S. Africa Police Post Bombed, 2 Officers Hurt

A bomb exploded outside a Cape Town police station today, shattering windows and injuring two officers in the 12th bombing since the government imposed a state of emergency exactly three weeks ago.

In other violence, authorities said three blacks were killed by “the necklace,” a gruesome form of murder in which burning tires are placed around victims, generally moderate blacks seen by militants as government “stooges.”

The latest killings brought the total of violent deaths to 111 since President Pieter W. Botha declared the state of emergency giving police sweeping powers and restricting the news media.

The Bureau of Information in Pretoria said two police officers, a man and a woman, were slightly injured in the Cape Town blast at 7:35 a.m., which disrupted rush-hour traffic and shattered the windows of a nearby supermarket.

Van Lifted Off Road

Martin Margolis, a store owner, said he was driving by the Mowbray district police station “when all of a sudden it was as though I had hit a barrier and the van lifted.”

Supermarket manager Mike Sheehan had just arrived at work. “I saw glass flying in front of the building. At first I thought our shop had been hit, then I saw bricks and rubble lying outside the police station.”

Witnesses said the explosive device apparently was placed in a flower box decorating a police station window.

The explosion tied up morning rush hour traffic for several hours as police cordoned off the area around the station house, which is adjacent to a major commuter highway.

It was the 12th bomb attack since a June 14 car bomb was detonated near a popular Durban restaurant, killing three women and injuring 69 people.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions.