explosion

Oct. 28 (UPI) — Two people were killed and at least one was injured Tuesday in an underground blast at a silver mine in New South Wales, Australian authorities said.

NSW Police, in a news update, said the body of a man had been recovered from the mine near Cobar, 450 miles northwest of Sydney, and an injured woman who was rescued subsequently died. A second injured woman who was brought to the surface was airlifted to a hospital.

The police department said it had launched an investigation.

Superintendent Gerard Lawson said the three victims were working the night shift at the mine, which is owned by Polymetals Resources.

“It is tragic for the families and our employees and the Cobar community and the wider Polymetals family,” said executive chairman Dave Sproule, who added that about 30 people were working when the blast occurred in the early hours, local time.

The incident was the first fatal mine blast in the country in 10 years.

NSW Resources, the watchdog for the state’s mining sector, said operations had been suspended at the facility, which also mines zinc and lead, pending its own full investigation.

The state’s natural resources minister, Courtney Houssos, said the regulator had dispatched inspectors and investigators to the scene, calling it a “heartbreaking day” for Cobar and the mining industry.

“While safety protocols and procedures have greatly improved in mining, these deaths are a sobering reminder of why we need to always remain vigilant to protect workers,” she said.

Cobar Mayor Jarrod Marsden said the tragedy would impact the entire community.

“The most valuable thing to come out of a mine are the miners, and two families don’t get to see their loved ones anymore. Cobar is a small mining community. It’s very tight-knit and I’m sure everyone’s going to be thinking of their families today,” said Marsden.

Reports in Australian media said the accident was caused by explosives that had been set at the rockface detonating before they were supposed to.

Bob Timbs, president of the local branch of the Mining and Energy Union, said it was a “catastrophic failure” in the explosion system.

“In this day and age, that type of accident just should not have happened. We will do everything in our power — once we’ve dealt with and supported the families and mine workers in the community — to find out what happened and make sure that it never happens again.”

At the request of Polymetals, trading in the firm’s shares on the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney was paused and then halted through the start of Thursday’s trading session, or pending an announcement from the company, ASX said in a notice.

A car exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil, killing at least one person and injuring several more. Authorities say the blast was a deliberate act by criminal groups as police hunt for those responsible.

Authorities in the southern US state have called the blast ‘devastating’, with many of the missing presumed dead.

An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant has left 19 people missing and feared dead, authorities said.

The blast occurred on Friday at Accurate Energetic Systems, a manufacturer in rural Tennessee, a state in the southern United States. People reported hearing and feeling the explosion miles away.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said it was one of the most devastating scenes he’s ever seen. He did not specify how many people were killed, but referred to the 19 missing as “souls” and said officials were still speaking to family members.

The company’s website says it makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 97 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Nashville.

The cause of the explosion, which Davis called “devastating”, was not immediately known, and the investigation could take days, the sheriff said.

Aerial footage of the aftermath from the news channel WTVF-TV showed the explosion had apparently obliterated one of the facility’s hilltop buildings, leaving only smoldering wreckage and the burnt-out shells of vehicles.

There’s no further danger of explosions, and the scene was under control by Friday afternoon, according to Grey Collier, a spokesperson for the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency.

Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart said by phone. He didn’t have any details on casualties.

Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment Friday morning.

“This is a tragedy for our community,” McEwen Mayor Brad Rachford said in an email. He referred further comment to a county official.

Residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.

The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.

“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he said by phone. “I live very close to Accurate, and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”

State Representative Jody Barrett, a Republican from the neighbouring town of Dickson, was worried about the possible economic impact because the plant is a key employer in the area.

“We live probably 15 miles [24km] as the crow flies, and we absolutely heard it at the house,” Barrett said. “It sounded like something going through the roof of our house.”

Oct. 1 (UPI) — Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, was closed Wednesday after a bomb threat and an explosion in a residential building that also damaged nearby cars.

At least one man is dead.

Special forces were sent to Lerchenau, a northern area of Munich, where residents reported shots and explosions. Oktoberfest is on the west side of the city.

There had been a bomb threat from the suspected attacker early Wednesday, city officials said. Munich police said the explosion was part of a domestic dispute and the building had been “deliberately set on fire.”

Munich police said on X that the Oktoberfest grounds, Theresienwiese, have been fully searched, and there was no danger found. It said Oktoberfest would reopen at 5:30 p.m. CEST.

A man was found severely injured near Lerchenau Lake, and he later died, police said. Another person was missing. It wasn’t clear if the person who died was the suspected attacker.

“I woke up around 5:00 because there were a few bangs. I got up, looked, and then there was a fire,” The Independent reported a resident said.

A middle school near the scene was closed, and police diverted traffic from the area.

Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said the closure of the festival followed “a perpetrator threatening the Oktoberfest.”

Oktoberfest, known as “the Wiesn” by locals, runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 5. It’s the world’s largest beer and folk festival.

Sept. 11 (UPI) — At least three people are dead and 90 are injured following the explosion of a gas tanker in Mexico City, officials said.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada Molina announced the casualty toll online, listing all 90 people who were injured and the hospitals where they were being treated. Ages of the victims ranged from 6 months to 60 years old.

At least 10 people have been discharged from the hospital, she said.

Earlier, before any fatalities had been reported and when only 57 people were known to be injured, she said 19 were listed in serious condition.

The tanker exploded under Concordia Bridge, resulting in a fire.

“The roadways remain closed to traffic and there are disruptions in public transportation of the area,” she said on X, while posting pictures showing victims being loaded onto police helicopters and the smoking wreckage of the tanker.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico expressed her “solidarity and support” to the families of the three deceased victims and to those of the injured.

“Likewise, I express my recognition to the emergency services that are supporting in this unfortunate incident,” she said in a statement, adding federal agencies were responding to the explosion.

THIS is the terrifying moment a petrol station is engulfed in flames after a devastating fireball blast.

Four people died after a gas cylinder is believed to have caught on fire with footage showing a horror inferno as locals ran for their lives.

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Footage from Dagestan, Russia, shows the gas station up in flames with black clouds of smoke billowing through the air.

As the initial fireball raged on, a second, far more devastating blast erupted as the remaining gas cylinders and pumps all exploded.

Video filmed by a terrified local shows much of the village of Sulevkent in the Khasavyurt district attacked by a bright orange flash as the second blast hits.

The deafening sound of the inferno was met with the sight of debris flying through the air.

Residents who had left their homes to watch the initial explosion were quickly sent running for their lives as the second blast rang out.

The apocalyptic scenes were said to have been visible from several kilometers away, locals said.

Emergency services rushed to the scene to extinguish multiple fires which continued to burn for some time.

Four people were found and rushed to a nearby hospital with severe burns.

They all tragically died from their injuries.

Officials determined the initial explosion was caused by the depressurisation of a gas cylinder during refuelling operations, according to preliminary reports.

The gas station was left decimated alongside the adjacent service station and food vendors.

The Dagestan prosecutor’s office is now conducting an investigation into the incident.

It comes less than a year after another petrol station explosion killed 13 people and injured 23 just outside the Dagistani capital of Makhachkala.

Two children were among the casualties, authorities confirmed.

Horrifying video showed the enormous explosion – which then hurled a fuel tank 1,000ft towards a high rise block.

Locals claimed the blast was so strong that the ground shook like in an earthquake.

In August 2023, a third massive blast at a gas station in Dagestan killed 35 people and injured 115 more.

The fire started at a car repair shop before engulfing the nearby Nafta 24 filling station – sending it up in flames before triggering a giant explosion.

It took firefighters more than three and a half hours to put out the blaze as it spread to an area of 600 square metres, TASS reports.

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Lebanese army says two other personnel wounded after crashed Israeli drone explodes during inspection in Naqoura area.

The Lebanese military says two soldiers have been killed and two wounded as they investigated an Israeli drone crash in southern Lebanon.

The army said the downed Israeli drone exploded on Thursday during an inspection at the crash site in the Naqoura area, not far from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered condolences to the soldiers who were killed and injured, stressing that the military “is paying, in blood, the price of preserving stability in the south” of the country.

The deadly incident came as Israel has been carrying out near-daily attacks on Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached with Hezbollah in November.

It also coincides with a United Nations Security Council vote to wind down a UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has for decades been tasked with maintaining a buffer between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.

The mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was extended through the end of 2026, but after that, the UN will carry out an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” over the following year.

The resolution aims to make Lebanon’s military “the sole provider of security” in southern Lebanon, a goal complicated by Israel’s continued presence in the country. Both Israel and its top ally, the United States, have been pushing to end the UNIFIL mission.

“The process of withdrawing its 10,800 military and civilian personnel and equipment would start immediately in consultation with the Lebanese government, to be completed within a year,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr explained.

UN Security Council voted unanimously to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern #Lebanon at the end of 2026 after nearly five decades, bowing to demands from US and ally Israel. The resolution would terminate UNIFIL’s mandate and halt its operations at the end of 2026.…

— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) August 28, 2025

The US has also been pressuring Lebanon’s government to agree to a plan to disarm Hezbollah – something the Lebanese group has rejected, stressing that such a move will only reward Israel.

On a visit to Beirut on Tuesday, US envoy Tom Barrack said Lebanon had agreed to present a plan aimed at persuading Hezbollah to disarm while Israel would submit a corresponding framework for its military withdrawal from the country.

Barrack said the plan, which is expected to be presented on Sunday, will not involve military coercion but focus on efforts to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons.

A day earlier, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the Lebanese government must first ensure Israel complies with the ceasefire before talks on a national defence strategy could take place.

“If you truly want sovereignty, then stop the aggression. We will not abandon the weapons that honour us nor the weapons that protect us from our enemy,” Qassem said.

Aug. 23 (UPI) — A mandatory evacuation remains Saturday within a 1-mile radius of a lubricant manufacturer and distributor in Louisiana that exploded one day earlier.

Smitty’s Supply, which employs about 400 people at the plant, erupted at 1 p.m. CDT Friday in a plume of black smoke in Roseland, which is 81 miles north of New Orleans.

The fire is continuing to burn, local, state and federal officials said at a briefing Saturday morning.

Several small explosions erupted, Louisiana Police Sgt. William Huggins said at the briefing but there were no new risks.

“We’re fighting a big fire,” Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller said. “It’s not as big as yesterday, but it’s still big.”

“Although there is less visible smoke today, the fire is still burning,” Louisiana State Police posted Saturday on Facebook. “This remains an active and complex incident; please do not let your guard down.”

Forty-six people are in a shelter in Amite City, a few miles from the evacuation zone. Originally, 202 people showed up. Tonya Mabry, executive director of housing in Tangipahoa Parish, said the site will be open as long as needed.

“I got health problems,” one evacuee told Nolo.com, noting his asthma. “I just didn’t want to be in my trailer.”

No injuries were reported, “which is a godsend,” Miller said.

The cause isn’t known, he said.

Soot is believed to contain combustibles and hydrocarbon chemicals, Huggins said.

“Relocate IMMEDIATELY and stay away from this area until further notice,” the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said on X.

Outside the evacuation area, residents are urged to remain indoors when possible, wash their hands frequently, avoid touching their face and avoid direct contact with soot.

Huggins said updated air quality readings indicate “below an actionable threshold,” Huggins said.

Debris wound up in the nearby Tangipahoa River. Water samples will be collected for environmental impact analysis, officials said.

In 2023, Smitty’s officials told state regulators storage tanks can typically hold ethanol, charcoal lighter fluid, gas oil mixture, motor oil, lubricants and hydraulic fluids, diesel, brake fluid, grease and various unnamed water-based chemicals.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — An explosion occurred Monday evening aboard a 751-foot bulk carrier in Baltimore’s Patapsco River, near where the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March 2024.

The explosion was reported to the Baltimore City Fire Department at around 6:30 p.m. EDT, the fire department said in a statement. Officials have identified the craft as the W. Sapphire, which, according to marine traffic website MarineTraffic.com, is a Liberia-flagged Class A bulk carrier that was to depart Baltimore, Md., shortly before 6 p.m. Its destination was Port Louis in the East African nation of Mauritius.

Unverified video of the incident published online shows an explosion on the vessel ejected a large fireball into the air. Once the smoke cleared, a fire on deck could be seen.

The Baltimore fire department said the vessel sustained damage “consistent with a fire and explosion.” It remained afloat and was being assisted by tugboats.

All 23 people onboard the vessel when the explosion occurred have been accounted for and were uninjured, officials said.

“Fireboats remain on scene as the Coast Guard and other agencies begin their investigation,” the Baltimore City Fire Department said. “The vessel will be moved to a designated anchorage area and held there until cleared by the Coast Guard.”

UPI has contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for comment.

The Maryland Department of Emergency Management said in a statement online that it is “aware of the cargo ship fire” and is “monitoring.”

“At this time, there are no reports of injuries or property damaged beyond the ship,” it said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore similarly said his office is closely monitoring the situation.

“State agencies are responding to the situation near Baltimore Harbor,” he said in a statement. “My office is in touch with local and federal authorities.”

The incident occurred not far from where about 510 days ago the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco River collapsed after a commercial vessel, the MV Dali, crashed into it.

The Port of Baltimore is crucial to the economy of not only Baltimore and Maryland, but also the United States, with 45.9 million tons of international cargo with a value of $62.2 billion transiting through it in 2024, the second highest on record.

The collapse blocked the port, resulting in its 11-week closure.

Aug. 16 (UPI) — The deadly explosion in the Steel Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh occurred when a gas valve was flushed in preparation of planned maintenance, U.S. Steel said in preliminary findings.

Two people died and 10 people were hospitalized on Monday in the explosion at the plant about 15 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Black smoke could be seen for miles.

“Pressure built inside the valve, leading to valve failure and coke oven gas filling the area and ultimately exploding when finding an ignition source,” U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said in the statement to KDKA-TV and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Workers were charging ovens and pushing coke out of them as part of normal operations, Executive Vice President Scott Buckiso said at a news conference earlier this week.

“We want to reinforce that this investigation is in its early stages, and we will provide more information when we can,” Malkowski added. “Our focus remains on our employees and their families during this difficult time.”

She said company employees, agencies and experts have been reviewing video and interviewing workers.

“I thought something like this would take two to four to five months for it to unfold,” Calirton Mayor Rich Lattanzi said Friday. “I’m thinking what they found is a smoking gun.”

JoJo Burgess, who works at the plant and is mayor of nearby Washington, said he wants more information.

“Did someone know before it happened, so that they could have tried to stop the process?” he told KDKA-TV.

Bernie Hall, director of United Steelworkers District 10, said the union needs to learn more before speculating.

The explosion occurred around 11 a.m. Monday at the plant. Two people were initially reported missing, but the workers’ bodies were found in the rubble.

Killed were Timothy Quinn, 39, who lived with his disabled mother, and Bryan Dascani, 52, who was married and had two daughters, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Three other people remain in critical condition.

On Monday, U.S. Steel said the initial blast occurred inside the reversing room for batteries 13 and 14. Secondary explosions ensued but those blasts didn’t injure anyone.

U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt said local, state and federal personnel are investigating, including the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

On Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said during a news conference he wants Clairton and its surrounding communities to be protected. The blast could be felt miles away.

The Clairton plant settled a 2017 suit for $8.5 million over pollution, including $6.5 million to reduce soot emissions and noxious odors, CNN reported.

WTAE-TV uncovered past violations and injury reports at the plant over the past decades.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program enforcement analysis found that over five years, the plant was listed in “high priority violation” of the Clean Air Act and 32 “formal enforcement actions.” This is four times more violations than at similar places at the same time.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the plant had nine serious injury reports as of early 2024. They include trips and falls, resulting in broken bones or cuts.

There are around 1,300 workers at the plant.

“U.S. Steel had a record-setting safety performance in 2024 and an over 99% environmental compliance record. Safety is our top priority every single day,” the company said in a statement.

“Over the last five years, U. S. Steel has invested over $750 million in improvement projects at its Mon Valley Works facilities, including roughly $100 million annually being spent at the Clairton facility on environmental compliance.”

The company’s headquarters are in Pittsburgh.

U.S. Steel, which was founded in 1901, has about 22,000 employees with revenue of $15.6 billion in 2024.

Flames and heavy smoke billow out of the plant owned by US Steel as firefighters struggle to extinguish the fire.

Multiple explosions at a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have killed two people and injured 10, according to the company and local authorities.

The blasts at the Clairton Coke Works – part of a sprawling industrial complex along the Monongahela River – took place just before 11am Eastern Time (15:00 GMT) on Monday.

Firefighters battled flames and heavy smoke that billowed out of the plant, which is owned by US Steel, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel.

Initially, two people were reported missing. One person was found and transported to a local hospital, said Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph at an afternoon briefing.

There was no word yet on the possible cause of the explosion.

The investigation into the explosion would be “a time-consuming technical investigation”, Joseph said.

David Burritt, president and chief executive officer of US Steel, said in a statement that the company was working with local authorities to discover the cause.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on X that there were multiple explosions at the plant and that his administration was in touch with local officials.

“The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities,” he wrote at the time the employee was missing.

The severity of the injuries was not known, but news accounts said several people were taken to hospital burn units.

Steel sector in decline

Clairton Mayor Rich Lattanzi said it was a horrible day for the city, about 32km (20 miles) south of Pittsburgh, long known as the US Steel City.

US Steel has produced steel in the area since the late 19th century, but in recent decades, the industry has been in decline, leading to plant closures and restructurings.

In June, Nippon Steel, Japan’s biggest steelmaker, closed its $14.9bn acquisition of US Steel after an 18-month struggle to obtain United States government approval for the deal, which faced scrutiny due to national security concerns.

While air quality monitors did not detect a dangerous rise in sulphur dioxide after Monday’s explosions, residents within 1.6km (1 mile) of the plant were advised to remain indoors, close windows and doors, set HVAC systems to recirculate, and avoid activities that draw in outside air, said Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato at the briefing.

The Clairton Coke Works is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the US, employing about 1,300 workers. It operates 10 coke oven batteries, which produce about 4.3 million tonnes of coke a year.

Coke is produced by heating coal at high temperatures. It is used in blast furnaces as part of the process of making steel.

An explosion at a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States has left one dead and dozens injured or trapped, with emergency workers on site trying to rescue victims, officials said.

An Allegheny County Emergency Services spokesperson, Kasey Reigner, on Monday said one person died and two were currently believed to be unaccounted for. Multiple other people were treated for injuries, Reigner said.

A fire at the plant started around 10:51am (14:50 GMT), according to Allegheny County Emergency Services.

“It felt like thunder,” Zachary Buday, a construction worker near the scene, told WTAE-TV. “Shook the scaffold, shook my chest, and shook the building, and then when we saw the dark smoke coming up from the steel mill and put two and two together, and it’s like something bad happened.”

Dozens were injured and the county was sending 15 ambulances, in addition to the ambulances supplied by local emergency response agencies, Reigner said.

Air quality concerns and health warnings

The plant, a massive industrial facility along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, is considered the largest coking operation in North America and is one of four major US Steel plants in Pennsylvania that employ several thousand workers.

The Allegheny County Health Department said it is monitoring the explosion and advised residents within one mile (1.6 kilometres) of the plant to remain indoors, close all windows and doors, set air conditioning systems to recirculate, and avoid drawing in outside air, such as using exhaust fans. It said its monitors have not detected levels of soot or sulfur dioxide above federal standards.

The plant converts coal to coke, a key component in the steel-making process. According to the company, it produces 4.3 million tons (3.9 million metric tonnes) of coke annually and has approximately 1,400 workers.

In recent years, the Clairton plant has been dogged by concerns about pollution. In 2019, it agreed to settle a 2017 lawsuit for $8.5m. Under the settlement, the company agreed to spend $6.5m to reduce soot emissions and noxious odours from the Clairton coke-making facility.

In another lawsuit, residents said that following a massive 2018 fire, the air felt acidic, smelled like rotten eggs, and was hard to breathe due to the release of sulfur dioxide.

Last year, the company agreed to spend $19.5m in equipment upgrades and $5m on local clean air efforts and programmes as part of settling a federal lawsuit filed by the Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment and the Allegheny County Health Department.

The lawsuits accused the steel producer of more than 12,000 violations of its air pollution permits.

David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, an environmental group that has previously sued US Steel over pollution, said there needed to be “a full, independent investigation into the causes of this latest catastrophe and a re-evaluation as to whether the Clairton plant is fit to keep operating.”

In June, US Steel and Nippon Steel announced they had finalised a “historic partnership”, a deal that gives the US government a say in some matters and comes a year and a half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15bn buyout of the iconic American steelmaker.

The pursuit by Nippon Steel for the Pittsburgh-based company was buffeted by national security concerns and presidential politics in a premier battleground state, dragging out the transaction for more than a year after US Steel shareholders approved it.

Deadly explosion at weapons depot comes as army has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

At least six Lebanese soldiers have been killed in an explosion as they were inspecting a weapons depot in southern Lebanon, the military has announced.

In a statement on Saturday, the Lebanese army said the unit was dismantling the contents of the depot in the Wadi Zibqin area, in the Tyre region, when the explosion occurred. It said other soldiers were injured but did not specify how many.

“An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident,” the statement said.

The Lebanese army has been working with the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) to dismantle Hezbollah military infrastructure as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel that came into force in November.

The deadly explosion comes as the Lebanese government this week approved United States-backed plans to disarm Hezbollah – a move the Lebanese group has rejected, saying such demands serve Israeli interests.

It also comes just days after Andrea Tenenti, a spokesperson for UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, said troops had “discovered a vast network of fortified tunnels” in the same area.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq had told reporters that peacekeepers and Lebanese troops found “three bunkers, artillery, rocket launchers, hundreds of explosive shells and rockets, anti-tank mines and about 250 ready-to-use improvised explosive devices”.

🧵 Lebanese army soldiers work alongside @UNIFIL_ peacekeepers every day to restore security and stability to south Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/8s5EkNAdSh

— Diodato Abagnara (@DiodatoAbagnara) August 9, 2025

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a social media post on Saturday that “Lebanon mourns” the soldiers who were killed “while fulfilling their national duty”.

Diodato Abagnara, head of the UNIFIL mission, also expressed condolences to the troops and their families.

“Several dedicated Lebanese soldiers were killed and others injured, simply doing their job to restore stability and avoid a return to open conflict,” Abagnara wrote on X.

“Sincere wishes for a full and fast recovery for the injured. Peacekeepers will continue to support the Lebanese Armed Forces and their work to restore stability, however we can.”

Hundreds gathered in Beirut to mark five years since the deadly port explosion that killed over 218 people, renewing calls for justice and accountability. Protesters urged Lebanon’s leaders to act, hoping the stalled judicial investigation will soon be completed.

When 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020, it ripped through the city, killing more than 218 people. Among them was three-year-old Alexandra Naggear.

Five years later, the investigation into who is at fault for the blast has been delayed, and at times derailed, by political interference.

“The most important thing for us is not for the decision, but for full justice to happen,” Tracy Naggear, Alexandra’s mother and a key activist advocating for the blast’s victims, told Al Jazeera by phone. “And we won’t accept a half-truth or half-justice.”

As the fifth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, there is some optimism that the judicial investigation is finally moving in the right direction after facing obstacles, mostly from well-connected politicians refusing to answer questions and the former public prosecutor blocking the investigation.

A decision from the lead prosecutor is expected soon, activists and legal sources familiar with the matter told Al Jazeera. And while the road to justice is still long, for the first time, there is a feeling that momentum is building.

Justice derailed

“You can feel a positive atmosphere [this time],” lawyer Tania Daou-Alam told Al Jazeera.

Daou-Alam now lives in the United States, but is in Lebanon for the annual commemoration of the blast, which includes protests and a memorial.

Her husband of 20 years, Jean-Frederic Alam, was killed by the blast, which was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history.

Daou-Alam is also one of nine victims suing the US-based company TGS in a Texas court for $250m, claiming it was involved in chartering the Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged ship that carried the ammonium nitrate into Beirut’s port in 2013.

She told Al Jazeera that the case is more about  “demanding accountability and access to documents that would shed more light on the broader chain of responsibility” than it is about compensation.

The population of Beirut is used to facing crises without government help. Numerous bombings and assassinations have occurred, with the state rarely, if ever, holding anyone accountable.

Frustration and a sense of abandonment by the state, the political system, and the individuals who benefit from it already boiled over into an uprising in October 2019, less than a year before the blast.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, residents cleaned up the city themselves. Politicians who came for photo opportunities were chased out by angry citizens, and mutual aid filled the gap left by the state.

The end of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in 1990 set the tone for the impunity that has plagued the country ever since. Experts and historians say militia leaders traded their fatigues for suits, pardoned each other, awarded themselves ministries and began rerouting the country’s resources to their personal coffers.

Preliminary investigations found that the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port in improper conditions for six years.

They also found that many top officials, including then-President Michel Aoun, had been informed of the ammonium nitrate’s presence, but chose not to act.

Judge Fadi Sawan was chosen to lead the full investigation in August 2020, but found himself sidelined after calling some notable politicians for questioning. Two ministers he charged with negligence asked that the case be transferred to another judge.

A court decision, seen by Reuters, claimed that because Sawan’s house had been damaged in the blast, he would not be impartial.

Replacing him in February 2021 was Judge Tarek Bitar. Like Sawan, Judge Bitar called major political figures in for questioning and later issued arrest warrants for them. Among them are Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeiter, close allies of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who still refuse to respond to Judge Bitar’s requests and claim they have parliamentary immunity.

Despite much popular support, many of Judge Bitar’s efforts were impeded, with Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces at times refusing to execute warrants and the former Court of Cassation public prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, ordering his investigation halted.

A new era

In early 2025, Lebanon elected a new president, Joseph Aoun, and a new prime minister, Nawaf Salam.

In their inaugural addresses, both spoke about the importance of finding justice for the victims of the port explosion.

“The current justice minister seems determined to go all the way, and he has promised that the judge will no longer face any hurdles and that the ministry will provide all help required,” Karim Emile Bitar, a Lebanese political analyst with no relation to the judge investigating the port explosion, told Al Jazeera.

Human Rights Watch reported in January 2025 that Judge Bitar had resumed his investigation, “after two years of being stymied by Lebanese authorities”.

On July 29, Salam issued a memorandum declaring August 4 a day of national mourning. On July 17, Aoun met with the families of victims killed in the explosion.

“My commitment is clear: We must uncover the whole truth and hold accountable those who caused this catastrophe,” Aoun said.

Oueidat, the former public prosecutor, was replaced by Judge Jamal Hajjar in an acting capacity in 2024, before being confirmed as his successor in April 2025.

In March 2025, Hajjar reversed Oueidat’s decisions and allowed Judge Bitar to continue his investigation.

Legal experts and activists have been pleased by the progress.

“Actual individuals implicated in the case are showing up to interrogations,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. Among them are Tony Saliba, the former director-general of State Security, Abbas Ibrahim, former director-general of the General Directorate of General Security, and Hassan Diab, prime minister at the time of the explosion.

But this is still not enough for those wanting justice to be served after five years of battles, activists and experts note.

“We are asking for laws that are able to protect and support the judiciary and the appointments of vacant judge [posts], so these things will show the government is on our side this time,” Daou-Alam said.

Even with the new government pushing for accountability, some are still trying to disrupt the process.

Hassan Khalil and Zeiter still refuse to appear before Judge Bitar, and a fight has emerged over the country’s judicial independence.

“We can only get justice if the judiciary acts independently so that they can go after individuals and so the security services can act independently without political interference,” Kaiss said.

Time for accountability

The last few years have been a turbulent period of myriad crises for Lebanon.

A banking collapse robbed many people of their savings and left the country in a historic economic crisis. Amid that and the COVID-19 pandemic came the blast, and international organisations and experts hold the Lebanese political establishment responsible.

“The time has come to send a signal to Lebanese public opinion that some of those responsible, even if they are in high positions, will be held accountable,” political analyst Bitar said.

“Accountability would be the first step for the Lebanese in Lebanon and the diaspora to regain trust,” he said, “and without trust, Lebanon will not be able to recover.”

Still, Bitar maintained, progress on the port blast dossier doesn’t mean every answer will come to the forefront.

“This crime was so huge that, like many similar crimes in other countries, sometimes it takes years and decades, and we never find out what really happened,” he said.

Blast victim Tracy Naggear noted that “[our] fight… is mainly for our daughter, for Alexandra, of course”.

“But we are [also] doing it for all the victims and for our country,” she said. ‘[It’s] for every single person that has been touched by the 4th of August, from a simple scratch to a broken window.”

An explosion rocked an oil facility in Novokuybyshevsk, Russia on Saturday.

Ukraine says its drones were used to attack the complex, one of a series of strikes on Russian military infrastructure over the weekend.

The governor of Russia’s Samara region said that an enemy drone had struck an industrial area of Novokuybyshevsk.

Three members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were killed in an explosion at a training facility Friday morning. Sheriff Robert Luna said the incident was the department’s largest loss of life since 1857. The cause is under investigation.

Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said there is ‘no threat to the community’ after the deadly blast closed local roads.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed that an explosion at one of its training facilities in southern California killed three of its members.

The explosion took place shortly after 7:30am local time (14:30 GMT) on Friday at the Biscailuz Training Facility in East Los Angeles.

“Tragically, there were three Department member fatalities. Sheriff’s homicide detectives are on scene,” the department said on social media.

The department described the explosion as a “critical workplace incident”. The blast closed roads in the surrounding area, though the sheriff’s department reassured locals that there was no threat to the wider community.

Sheriff Robert Luna held a midday news conference not far from the blast site, where he declined to identify the three victims. He did, however, say that one had served 19 years with the force, another 22 years, and a third 33 years.

“This is unfortunately the largest loss of life for us as the LA County Sheriff’s Department since 1857. Between all three sworn members, they had served our community proudly for 74 years,” Luna said.

The sheriff also said the three victims were part of a special enforcement bureau tasked with arson and explosives enforcement.

On social media earlier in the day, United States Attorney General Pam Bondi indicated that members of the local bureau of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were on the ground to probe what happened.

“I just spoke to [US Attorney Bill Essayli] about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles,” Bondi wrote on social media. “Please pray for the families of the sheriff’s deputies killed.”

At his midday news conference, Sheriff Luna said that details about the explosion were forthcoming as the investigation was only in its initial stages.

“At this time, we do not know the cause of the explosion,” Luna said. “There is no threat to this community. This is an isolated incident.”

Luna added that he is prioritising notifying the relatives of the victims before releasing further information to the public.

He has met two of the three families so far, he said. “As you can imagine, those were extremely challenging conversations.”

The sheriff also thanked the bomb squad of the Los Angeles Police Department for helping to secure the blast site.

“They immediately came out to assist after this explosion occurred to render the devices safe,” he said. “And just so all of you know, they were just rendered safe within the last minutes, right before we walked out here, so it was still an active scene. It wasn’t stable and definitely a very active crime scene.”

He explained that investigators can only go on site now that there is no further risk of explosions.

“There’s a lot more that we don’t know than what we do know,” he added.

Luna, however, was quick to defend the professionalism of the special enforcement bureau, calling its members “the best of the best”.

“The individuals who work our arsons explosives detail, they have years of training,” Luna said. “Usually, the average calls that they go to in dealing with some very dangerous situations or items average about 11,000 per year. So these aren’t people who don’t do this very often. They are fantastic experts. And unfortunately, I lost three of them today.”

July 18 (UPI) — At least three people are dead following an explosion early Friday morning at a Los Angeles County Sheriff Department facility.

The three people killed are deputies with the law enforcement agency, KTLA first reported.

Officials have not said what caused the explosion, which took place at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East Los Angeles at about 7:30 a.m. PDT Friday, the LA Times reported, citing law enforcement sources.

Other injuries have been reported but authorities have not elaborated on their nature or extent.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s office said he had been briefed on the situation and “has offered full state assistance.”

The Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad responded to the scene following the explosion.

Federal officials are also involved in the investigation.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more. Please pray for the families of the sheriff’s deputies killed,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X.

Bondi said she had been in contact with Central District of California U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli’s office.

“We are closely monitoring the tragic incident that took the lives of three sheriff’s deputies at a training facility in Los Angeles,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X.

“Our federal partners are on the ground, and we are working to support the ongoing response.”

“I am heartbroken to hear of the terrible tragedy that has unfolded today at an LA County Sheriff’s Department facility. I am closely tracking the situation as we learn more about what occurred and the condition of those affected,” LASD Supervisor Kathryn Barger told KNBC-TV.

“My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are with the brave men and women of the Sheriff’s Department during this difficult time. I stand with them and their families as they navigate the hours and days ahead,”

July 7 (UPI) — Authorities in northern California have confirmed the recovery of the bodies of seven people who had been reported missing following last week’s explosion of a warehouse storing fireworks near Sacramento.

“In accordance with standard procedure and out of respect for the families, the identities of the deceased will be withheld until formal identification is complete and next of kin have been notified,” Yolo County said in a statement Sunday.

The fireworks warehouse, located near County Roads 23 and 86A in the Esparto area of Yolo County, exploded Tuesday at about 5:50 p.m. following a fire that erupted on the compound.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

On Sunday, authorities executed a controlled explosion at the site “to safely remove hazardous materials identified at the scene,” Yolo County said in a statement.

The explosion was scheduled to occur between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. PDT.

“Residents may hear loud noises or notice smoke and odors in the area during this time,” the county said. “This is expected and part of the controlled process … There is no immediate threat to public safety, and all necessary safety protocols are in place.”

Authorities had confirmed on Friday that remains of at least some of the seven people reported unaccounted for had been found.

The fire and the ensuing explosion resulted in the Oakdale Fire, which burned 78 acres before it was 100% contained on Sunday, according to Cal Fire.