Parcel bomb blast at Rome embassy

The Swiss embassy in Rome (image from embassy website)The embassy stands on via Barnaba Oriani

A parcel bomb blast has seriously injured a Swiss national at the Swiss embassy in Rome, officials from the two countries say.

A male member of staff at the embassy received serious injuries to both of his hands, emergency services told Italian media.

The man was rushed from the embassy on via Barnaba Oriani to hospital.

As police began an investigation, there was no immediate indication of who might have sent the device.

A spokeswoman for the embassy told Reuters news agency the explosion had occurred around midday (1100 GMT).

No further details of the incident were released by the Italian foreign ministry, and police were not commenting as of early Thursday afternoon.

The embassy is located near Villa Glori Park, to the north of the city centre.

A suspected bomb was found on an empty underground train in Rome on Tuesday. The device lacked a detonator and tests showed it contained no explosive.

Anti-government protests had gripped Italy over the past week, with Rome the scene of some of the most serious rioting.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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