'Body parts' spotted in road as explosion rips through IVF lab
Concerned locals said they felt the area "shake" when some kind of loud bang was heard.
Horrific scenes are unfolding in Palm Springs after an explosion tore through an IVF lab leaving "body parts" strewn across the roads.
One fatality has been confirmed following the blast next to an IVF clinic that took place at around 11am local time.
The FBI is on the scene following the explosion, investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also on their way, spokesperson Nicole Lozano said.
Local police have also not yet ruled out if terrorism is behind the huge incident. Lieutenant William Hutchinson from the Palm Springs Police Department told The Desert Sun: "Everything is in question, whether this is an act of terrorism."
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic where the explosion occurred, said all of his staff were safe and accounted for, reports the Mirror.
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 there unharmed.
'I really have no clue what happened,' Abdallah said. 'Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.'
A local reporter said they have been told a "structure fire" is being tackled by firefighters, while an NBC News journalist said there are concerns"this may have been a bomb" due to the police presence at the scene. This is not confirmed.
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Concerned locals have said they felt the area "shake" when some kind of loud bang was heard. One resident said they were jogging a short distance away from the American Reproductive Centres when the blast occured.
"It was so loud it shook me," Tamara Cash told The Desert Sun. "All I could hear was alarms going off in different buildings."
Locals have also reported smelling a strange odour in the wake of the blast. First responders have continued to arrive at the scene.
TV reported Carrlyn Bathe Hammer said on X: "We're in Palm Springs for the weekend and are driving to get brunch - emergency responders have FLOODED the area, we had to reroute to another street. I'm not sure what happened but buildings/windows are shattered, debris is scattered. It looks like an explosion?!"
Nearby upholstery shop worker Claudio Chavez said according to the New York Times: "I was just in my shop waiting for clients, and all of a sudden it felt like a big explosion. It took out our window. I just saw a bunch of smoke."
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