by Faisal Baatout
DOHA - An unexplained blast went off at a theater near a British school in the Qatari capital Doha Saturday night, killing one person and wounding 12, according to an interior ministry spokesman.
A medical source however said dozens of people were injured in the explosion, which authorities said was being investigated as security forces cordoned off the site of the blast.
The explosion, at around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT), occurred at the "Doha Player" theater next to the Doha English-Speaking School and "I believe there are some people injured," British charge d`affaires Eric Mattey told AFP.
He said it was still not clear if the blast was "a criminal act. We are waiting for the police report."
"Dozens of people were injured," a medical source told AFP.
Another British embassy source said the Shakespeare play in the theater, which is affiliated to the school, was being performed by amateurs.
The blast occurred in an area where the US embassy used to be located before the mission moved to new premises.
An AFP correspondent some 500 meters (yards) from the scene of the blast, which was cordoned off by security forces, saw plumes of smoke rising from the site and a large number of ambulances.
A brief interior ministry statement carried by the official QNA news agency said only that a blast went off near the British school and authorities had launched an investigation to determine its cause. Another statement would be issued later, it said.
Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Ahmad al-Hayki told Al-Jazeera television that one person was killed and 12 people were injured in the incident.
Hayki did not give the nationality of the dead person, but said those wounded included one British national while the rest were Qataris, Arabs and Asians. Nine had left the hospital.
The official said it was "premature" to give the cause of the blast, which he said occurred in a cafeteria in the theater building.
Hayki played down the incident, which raised fears that it was a terrorist act similar to the attacks which have shaken neighboring Saudi Arabia since May 2003 and have been attributed to Al-Qaeda militants.
Concerns that the violence was spreading in the oil-rich Gulf region grew earlier this year following a series of gunbattles in Kuwait between security forces and suspected Islamist militants believed linked to Saudi counterparts.
Doha-based Al-Jazeera aired footage showing fires from the blast, which it said occurred while "dozens of people, mostly foreigners, were attending the play."
The satellite news channel said a blaze broke out in the building, which was partially destroyed, and the blast set some cars in the area on fire.
03/19/2005 21:31 GMT