Deaths, Explosion | featured news

Even as as President Obama pledged federal assistance to the devastated community, morning rainfall was hampering search and rescue efforts Thursday at the site of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion, which killed as many as 15 people and injured 160.

Kevin Harris died in 'a pretty powerful explosion' at his home, which was wrapped in foil. Family members describe him as brilliant and gentle. An essay in his name expresses fear of the government.

A series of explosions was reported near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, leaving two people dead and at least two dozen injured, according to the Boston Police Department. A third explosion was heard just before 4 p.m., about an hour after the first two blasts. The police were apparently aware of that device before the explosion occurred.

At least 53 people were killed and 90 others wounded Wednesday in an insurgent attack on an Afghanistan governor's compound where Taliban fighters were facing trial, local officials said. Nine insurgents with explosives strapped to their bodies stormed the compound in Farah province, bordering Iran, Reuters reported.

A hot air balloon full of tourists exploded near the southern city Luxor just after dawn Tuesday, killing at least 18 people and injuring three in the latest blow to Egypt’s moribund tourism industry.

A pair of bombs exploded Thursday evening in a crowded shopping area in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least 12 people and wounding scores of others in the worst bombing in the country in more than a year, officials said.

Mexico's state-owned oil company says 14 have died and 80 are injured in an office building explosion at its headquarters in the capital.

At least 82 people have been killed and more than 160 injured in two rocket explosions at the University of Aleppo in Syria’s largest city on Tuesday, city officials reported.

The cause of an explosion and fire that killed two people Saturday night when it tore through a residential area of Indianapolis was under investigation on Sunday, authorities said.

A 39-year-old handyman and explosives enthusiast whose girlfriend was killed when a cannon exploded near the couple's trailer in San Diego County is anguished over the incident, his brother said.