Two injured in suspected Hungary bomb blast
Investigation launched into attempted murder, sources say
Alarge explosion “of unknown origin” rocked a building in downtown Budapest late on Saturday, injuring two passing police officers, authorities said.
The blast occurred at 10.30pm local time (2030 GMT) inside or beside a ground floor shop on a major intersection, a police statement said yesterday.
Two police officers who were on patrol were injured and taken to hospital, said the statement.
The cause of the blast remains unconfirmed, although a news report on public television said security cameras had recorded a bag being left at the scene shortly before the explosion.
Witnesses
Unconfirmed police sources also told local media that an investigation had been launched into attempted murder.
Initial eyewitness accounts said the large blast sounded like a gas explosion, although Hungary’s rescue agency said no fires were caused. Eyewitnesses also posted pictures on social media of some nails scattered on the road at the scene.
A homemade bomb device was likely to have been behind the blast, an explosives expert Attila Ladocsi told M1.
A session of the national security parliamentary committee has been convened for today its chairperson told MTI.
No information has been released on the injured police officers’ condition, nor confirmation of local media reports that one of the injured was a woman.