The blast which killed the Palestinian ambassador to Prague today at his residence appeared to be an accident caused by explosives detonated when he opened a safe, Czech police have said.
“There is nothing suggesting that a terrorist act was committed,” spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova told reporters after ambassador Jamal al-Jamal died in hospital following the incident at his home on the morning of New Year’s Day.
Among possible causes, she said, were that an explosive device which might have been part of a security mechanism on the safe went off for no clear reason or due to mishandling.
Mr Jamal had taken up his post only in October.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing a Foreign Ministry statement, said the blast happened when Mr Jamal, who Czech media said was aged 56, tried to open a safe that had been moved from the embassy’s old offices.
Czech police spokeswoman Zoulova said: “The possibilities include inexpert handling of an explosive device or its spontaneous detonation ... The device was in a safe and was triggered after the door of the safe was opened. The police are not ruling out that the device was a part of the safe.”
Some safes can be fitted with small charges to destroy secret documents in the event of the lock being tampered with. However, the Czech police appeared to leave open the possibility that the diplomatic mission might have been storing explosives.
No one else was injured in the explosion, police said, although Mr Jamal’s family was at home in the two-storey suburban residence. No signs of damage to the house was visible outside.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said it would send a team to Prague “to help with the investigation”.
Reuters