JEDDAH, 10 October — The death toll in Saturday’s bomb explosion in Alkhobar has risen to three, Okaz newspaper reported yesterday. The latest casualty is American Juan Filin, who had suffered serious head injuries in the blast.
He is the second American to have died from the attack, which also claimed the life of another expatriate worker and injured three others — a Briton and two Filipinos.
The paper said Filin died at King Fahd University Hospital in Alkhobar.
Americn Michael Gerald Martin died in the blast on the first day. The other fatality is yet to be identified.
Al-Watan newspaper quoted witnesses as saying that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, and the perpetrator’s body was blown several meters away. This report has not yet been confirmed.
According to another report circulating about the latest bomb blast, a pedestrian had thrown a parcel bomb into the busy shopping area on King Khaled Street in downtown Alkhobar.
Saudi officials did not speculate on the reasons for the attack, which follows a series of bombings in the Kingdom linked to alcohol smuggling.
A dozen Westerners are in jail awaiting trial as inquiries continue into bootlegging and related explosions.
A White House spokesman said on Saturday that he believes the explosion was a local incident, and not aimed at Americans. He ruled out the possibility that it had any links to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Brig. Abdullah Gharsa, director of Civil Defense in the region, said police were still investigating the causes of the blast. Traders say that business has now returned to normal in the shopping complex.
