Police launch manhunt for Lyon 'nail bomber' suspect in sunglasses and a cap as French prosecutor says no claim of responsibility has been made for terror blast that injured 13
- Police said 13 people including a ten-year-old girl were injured Friday evening
- A CCTV image of the suspect wearing dark glasses and a cap has been issued
- The parcel bomb was packed with nails, screws and bolts outside a bakery
- Anti-terror prosecutor Remy Heitz said no group had yet claimed responsibility
French police are hunting a suspected bomber in sunglasses and a cap after 13 people were wounded including a ten-year-old girl, in central Lyon.
Anti-terror prosecutor Remy Heitz said no terror group had yet claimed responsibility after the parcel bomb packed with screws, nails and bolts exploded at 5.30pm on Friday outside a bakery on Rue Victor Hugo.
President Emmanuel Macron called it an 'attack' and sent interior minister Christophe Castaner to the city.
Police issued an appeal for witnesses on Twitter as they sought the man believed to be in his early 30s, who was picked up by security cameras on a mountain bike immediately before the explosion.
A CCTV image of the man suspected to be behind the bomb blast in central Lyon on Friday evening
Emergency service workers load injured people into ambulances after the bomb blast Friday, which French President Emmanuel Macron labelled 'an attack'
Forensics officers inspect the area on Friday evening after a parcel bomb packed with nails, screws and bolts went off at around 5.30pm
Forensics officers in protective clothing examine the scene, taking photos and gathering evidence on Friday evening after at least 13 people - including a young girl - were injured in the blast
An image of the suspect, wearing light-coloured shorts and a longsleeved dark top, was posted. He was described as 'dangerous'.
Justice minister Nicole Belloubet told BFM television it was too soon to say whether the blast was a 'terrorist act'.
The case was nonetheless handed to the Paris prosecutor for anti-terrorism that deal with all terrorist cases.
The number of wounded stood at 13 people, with 11 taken to hospitals. None of the injuries was life-threatening but included eight women and a 10-year-old girl as well as four men.
Specialist police force officers sit in a vehicle to secure the perimeter around the Rue Victor Hugo on Friday evening
An officer armed with a tactical assault rifle and wearing a balaclava secures the scene in central Lyon
A view over the street in central Lyon where police officers gather (left) and forensics officers (right) gather evidence in the cordoned off area
A police source said the package contained 'screws or bolts'. It had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two crowded streets at around 5.30pm.
District mayor Denis Broliquier said 'the charge was too small to kill,' and an administrative source told AFP it was a 'relatively weak explosive charge' that was triggered at a distance.
The blast occurred on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic centre of the southeast city. The area was evacuated and cordoned off by police.
'There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash,' said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres (50 feet) from the blast site.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner was at the scene in downtown Lyon to support police officers in their intervention and offer reassurance to the public
Emergency workers carry a person injured in a suspected package bomb blast along a pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon
French officers stand beside a police cordon set up in the aftermath of the explosion which French President Emmanuel Macron described as an attack
Anti-terror soldiers secure the site of the suspected bomb attack in central Lyon as authorities hunt for a man in his 30s
'There were bits of electric wire near me, and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out,' he said.
The attack upended last-minute campaigning ahead of France's European Parliament vote on Sunday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelling his appearance at his centrist party's final rally Friday night.
'I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge 'boom',' said Omar Ghezza, a baker who works nearby.
'We though it had something to do with renovation work. But in fact it was an abandoned package,' he said.
A 'parcel bomb' filled with nails, screws and bolts exploded on a busy street in Lyon, France
Emergency workers attended to an injured person in the back of an ambulance after the bomb blast in Lyon
French police escort the emergency services following a suspected package bomb blast along a pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon
Authorities are saying a man on a bicycle was seen placing a bag on the ground just moments before the blast
The bombing follows a series of Isis and al-Qaeda attacks on France over the past five years that have seen 250 people killed in a series of devastating attacks.
They started in January 2015 with a murderous attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by two brothers affiliated to al-Qaeda.
Later that year, in November, a series of assaults by Isis terrorists carrying Kalashnikov and explosive in Paris caused 130 deaths.
ISIS has targeted France since the country became involved in bombing raids on the so-called Isis caliphate in Syria and Iraq, but that has been decimated in recent months.
Shocked shoppers looked on as a large police presence filled the busy pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon
A dressed victim being loaded into an ambulance after the attack, with officials later saying there were no serious injuries
A police officer carries evidence at the site of the suspected bomb attack in Lyon on Friday evening
Police officers are seen near the site of a suspected bomb attack in central Lyon this evening
A row of ambulances are spotted as emergency workers attended to injured people in the back of an ambulance after the attack
Despite this, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner and his security chiefs have warned the threat of further violent crimes 'remains very high'.
Last month two Frenchmen were charged in Paris on suspicion of planning an attack on a school or a police officer.
Far-Right groups have also been intercepted planning assaults on ethnic minority targets and politicians, including President Macron himself.
The attack came on the eve of European Parliament elections in France, when millions will go to the polls to elect new MEPs.
Armed police are seen near the site of the suspected bomb attack in central Lyon
The area where the explosion occurred has been evacuated with at least eight people injured
The package contained 'screws or bolts' and had been placed in front of a bakery on the corner of the two popular streets
Anti-government Yellow Vest protesters have also been causing chaos in major cities such as Lyon every weekend as they call for Mr Macron tor resign.
Particularly disturbing attacks on the police have taken place in Lyon, but none have caused fatalities.
Following the bomb explosion, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called on prefects to 'reinforce security in public place' and urged people to 'be vigilant.'
