A bomb blast outside Indonesia’s embassy in Paris yesterday caused serious damage to surrounding buildings but no injuries, police said, as investigators sought a motive for the attack.
Everything will be done to identify the perpetrators
“It’s a small miracle that there were no victims,” a police source said.
The bomb exploded around 5 a.m. (0400 GMT), when the streets of western Paris were relatively quiet, blowing out windows in a 50-metre (yard) radius and setting fire to two cars.
Police chief Michel Gaudin visited the scene after the blast, accompanied by his chief of staff, who told reporters that a bag had been spotted under the embassy’s windows by a worker clearing bins in the street.
“He looked inside the bag, opened it and thought it must be a bomb since he saw a canister attached to wires. He dropped it, left the area and called the police. That’s when it exploded,” Jean-Louis Fiamenghi said.
“No one was hurt but there are people in shock in neighbouring flats.”
Mr Fiamenghi said the bomb could have contained “several kilos of explosives”.
No group or individual immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police and firefighters were rushed to the area and sealed off the road where the blast occurred. A bomb disposal team was also in place to make any remaining explosives safe.
“For now we are not ruling out any possibilities, we are just at the very beginning of the investigation, every theory needs to be studied,” a police source said.
The French foreign ministry said all efforts would be made to find the perpetrators of the attack.
“Everything will be done to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told a press conference.
“We are in intimate contact with Indonesian authorities in Jakarta and with the Indonesian ambassador in Paris,” he said.
In Jakarta, officials said Indonesia’s intelligence agency was working with French authorities to investigate, but that the motive for the bombing was not clear.
“We’re still looking for clarity on whether we were the target or not,” said Teuku Faizasyah, Indonesian presidential spokesman on foreign affairs.