8 Die as Blasts Rock Equivalent of FBI

Explosions and a fire today devastated the Manila offices of the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation, killing at least eight people and injuring 11, witnesses and police said. Two smaller explosions and a fire followed a “thunderous” blast, wrecking the bureau’s investigation offices where suspects are questioned and seized materials such as narcotics, arms and ammunition are stored, a bureau officer said. The bureau’s five-story national headquarters, adjacent to the investigation office bungalows, was damaged and its windows shattered, witnesses said. The bureau is the domestic equivalent of the FBI. There was no immediate word on what caused the initial explosion. Police said the subsequent blasts might have come from stored arms and ammunition.