Explosions rock tiny Australian outback town

November 6, 2000
Web posted at: 10:22 AM HKT (0222 GMT)

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) -- Australian police are investigating links between a motorcycle gang murder in a tiny outback town and two explosions in the town on Sunday night which destroyed a house and damaged a store.

The explosions in Ora Banda, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Perth in Western Australia state, came a month after a member of the Gypsy Jokers biker gang was shot dead and the remote goldfield outpost's only hotel was damaged by an explosion.

"Inquiries in relation to both those events are continuing," police inspector Al Fordham told Reuters on Monday.

Fordham said there was extensive damage but no injuries in the latest explosions to hit Ora Banda.

"On this occasion a house was completely destroyed by an explosion and subsequent fire, a local mining battery was extensively damaged by another explosion, and further damage was caused to the general store," Fordham said.

"The scene is currently being guarded by police," he said.

Fordham said no charges had been laid yet over the biker murder or the previous explosion, which happened after the hotel had closed and caused no injuries.

Investigators from Perth's major crime, arson and bomb squads are on their way to the tiny town, Fordham said.

The town's gold mine was shut down last year and its hotel acts as a weekend home to prospectors who spend the week searching for gold on their outlying claims.

"My information is that there were only five people staying in Ora Banda yesterday and they've all been accounted for, with no injuries," Fordham said.

"It's not a thriving metropolis."

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