A BOMB exploded in central Athens after authorities received a tip from an anonymous caller.
Emergency rescuers rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area after local residents said they heard a loud explosion in the avenue.
Policemen close the road after a suspected bomb explosion outside of the Hellenic Train offices[/caption]
A policeman guards an area after a suspected bomb explosion outside of Hellenic Train offices[/caption]
Forensics officers investigate the area of a bomb blast[/caption]
The explosion took place outside the Hellenic Train offices – Greece’s main railway company – in Athens.
It is understood to have been caused by a device which was placed inside a backpack and was left on a bike without license plates.
Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before the blast, warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices.
An anonymous person had called and warned about a bomb being placed at the Hellenic Train offices at 8.53pm local time.
He warned that the bomb would explode in “30 to 40 minutes” and said that “it is not a prank”.
Cops are now investigating the cause of the explosion.
It is understood that no one was hurt in the blast.
However, the extent of damage it caused is still unknown.
The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a major railway disaster in 2023, in which dozens of people were killed when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.
The passenger express was going from the capital Athens to Thessaloniki in the north.
It had just left Larisa in central Greece when it ploughed head-on into a goods train heading in the opposite direction just before midnight.
At least three carriages burst into flames.
Of 66 injured passengers – including children – some 25 were said to be in a serious condition.
Horror pictures showed the devastating aftermath of the disaster.
Mangled carriages with broken windows lay twisted beside the tracks as thick plumes of smoke rose into the sky.
Meanwhile, at least 24 people were killed after an alleged suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in Pakistan.
A further 50 people were injured after the blast in the country’s Balochistan province in November.
The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, a senior government administrator said.
Police said about a dozen security forces are also among the dead.
TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a tea stall destroyed as luggage littered the place.
A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station.
The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.