Guyana says targeted attack on gas station killed 8-year-old girl and injured 4 others

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s government said Monday that it is investigating what it called a terrorist attack on a gas station that caused a car to explode, killing an 8-year-old girl and injuring four other people, two of them seriously.

The attack occurred late Sunday in the capital, Georgetown, and is the third such one this year.

No one has been arrested, and authorities have not provided a motive.

Police said that a man was seen planting explosives near propane gas cylinders at a gas station on commercial Regent Street and escaped before authorities could act.

The explosion was heard in several districts more than a mile away.

President Irfaan Ali asked the public to help locate the suspect.

“I have directed that a full-scale investigation be launched immediately, and that every available resource and investigative tool be utilized to determine the precise cause and circumstances of this incident,” he said in a social media post.

Police have cordoned off the area while investigations continue.

The two other attacks earlier this year occurred at a police station and at a state-owned power plant substation.

A man from Guyana was charged in the power plant attack, with police accusing him of helping the unidentified main suspects.

No motive has been provided in either of those attacks.