Explosion Near Santa Monica Synagogue Caused By 'Mechanical Failure'

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Santa Monica police say an explosion that sent an object hurtling onto the roof of a home near a Jewish school and prayer house was an accident – not a bomb.

Sgt. Jay Trisler says a mechanical failure caused a pressure buildup resulting in the blast at about 6:45 a.m. Thursday.

Sgt. Marty Fine says the blast shattered windows at the Chabad (huh-BAHD') House Lubavitch of Santa Monica and launched an object onto the roof of a building next door. TV reports showed a hole in the roof with a long cylinder poking out.

No injuries are reported. Fine says about 100 people have been evacuated from a four-block area while bomb experts investigate.

Comments

[dbrett480]

07:18 PM on 04/07/2011

In defense of Hpost publishing this story; many blogs and news stations originally reported this as a pipe bomb. I think the editors wanted to report on the story while immediately stating what the actual cause was. This has nothing to do with Israel, Palestine, mosques, or God knows what else other commenters have mentioned.

[They Call Me Mr Snark]

05:51 PM on 04/07/2011

The Synagogue was the only building the explosion was "near"?

[jennyopines]

05:23 PM on 04/07/2011

......like the building of "mosque at ground zero"..........."at", "near" or a hundred miles away...why let those little words get in the way of a good story?

[landskroon]

05:13 PM on 04/07/2011

Hope there was no Palestinian victim, enough of them were killed in their own country a few years ago.

[eva07]

08:44 PM on 04/07/2011

and so were in Sri Lanka, in the Congo, in Darfur and the Ivory Coast, but I guess you are not hoping that were no victims from those countries or from the US.

[319]

04:15 PM on 04/07/2011

HP editors... have you not learned anything about lying, or insinuating something for attention? Did not the Scott Walker fiasco demonstrate that progressives abhor sensationalizing?

Not a bomb... mechanical failure. It was a house next to a synagogue. Do you want to be thought of like FOX?

[funkyou2]

09:51 PM on 04/07/2011

I'm thinkin' more like..... ALPO....

[bnyb]

03:46 PM on 04/07/2011

I really want to get a movement going to boycott HP for a day as a stand against their gratituously inflammatory and misleading headlines. Who's with me?

[UltraClassicII]

04:13 PM on 04/07/2011

You have noticed that also, I see....

[NoahsMyBro]

04:27 PM on 04/07/2011

Count me in.

[maryoca]

03:37 PM on 04/07/2011

Near or at - big difference, folks!

[bkerensa]

03:24 PM on 04/07/2011

I bet when people in Santa Monica first heard about this they pointed the finger at Muslims.

[The Hucks]

03:36 PM on 04/07/2011

You know, it's funny. In your comment you make the blanket statement that people from Santa Monica lump all Muslims together. Meanwhile, your statement lumps all Santa Monicans together.

[cvbnm67]

03:21 PM on 04/07/2011

Not a bomb.

[seanj]

03:13 PM on 04/07/2011

Hamas blowing up a school bus is true, however.

[BobVADemHawk]

03:37 PM on 04/07/2011

Funny we haven't seen that story pop up on HuffPo yet.

[NorthWoodsVoice]

04:08 PM on 04/07/2011

Show me a nation, people, or religion that hasn't resorted to violence.

[nigelwolsey]

03:12 PM on 04/07/2011

Wonder if this was someone sleeping on the job or our infrastructure falling apart like our bridges, levees, streets and highways. I bet those tax cuts for the rich would have been enough to fix the neighborhoods that they will never visit.

[GZLives]

03:10 PM on 04/07/2011

The story here is - why is this a story ?

[duuwanye]

04:18 PM on 04/07/2011

Exactly...

[deven61]

03:03 PM on 04/07/2011

Per the Glenn Beck code theory....mechanical failure = al qaeda plot.

[Richard Aron]

02:59 PM on 04/07/2011

Nothing touched the synagogue and no one was injured. That should be the headline.

[squiems]

03:20 PM on 04/07/2011

agreed

[theuniversalcollective]

03:35 PM on 04/07/2011

It should

[HBHB]

02:55 PM on 04/07/2011

WOW more HP BS. You really dragged it down the line this time.

[Farmers Market]

03:41 PM on 04/07/2011

Following the lead of Matt Drudge.