Backpack bomb destroyed near Madrid law courts

A suspicious backpack discovered next to the office of the Madrid public prosecutor on Tuesday evening turned out to contain explosives, police sources revealed Wednesday morning, contradicting a statement issued the night before.

The traces of the explosives were discovered by the Civil Guard's Tedax bomb disposal unit, which is now trying to determine their quantity and exact composition.

Agents say it seems to have been a "very elaborate" homemade explosive packed with screws, nuts and bolts, according to the sources. Police are also looking for the man who left the backpack and who was caught on security cameras. The bag was found next to a red Ford Fiesta on Capitán Haya street next to the Madrid public prosecutor's office and close to the Plaza de Castilla courts. The area was cordoned off from 7pm on Tuesday evening until nightfall.

Faced with the threat that it might be a bomb, agents decided to destroy the object in two controlled explosions, saying it was a cooking pot made to resemble an explosive.

Second incident

This is the second incident involving a homemade bomb in the capital in little more than a month. On February 7 Tedax safely deactivated an explosive device that had been left in La Almudena cathedral. An until-then unknown anarchist group later claimed responsibility.