Bombs at Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome injure two

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but authorities discounted domestic anarchists and protesters.

ROME // A pair of package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday, injuring the two people who opened them, police and news reports said.

There was no claim of responsibility but authorities discounted domestic anarchists or protesters.

Witnesses outside the Chilean embassy said they heard a blast shortly after 3 p.m., sending police to the scene. The ANSA news agency said the person who opened the package was wounded.

Three hours earlier, a package bomb exploded inside an office in the Swiss Embassy, seriously wounding the staffer who opened it. He was taken to the hospital with hand injuries.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, speaking outside the Swiss Embassy, said the motive of the Swiss attack appeared to be international as opposed to domestic in nature, distinguishing the blast from the fake bomb that was discovered on a Rome subway earlier this week.