Two die in Bolivian hotel blasts, foreigners held

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Twin bomb blasts tore through two budget hotels and killed two people in La Paz, and Bolivian officials said they questioned two foreigners, including one American, in connection with the attacks today.

Local television reports, citing police sources, said the American was a 27-year-old Californian man with mental health problems who was suspected of links to other violent incidents.

The US Embassy in La Paz confirmed that the suspect was an American, but declined further comment.

The blasts devastated the downtown hotels, blowing out windows in neighboring buildings and showering debris across the surrounding streets.

The first explosion occurred around 9.50pm on Tuesday (1.50pm on Wednesday NZT), killing two people and injuring four others, firefighters said. The second blast came four hours later.

"There was a massive explosion and the building was practically destroyed," a man staying at the second hotel told Reuters by phone as he stood in the street in his pyjamas.

"No one was hurt because the police evacuated the hotel about 10 minutes before," he added, asking not to be named.

Officials have not yet named the victims, but a medical worker said a young American woman and a Colombian were among the injured.

Soon after the second explosion, police arrested the two suspects in the city of El Alto, which borders La Paz.

"Both were carrying cartridges of dynamite and detonators. The woman is Uruguayan and the man says he is from the United States. We are gathering information from immigration to establish when they entered the country," La Paz prosecutor Jorge Gutierrez told reporters.

Local television reports said the 27-year-old man and the 46-year-old Uruguayan woman had been distributing calendars advertising an explosives export company.

The calendars carried a photo of a naked woman, who the television reports said was the woman suspect.

Earlier, Bolivian President Evo Morales -- a leftist who regularly criticises Washington -- said the bombings seemed politically motivated and decried that one of the suspects appeared to be from the United States.

"The US government fights against terrorism; it's not possible that people from the United States come to put bombs in hotels," Morales said in speech in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

- REUTERS