Second blast rocks Rome; one more package found

Rome: Italian news agency ANSA says a package has exploded at Chilean Embassy in Rome, injuring one, marking the second blast of the day in the country's capital. Earlier package exploded at the Swiss embassy in Rome, injuring one person seriously. In fact, a third suspicious package has been found in the Ukrainian embassy in Italy's capital city.

An Italian Carabinieri arrives at the Swiss Embassy in Rome. A parcel bomb exploded in the Swiss Embassy in Rome seriously injuring the employee who opened the package. Italian media said the victim is a 53-year-old Swiss national, who risks losing both his hands, although his life is not in danger. AFP

Corriere della Sera newspaper said the Chilean embassy staffer's injuries were "not serious" after the blast near Villa Borghese in central Rome. The first victim was a man and has injuries to his hands, suggesting the bomb exploded when he opened the parcel. The carabinieri, the Italian military police, are at the embassy.
There have been growing concerns in Europe about holiday season attacks following a suicide bombing in Sweden and security services' fears of an assault on a European city modeled on the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai, India.
On Tuesday, there was a bomb scare in the Rome subway after authorities discovered a suspicious package with wires and powder under a subway seat. The device was fake, with police determining there was no trigger mechanism and that the powder was inert, cement-like material.
One report said the man, whose identity has not been revealed yet, was the embassy caretaker who handles mail. Another report said he was a diplomat. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini condemned what he called a "deplorable act of violence," and offered Italy's solidarity with the embassy staff and the victim.
"The ambassador is still on site, the embassy has not been evacuated," Maurizio Mezzavilla, a spokesman for the Carabinieri, Italy's paramilitary police told reporters at the scene.

The Swiss embassy's plaques are pictured in Rome. AFP

He said bomb disposal experts were checking the building, which is located in Parioli, a wealthy neighbourhood just north of the city centre. The Swiss consulate in Milan has been put under extra security, following the Rome blast.
The spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Lars Knuchel, said that so far no one had claimed responsibility for the act. An investigation is underway.
Foreign diplomats in Rome said they can't remember a time in recent years when an embassy in Rome had been bombed. They said that security personnel at their own embassies would be urged to take extra vigilance in examining postal deliveries.
The explosion follows the discovery of a rudimentary device in an empty underground train in Rome on Tuesday. However, police said that device lacked a detonator and tests showed it contained no explosive.
Italy has witnessed anti-government protests across the country in the past week, with Rome the scene of some of the most violent clashes but there was no indication that Thursday's explosion was in any way linked to the demonstrations.
There have been growing concerns in Europe about holiday season attacks following a suicide bombing in Sweden and security services' fears of an assault on a European city modeled on the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai, India.