Page 30 - bon-dia-aruba-20201228

A30 world news
Dialuna 28 December 2020

Officers give harrowing account of Nashville RV bombing

rized to discuss an ongo- COVID-19 community hot
ing investigation and spoke line and a handful of hospi-
to The Associated Press on tal systems, remained out of
condition of anonymity, said service.
investigators regard a person
associated with the property The building contained a
as a person of interest. They telephone exchange, with
did not identify the person. network equipment in it —
but the company has declined
Federal agents could be seen to say exactly how many peo-
looking around the property, ple have been impacted.
searching the home and the
backyard. A Google Maps Asked whether the AT&T
image captured in May 2019 building could have been
had shown a recreational ve- a possible target, Korneski
hicle similar to the one that said: “We’re looking at every
exploded parked in the back- possible motive that could be
yard. It was not at the prop- involved.”
(AP) — Police officers on ly deserted street just before erty on Saturday, according to
Sunday provided harrow- it issued a recorded warning Officer Brenna Hosey said an AP reporter at the scene. Investigators shut down the
ing details of responding advising people nearby to she and her colleagues There were other signs of heart of downtown Nash-
to a Christmas morning evacuate. knocked on six or seven progress in the investiga- ville’s tourist scene — an area
explosion in downtown doors in nearby apartments tion, as the FBI revealed that packed with honky-tonks,
Nashville, at times get- “I just see orange and then to warn people to evacuate. it was looking at a number restaurants and shops — as
ting choked up reliving I hear a loud boom. As I'm She particularly remembered of individuals who may be they shuffled through broken
the moments that led up stumbling around, I just tell knocking on a door where a connected to it. Officials also glass and damaged buildings
to the blast and offering myself to stay on my feet and startled mother of four chil- said no additional explosive to learn more about the ex-
gratitude that they were to stay alive,” Wells said, at dren answered. devices have been found — plosion.
still alive. times tearing up and repeat- indicating no active threat to
ing that he believed he heard “I don't have kids but I have the area. Investigators have AT&T said Sunday it was re-
“This is going to tie us to- God tell him to walk away cousins and nieces, people received around 500 tips and routing service to other facil-
gether forever, for the rest of moments before the blast. who I love who are small,” leads. ities as the company worked
my life,” Officer James Wells, Hosey said, adding she had to restore its heavily dam-
who suffered some hearing Officer Amanda Topping said to plead with the family to “It’s just going to take us aged building. The company
loss due to the explosion, told she initially parked their po- leave the building as quickly some time,” Douglas Ko- said in a statement that it was
a news conference. “Christ- lice car beside the RV while as possible. rneski, the special agent in bringing in resources to help
mas will never be the same.” responding to the call before charge of the FBI’s Memphis recover affected voice and
moving it once they heard The attack, which damaged field office, said at a Saturday data services and expects to
Meanwhile, Nashville Metro the recording playing. Top- an AT&T building, has con- afternoon news conference. have 24 additional trailers of
Police spokesman Don Aar- ping said she called her wife tinued to wreak havoc on “Our investigative team is disaster recovery equipment
on told The Associated Press to let her know that “things cellphone service and police turning over every stone” to at the site by the end of the
that 63-year-old Anthony Q. were just really strange” as and hospital communica- understand who did this and day.
Warner, a Tennessee resident, she helped guide people away tions in several Southern why.
was under investigation in from the RV. states as the company worked Restoration efforts faced
relation to the blast. He did to restore service. Investigators said they were several challenges, which in-
not provide any more details. That's when she heard the working to identify human cluded a fire that forced their
However, Warner had expe- announcement from the RV Meanwhile, investigators remains found at the scene. teams to work with safety
rience with electronics and switch from a warning to from multiple federal and lo- Beyond that, the only known and structural engineers and
alarms, according to public playing the 1964 hit “Down- cal law enforcement agencies casualties were three injured drilling access holes into the
records. town” by Petula Clark. Mo- descended on a home in An- people. building in order to recon-
ments later the explosion hit. tioch, in suburban Nashville, nect power.
The five responding officers on Saturday after receiving The infrastructure damage,
gave their accounts of what “I felt the waves of heat but I information relevant to the meanwhile, was broadly felt, Ray Neville, president of
happened to reporters while kind of just lost it and started investigation, said FBI Spe- due to an AT&T central office technology at T-Mobile, said
investigators continued to sprinting toward (Wells),” cial Agent Jason Pack. being affected by the blast. on Twitter Saturday that ser-
chip away at the motive of the Topping said. "I've never Police emergency systems in vice disruptions affected Lou-
bombing of a recreational ve- grabbed someone so hard in Another law enforcement Tennessee, Kentucky and Al- isville, Nashville, Knoxville,
hicle that blew up on a most- my life.” official, who was not autho- abama, as well as Nashville’s Birmingham and Atlanta.

Avalanches kill 12 in mountainous area near Iran’s capital

(AP) — Iranian rescue workers ended crews using a helicopter to search for the
their search for survivors Sunday follow- missing. Iran’s Red Crescent Society also re-
ing a series of avalanches that killed 12 leased photos of rescue workers unloading
people in a mountainous area north of body bags from a helicopter Saturday.
the capital, state TV reported.
The report said 11 people were found dead,
The avalanches struck in four different areas and one died after being transferred to a hos-
on Friday following strong winds and snow- pital. It said rescue teams found 14 missing
fall a day earlier. people during the operation.

The Alborz mountain range where the ava- Authorities said many had disregarded re-
lanches occurred is a popular weekend desti- ports by the meteorological office about pos-
nation for hiking and climbing. Fridays are a sible strong winds Friday.
day off for most Iranian workers.
Deadly avalanches are a rare phenomenon in
State TV aired footage showing emergency Iran. In 2017, two avalanches killed 11 hikers.