A staff member at a Boston university is being treated for minor injuries after a package delivered to the campus detonated while they were opening it.

A spokesperson for Northeastern University said the explosion happened shortly after 7 p.m. at Holmes Hall. No students were injured.

The Boston Police Department's Bomb Squad responded to the scene to investigate the incident, according to the spokesperson.

Responding police officers and Boston Emergency Medical Services personnel found the staff member, a 45-year-old man, suffering from minor hand injuries. That man was transported to an area hospital for treatment.

"I take very seriously that this city is home to everyone's young people, from our littlest learners up to our college students and university staff," said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. "So we want to make sure we emphasize that this is of the utmost priority: the safety and well-being of all of our young people here."

A search revealed a second similar package that was ultimately rendered safe by the Boston Police Department's bomb squad.

Cox said the Boston Police Department is working with its law enforcement partners at Boston Regional Intelligence, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

"We are going to be working and continue to work with all our campus security partners, as well, to make sure all the students here are safe — as well as the rest of the residents in the city," the commissioner said.

The FBI's Boston Division confirmed that it is offering its full support to its partners, especially Boston police, including the full resources of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, evidence response team and special agent bomb technicians.

"We're fully integrated with our partners and remain committed to resolving the incident safely," said FBI Boston Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromartie.

Sister station WCVB reporter Mike Beaudet said he was teaching a journalism class at Northeastern University at the time. He said his class was moved outside but that neither he nor any of his students heard any explosions.

"I didn't hear any explosions. I don't think any of the other students did," Dicorpo said. "But we heard the fire alarm and so we assumed we should leave."

"It's pretty late at night. Our class was an exception. Most students are home for the day. There's not a lot of classes going on," Maize said.

At about 10 p.m., NewsCenter 5's Nathalie Pozo received an alert from the university stating that the scene at Holmes Hall was contained and the campus was secured and that Northeastern police were working closely with Boston police to secure the area.

"It's very important to note that our campus is secure and we will maintain a secure campus in perpetuity," said Northeastern University police Chief Michael Davis. "That's our work and that's what we continue to do, and we'll be working with our partners here to get this resolved."

MILWAUKEE  — Authorities in Wisconsin continue to investigate after 17 people were injured when a bonfire exploded early Saturday morning in the Town of Maple Grove.

In a news release, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Office said about 30 to 40 people were at the gathering just outside Green Bay when it exploded.

TMJ4 reported people came together to celebrate after the Pulaski High School homecoming football game.

According to the Associated Press, investigators believe the explosion may have occurred after someone rolled a drum filled with diesel fuel into the flames.

The sheriff's office said those who were injured self-transported themselves to local hospitals after the explosion.

On Tuesday, the sheriff's office said they are still looking to talk to witnesses, adding they have no intention of citing people for underage drinking.

"We understand there may be some apprehension for some to meet with us based on the evidence of underage drinking," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "Although underage drinking is something law enforcement agencies take seriously, we can assure you, those who were there, that our detectives do not have intentions on issuing citations for this, as our main focus and concern is gathering the facts of this tragic event."

According to TMJ4, five of the victims are having burns treated at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee.

TMJ4 reported that the Pulaski School District informed the sheriff's office Monday that they won't be allowed to conduct interviews at the schools.

The district said it's cooperating with law enforcement, but it also says its responsibility is to focus on maintaining the educational environment of Pulaski schools, the news outlet reported.

All five are on the fifth floor, which brings some peace to their families, who say they are getting through this together.

Lily Koellner from Brookfield is studying to be a firefighter and EMT. She has serious burns on her face, hands, and legs. She was visiting friends in Pulaski.

Brandon Brzeczkowski will undergo skin graft surgery on Wednesday. His mom, Tammy, says doctors are still trying to make sure he doesn't lose his hands.

With a breathing tube in, he must write what he wants to say. Tammy got a heartbreaking message from him saying, "I want to go home."

Isaac Nelson is also scheduled for his first surgery on Wednesday.

Similar to his friends, he will face many more in the weeks ahead. His mom, Julie, shares that he was able to walk a little and eat for the first time since the bonfire explosion.

Benjamin Van Asten was knocked unconscious when it happened, and his clothes caught on fire. He has burns on over 40% of his body

Kiera Duchateau, the youngest of the kids injured in the incident and being treated in Milwaukee, is a sophomore in high school. She has severe burns on her face, hands, legs, and feet.

"There's just people all over that are trying to reach out and help in any way they can," Mallory Kitchen shared.

There are individual fundraisers for all of these kids, and Kitchen started a collective one.

"When something affects a small town like this, everybody finds out about it very quickly," Kitchen said. "In some of the social media groups, people are like, 'how can we help? What can we do?'"

The money she raises will go to helping those being treated in Milwaukee pay for gas, hotels, and meals. Many of their parents have other children still at home in Pulaski.

"Providing meals for their family still here as these parents are now split between their home and their child that really needs them right now," Kitchen said.

Two young men from Pulaski have been released from the burn unit in Milwaukee and are back home.

They will still be traveling over the next month for skin graph surgeries. One of them said in a post online that he was in a lot of pain.

Katie Crowther at TMJ4 first reported this story.

A fatal plane crash in Watertown, Wisconsin, claimed the lives of a 73-year-old pilot and his 8-year-old grandson joining him for a flight up to northern Wisconsin.

Summit View Elementary School sent a letter to inform families about the tragic loss of student Colin Strebe on June 14 due to an accident.

The aircraft plunged into a grove of trees at Brandt Quirk Park near a residential area on Wednesday at approximately 9 a.m. Investigators spent much of Thursday at the site, where pieces of the wreckage were spread across the soccer field.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were at the airport hangar to examine the evidence.

According to reports from Federal Aviation Administration, the plane had just taken off from the Municipal Airport about 3 miles from the accident site. Sources say the flight was planned to Manitowish Waters.

Investigators will collect as much information as they can from witnesses, and the wreckage itself, to determine, if they can, what led to this family tragedy in Watertown.

Watertown police department said the Brandt Quirk Park would remain closed through the weekend for site cleanup.

Police have yet to identify the victims, officially saying only that there were two victims. The pilot is from Watertown, and his grandson is from Waukesha.

The FAA and National Transportation Board will lead the investigation.

WATCH: Scary moment for Watertown neighbors who heard and 'felt' the plane crash

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WEST READING, Pa. —

An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed three people and left four people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight.

Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after the blast that erupted just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.

West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben said the death toll rose on Saturday with the discovery of a third body at the site. The Berks County Medical Examiner and Coroner on Saturday night also confirmed three fatalities.

Borough Fire Chief Chad Moyer said four people remained missing as emergency personnel continue searching for victims and state and local fire investigators examine the scene to determine a cause.

“Due to the violence of the explosion and the amount of time that has passed, the chance of finding survivors is decreasing rapidly," Moyer said. “However, please be assured that our primary goal is accounting for all missing individuals and reuniting them with their loved ones.”

Holben earlier said the rescue of one person from the rubble “provides hope that others still may be found.” Rescue workers were continuing a thorough search using specialized equipment and techniques. Officials said dogs and imaging equipment were being used to look for signs of life during the careful removal of debris.

The blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Roadways near the site will be closed until Monday at 8 a.m., Holben said.

“It’s pretty leveled,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the explosion site. “The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.”

Reading Hospital said Saturday afternoon it had received 10 patients, of which one was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital and another to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Two were admitted to Reading Hospital in good and fair condition, respectively, and the others had been discharged, officials said.

A UGI Utilities spokesperson said crews were brought in after damage from the blast led to the release of gas that was helping to feed the fire.

“We did not receive any calls regarding a gas leak or gas order prior to the incident. But we are cooperating with the investigation and part of that will be to check all our facilities in the vicinity,” UGI spokesperson Joseph Swope said Saturday.

R.M. Palmer said in a statement late Saturday that everyone at the company was “devastated by the tragic events” and “focused on supporting our employees and their families.”

“We have lost close friends and colleagues, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all who have been impacted,” the company said, expressing gratitude to the “extraordinary efforts” of first responders and the support of the Reading community, “which has been home to our business for more than 70 years.”

R.M. Palmer said it was anxious to get in touch with its employees and their families. But its email, phones and other communication systems were down, and it was relying on first responders and disaster recovery organizations to provide information to affected families. The company said it would be “providing additional information and making contact with employees, impacted families, and the community as soon as possible.”

Kaag said people were asked to move back about a block in each direction, but no evacuations were ordered. She had issued an emergency declaration only to allow more resources for first responders. Borough manager Dean Murray said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, who visited the site Saturday along with the emergency management agency director, vowed “any and all commonwealth resources needed to support ongoing recovery efforts –- in addition to the extensive assets that have already been deployed.”

A team of structural engineers and K-9s from a state urban search and rescue task force had been assisting since last night, and additional personnel arrived Saturday, he said. A state police fire marshal was also assisting in the investigation, he said.

Philip Wert, vice president of the West Reading council, said the building had been constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and officials had to “access our archive to pull the blueprints last night, in order to get a better layout of the building and the mechanicals and the utilities, where things are.”

“The silver lining in all this is someone was found alive, someone was found alive that was in rubble, not knowing whether they were going to live or die, and fortunately we found that person and they’ve got a second chance, and hopefully fingers crossed we’re going to find more,” he said.

Frank Gonzalez stood on a hill overlooking the blast site, watching the rubble being cleared. He said his sister, Diana Cedeno, was working at the plant at the time of the blast and was among the missing.

“It’s not good. It’s just stressful waiting, not knowing,” he said, expressing frustration at what he perceived as a lack of communication from authorities about the search. “We keep reaching out, bugging, keeping her name alive just in case she is in there and says her name.”

He said his sister has two adult children, including a son who is deployed overseas. She has a side job decorating for parties and has also been studying for ministry at her church, he said.

Gonzalez said his son and nephew had also worked at the plant, but that his son had quit a few months ago “because he said he didn’t like the smell of the gas that was in there.” His son and nephew had complained about the smell to plant supervisors, who told them, "‘It’s all right. We got it. It’s being handled. Don’t worry about it,’” he said.

Frank DeJesus said his stepdaughter, Arelis Rivera Santiago, a Palmer employee, was working in the building next door at the time of the blast. The ceiling caved, and she had to crawl under machinery to make it out, he said. DeJesus said he rushed to the scene to find her “shaking and crying hysterically," and she was still too shaken to speak about what had happened.

Plant employees, including his stepdaughter, had complained about smelling gas throughout the day Friday, DeJesus said.

“Everyone complained about smelling gas, and they kept making them work,” he said. “The supervisors told them it was nothing. It was being taken care of.”

A message was sent earlier to R.M. Palmer seeking comment about the blast.

Doug Olexy was home from work and checking email when the blast shook his house, rattling windows and making the walls vibrate.

“It sounded like a bomb went off,” he recalled Saturday. “I mean, all of our houses shook. I’ve never heard as loud of an explosion in my life.”

He and his neighbors ran out onto the street immediately afterward and were met by thick black smoke. At first, Olexy thought it was a train derailment because there are tracks nearby. Then he learned it was the Palmer plant, which he called a West Reading institution.

“Everybody knows Palmer chocolate,” he said.

R.M. Palmer's website says it has been making chocolate novelties since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters. Its Facebook page includes entries earlier this month advertising Easter treats such as chocolate bunnies and “the newest milk chocolate hollow" in its “bunny family” as one with jelly beans inside. The company is by no means the region's best-known chocolate manufacturer, however, with Hershey less than an hour to the west.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

Around 5:17 a.m. on Feb. 13, 1981, a series of sewer explosions destroyed miles of roads and sewers in Louisville, Kentucky.

The damage was done within seconds. However, it took years to repair, costing millions of dollars.

The explosions left gaping holes in crumbled pavement that resembled earthquake damage and left broken water and gas lines in its wake.

The blast was caused by hexane gas that leaked into the sewer system from the nearby Ralston Purina Plant.

No one was killed in the blast.

Watch the archival video above from sister station WLKY to learn more about this story.

FREETOWN, Western Area —

An oil tanker truck exploded near Sierra Leone's capital, killing at least 98 people and severely injuring dozens of others after large crowds gathered to collect leaking fuel, officials and witnesses said Saturday.

The explosion took place late Friday when the tanker collided with another truck as it was pulling into a gas station near a busy intersection in Wellington, just east of the capital of Freetown, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Video above: Fuel tanker fire kills more than 90 outside Sierra Leone's capital

“Both drivers came out of their vehicles and warned community residents to stay off the scene while trying to address a leakage emanating from the collision,” the agency said.

In this deeply impoverished country, however, crowds still rushed in to scoop up fuel, witnesses said. It was not immediately known what caused the leaking fuel to ignite but a massive explosion soon followed.

Video obtained by The Associated Press showed a giant fireball burning in the night sky as some survivors with severe burns cried out in pain. Charred remains of the victims lay strewn at the scene, awaiting transport to mortuaries.

Nearly 100 injured people were taken to area hospitals, officials said. About 30 severely burned people at Connaught Hospital were not expected to survive, according to Foday Musa, a staff member in the intensive care unit.

Injured people whose clothes had burned off in the fire that followed the explosion lay naked on stretchers as nurses attended to them Saturday. Hundreds of people milled outside the main gates of the mortuary and near the hospital's main entrance, waiting for word of their loved ones.

Hospital officials called in as many doctors and nurses as they could overnight to tend to the wounded. The country's health care sector is still recovering from the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, which killed many of the West African nation's doctors and nurses.

President Julius Maada Bio, who was in Scotland attending the United Nations climate talks Saturday, deplored the “horrendous loss of life.”

“My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result,” he tweeted.

Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh visited two hospitals overnight and said Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency and others would “work tirelessly” in the wake of the emergency.

“We are all deeply saddened by this national tragedy, and it is indeed a difficult time for our country,” he said on his Facebook page.

___

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal.

EDGEWOOD, Md. —

The scene investigators called a "violent gas explosion" in Edgewood, Maryland, came into focus Monday morning as cleanup efforts and the investigation began.

One person was hospitalized after a gas explosion destroyed a house Sunday night at the intersection in Edgewood, fire officials told sister station WBAL.

Investigators from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office wrapped up their investigation at the scene shortly after noon Monday. Investigators told WBAL this was a gas explosion and Baltimore Gas and Electric is not at fault. The area of origin was within the kitchen, where investigators are focusing on the stove.

"I saw the flames shooting over the top of the house on the corner, and the more I walked up, I realized what had happened," said Donna Dulski, a neighbor. "(It's) quite upsetting, and I would have bet my next paycheck that nobody would have made it out of that house alive."

"I was about ready to fall asleep and suddenly I heard this noise I have never heard before. I mean, it was thunderous," said Rick Dulski, a neighbor.

"It was big. It was deep. It was very scary. The lights went off immediately," said Alicia Larkins, a neighbor.

Henry Schwartzman also felt the blast. He lives next door to the home that exploded.

"It knocked me off the sofa and things started to fall down. It got black all of a sudden after the hit," he said. "I came to the door and I (saw) flames and smoke."

As he got the process started to get the damage to his home repaired, Schwartzman was thinking about his next-door neighbor who survived the blast.

"He worked for the Postal Service. He was going to retire in two months," Schwartzman said.

"We're just praying right now that he recovers from his injuries," Donna Dulski said.

"Thank God he was alive," Larkins said.

Investigators said the homeowner was pulled from the rubble in the back of the house by a good Samaritan, who also pulled a dog from the rubble. Investigators want to speak with the good Samaritan to get more details. The dog is being treated by an emergency vet and a second dog is being treated by animal control.

"It's a miracle that he survived such a violent explosion," Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said.

Investigators said the homeowner is in critical but stable condition at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for treatment of upwards of third-degree burns mostly to his upper body.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —

Authorities believe an explosion that rocked the downtown Nashville area early on Christmas Day was a deliberate act, according to Metro Nashville Police Department.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said the 6:30 a.m. explosion, which shattered glass and damaged buildings, was believed to be “an intentional act.” Police earlier said they believe a vehicle was involved in the explosion. Three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition.

Police and fire crews were on the scene, as were investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Right now, it’s a public safety concern, to make sure everybody is accounted for and to make sure the spread of the fire doesn’t go any further,” Michael Knight, a spokesman for the ATF in Nashville, told The Associated Press.

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Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home. Alarms blare in the background and cries of people in great distress ring in the background. A fire is visible in the street outside. McCoy said the windows of his home were entirely blown out.

“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.

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Black smoke and flames were seen early Friday billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville's tourist scene.

Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard.

Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home. Alarms blare in the background and cries of people in great distress ring in the background. A fire is visible in the street outside. McCoy said the windows of his home were entirely blown out.

“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.

“It felt like a bomb. It was that big,” he told The Associated Press.

“There were about four cars on fire. I don’t know if it was so hot they just caught on fire, and the trees were all blown apart,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Thalia Beaty contributed from New York.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — AT&T said crews have made significant progress restoring service to the region on Sunday morning following an explosion on Friday morning outside an AT&T data center.

The explosion impacted widespread service interruption reaching outside of just Middle Tennessee.

On Sunday morning, the company said power has been restored to four floors of the building and more than 65% of mobile sites affected by the explosion have been restored.

More than three feet of water was pumped out of the building's basement on Saturday, however, access to some of the lowers is still limited.

AT&T said on Sunday crews will be adding additional cabling and more generators to provide more power into the building to help with restoration efforts.

"Teams are working to safely bring additional equipment online and reroute services through other facilities in the region. While mobility services have been restored in many areas, we still have more than 17 portable cell sites on the air to aid in communication, including for restoration teams and first responders," AT&T said in an update. "We are bringing in additional resources to support the recovery of wireline voice and data services and expect to have a fleet of 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment on-site by the end of the day."

The company did not provide an exact time when it expects service to fully be restored. Metro officials said there will be times customers will lose service as restoration efforts continue but officials are confident to be running at full capacity by the end of Sunday.

Damage to the building is still being assessed.

This story was first published by Caroline Sutton at WTVF in Nashville, Tennessee.

DALLAS (AP) — Authorities say eight people were injured, including four firefighters, in a Dallas apartment complex explosion.

Dallas Fire-Rescue says three firefighters were injured critically, while the other has been discharged after receiving hospital treatment for minor injuries.

Four civilians also were hospitalized in stable condition.

Fire officials say the firefighters were investigating a report of a natural gas leak at the two-story complex in southern Dallas.

They had reported smelling gas just before the explosion partially collapsed the building.

The cause of the blast hasn't been determined and remains under investigation.

An explosion rocked an apartment building in suburban Atlanta on Sunday, rendering the three-story complex unstable and leaving at least one person injured, authorities said.

The cause of the explosion was unknown, but a local utility had received a call from a resident about a strong odor of gas shortly before the midday blast, Dunwoody Deputy Fire Chief Melvin Carter said. One person was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Carter said 90% of the building had been searched and officials were in the process of shoring up the rest of the complex so rescuers could continue searching for anyone who might be trapped. He said there were reports of two people being unaccounted for.

A helicopter and drone circled above the structure as the local Red Cross began canvassing residents to see who might need help finding accommodations. The building and several others nearby were evacuated. Residents were told that Monday was the earliest they could return to their homes.

Earlier, the Dunwoody Police Department wrote on social media that they received a report of an explosion at Arrive Apartments shortly before 1:30 p.m.

Brandon Winfield, 28, who lives in a building next to the one that collapsed, said he felt lucky that he avoided injury since he had driven by the site minutes before the explosion.

“I'm alive. I'm alive," he said.

The collapse reminded him of a terrible accident that happened when he was a teenager, severing his spinal cord while participating in motocross.

"I dodged two bullets,” he said.

Eboni Thornton said that she was in a moving truck outside the building when it felt like something fell on top of the vehicle. She said the whole vehicle shook. She was shocked at what she saw when she got out of the truck.

“The leasing office was collapsed on the left side, the double doors were blown out and I could hear a lady screaming her head off,” Thornton said.

Thornton said she saw a couple people limping and bleeding and being carried out of the rubble.

Police said they are working with fire officials to determine the cause of the blast in Dunwoody, a suburb just north of Atlanta.

File video above: Celebrities uplift Vanessa Bryant after eulogizing her late husband and daughter

This week will come with reflections of tragedies and the next phase of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment case.

This week will have been one year after a deadly helicopter crash claimed nine lives and 35 years after the space shuttle Challenger explosion claimed seven lives.

Here's what to know.

Impeachment case moves forward

The House of Representatives is moving forward on the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, less than a week after he left office.

It involves a single charge of incitement of insurrection for the deadly attack on the Capitol that unfolded on Jan. 6.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will send the article of impeachment late Monday, with senators sworn in as jurors Tuesday.

In December 2019, Trump was impeached by the House on two articles: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. House Democrats claimed the president abused power like no other leader in U.S. history when he pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, ahead of the 2020 election. The Senate acquitted him on both articles in February.

Opening arguments for the second trial, of which no president has ever faced previously, will move to February.

1 year passes since Kobe helicopter crash

Tuesday marks one year since a tragic helicopter crash killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant along with his daughter Gianna and her basketball teammate and six other people.

In addition to Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter, the crash claimed the lives of Payton Chester, 13; Sarah Chester, 45; Alyssa Altobelli, 14; Keri Altobelli, 46; John Altobelli, 56; Christina Mauser, 38; and the helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50.

Bryant was posthumously selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in early 2020, but an enshrinement ceremony for that class is slated for May 13-15.

Remembering the Challenger tragedy

Thursday will mark 35 years after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, claiming the lives of seven people: Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Dick Scobee and Michael Smith.

This year, NASA's annual Day of Remembrance ceremony will be livestreamed on Facebook at 11 a.m. ET due to social distancing precautions, the Kennedy Space Center said.

The explosion happened 73 seconds after liftoff.

The Associated Press and CNN contributed.

Warning: This video contains distressing images. Viewer discretion advised.

It's been a year since one of the world's largest ever non-nuclear explosions ripped through Lebanon's capital, killing more than 200 people.

On any given day in Beirut's worst-affected neighborhoods, theories about the explosion still circulate. No two stories of human tragedy are alike, and most interactions between people here end not with a goodbye, but with an invocation that Lebanon's ruling elite be toppled.

The political class is, overwhelmingly, blamed for the disaster.

At just after 6 p.m. on August 4, 2020, hundreds of metric tons of ammonium nitrate ignited, sparking the massive blast in the city's port.

The industrial chemicals had been improperly stored there for years due to the failure to act by successive governments and lawmakers across the political divide. That much is clear.

But for people across Lebanon, there are still many unanswered questions about what led to the tragedy, and there has been no sense of closure in the 12 months since the explosion.

Here's what we still don't know.

What triggered the blast?

Because of the many inquiries by journalists and rights groups over the past year, we know that the ammonium nitrate — stored alongside fireworks in a poorly maintained warehouse — was a disaster waiting to happen.

Video above shows Beirut explosion interrupt bride's wedding day

Six urgent letters sent by customs officials since 2014 — the year the material was unloaded at the port under mysterious circumstances — had alerted the authorities to the danger posed by the chemicals.

One was written by a port official in May 2020, just months before the blast. "This substance, if ignited, will lead to a large explosion, and its outcome will almost obliterate the port of Beirut. If the substance were exposed to any kind of theft, the thief would be able to use this substance to build explosives," warned the document, which was obtained by CNN after the incident.

Beirut's port is just 100 meters from some of the city's most densely-populated neighborhoods. The blast destroyed not only a large part of the port, but also left swathes of the city in tatters. The damage was estimated at between $3.8 and $4.6 billion.

It is clear that successive leaders — four governments and three prime ministers — either would have or should have known about the threat posed by the material, and that little was done to address the danger.

But what is far from clear, 12 months on, is what ignited the ammonium nitrate.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, Tarek Bitar, the judge charged with investigating the explosion, is looking into several theories.

One is that sparks from welding works that day caused a fire in hangar 12, the warehouse where the chemical was being stored.

Another is that an Israeli strike was the catalyst, though Lebanese aviation officials reported that local radar systems did not detect military aircraft over Lebanese airspace in the hour or so before the blast, Israeli officials have denied any involvement, and Bitar himself has said the Israel theory was highly unlikely, according to HRW's report.

Bitar is also exploring the theory that the explosion was an intentional act, according to HRW.

"Speculation that Hezbollah may have wanted to destroy the ammonium nitrate at the port supposedly to hide that some of the ammonium nitrate in the stockpile had been used by Hezbollah's ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria to produce barrel bombs increased as reporting emerged regarding the connection between the cargo owners and individuals sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged links to Assad," the report said, referring to an investigative report by local journalist Firas Hatoum.

Hatoum linked the shipment of ammonium nitrate — which that arrived in 2013 and was unloaded the following year — to companies linked to, according to the HRW report, Syrian-Russian businessmen "who have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for acting on behalf of the Syrian government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."

Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the blast.

Several Lebanese factions were heavily involved in Syria's civil war earlier in the conflict. Affiliates of Lebanon's Saudi-backed former prime minister, Saad Hariri, materially aided anti-Assad forces for a time. Hezbollah intervened on Assad's behalf and is widely believed to have helped save his presidency.

Adding to the mystery around the ammonium nitrate is the fact that all of Lebanon's major political parties have a strong presence at the port.

"Lebanon's main political parties, including Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Future Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Amal Movement, and others, have benefited from the port's ambiguous status and poor governance and accountability structures," the HRW report said.

"Political parties have installed loyalists in prominent positions in the port, often positioning them to accrue wealth, siphon off state revenues, smuggle goods, and evade taxes in ways that benefit them or people connected to them," it added.

Was any ammonium nitrate missing? What happened to it?

The judicial investigation's third theory, that the ignition was an intentional act, has gained prominence over the past year.

Several reports have suggested that far less ammonium nitrate exploded last August than initially thought. According to Reuters, an FBI report estimated that only 20% of the 2,755 tons of ammonium nitrate brought to the port in 2013 actually detonated. The HRW report also cited an August 2020 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in which three European intelligence sources estimated that the size of the blast was equivalent to as little as 700- 1,000 tons.

The theory goes that the ammonium nitrate was left at the port, where it could be siphoned off by factions in Lebanon.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab told CNN he only found out about the existence of the ammonium nitrate in early June 2020, and immediately requested further information. He said he received a file on the situation at the port on July 22 — but that the part predicting the catastrophic effects of an explosion had been omitted.

Diab said he forwarded the file to the Ministry of Public Works, under whose purview the port falls, and the Ministry of Justice, and asked them to investigate the chemicals at the port.

CNN has seen a document showing that the Ministry of Public Works stamped the front of the file on August 4, 2020.

The blast happened at 6.08 p.m. the same day.

In a December 2020 interview with CNN, Diab — by then the country's caretaker Prime Minister — called the timing "suspicious."

"There is something suspicious for (the report) to come in July 22 ... and then for it to blow up. There is something suspicious. Even though this is a seven-year issue. Seven years, for God's sake," Diab told CNN at the time. "There's something that's unexplainable, the timing of this."

How will Beirut rebuild?

Perhaps one of the most glaring unanswered questions surrounding the Beirut port explosion is whether the city will ever go back to what it was.

Since the blast, the city has buckled under the strain of a rapidly plummeting currency, long power outages, and severe medicine, milk and fuel shortages. Lebanon's dire economic straits mean most of the rebuilding efforts have been privately funded, or supported by non-profit organizations. A year later, much of the repair work is still ongoing.

But many home and shop owners say they neither have the financial means nor the psychological strength to return to affected neighborhoods.

"They've ruined us. I'd sell my soul to leave this country," said one shop owner on the once hip but still extensively damaged Gemmayze street, referring to the country's ruling class. "May they never again see a good day."

CNN —

A California man faces federal charges after allegedly transporting tons of explosives from out of state — including devices that later exploded in a police bomb disposal truck, injuring 17 people, authorities said.

Arturo Ceja III was arrested Saturday by special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), federal authorities said. He's accused of transporting explosives without a license or permit.

It was not clear Sunday if Ceja had retained an attorney. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

He was initially arrested Wednesday after Los Angeles police received a tip and found a large stockpile of fireworks at his South Los Angeles home.

"The initial investigation by local authorities estimated that approximately 5,000 pounds of fireworks were found; however, today the ATF determined that Ceja was storing approximately 32,000 pounds of fireworks in his backyard," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement Saturday.

According to a criminal complaint, "Ceja made several trips to Nevada in late June to purchase various types of explosives — including aerial displays and large homemade fireworks containing explosive materials — that he transported to his residence in rental vans," the U.S. attorney's office said.

"The complaint notes that fireworks in California can be sold for as much as four times what purchasers pay for the fireworks in Nevada," the U.S. attorney's office said.

The illegal fireworks were intended for sale around the Fourth of July holiday, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said.

While the fireworks were being removed from Ceja's home, the LAPD bomb squad determined some of the homemade fireworks with explosive materials were not safe to transport due to the risk of detonation in a densely populated area, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Police decided to destroy those fireworks at the scene using a total containment vessel (TCV), according to the affidavit.

"During the destruction of the devices, the entire TCV exploded, causing a massive blast radius, damaging homes in the neighborhood and injuring a total of 17 law enforcement personnel and civilians," the U.S. attorney's office said.

Nearby buildings and vehicles were also damaged, the arrest warrant affidavit said.

The police chief said he wasn't sure why the total containment vessel couldn't contain the explosives.

"This vessel should have been able to dispose of this material," Moore said last week. "Something happened in that containment vehicle that should not have happened, and we do not know why."

Related video: How to Keep Your Pet Calm During July Fourth FireworksWhen Ben Shortreed and friends lit fireworks in his yard before the Fourth of July last year, a shell exploded in his left hand, causing damage so severe a surgeon had to amputate the hand that night.A neighbor who later searched in vain for Shortreed's wedding ring found one of his fingers about 100 feet from the site of the blast."A harmless, low-key family day turned into a pretty life-changing event," said Shortreed, 42, who lives in the town of Verona and is part owner of an insurance agency in Middleton.His story serves as a cautionary tale about fireworks and underscores the challenges of treating pain, including with opioids.A few days after his injured hand was removed at the wrist on June 27, 2020, at UW Hospital, Shortreed started feeling phantom pain. It felt like his missing thumbnail was being ripped off, he said. On his absent index finger and ring finger, it seemed, "somebody was driving a needle or pin straight down the middle of the bone," he said.At times, he sensed, "my hand was clenched like a fist, and my knuckles were being dragged across rough gravel," said Shortreed, a Marine Corps veteran. "It was absolutely torturous and excruciating, and this was 24-7."His doctors at Madison's Veterans Hospital increased the dosage of his medications. In addition to over-the-counter pain relievers, he was taking muscle relaxants, nerve medications and the opioid painkillers morphine and oxycodone.One of the nerve medications, gabapentin, gave him "brain fog," he said. As the weeks wore on, he felt he was becoming addicted to the opioids. He started having hallucinations, imagining he was locked in a box and bones were buried in his basement. He wasn't sure how he could keep running his business. He and his wife, Kara Flentje, who were trying to adopt a daughter from Colombia, wondered if they would have to stop the process."Sleep was by pure exhaustion. I was lucky to get 90 minutes from time to time," Shortreed said. "This was definitely taking me to the breaking point."Pain reliefIn mid-August, at UW Health's pain clinic, he tried a procedure called peripheral nerve stimulation. Two thin wires were implanted near a bundle of nerves between his neck and shoulder. For 60 days, he wore a small transmitter on his chest that stimulated the wires with electricity."I had immediate relief," he said. "I haven't had a single phantom pain or feeling since."The effect can be long term because the process resets pain receptors, said Dr. Alaa Abd-Elsayed, medical director of UW Health's pain clinic, who performed the outpatient procedure."You lock the gate so other stimuli cannot travel to the brain," Abd-Elsayed said. "When pain comes through the same pathway, it will find the gate closed by another stimulation and will not travel."The device, by Cleveland-based SPR Therapeutics, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018. It is also being used at UW Health on patients with back, foot and chest pain, Abd-Elsayed said.When Shortreed tried to stop taking the opioids all at once, he got sick from withdrawal. But he managed to wean himself off the drugs in two weeks. By January, he was off all pain and nerve medication."It wasn't until I had clarity being drug-free did I realize how impaired I actually was on that cocktail of drugs," he said.Toward normalcyShortreed has two prostheses, a basic one he uses for work around the house and a flexible, waterproof one with sensors that read muscle movement on his forearm to allow the hand to open, close and grip.He's back to running Avid Risk Solutions with co-founder Brock Ryan, and the two have joined others in starting or acquiring companies involved in clothing, antimicrobial products, golf equipment and track-and-field competitions.In April, Shortreed and Flentje adopted Ashly Elaine, a 13-year-old girl from Colombia they hosted in December 2019 through an orphan housing agency. He got another wedding ring, which he wears on his right hand.Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

Watch the explosion in the video player above.

An "experimental explosion" triggered by the Navy about 100 miles off the Florida coast registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

The blast is known as a "shock trial," an explosion meant to test a ship's ability to withstand nearby detonations. The Navy was testing its new aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford.

These types detonations have been purposely triggered for decades after the Navy discovered nearby explosions could knock out key systems on its vessels, even when they don't cause physical damage.

This marks the first time the Navy has conducted shock trials since it tested the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in 1987.

Military officials say the tests are in compliance with environmental requirements that consider the migration patterns of marine life.