Accessibility links

Breaking News

Letter Bomb Explodes at Paris IMF Office

update

French police officers take position after letter bomb exploded at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, March 16, 2017.
French police officers take position after letter bomb exploded at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, March 16, 2017.

One person was injured Thursday when a letter bomb exploded in the Paris office of the International Monetary Fund, police said.

No damage was reported in the explosion and police quickly evacuated staff from the building before securing the area.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde called the letter bombing a “cowardly act of violence.”

"We are working closely with the French authorities to investigate this incident and ensure the safety of our staff," she said.

The IMF letter bomb comes a day after a similar package arrived at the German Finance Ministry containing low grade explosives. The package was identified as suspicious and destroyed by police.

It is unclear whether the two incidents are related and who is behind them.

France has been in a state of emergency for the past two years after being targeted in several high profile Islamic terrorist attacks.

Police in the southern city of Grasse also arrested a teenager after he allegedly opened fire in a high school, injuring at least two people. Police would not say what type of weapons were used in the attack, but did say they are looking for a possible second suspect.

Students in the school were evacuated by police and all of them are safe, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told a French television station.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG