Explosion rocks Palm Springs, killing one, heavily damaging fertility clinic

An explosion possibly originating in a bicycle outside a fertility clinic rocked Palm Springs Saturday heavily damaging the clinic while apparently killing one person Palm Springs police Chief Andy Mills endorsed that one person died in the blast which occurred around a m in the block of North Indian Canyon Drive near the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic which was extensively damaged Mills stated the identity of the person who died is not known An image posted online by a witness indicated what appeared to be a body nearby Dr Maher Abdallah who runs the clinic informed The Associated Press in a phone interview that all of his staff were safe ABC in Los Angeles citing an unnamed law enforcement source revealed that five people were injured in the explosion and the person who died was a suspect in the blast Mills stated the explosion appears to be an intentional act of violence and the blast field extends for blocks with several buildings damaged several severely He added The development appears to be isolated Explosion at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs California Buildings within a half mile radius have their windows shattered including the regional hospital pic twitter com KZPPQgbhgj Luis Roman luisromanvlog May Images from the scene evidenced the remains of a wagon in the parking lot in the rear of the clinic The blast appeared to originate in that lot with the force of the explosion ripping fully through to the front of the building with the clinic s front facade thrown into the street City functionaries noted Saturday in a social media post that residents were being urged to avoid the area around North Indian Canyon Drive near East Tachevah Drive The blast also shattered windows at multiple businesses Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives are on their way to the scene near the clinic to help assess what happened according to spokesperson Nicole Lozano The clinic is located near Desert Regional Health Center which did not sustain any serious damage Our crisis department remains open and our hospital is fully operational We are temporarily asking visitors to refrain from coming to the hospital as police have limited access to the road in front of our campus according to a hospital report Specific windows were broken in a curative office building directly facing the explosion Hospital operations have not been affected The explosion damaged the practice s office space where it conducts consultations with patients but left the IVF lab and all of the stored embryos unharmed I really have no clue what happened Abdallah stated Thank God in the modern day happened to be a day that we have no patients American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs before it was damaged in the the explosion Photo courtesy of Google Street View Before officers approved the fatality authorities at American Reproductive Centers clinic appeared to have received word of the death saying in a Facebook post We are heartbroken to learn that this event claimed a life and caused injuries and our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected Nima Tabrizi of Santa Monica declared he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion The building just shook and we go outside and there s massive cloud smoke Tabrizi commented Crazy explosion It felt like a bomb went off We went up to the scene and we saw human remains An affiliate of ARC according to the centers website is located in El Cajon Note Inset photo Fire trucks at the scene of the Palm Springs explosion with debris lining the street around them Photo courtesy of OnScene TV Updated p m May