I like the way Weasel Zippers sums it up:
So to sum up, the explosion was in a building with 10 apartments reportedly occupied principally by single Somali men on the second floor, and a community grocery store on the first floor. Next door was the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and cultural center. The utility company appears to have ruled out a gas leak. The building was just inspected in 2012 and had no reported problems.
A witness in the building describing the explosion talks of an initial electrical “shock” feeling in the building, then a subsequent explosion that blew the windows out on the second floor. Investigators have yet to get fully into the building to determine the cause.
The firemen noted how this explosion/fire was unlike anything they had ever seen, that it included a man who apparently went out the window who had no legs, which if he wasn’t already in that condition, suggests that his legs were blown off.
The Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque next door appears to promote shariah law, and links on its website to the Muslim Brotherhood website, as well as to INSA and CAIR. It caters to a Somali immigrant Muslim community.
There is no link established between the explosion and the mosque at this time.
The Somali community in Minnesota has lost several young men to jihad in Somalia. Just today, there was a bombing, killing 10, at the popular Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab took credit, saying they had warned Somalis against New Years celebrations or consorting with “infidels”.
We shall have to wait for further facts to see what the cause was in this case, but initial reports don’t seem to point to an obvious building problem.
14 comments:
FR comment about area involved:
“Down town minneapolis is walking distance from this area. The mall of america is a quick light rail ride… if they where planing some sort of attack this would be a good area to launch it from. Lots of friendlies around to keep an eye out for cops while building your bomb.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3107486/posts
2012 report of incident at location for otanga grocer.....http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/149626025.html
Ex-Somali soldier is arrested in stabbing death of roommate
http://gatesofvienna.net/2014/01/enter-dhs-it-was-a-gas-leak/
Enter DHS -it was a gas leak
The chief called the scene an active investigation that has early on ruled out any signs of an explosive device. Homeland Security personnel were on the scene in the aftermath of the fire that sent 14 people to hospitals, six in critical condition.
V.
A spokeswoman for the natural gas utility CenterPoint Energy strongly discounted natural gas as a likely cause.
“We had no natural gas in the area,” said Rebecca Virden, basing her information on CenterPoint’s own investigation and testing in the area.
If it were attributed to natural gas, Virden added, “the roof would come off, the walls would come out.”
She offered that if there was a gas involved, “it could be a different type of gas, maybe propane.”
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/238448181.html
DHS is saying it was a gas leak?
My God. We live in a complete blackout, don't we?
Pastorius, the narrative appears to be written...
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/287675/
Investigators believe that the fire that tore through a three-story apartment building in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on New Year’s Day was caused by a natural gas leak, according to sources familiar with the probe.
While no final determination has been made, a source close to the law enforcement investigation said that it is believed that the initial explosion occurred at the ground level of the building.
Homeland Security personnel were on the scene in the aftermath of the fire that sent 14 people to hospitals, six in critical condition.
They were there to determine if there was anything suspicious about the explosion. But investigators believe that the description of a fireball and early evidence at the scene match what typically happens in a gas explosion, the source said.
In addition to trying to determine the cause, authorities searched the late-1800s building for the handful of residents still unaccounted for a day later.
At least 14 people were injured, six critically in the explosion and fire about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday that destroyed an immigrant-owned grocery store and the 10 apartments above it in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
"Debris removal is beginning this morning," Assistant Fire Chief Cherie Penn said in a statement issued a couple of hours after daybreak. "Crews will be very cautious and deliberate as they go through the structure."
Fire officials have yet to determine whether everyone made it out of the building and is accounted for, Penn added.
Betsy Hodges, the city’s new mayor, and Fire Chief John Fruetel were preparing to update the news media this afternoon at the nearby Brian Coyle Center."
Note: as of the time of this comment, local fire officials have not determined likely cause yet. Indeed, if the area does not have gas service as stated earlier, such a narrative is questionable.
Authorities said the cause of the Minneapolis explosion is still under investigation. They said investigators with the ATF and FBI are assisting in the investigation.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1081027/minneapolis-explosion-three-remain-critical-four-missing/#Iu9zIuWBx4CVmIHX.99\uc0\u8236 }
http://www.buhodlepost.com/2014/01/02/minneapolis-officials-confirmed-14-people-were-injured-including-6-with-critical-injuries-in-a-building-explosion-and-fire-wednesday-morning-on-cedar-avenue/
Officials held a 3 p.m. press conference at the Brian Coyle Community Center to confirm that although 3 people are unaccounted for, it is still too dangerous to go inside. The fire chief did not know when that may change, but said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
MPD: EARLIER POLICE CALL UNRELATED
Minneapolis police confirmed officers were at the same address earlier Wednesday morning, but said it was a separate service call that was unrelated to the explosion.
So, it appears some of the "authorities" are trying to push the natural gas explosion story, and others are not confirming anything.
Here's my question: What kind of explosion is preceeded by a "electrical shock feeling"?
This gas explosion theory stinks. If this was a gas explosion, the gas company would not have come out and said it could not have been one.
Afterall, they are the experts on this, not the cops.
Perhaps the "shock" refers to a "percussion" which may have been a device accidentally set off either by proximity to heat (noting extreme cold temps mentioned in several reports) which may have sparked a small fire setting off additional devices...or perhaps the earlier police call was responding to some dispute at the site. Reports state one of the owners spoke with police outside at time of explosion...did a tenant panic and accidentally engage device while attempting to conceal evidence which may have compromised planned operation?
It's easy to speculate. It's also beginning to smell of the type of investigation this administration conducted w/fast&furious, benghazi, extortion 17 etc. Recall how many weeks went by before Benghazi sites were secured for investigation, and how the Benghazi narrative keeps evolving.
Welcome to the "at this point, what difference does it make" investigation era.
Comment from gatesofvienna post:
Drakken on January 2, 2014 at 7:43 pm said:
A friend of mine in MPD just emailed me and stated that the MPD are looking for a few skinnies to have a chat with as per directed by the Fibi’s. The plot thickens.
Family of residents who live in the building report that three people are still missing. Yet a backhoe is already taking down the building, which would be extremely dangerous to enter due to all the fire and water damage.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2014/01/burned-out_cedar_avenue_building_being_destroyed_with_three_still_missing.php
An e-bomb (electromagnetic bomb) is a weapon that uses an intense electromagnetic field to create a brief pulse of energy that affects electronic circuitry without harming humans or buildings. At low levels, the pulse temporarily disables electronics systems; mid-range levels corrupt computer data. Very high levels completely destroy electronic circuitry, thus disabling any type of machine that uses electricity, including computers, radios, and ignition systems in vehicles. Although not directly lethal, an e-bomb would devastate any target that relies upon electricity: a category encompassing any potential military target and most civilian areas of the world as well. According to a CBS News report, the United States deployed an experimental e-bomb on March 24, 2003 to knock out Iraqi satellite television and disrupt the broadcast of propaganda.
In the United States, most e-bomb research has been carried out at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where researchers have been exploring the use of high power microwaves (HPM). Although the devices themselves may be relatively uncomplicated to manufacture (Popular Mechanics illustrated a simple design in September 2001), their usage poses a number of problems. To create an effective e-bomb, developers must not only generate an extremely high-powered pulse of energy, but must also find a way to control both the energy - which can behave in unpredictable ways - and the heat generated as its byproduct. Furthermore, for non-nuclear e-bombs, the range is limited. According to most defense analysts' speculations, devices in development are likely to affect an area of only a few hundred yards.
The concept behind the e-bomb arose from nuclear weaponry research in the 1950s. When the U.S. military tested hydrogen bombs over the Pacific Ocean, streetlights were blown out hundreds of miles away and radio equipment was affected as far as away as Australia. Although at the time these effects were considered incidental, since that time researchers have sought a means of focusing that energy.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/e-bomb-electromagnetic-bomb
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