Key Points

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Friday referred to the explosion on the social media platform X as a "critical workplace incident," which occurred shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time (1430 GMT) at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in East Los Angeles, Xinhua news agency reported.

"There were three department member fatalities," the department said, adding that homicide detectives are investigating the scene. Local KABC-TV reported that the victims were handling some kind of explosives when the blast occurred, citing preliminary information from sources.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi described it as a "horrific incident" and confirmed that at least three people died. "Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more," she wrote on X.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was briefed on the explosion, according to a statement from his press office on X. The Governor's Office of Emergency Services is coordinating with the sheriff's department and offering full state assistance while closely monitoring the situation, the statement said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is supporting the L.A. County Sheriff's Department through this "horrific incident" in Monterey Park. L.A. Fire Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the LAPD bomb squad "are assisting at the training facility," Bass said on X.

The Biscailuz Center Academy Training is home to the sheriff's department's special enforcement units and bomb squad, according to local media.

The incident is the deadliest law enforcement-related explosion in Southern California in nearly 40 years, NBC News reported. The exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

- IANS