A bomb attack occurred at around 6.30 p.m. (local time) in Athens, targeting former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, 69.
The explosive mechanism, said to have been contained in an envelope by local media was in Papademos’ car and went off when the former PM tried to open his mail.
Papademos was rushed to Evangelismos Hospital with wounds to his face, legs, arms and stomach that according to the doctors and the latest report from Kathimerini, are not life threatening. Doctors, however, are worried about his eyesight.
His driver and another man, both Bank of Greece employees, were reportedly also hospitalized with less serious injuries from the blast between Patission and Marnis Street.
Papademos, who was appointed caretaker prime minister in November 2011 following concerns the country would exit the Eurozone, remained in the position until May 2012 when elections were held.
He previously served as the vice president of the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010 and as governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 to 2002.
Police and counter-terrorism units are on alert and investigating the attack. Meanwhile, days earlier an envelope containing bullets, addressed to Greece’s general secretary for public revenue, was intercepted at a post office in Athens while another envelope exploded at an IMF office in Paris, injuring one person in late March.
Government spokesperson Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said he “unequivocally condemns” the attack after visiting Papademos in hospital.