Ore. – A bomb exploded inside a bank here late Friday afternoon after explosives experts arrived to check on a suspicious object and authorities said at least one person was killed by the blast.
Oregon State Police said the explosion at the West Coast Bank caused "serious injuries" and that police officers were in the area when the device detonated. They did not say how many police officers were injured. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told The Oregonian at least one bomb technician had been injured. Marion County deputy medical examiner Rodge Womack said he has been told of at least one fatality. He said he did not know the identity of the victim. Bank President and CEO Bob Sznewajs told The Associated Press that some bank employees might have been injured by flying glass but that none was seriously hurt. Before the detonation, a Wells Fargo Bank branch nearby got a call that was "a potential bomb threat" but police searched and found nothing, Sznewajs told The AP. He said his bank then got a call "from an unknown person saying that we should look for one as well. We called authorities, but they looked and found nothing." Sznewajs said one employee saw a device in the bushes near the bank and called the authorities. "We looked at it and evacuated the branch and sent people away," he said. Authorities decided to move the device inside the branch, apparently scanned it, and then it went off, he said. Sznewajs said he did not know if the bomb went off on its own or as a result of the technicians' investigation. He said bank officials had not been allowed back into the building as of Friday night. Woodburn is an agricultural town south of Portland. |
