25 dead in Haiti explosion

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuter) - Up to 25 people were killed and more than 100 were injured yesterday in an explosion that demolished a chemist's shop in the Haitian capital and covered vehicles and passers-by with burning debris, a police source said.

Radio Metropole reported that at least 15 people were confirmed dead. A spokesman for the General Hospital said five bodies had been brought to the morgue but more were expected. He said 115 injured people had been admitted.

The cause of the blast was being investigated. Although authorities did not rule out a political motive, the shop did have a laboratory, and the blast may have been an accident.