Nairobi citizens and rescue teams cut through the ruins of the Ufundi Cooperative building, which crumbled in the explosion

Dozens killed in explosions in Kenya, Tanzania

In this story:

• Medical help en route to region
• U.S.: at least 3 bombs
• U.S. embassies worldwide secured
• Bomb-proof doors used as stretchers
• Richardson: U.S. 'won't tolerate' terrorism

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton said Friday the United States would do everything in its power to seek justice in the explosions at two U.S. embassies in east Africa that left more than 70 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The pair of powerful explosions, said to be caused by car bombs and believed to have been targeted at the United States, rocked the capitals of Kenya and Tanzania within 10 minutes of each other early Friday.

A soldier outside the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam

Red Cross officials confirmed at least 67 dead in Nairobi and some 1,100 injured. Officials confirmed 9 dead and 72 injured in Tanzania.

At least five U.S. officials and one dependent were among those killed in the Nairobi blast, the U.S. State Department said. At least six officials are missing.

No U.S. citizens were believed among those killed in Tanzania, officials said.

"We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice no matter what or how long it takes," Clinton said Friday.

Clinton also promised U.S. personnel overseas: "We will do everything we can to see that you serve in safety."( 308K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

The president said he had ordered all U.S. flags at government facilities around the world to be flown at half-staff.

"We are determined to get answers and justice," he said.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

A nurse tends to a wounded man in a Nairobi hospital

Medical help en route to region

The first blast ripped through the U.S. embassy in Nairobi about 10:30 a.m. Friday, toppling a multi-story building next door in the city's crowded center.

Nairobi's three hospitals were swamped with victims, and health officials made an urgent appeal for blood donations.

A doctor at Nairobi Hospital said surgical supplies were running low.

Clinton said the U.S. had already dispatched medical supplies and federal investigators to both cities.

Within 10 minutes of the Nairobi blast, a similar explosion ripped through the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, capital of neighboring Tanzania.

Video of the scene confirmed an eyewitness report that the blast destroyed the southwest section of the building in Tanzania.

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Scenes from Tanzania

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Chronology of attacks on U.S. targets The U.S. ambassadors to Kenya, Tanzania

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The French and German embassies also suffered damage, but there were no reported injuries from either facility.

U.S.: at least 3 bombs

U.S. State Department officials in Washington said they believed two car bombs, and possibly a third, were used in the two explosions.

U.S. officials said they do not believe the explosions are connected to U.S. relations with Kenya and Tanzania, but called both blasts acts of terrorism.

"Clearly, this is a terrorist attack," U.S. State Department spokesman Lee McClenny said.

U.S. relations with both governments are good, officials said, adding that the nations are two of the most unlikely places to find an act of terrorism against the United States.

CNN's Andrea Koppel reported that the State Department had already formed a task force to look into the explosions.

FBI evidence recovery teams were dispatched to the region on the airlifts carrying medical personnel and supplies, State Department officials said.

U.S. law provides criminal penalties for terrorist attacks on U.S. personnel overseas.

The staff of the Nairobi embassy is about 200 people, most of them Kenyans. The staff of the Dar es Salaam embassy is about 100, including 25 Americans.

U.S. embassies worldwide secured

Clinton said Friday that immediately following the explosions, security had been heightened at U.S. facilities around the world.

In both East African capitals, cranes were to the scenes of both explosions to help lift debris and search for victims.

U.S. ambassador Prudence Bushnell was among those injured in the Kenyan explosion, officials said. Bushnell had just given a news conference at the Cooperative Bank. It's not clear if she was injured in the bank building or in the embassy.

Reports indicated Bushnell suffered a cut on her lip.

Bill Richardson, the U.S. ambassador-designate to the United Nations, told CNN that Bushnell later returned to the embassy to help coordinate relief efforts.

Bomb-proof doors used as stretchers

The blast in Nairobi caused the Ufundi Cooperative building, next door to the embassy, to collapse.

CNN International reported that the force of the blast blew off the embassy's bomb-proof doors. The doors were used as stretchers to carry the injured away.

The blast shook downtown Nairobi and shattered windows as far as 10 blocks away. Bloodied clothing and papers littered the streets.

Several people were killed aboard two buses that were passing by at the time of the blast, witnesses said. Bodies were draped out of the windows of one charred bus.

Rescuers clamored atop a tangle of concrete and metal bars, clawing through wreckage to try to reach dozens of trapped people.

"Once the rubble is cleared further we expect to find more (victims)," said Red Cross spokeswoman Nina Galbe in Kenya.

"There are too many dead to count," added another Red Cross worker who wouldn't give his name.

Richardson: U.S. 'won't tolerate' terrorism

The explosions are the first major blasts in Kenya and Tanzania since the two countries gained independence in the 1960s.

The Nairobi explosion shocked millions of Kenyans, whose nation is typically considered a safe haven for war-affected countries in the region, Galbe told CNN International.

Richardson called the explosions tragic and said they exemplify the vulnerability of U.S. overseas personnel.

"If any of our embassies are being targeted, we're not going to tolerate this," Richardson told CNN.

"We can't speculate now" on who might be behind the explosions, Richardson said. "We have good solid relationships with both countries."

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