Washington [US], March 14: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened an investigation after an explosion at the agency's training facility in California sent many people to the hospital.
An explosion occurred at the FBI 's southern California training facility on March 13, injuring 16 officers from the police 's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit.
According to Fox News, the Orange County Sheriff's Department's SWAT team was in an annual joint exercise with the FBI's bomb disposal force when the explosion occurred. Orange County Police Officer Frank Gonzalez said the explosion occurred indoors at 13:00, at the Jerry Crowe Regional Tactical Training Facility operated by the FBI in the city of Irvine.
A person has a leg injury that requires surgery but is not life-threatening. Another person suffered back and leg injuries but did not need surgery. Many remaining people were taken to local hospitals for examination because of dizziness and tinnitus.
It is unclear what device caused the explosion. At least one building was blocked. Images filmed from a helicopter showed a robot appearing outside that building while some debris was scattered at the entrance.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the explosion and previous developments. Mr. Gonzalez said that the FBI was not involved in this accident. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller also confirmed that no agency employees were injured in the explosion.
The said training facility, located in a remote area of Irvine, is where weapons training and evaluations are conducted by the FBI and local law enforcement.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper