Explosions Hit Army Hospital in Managua

A series of explosions on the grounds of Nicaragua’s main military hospital rocked Managua on Wednesday night.

The explosions, at 10:57 p.m., touched off a series of fires on a hillside that could be seen from all over this capital. State security police and ambulances rushed to the scene as patients were evacuated from the Alejandro Davila Bolanos Hospital.

There was no immediate word on casualties but one doctor was quoted as saying that the inside of the hospital was badly damaged.

The explosions were the most devastating and dramatic in downtown Managua since the Sandinistas took power here in July, 1979.

Sandinista spokesmen did not immediately blame the explosions on the contras, the anti-Sandinista rebels who are trying to topple the regime.

If the explosions were caused by the contras, as suspected here, it would appear to mark an effort by the rebels to demonstrate their strength as Congress considers whether to grant the $14 million sought by President Reagan for their cause.

1983 Airport Bombing

The last Managua area explosion blamed directly on contra elements occurred in September, 1983, in a bombing attack at the airport, about 8 miles from the center of the city.

The official radio of the Sandinista government confirmed that the hillside fires were caused by explosions. It added that there were no victims “of consequence or wounded of consequence,” but it did not disclose any specific figures.

The patients in Alejandro Davila Bolanos Hospital were transferred to other hospitals in Managua. Alejandro Davila Bolanos, regarded as Nicaragua’s most sophisticated medical facility, is next to the headquarters of the General Directorate of State Security. The radio broadcast said that leading figures of the Sandinista revolutionary government, including President Daniel Ortega, visited the scene of the explosions, which shattered windows of homes in the vicinity.

Army and security forces set up roadblocks near the hospital, which is located close to the Intercontinental Hotel. The hotel was not damaged.

Hundreds of armed Sandinista soldiers guarded the hospital and the surrounding area while authorities searched for evidence.