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At least one person is believed to be dead after a car exploded near a reproductive facility in Palm Springs, California, according to local authorities.
Officials did not immediately say whether or not the person believed to be dead was associated with the car, but a facility official said all of the building’s staff were safe and physically unharmed.
Palm Springs police lieutenant William Hutchinson reportedly told the Desert Sun newspaper that the blast followed the detonation of a bomb in or near a car parked at the clinic. “Everything is in question, whether this is an act of terrorism,” Hutchinson reportedly said.
A social media account belonging to Palm Springs’ city government said Saturday that the explosion happened at 11am local time, and that residents were being asked to avoid the area around North Indian Canyon Drive near East Tachevah Drive.
The Desert Sun reported that the explosion could be felt as far as 2 miles (3km) away after it occurred by the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on their way to the scene to help assess what happened, according to spokesperson Nicole Lozano.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers where the explosion happened, told the Associated Press in a phone interview that all of his staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the practice’s office space, where it conducts consultations with patients. The blast did not harm the in vitro fertilization (IVF) lab and all of the stored embryos.
“I really have no clue what happened,” Abdallah said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Video posted on X by former Fox News correspondent Rick Leventhal showed extensive damage outside the facility.
Nima Tabrizi, 37, of Santa Monica, said he had been inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
“The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke,” Tabrizi said. “Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off ... We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”
Palm Springs is a tony community in the desert about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles, known for upscale resorts and a history of celebrity residents.
More details soon …
The Associated Press contributed reporting
