Store explosion injures 15 in Romania | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (2024)

Store explosion injures 15 in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania -- An explosion at a chain home improvement store in northeastern Romania on Friday injured at least 15 people, four of them seriously, authorities said.

A mobile intensive care unit was dispatched to the scene in the town of Botosani, in Suceava county, emergency authorities said. Four of the injured were in serious condition, including two who were intubated. Seven remained hospitalized while eight have been discharged from a town hospital.

Emergency helicopters were alerted and two ambulances and two fire trucks were sent to the scene to extinguish a fire. A search-and-rescue mission was underway inside the store.

The retail company, Dedeman, said in a statement after the incident that at the time of the explosion, which occurred at about 10:30 a.m., an "authorized external company" was working on the Botosani store's gas supply system and that authorities are working to determine what caused the explosion.

Two of the victims were transported to a hospital in the city of Iasi, about 68 miles to the south, while two were airlifted to the capital, Bucharest, to receive faster medical care, according to the ministry of health. Some of the injured suffered burns of 10% to 15% to the upper parts of their bodies, it said.

Panama campus attack leaves 1 dead

PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Two unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of students on a rural campus of the University of Panama on Friday, killing one and wounding another before escaping, according to school officials.

University Rector Eduardo Flores Castro said via the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that agricultural sciences students were doing field work at the university's regional center in Veraguas about 155 miles southwest of the capital when the shooting took place.

Later in a statement, he identified the student who was killed as 27-year-old Álvaro Leones.

"Leones was an outstanding member of our university community," Flores said. He offered condolences to his family and friends.

The wounded student was Anel Terreros, the university said.

Pedro Samaniego, the director of the regional campus where the shooting occurred, said a man approached a group of six first-year students around 11 a.m. and opened fire without saying a word.

"Then the person jumped the fence and took off," he said.

But later, police Deputy Commissioner Héctor Delgado, who is the chief in the Veraguas area, said in a video circulated by the National Police that there had been two shooters who arrived in a car before opening fire.

Prosecutor Héctor Navarro said in a recorded statement that no suspects had yet been identified.

19 arrested in Swedish college protest

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Swedish police detained 19 pro-Palestinian activists who barricaded themselves in the country's main technical education and research university on Friday.

After two hours, police carried out the masked activists from the third floor of a Royal Institute of Technology building in Stockholm. They are likely to be prosecuted for trespassing and disobeying the police, according to police.

At around noon, the activists blocked the entrance of a student building at the institute, known by its Swedish acronym KTH, with chairs and tables. Some shouted "Free Palestine" and hung Palestinian flags in the windows. People supporting the activists and a large contingent of law enforcement personnel, including officers with dogs and mounted police, quickly gathered outside KTH, which is north of downtown Stockholm.

On Instagram, the activists said they occupied the building to pressure KTH to stop collaborating with Israeli universities.

Hunt goes on for missing British doctor

ATHENS, Greece -- Greek police say an ongoing major search-and-rescue operation on the small eastern Aegean island of Symi has still not found British doctor and television presenter Michael Mosley, who disappeared Wednesday afternoon after reportedly going for a walk.

Police said Friday that the coast guard, police and fire department were involved in the search, with a helicopter, drones and a police sniffer dog deployed. They have found no trace of the 67-year-old, who had been vacationing on the island.

The search was focusing on the area between Agios Nikolaos, the coastal area from where Mosley apparently set off on his walk, and the island's main town of Symi. Authorities had also looked into whether he might have left the island altogether, but found no indication that anyone had traveled under his name.

Britain's Foreign Office said it was in contact with Greek authorities over the search.

Mosley is well-known in Britain for his regular appearances on television and radio and for his column in the Daily Mail newspaper. He is known outside the U.K. for his 2013 book "The Fast Diet," which he co-authored with journalist Mimi Spencer.