The World : Costa Rica Blast Wounds 6

Six people, including two Americans, were wounded when a fragmentation grenade blew up outside the U.S.-Costa Rican Cultural Center in San Jose, Costa Rican authorities said. Red Cross officials identified the Americans as Alice Feister, a professor at the center who is from the Washington, D.C., area, and Shelly Bartain, a student from Chico, Calif. Feister, who was seriously wounded, was reported in fair condition while Bartain was listed in good condition, officials said. U.S. Embassy spokesman Mark Krischick, who earlier reported that the blast resulted from a ruptured power transformer, said that U.S. officials had not been able to confirm the report by Costa Rican officials that the explosion was caused by a fragmentation grenade. Costa Rican officials said the grenade apparently was thrown onto the sidewalk outside the center.