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Europe

Greek ex-Prime Minister Lucas Papademos targeted in Athens blast

By Fox News
Published | Updated
GREECE/

Former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was injured on Thursday after an explosion in his car in Athens, police said. (Reuters)

A bomb exploded inside a car with former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos in central Athens on Thursday.

Papademos and two bank of Greece employees were wounded when the bomb exploded inside the car they were in, police said.

Papademos, 69, opened an envelope inside his car that contained explosives, according to local media in Athens. However, police did not immediately confirm that it was a parcel bomb.

Papademos was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. His driver also was wounded, a police official told The Telegraph.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos described the incident as an "attack." He said the former prime minister and the two people injured were in stable condition and are conscious. Doctors "are undergoing all the necessary medical tests," Tzanakopoulos added.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras condemned the violence and wished Papademos a "speedy recovery."

"We are all in shock following this action," said Nikos Pappas, a government minister and close aide to Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras. "We condemn this appalling action without reservation and with all our heart wish Mr. Papademos the best."

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Papademos served as prime minister for six months from 2011 to 2012 and is a former deputy governor of the European Central Bank.

Police said at least one additional person in the car was injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Greek politicians have been targeted in the past by militant far-left and anarchist groups. Earlier this year, a group called Conspiracy Cells of Fire, claimed responsibility for sending parcel bombs to the German Finance Ministry and the Paris office of the International Monetary Fund, where a small explosion injured one person.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.