PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP):
THE UNITED States Embassy has warned American citizens to avoid the downtown area of the capital for four days next week, following a series of bombings that have all occurred around the same time of the month.
Americans in Trinidad & Tobago should avoid downtown Port-of-Spain from October 9-12, and should take general precautions at all times, an embassy spokesman said yesterday.
The bombings began July 11, when an explosion in a trash bin on a busy downtown street injured 14 people including a woman whose foot was amputated as a result of her injuries from the blast.
A second went off in a pile of trash bags on August 11 and the third exploded in a trash bin behind a fast-food restaurant on September 10. No one was injured in either incident.
"The U.S. Embassy has the responsibility to make citizens aware of any potential danger, and given the pattern of the dates of the previous three bombings, the embassy felt it was appropriate to make U.S. citizens living in Trinidad and Tobago aware," said spokesman Robert Skinner.
Trinidad's government, which has not announced any arrests in the bombings, said it has increased security in the capital, but has not urged its citizens to avoid downtown.
