Police forensic experts are searching for evidence after a time bomb exploded outside the offices of the extreme-right group Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) on Friday morning.
The blast destroyed the group’s offices on Socratous Street in the capital’s so-called historic centre where hundreds of undocumented migrants live in derelict and run-down buildings.
As is the case with most political bombings in Greece, no one was injured in the blast
According to reports in Reuters and Kathimerini, an unidentified caller telephoned the daily Eleftherotypia newspaper 25 minutes before the blast, prompting police to evacuate the building, which is near busy Omonia Square, as well as a neighbouring hotel and surrounding roads.
The device detonated at 8.46 am, blowing out the windows of adjacent apartments and shocking passers-by.
Speaking to Skai Television minutes after the blast occurred, a reporter said that the explosion had been heard several blocks away.
According to reports police gave to Kathimerini and Skai Television the bomb had been hidden in a shoe box wrapped in a plastic rubbish bag and placed in the corridor outside the offices of the far-right group on the fifth floor of the apartment building.
Bomb disposal experts yesterday were examining the remnants of the device gathered from the scene of the blast in a bid to find leads to the perpetrators.
There had been no claim of responsibility by late last night and police did not give any indication of their suspicions.
According to Skai Television, it transpired after the blast that a bedridden resident of the apartment block had not been evacuated along with everyone else prior to the blast.
The man, whose apartment is on a different floor to the offices of the far-right organisation, was reportedly unharmed.