A SUSPECTED bomb exploded outside the Athens offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company.
Emergency rescuers rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area after local residents said they heard a loud explosion in the avenue.
APPolicemen close the road after a suspected bomb explosion outside of the Hellenic Train offices[/caption]
APA policeman guards an area after a suspected bomb explosion outside of Hellenic Train offices[/caption]
The blast is understood to have been caused by a device which was placed inside a backpack and was left on a bike without license plates.
Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before the blast, warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices.
An anonymous person had called and warned about a bomb being placed at the Hellenic Train offices at 8.53pm local time.
He warned that the bomb would explode in “30 to 40 minutes” and said that “it is not a prank”.
Cops are now investigating the cause of the explosion.
It is understood that no one was hurt in the blast.
However, the extent of damage it caused is still unknown.
The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a major railway disaster in 2023, in which dozens of people were killed when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.
Meanwhile, at least 24 people were killed after an alleged suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in Pakistan.
A further 50 people were injured after the blast in the country’s Balochistan province in November.
The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, a senior government administrator said.
Police said about a dozen security forces are also among the dead.
TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a tea stall destroyed as luggage littered the place.
A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station.
The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.
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