Explosive charge detonation in Oviedo kills police officer – second officer loses leg
A police officer died in the detonation of an explosive device in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo, with a second officer losing a leg. Police are searching for an armed man.
Fatal explosion in Oviedo: police officer killed in rucksack detonation
A police officer was killed in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo on Tuesday morning in the explosion of an explosive charge. A second officer suffered severe injuries and lost a leg, according to reports citing Spanish media and authorities.
Police had been called to a block of flats in the Asturian capital in the early morning hours after neighbours heard at least three shots. A father reportedly then took his injured daughter to hospital. According to the newspaper "La Voz de Asturias", the background to the shots was apparently a family dispute; the gunman fled the scene.
Upon their arrival, the first officers discovered a rucksack at the entrance of the building. A bomb disposal expert and a police officer with a sniffer dog were subsequently called in. Around an hour after they were alerted, as the two specialists were examining the rucksack, the detonation occurred.
Whether there was a direct connection between the explosive device and the preceding shots initially remained unclear. Police cordoned off the affected district and launched a major manhunt for the allegedly armed man who is believed to have fired shots at the young woman.
Source: Kleine Zeitung