ByREUTERS
Updated:

Two police officers and two members of the public were injured in an explosion at a building in central Athens, Greek police said on Wednesday.

All four were taken away in ambulances, police said in a statement.

A police official who declined to be named said the explosion occurred when officers reached the building in the area of Kolonos and picked up a backpack thought to contain drugs.

Bomb supected of being detonated remotely

Police had earlier received a call from a resident and the manager of the building notifying them of the suspected drugs at the building's entrance. They later found parts of an explosive device.

A bomb squad member proceeds to the site, following an explosion at a building in central Athens, in which police officers and members of the public were injured, in Athens, Greece, October 21, 2026.
A bomb squad member proceeds to the site, following an explosion at a building in central Athens, in which police officers and members of the public were injured, in Athens, Greece, October 21, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/STELIOS MISINAS)

The bomb went off as police inspected the backpack and was potentially activated remotely, a second police official said.

The manager was also injured in the blast, which police are not treating as a terrorist act, the first police official added. The homicide unit is leading the investigation.