RAGLEY, La. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine the cause of an explosion that destroyed a southwest Louisiana home, killing a teenage boy from Alabama and injuring five other people.
Louisiana State Fire Marshal Bryan J. Adams said the explosion happened Saturday morning. Firefighters arrived to find the house burning. The explosion leveled the house, throwing debris for some distance and seriously damaging nearby vehicles and a metal outbuilding.
Killed was Deuce Barrere, 16, of Theodore, Alabama, local news outlets reported. Five other people were taken to hospitals including Barrere's older sister and mother. Adams said a toddler who was in the house was not injured and is being cared for by relatives.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy for this family and community,” Adams said in a statement.
Friends of Duece Barrere who gathered on Dauphin Island, Alabama, on Sunday to remember him told WALA-TV that he was a high school cheerleader.
“When I was upset, he always made sure it was good before I left, and he always made sure everybody here was happy,” said Adalynn Hall, who said she was Barrere's girlfriend.
Some nearby residents told KPLC-TV that the explosion felt like an earthquake, and that the resulting shock wave knocked items to the floor in their homes and caused power outages.
Ragley is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Lake Charles.
This image made from video provided by KPLC-TV shows damage to a nearby building after a house in Ragley, La., that was destroyed by an explosion, killing a teenage boy from Alabama and injuring other people on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (KPLC-TV via AP)
This image made from video provided by KPLC-TV shows debris from a house in Ragley, La., that was destroyed by an explosion, killing a teenage boy from Alabama and injuring other people on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (KPLC-TV via AP)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England and English soccer teams could be removed from UEFA competitions if a new regulator is considered to be “Government interference” in the sport.
In a letter sent by UEFA to the U.K.'s new culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, European soccer's governing body raised concerns about a proposed independent football regulator (IFR) in English soccer. The regulatory will ensure the financial sustainability of clubs and stop teams from joining breakaway competitions like the European Super League.
UEFA regulations state there should be no government interference in the running of soccer.
“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition,” UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis wrote in his letter, which has been seen by The Associated Press.
England, which has been runner-up in the last two European Championships, is co-hosting the 2028 edition of the tournament.
If UEFA imposed its ultimate sanction of excluding the English Football Association, the England team would be barred from competing in the Euros. It could also mean Premier League clubs being barred from the Champions League and other competitions.
The U.K. government’s Football Governance Bill would give an independent regulator powersto safeguard the future of clubs. It includes strengthened tests over who can run or own clubs.
In its letter, UEFA said “normally football regulation should be managed by the national federation.”
It said it was concerned by what it described as “scope creep” by a regulator into areas beyond “the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.”
UEFA said if all countries established regulators with wide-reaching powers it would hinder its ability to maintain effective governance across Europe. It wants England's regulator to be “strictly limited” to the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - The UEFA Euro trophy is pictured after Britain and Ireland were elected to host the Euro 2028 football tournament during the the UEFA EURO 2028 and 2032 hosts announcement ceremony after the UEFA Executive Committee, at UEFA Headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland, Oct. 10, 2023. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File)
