Nashville camper van explodes in 'intentional act'
A parked camper van exploded in the US metropolis of Nashville, Tennessee, in early stages Christmas morning hours, injuring three people and knocking out communications systems across the state.
Possible individual remains were later determined close to the blast site, US media report.
Police believe the powerful blast was first caused deliberately.
Officers responding to studies of gunshots right before 06:00 (12:00 GMT) found a camper van broadcasting a good warning message to leave the area.
The van exploded a couple of minutes later.
A officer was knocked off your feet by the force of the blast, officials said.
Police have finally released this image of the van - described by Nashville police seeing as a recreational car or truck (RV) - arriving at the scene early on Friday.
The van blew up outside a construction owned by the telecoms giant AT&T, which also occupies an office tower close by.
Buildings suffered structural destruction, house windows were blown out, and trees were felled. Clips posted on social mass media showed water from harmed pipes running down wall space as alarms howled in the backdrop.
Police emergency systems were knocked out across much of Tennessee. Flights out of Nashville AIRPORT TERMINAL were briefly halted because of this of damage done by the blast but have finally resumed.
'It felt such as a bomb'
Zero motive has yet been established, nor do police know who was behind the incident.
A number of people have been taken to the central police precinct for questioning, a spokesman told the Associated Press.
It was not yet determined whether anyone was inside the vehicle at the time of the explosion, police said.
The FBI is leading the investigation. Brokers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are as well involved.
Resident Buck McCoy explained he previously been woken up by the blast. He submitted a video tutorial on Facebook, showing a number of the damage done, with alarms howling in the backdrop.
"All my home windows, every single one of them got blown in to the next area. If I have been standing there, it could have been horrible," Mr McCoy advised AP. "It felt like a bomb. It was that big."
The explosion hit a location of Nashville known because of its restaurants and nightlife.
"Up to now, we do think that the explosion was an intentional act," law enforcement spokesman Don Aaron told reporters.
CCTV footage posted on YouTube seemed to show the moments before the explosion, when a warning was first broadcast, saying, "When you can hear this message, evacuate right now". A loud bang follows and flames and smoke fill the screen.
"It appears like a bomb gone off," Nashville Mayor John Cooper said, urging people to stay away from the area.
"This morning's strike on our community was intended to create chaos and dread in this year of peace and anticipation, however the spirit of our metropolis cannot be broken," he said.
In a tweet Tennessee Governor Bill Lee pledged to provide "all of the resources needed" to research what happened and who was simply behind it.
President Donald Trump features been briefed on the problem.
