A powerful explosion — apparently originating in a vehicle parked outside a fertility clinic — rocked Palm Springs on Saturday, May 17, heavily damaging the clinic while killing one person and shattering windows at multiple other businesses.
Palm Springs police Lt. William Hutchinson told the Desert Sun there appeared to be at least one fatality. An image posted online by a witness showed what appeared to be a body near the blast scene.
ABC7 in Los Angeles, citing an unnamed law enforcement source, reported that five people were injured in the explosion and the person who died was a suspect in the blast.
The explosion occurred around 11 a.m. in the 1100 block of North Indian Canyon Drive, near an American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic, which was extensively damaged, if not completely destroyed.
A heavily damaged vehicle was visible near the scene.
The clinic is near the Desert Regional Medical Center. It is not affiliated with the clinic and did not sustain any serious damage, the center said in a statement.
Hutchinson told the Desert Sun, “Everything is in question, whether this is an act of terrorism.”
Video posted online by witnesses showed debris scattered in the street in front of the clinic and windows shattered at multiple businesses in the area. Residents also reported online feeling the shaking from the blast throughout the city.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on their way to the scene to help assess what happened, according to spokesperson Nicole Lozano.
Dr. Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic where the explosion occurred, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that all of his staff were safe and accounted for.
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.”
Abdallah also posted a lengthy statement on Facebook.
See also: Doctor who runs IVF clinic damaged in explosion: ‘We choose hope’
Nima Tabrizi, 37, of Santa Monica, said 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 said. “Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off. … We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”
The American Reproductive Centers facility is not believed to have been open at the time of the blast. According to the business’ website, the clinic is the Coachella Valley’s “first and only full-service fertility center and IVF (in vitro fertilization) lab.” Its services also include LGBTQ family building, egg donation and freezing, fertility evaluations and embryo transfer.
The regional medical center issued a statement saying, “Hospital staff is cooperating with police as they investigate the cause. Our emergency 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. Some windows were broken in a medical office building directly facing the explosion. Hospital operations have not been affected.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued a statement saying Newsom “has been briefed on the explosion.”
The state, through the Office of Emergency Services, is coordinating with local and federal authorities to support the response, the governor’s office said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for more.