Monaco explosion injures three and triggers police hunt

An explosion in Monaco has triggered a police hunt for a man suspected of detonating a makeshift bomb that injured three people. The blast occurred on Monday evening in the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, French media reported. The French newspaper Le Figaro said video surveillance images showed a man dropping a backpack at the entrance of a residential building shortly before the explosion. The Monaco public prosecutor general, Thibault Stéphane, told the outlet that two of the victims were in a critical condition. The paper also reported the victims were Ukrainian. Éric Ciotti, the rightwing mayor of nearby Nice, across the border in France, said on X: “The attack committed this evening is a tragedy for Monaco.” BFM TV, a French national news TV channel, described the explosive device as a “parcel bomb”, citing the principality’s prosecutor general. Monaco’s emergency services were deployed near the area of the explosion. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty Images Police investigating reportedly said the suspect was caught on CCTV cameras putting a backpack down before fleeing the scene on foot, heading towards the French border. Monaco is a tax-free microstate on the French Riviera known as a haven for billionaires and their luxury yachts. The blast at a residential building was “very likely an attack”, the minister of state, Christophe Mirmand, told AFP. …