Exploding Baseball Bat in Chile Kills 1, Hurts American

A bomb hidden inside a baseball bat exploded Saturday during a game between a university team and the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce, killing a Canadian businessman and wounding a U.S. Embassy employee, police said.

The aluminum bat filled with explosives blew up during the game at Santiago’s National Stadium, killing Canadian businessman James Thomas Johnson, police sources said. Thomas, 36, who had arrived recently in Chile, worked for a seafood export company, the sources said.

A man who said he represented the Palestine Liberation Organization called Radio Monumental and claimed responsibility for the blast.

“This is a taste of what will happen to North American dictator Bush if he sets foot in Chile, a country we love and respect,” the caller said.

President Bush is scheduled to tour Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela on Dec. 2-8. His itinerary includes stops in Santiago and Valparaiso on Dec. 6-7.

Thomas Collins, 28, a security officer at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, and Canadians Frank Joseph and Frank Arsenau were wounded in the explosion.

U.S. Ambassador Charles A. Gillespie Jr. visited Collins in a hospital and said later that he was out of danger. Aluminum splinters injured Collins’ right eye, medical sources said.

A PLO delegation is visiting Chile, and hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday outside the presidential palace in Santiago to demand recognition for the state of Palestine, proclaimed two years ago by the PLO.

Saturday’s baseball program had also included a second game between two teams formed by members of the Marine detail at the U.S. Embassy, a spokesman for the military police said. Police sources said they suspected the bomb was intended to harm the military players.