Lyon: French police have arrested a suspect over an explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week which injured 13 people, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Monday.
Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and a carrying a dark rucksack.
“A suspect has been arrested,” Castaner wrote on Twitter.
The Paris prosecutor’s office, which has jurisdiction over terrorist investigations in France, confirmed that the man, a 24-year-old arrested in Lyon, is the suspected bomber.
He had been the target of an extensive manhunt since Friday night when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.
Police circulated photos of the suspect on Twitter, leading to ‘several dozen’ calls from people with information.
Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive was acetone peroxide, or APEX, a volatile compound used in the deadly Paris attacks November 13, 2015.
Investigators recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device. Officials later said the charge was relatively weak.
Thirteen people were wounded in the blast – eight women, four men and a 10-year-old girl – of whom 11 needed hospital treatment.
None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening, but authorities said some needed surgery to remove shrapnel.
France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.
The Islamic State group has been behind many of the attacks, though no one has claimed responsibility for the Lyon blast.
AFP