 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2006 
Simultaneous Explosions in Mexico City
 Gregory Bull - Associated Press
| | Two men stand among the debris after a bomb exploded at the back door to the Federal Electoral Tribunal in Mexico City, Mexico, early Monday, Nov. 5, 2006. Three simultaneous explosions late Sunday targeted the offices of one of Mexico's main political parties, the headquarters of the country's electoral tribunal and a bank. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
Simultaneous explosions hit the Federal Electoral Tribunal, a bank branch and the headquarters of the former ruling party early Monday and authorities deactivated a homemade explosive device at a second bank branch, Mexican news media reported.
Authorities told Mexican news media there were no injuries.
Mexico City Public Safety Secretary Joel Ortega told the daily newspaper El Universal that emergency officials received two telephone calls shortly after midnight warning that bombs were about to be detonated.
The entrance to an auditorium at the headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was destroyed, with the door blown out and chunks of concrete and shattered glass scattered on the ground. There appeared to be little damage immediately inside the building.
Police investigators using flashlights to sift through the rubble declined to talk to the press.
One of about a dozen private security guards on overnight duty at PRI headquarters, Valeano Toledo, 27, told The Associated Press that he was at a different building of the headquarters when, "I heard one explosion, and then a stronger one that shook the buildings, and the windows and glass doors." He and other guards ran to the site of the explosion, "where we saw a lot of smoke," he said.
The explosion at the electoral tribunal building damaged the first floor and broke second-floor windows, a police detective told El Universal. The official, who was not identified, said the explosive device that damaged the tribunal was an "electronic instrument much more sophisticated" than those planted by unknown groups in the city on previous occasions.
The Reforma daily newspaper quoted a witness as saying that two explosions happened at a branch of Canadian-owned Scotiabank in southern Mexico City, followed by "a strong smell of gunpowder." The blast broke some windows of nearby houses, the newspaper said.
Ortega said a police bomb squad deactivated an explosive device at a second branch of Scotiabank near the tribunal. The device bore a label reading "bomb-danger."
Mexico City's Public Safety Department increased security measures in the city's public transportation system, as well as at the presidential residence, several federal government institutions, and at the U.S. and British Embassies, Mexican news media reported.
The PRI backed the electoral tribunal when it confirmed President-elect Felipe Calderon's victory by less than 1 percentage point over leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the disputed July 2 election. Lopez Obrador, former mayor of Mexico City and a member of the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party, claimed the election was tainted by fraud and asked for a complete recount, which the court refused to order.
Calderon, a member of the ruling National Action Party of President Vicente Fox, is to be sworn in on Dec. 1.
Monday's explosions occurred against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts in the southern state of Oaxaca, where protesters have maintained barricades in the capital city since May to press their demands for the resignation of PRI governor Ulises Ruiz. The demonstrators accuse Ruiz of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending groups of gun-toting thugs to subdue his opponents.
The protests have led to violent confrontations with state officials and federal police that have left at least nine people dead. The clashes have rattled Fox's administration and scared international tourists away from Oaxaca.
Associated Press reporter Lisa J. Adams contributed to this report. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us