ROME: Two people were injured in separate explosions at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome Thursday, authorities said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the incidents bore similarities to an episode in Greece last month in which far-left militants were suspected of sending parcel bombs to foreign governments and embassies in Athens. The Italian news agency ANSA said a suspect package had been found at the Ukrainian mission but the embassy later said no dangerous items had been found after a search of the package. “Nothing has been found so far. We are safe for now,” said embassy spokesman Yevhen Mitskevich. Police said the injured Swiss embassy employee had been taken to hospital in central Rome suffering serious wounds to his hands after he opened a package in the mailroom. Bomb disposal experts searched the Swiss embassy offices, located in a prosperous part of Rome which houses many foreign embassies, but staff remained in the building following the incident, which occurred at around midday (1100 GMT). Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said that so far no one had claimed responsibility for the act. “The man is an employee of the embassy, he was injured while he was opening a package received in the mailroom which blew up in his hands,” Mezzavilla told reporters. The explosion at the Chilean embassy occurred in early afternoon, hours after the earlier incident. Thursday's explosions occurred at a time of heightened security fears in Europe following a botched attack by a suspected suicide bomber in Sweden this month.
