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ATF Says Bomb Behind Michigan Car Explosion

This is not news you hear everyday:

According to federal officials, a bomb was to blame for an explosion that injured a father and his two sons in Michigan. Video of the aftermath shows a car engulfed in flames on a tree-lined street in Monroe, Michigan.

The AP reports:

Investigators were poring over what remained vehicle after the Tuesday evening blast, looking for clues about how the device was made and who might have planted it, said Donald Dawkins, a spokesman the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"There was a lot of power behind it. The victims are very fortunate, very blessed, to be alive," Dawkins said.

The Detroit Free-Press spoke to Edwin Holly, 68, who witnessed the explosion from his window.

"I was looking to see if there were deer and saw the car come around and go boom," he told the paper. "I took off running to the scene to see if I could get anyone out but there was nothing I could do."

Federal authorities declined to name the victims, but the Monroe News reports the man is a divorce attorney who's been involved in prominent cases. He was released from the hospital this morning.

The paper quotes an unnamed family friend, who told them, "This was not an intent to injure; this was an intent to kill. Everybody's going to make it, but there's a lot of heartache ahead. I'm still in shock."

The ATF is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.