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One person was dead and a Palm Springs, Calif., fertility clinic and
several other buildings were damaged after a bomb exploded less than a
mile from the city’s downtown on Saturday, the mayor said.

The explosion was in or near a vehicle parked by the clinic, according to
the mayor, Ron deHarte.

The bombing appears to be an isolated, intentional act of violence, said
the Palm Springs fire chief, Paul Alvarado.

The mayor said it was unclear how or whether the victim was connected to
the blast. The person’s identity was not known, Chief Alvarado said in a statement.

The make and model of the vehicle was unclear. All that was left of it at
the scene was an axle.

Reports of a loud boom and images of broken glass and billowing smoke
began to be shared on social media around 11 a.m. local time. The blast
area extended for blocks, and some buildings were severely damaged.

A phone number for the clinic, American Reproductive Centers, did not
appear to be in service on Saturday.

A website for the office listed fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization and egg freezing, among its services.

Dr. Maher Abdallah, who runs the clinic, told The Associated Press that
the clinic’s office was damaged, but the I.V.F. lab and stored embryos
were not.

“I really have no clue what happened,” Dr. Abdallah said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”

The police, firefighters and medical crews were on the scene, the mayor
said. Mr. deHarte said that F.B.I. officials were also on the scene. Gov.
Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said on Saturday afternoon.

Laura Eimiller, a public affairs specialist with the F.B.I., said that the agency had investigators, bomb technicians and an Evidence Response Team
going to the scene.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting the investigation, according to a spokeswoman, Nicole Lozano.

Videos showed flames licking the shattered terra-cotta tiles of the
clinic’s roof as debris clogged its entrance.

Claudio Chavez, who works at an upholstery shop near the explosion, said
that his store’s windows were blown out.

“I was just in my shop waiting for clients, and all of a sudden it felt
like a big explosion,” he said. “It took out our window. I just saw a
bunch of smoke.”

He said people came out of homes and businesses onto the street to see
what happened. Mr. Chavez, a logistics manager at the shop, said he began picking up debris and sweeping up broken glass.

Scott Pastorius, 61, a construction project manager from Los Angeles, was sitting in his vacation home four blocks away from the explosion site when
he heard a loud boom.

“My initial response was earthquake, but in a split second I realized it
was too intense,” he said. “The whole house rattled and then the glass in
the door I saw flexing.”

Mr. Pastorius said he ran into his backyard, where he saw a plume of smoke billowing nearby. He grabbed his camera and got in his car and drove to
the scene.

The damage was extensive, he said.

The Desert Regional Medical Center across the street, a liquor store and a pancake house had windows blown out, he said. A nearby hotel also had
doors blown off and its portico was damaged, Mr. Pastorius said.

Mr. Pastorius said the roof of the fertility clinic had collapsed and the entire back side of the building had been blown out. Debris from the
explosion shot across the street to the other curb, he said.

“That was a very intense explosion,” Mr. Pastorius said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/us/palm-springs-explosion.html

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