Mines explode in Pretoria, knocking out power lines

Five Soviet-made mines exploded at a power station here Monday night, blacking out a large area of the South African capital, a police official said. No one was injured in the blasts, the latest in a series of attacks on power plants and other key installations. But electricity to nine Pretoria suburbs was disrupted and damage was estimated at thousands of dollars.

Police launched a major hunt for the bombers. They said the mines were the same type as those used to bomb another power station near Pretoria last month and in sabotage attacks on South African oil-from-coal installations last year.

Urban guerrillas of the banned African National Congress, which seeks to overthrow the white government by force, have either claimed responsibility or been blamed for many of more than 20 bomb attacks in South Africa this year.