Bomb kills one near California fertility clinic; FBI calls it ‘terrorism’
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The bomb was either in or near a car parked outside the clinic when it exploded, said Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte.
PHOTO: MEIDASTOUCH/X
PALM SPRINGS, California – A bomb exploded near a reproductive health facility in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, killing one person and injuring at least four in an incident the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called an “intentional act of terrorism”.
The authorities have a person of interest in the investigation and are not searching for a suspect, Mr Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, told reporters.
The person killed was near a vehicle that had been blown to pieces outside the clinic operated by American Reproductive Centres (ARC), he said.
The bomb, which detonated before 11am local time, was either in or near a car parked outside the clinic when it exploded, said Mayor Ron deHarte of Palm Springs, about 160km east of Los Angeles.
Mr Davis said the FBI would determine if it was an act of “international terrorism or a domestic terrorism”.
Videos posted online show the single-storey building that houses some of the clinic’s operations. The bomb appeared to have ripped a gaping hole in one wall and caused damage throughout the building.
Several other buildings in the area were damaged, some extensively, the authorities said.
ARC, which has offices in at least three California cities, provides services including in-vitro fertilisation, genetic testing and in-house egg donation.
Despite damage to the building, ARC said the facility will be fully operational on May 19.
The clinic’s laboratory, including all eggs, embryos and reproductive materials, is safe and secure, and all staff are unharmed, it posted on Facebook.
“The moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us,” Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the clinic, said in the post. REUTERS
