Blast Rocks Hotel in Seoul Scheduled for Clinton Stay : South Korea: Boiler is apparent cause; police rule out possibility of a bomb. White House personnel are evacuated.

SEOUL —  An explosion rocked the Seoul hotel where President Clinton is scheduled to stay later this week, injuring three workers and forcing the evacuation of 600 guests early today, police said.

Police ruled out the possibility of a bomb.

The blast occurred in the boiler room in the basement of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Its exact cause was unknown, but police initially had quoted workers as saying it was a gas explosion.

A White House spokesman said initial reports indicated that the blast appeared to have occurred in a boiler.

The explosion punched two holes in the main lobby, wrecked about a dozen glass doors and windows and caused a chandelier to drop. It knocked out power and phone services, police said.

Three Korean workers were injured and taken to a hospital. About 600 guests, including White House personnel who had arrived ahead of Clinton, were evacuated, police said.

None of the White House people staying in the hotel were injured, and all were accounted for.

Clinton was scheduled to stay at the hotel next Saturday and Sunday after a three-day meeting of the seven leading industrialized nations in Tokyo.

But a South Korean police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the hotel damage could not be repaired before Clinton arrives.

Asked about the cause of the blast, Clinton said Sunday: “We don’t know yet. I think I should wait until I hear. I think there’s some chance it was an accident.”

Earlier, White House spokesman Jeff Eller told reporters that there was “no evidence that it was any kind of explosive device.” He spoke to reporters aboard the presidential plane, Air Force One, as they accompanied the President on a trip to Iowa.

Eller said that “no decisions have been made” as to whether to change the President’s accommodations.

An advance team that went to Seoul ahead of the President has checked out the U.S. Embassy as a possible alternative, Eller said.

He said that Secret Service agents in Seoul had done a preliminary investigation, which also indicated that the blast was not caused by explosives.