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By Reuters 
22h ago
Tim ghianni
Nashville, Tennessee – Police and federal agents in Nashville searched for clues Saturday to determine how and why a motorhome exploded to pieces in an apparent Christmas Day bombing that injured three people and damaged dozens of buildings in the heart of the country music capital of the United States. .
The motorhome, parked on a downtown street in Tennessee’s largest city, exploded at dawn on Friday moments after police responding to reports of shooting in the area noticed the RV and heard an automated message emanating. of him warning of a bomb.
The means of detonation and whether anyone was inside the motorhome when it exploded were not immediately known, but investigators were examining what they believed could be human remains found in the vicinity of the explosion, police said.
Police did not offer a possible motive and there was no claim of responsibility, although officials with the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department called the blast an “intentional act” and promised to determine its origin.
Agents from the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting in the investigation.
Adding to the cryptic nature of the incident was the disturbing preamble described by witnesses: a crackle of gunfire followed an apparently computer-generated female voice from the RV reciting a minute-by-minute countdown to an imminent attack.
Police rushed to evacuate nearby homes and buildings and called in a bomb squad, which was still on its way to the scene when the RV exploded just outside an AT&T building where it had been parked.
Later, police released a photo of the motor home, which they said had arrived in the area about four hours before the explosion.
The blast of fire, heard miles away, destroyed several other vehicles parked nearby, smashed windows and severely damaged several adjacent buildings. Mayor John Cooper said a total of 41 businesses were damaged.
Firefighters said three people were taken to hospitals with relatively minor injuries and were in stable condition. Authorities said swift action by police to clear the area of bystanders likely prevented more casualties.
Damage to AT&T facilities from the blast caused widespread disruptions to telephone, Internet and fiber optic television service in central Tennessee and parts of several neighboring states, including Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, the company said.
Police Chief John Drake said authorities had received no threat of attack prior to reports of shooting at the beginning of the incident.
The explosion occurred about two blocks from Lower Broadway, where some of Nashville’s famous live music venues are located. The Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry and just three blocks from the scene of the blast, was not damaged. The current Gaylord Opryland and Grand Ole Opry complexes, which are located outside of the city center, were not affected.
“It’s an amazing thing to happen in Nashville so close and at Christmas time, but we understand America is going through some very tumultuous times right now,” said country singer John Rich, owner of a honky-tonk club a block from the explosion. . he told Reuters.
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