A massive blast occurred on Christmas morning in central Nashville, USA, injuring at least three people and damaging dozens of buildings. The three injured were taken to the hospital, but none are in critical condition.
According to CNN, authorities have found at the site of the explosion in Nashville an object that is likely human remains. The remains were sent to the medical examination office for analysis.
The explosion in Nashville occurred at around 5:30 a.m. local time on December 25 when a motorbike was parked in front of an AT&T company building.
Nashville authorities said the blast was an "intentional act" and stemmed from a car explosion. Nashville City Police spokesman Don Aaron said the police found a suspected PV parked outside an AT&T building before the explosion.
Nashville police chief John Drake said that an audio message saying a bomb would explode in the next 15 minutes was issued from the PV. According to Nashville Deputy Mayor Jim Shulman, the warning message sent from the PV before the explosion was a female voice.
The police said that there was no immediate evidence of the gunshot, but they had asked the department's dangerous equipment unit to deploy at the scene and began evacuating residents in the surrounding area.
The PV exploded at 6:30 a.m. while the bomb disposal team was responding. The police posted a photo of RV on their Twitter and said the car arrived on Avenue 2 at 1:42 a.m.
According to Tennessean, after the explosion, widespread incidents occurred with the 911 emergency phone number in the Nashville area after AT&T's Internet and wireless services were interrupted by a large explosion. AT&T's internet and phone services were interrupted in the area around noon on December 25.
Users across the US have also reported service disruptions, but focusing on Nashville and Middle Tennessee, increasing the range from Kentucky to Alabama as more reports are released, Tennessean said.
After a major explosion in central Nashville, several local police departments said the outage disrupted access to the 911, which included several non-essential lines, within the legal area of these police departments. Most departments have used social media to share landline phone numbers and alternative access numbers so that people can seek emergency assistance.
The Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights from Nashville International Airport at around 2:30 p.m. on December 25 after telecommunications problems affected the airport.
The power outage was also reported hours after the explosion. An AT&T spokesperson confirmed the power outage was related to the explosion: "Service for some customers in Nashville and neighboring areas may be affected by damage to our facilities from this morning's explosion. We are contacting law enforcement agencies and working as quickly and safely as possible to restore the service".
