
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 19, 1994                   TAG: 9407200074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA                                LENGTH: Medium

AT LEAST 26 DIE, 127 HURT IN ARGENTINE EXPLOSION

A powerful explosion leveled a seven-story building housing two Jewish groups Monday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 127 in what Argentina's president called an attack by ``beasts and savages.''

Rescue workers scrambled over mangled steel and masonry, believing dozens more people could be trapped in the rubble. An estimated 100 people worked in the building, also used by researchers studying government files on Nazi war criminals who entered Argentina after World War II.

President Carlos Menem ordered the borders closed and said two people were detained - an Iraqi carrying an expired Brazilian passport at the border with Brazil, and an Iranian detained elsewhere. Menem gave no details.

A group calling itself the Islamic Command claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a radio station, but officials said they had no information about such a group and dismissed the claim.

Interior Secretary Alberto Iribarne said late Monday that 26 people were killed and 127 injured.

At least four people, including a young boy whose cries were heard by rescuers, were pulled out alive Monday afternoon.

The cause of the explosion was not known, but authorities ruled out an accident.

Menem said the attack was planned ``from abroad and helped by people here.'' The government declared three days of national mourning.

The building housed the headquarters of the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations, an umbrella group of Jewish organizations, and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, which is involved in social projects.

A Palestine Liberation Organization official denounced the explosion.

Researchers in the building had been studying government archives on Nazi war criminals such as Josef Mengele and Adolf Eichmann who entered the country after World War II.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB