Greece

Bomb explodes outside Athens stock market

Article published on the 2009-09-02 Latest update 2009-09-02 10:19 TU

A police expert carries debris
(Photo: Reuters)

Two powerful homemade bombs have exploded in Greece – one in front of the Athens stock exchange, and the another behind a ministry building in the port city of Salonika. The Athens blast caused massive material damage and slightly wounded a female passerby, police said.

 A warning call to a newspaper enabled police to cordon off the neighbourhood in Athens. The bomb detonated in a stolen car, destroying six other vehicles on an avenue in the west of the capital. Traffic was suspended for more than an hour.

 

In Salonika, another anonymous call warned police and a television station before the bomb went off in a phone box behind a ministry building causing limited damage.

 

The bombings, for which no one has so far claimed responsibility, came three days before the inauguration of the Salonika International Fair by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

 

"Despite the massive material damage, the Athens and Cyprus [stock] markets will operate normally," bourse chairman Spyros Kapralos said.

 

Kapralos had earlier told state television NET that the stock exchange building had sustained "extensive damage". Television footage showed debris scattered in a wide area outside the bourse, but the exterior looked largely intact apart from a number of smashed windows.