Small explosion outside French embassy in Athens

Record ID: 79326

  • Title: Small explosion outside French embassy in Athens
  • Date: 10th November 2016
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (NOVEMBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FRENCH EMBASSY FRENCH AND EUROPEAN UNION FLAGS FLYING OVER EMBASSY GUARD POST EMBASSY SIGN ON WALL EMBASSY SIGN VARIOUS OF VERY SHALLOW HOLE AND MARKS IN THE GROUND ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY GATE WHERE DEVICE EXPLODED EMBASSY GATE, GUARD POST TO THE LEFT WITH MARKINGS AND SCRATCHES ON THE WINDOWS FROM EXPLOSION MARKINGS AND SCRATCHES IN WINDOWS OF GUARD POST VARIOUS OF MARKINGS AND SCRATCHES ON WINDOWS EXTERIOR OF EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2016 07:53
  • Keywords: Greece France attack embassy explosion
  • Location: ATHENS, GREECE
  • City: ATHENS, GREECE
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Bombing (non-military),Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00157V2JWN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Unknown attackers on a motorcycle threw an explosive device at the French embassy in central Athens on Thursday (November 10), wounding a guard, police said, in an attack that came less than a week before U.S. President Barack Obama visits the city.
    A police official said the device was most likely a hand grenade. The building was not damaged, but there was a small hole in the sidewalk in front of the embassy entrance gate. The embassy guard was slightly injured in the foot by fragments from the explosion, which also damaged the guard post windows, the police official said.
    The attackers were riding a motorcycle, according to footage from security cameras, the police official said, which was later found abandoned in a nearby Athens neighborhood. It had stolen license plates.
    There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, which took place at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), police said. The area around the French embassy, in a very central and busy part of Athens opposite the parliament building, was briefly cordoned off by police.
    In October a Greek guerrilla group claimed responsibility for a makeshift bomb blast in central Athens that targeted a prosecutor. The blast caused material damage but no one was injured.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register