BRAZIL : Shopping Mall Blast Kills at Least 44

An explosion ripped through a shopping mall on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, blasting holes in concrete walls and killing 44 people. More than 100 others were injured. Twenty-seven bodies were pulled from the rubble, and 17 people died at or en route to the hospital, Sao Paulo state police Col. Isaias Mascarenhas said. Mascarenhas said workers expected to find more bodies under the debris. At the time of the blast, as many as 2,000 shoppers were believed to be in the center, which has 200 stores and three movie theaters. The Plaza Shopping Center in the suburb of Osasco, about 10 miles west of Sao Paulo, was built barely a year ago, but Mascarenhas said there was no suspicion of faulty workmanship. Authorities said the cause of the explosion was unknown.