Newsday

Egyptians Injured in Explosion

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- An explosion at a power station outside Beirut injured five Egyptian technicians Friday and cut electricity for several hours to parts of the capital, officials said.

The explosion at the Jamhour station, five miles east of the city, appeared to have been caused by a short circuit, police said. Twelve Egyptians were working at the time, one of the injured workers said.

Four of the hospitalized workers had minor injuries to the arms, while a fifth who suffered injuries to the head, chest and arms was kept in intensive care, officials at Beirut's Jeitawi hospital said.

The explosion caused power outages of up to five hours in the eastern and southern parts of the capital, Lebanon's state-run Electricity Company said. Power was later restored.

The Jamhour station on the Beirut-Damascus highway was one of several Lebanese power facilities bombed by Israeli warplanes in February and May in retaliation for guerrilla attacks against Israeli outposts in southern Lebanon. Egypt sent a team to repair the Jamhour station, which was completely gutted in the May raid.

AP-NY-09-08-00 0841EDT< 

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), September 08, 2000