KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An explosion at a fireworks storage facility in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on Thursday injured at least 25 people, some of them critically, police and hospital officials said.
Television footage showed thick smoke billowing into the sky from the building where firecrackers were stored. Broken glass from nearby shop windows littered the road as panicked residents rushed from the scene, witnesses said.
Firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze while ambulances transported the injured, including passersby, to several hospitals, senior police official Asad Raza said.
The blast damaged several shops and vehicles passing through an area known as Jinnah Road.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
Explosions at fireworks facilities are common in Pakistan. In January, six people were killed in a similar blast at a fireworks storage site in Mandi Bahauddin, a city in the eastern Punjab province.
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following an explosion at a fireworks storage facility, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following an explosion at a fireworks storage facility, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center was running out of options Friday evening to keep President Donald Trump's name on the facade of the iconic performing arts venue.
A judge earlier in the afternoon rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the Kennedy Center's operations. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.
Scaffolding was erected earlier in the day around a section of the building that includes Trump's name. After a round of storms passed Friday evening, multiple workers were back at the scene further building out the scaffolding in an apparent effort to prepare for removing the letters referencing the president.
Dozens of people gathered in the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as workers built the scaffolding.
After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.
In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.
“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”
Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.
A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
Associated Press journalists Anna Johnson, Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Workers construct scaffolding at the sign for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers construct scaffolding below the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A worker sits on scaffolding at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
