Posted on 07/20/2003 7:42:10 AM PDT by knighthawk
NICE, France (Reuters) - Two bombs have exploded at the tax and customs office in the French Riviera city of Nice, injuring 16 people and causing substantial damage, emergency services say. Police said on Sunday no group had claimed the attack on the building, which was the target of a thwarted bombing by a Corsican separatist group six months ago.
Local sub-prefect Abdel Aisssou said the victims suffered from shock and glass wounds after windows were shattered for hundreds of metres for the blast site. They were taken to hospital but their wounds were described as slight.
The first bomb went off around 2.30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. British time), with the second larger explosion about 10 minutes later causing substantial damage to the building, eyewitnesses said.
Public prosecutor Eric de Montgolfier told reporters at the scene of the blasts that investigators had no specific leads.
In January this year the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) claimed responsibility for a bomb placed in front of the same building which authorities defused.
Such attacks by the FLNC and other militant Corsican groups seeking independence from France are frequent on the Mediterranean island of Corsica but rare on the French mainland.
Shouldn't the headline be: Nice Bomb Injures 16?
--Boris
"I theenk it was a bum."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.