Monégasque and French police officers stand near the area of the explosion in Monaco, near the border with France, on Monday evening. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenMonégasque and French police officers stand near the area of the explosion in Monaco, near the border with France, on Monday evening. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty ImagesMonaco explosion injures three and triggers police huntTwo people said to be in critical condition after CCTV shows man dropping backpack at residential building lobby
An explosion in Monaco has triggered a police hunt for a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb that wounded three people.
The blast occurred on Monday evening in the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, French media reported.
French newspaper Le Figaro said video surveillance images showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the explosion.
Monaco prosecutor Thibault Stéphane told the outlet that two of the victims are in critical condition. The paper also reported the victims are Ukrainian.
Éric Ciotti, the right-wing mayor of nearby Nice, across the border in France, said on X: “The attack committed this evening is a tragedy for Monaco.”
BFM TV, a French national news TV channel, described the explosive device as a “parcel bomb”, citing the principality’s prosecutor general.
View image in fullscreenMonaco's emergency services deployed near the area of an explosion that occurred in a residential building in Monaco. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty ImagesPolice investigating reportedly said the suspect was caught on CCTV cameras putting a backpack down before fleeing the scene on foot, heading towards the French border.
Monaco is a tax-free microstate on the French Riviera known as a haven for billionaires and their luxury yachts.
The explosion struck about 9:00 pm local time (8pm BST) in a residential building on a street along the border with France.
Thibault said a suspect had left a bag or package in the building’s lobby before leaving. Nothing appeared for the moment to indicate why the building may have been targeted, he added.
A couple in their 50s or 60s, wounded in the blast, were in life-threatening conditions, while a 13-year-old who was “very likely related to the couple” suffered less serious injuries, Mirmand said, without disclosing their nationality.
The explosive device apparently contained bolts and buckshot, Mirmand said, adding that police were investigating the incident.
“This is the first time in history, to my knowledge, that such an act has taken place in the principality,” he said.
