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Explosion injures four people in Greek capital

By Thomson Reuters Oct 21, 2026 | 8:58 AM

ATHENS, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Two police officers and two members of the public were injured ​in an explosion at a ‌building in central Athens, Greek police said on Wednesday.

All four were taken away in ambulances, police said in a ‌statement.

A ​police official who ⁠declined to be named ⁠said the explosion occurred when officers reached the building in the area of Kolonos and picked up ​a backpack thought to contain drugs.

Police had earlier received a ⁠call from a ⁠resident and the manager of ​the building notifying them of the ​suspected drugs at the building’s entrance. ‌They later found parts of an explosive device.

The bomb went off as police inspected the backpack ⁠and was potentially activated remotely, a second police official said.

The manager was also ⁠injured in ‌the blast, which police ⁠are not treating as ​a ‌terrorist act, the first police ​official ⁠added. The homicide unit is leading the investigation.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Hugh Lawson and ​David Goodman)