At least eight people are said be injured after a ‘parcel bomb’ filled with nails, screws and bolts exploded in Lyon, France.

Witnesses at the scene claim the device was a self-improvised explosive, left on Victor Hugo Street.

Two people are believed to be in a serious condition.

The perpetrator is unknown at this stage and emergency services are tending to the scene.

A police cordon has now been erected at the scene.

If you have a story for our news team, email us at webnews@metro.co.uk. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. </s> LYON
• French police have arrested three people over an explosion in the south-eastern city of Lyon last week which injured 13 people, the authorities said.

The suspected bomber, a 24-year-old Algerian citizen, was arrested along with his mother and another Algerian student who is a family friend, Paris prosecutors said in a statement yesterday.

The suspect is an IT student previously unknown to police, Lyon's Mayor Gerard Collomb said.

Police have also questioned his sister but she has not been arrested, the Paris prosecutors added.

Prosecutors last Friday opened an investigation over "attempted murders linked to a terrorist organisation".

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green top and bermuda shorts, and carrying a dark rucksack.

He had been the target of an extensive manhunt since late Friday when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.

Police circulated photos of the suspect on Twitter, leading to "several dozen" calls from people with information.

Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive was acetone peroxide, or Apex, a volatile compound used in the deadly Paris attacks of Nov 13, 2015.

Investigators of the Lyon incident recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device. Officials later said the charge was relatively weak.

Thirteen people were wounded in the explosion - eight women, four men and a 10-year-old girl - of whom 11 needed hospital treatment. The authorities said some of those hurt needed surgery to remove shrapnel but the injuries were not life-threatening.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly militant terror attacks since 2015, which have killed more than 250 people.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group has been behind many of the attacks. No one has claimed responsibility for the Lyon blast. </s> At least 12 people have been injured after a bomb exploded in the pedestrian in France's city of Lyon, reported TASS.

The bomb was hidden in a bag filled with nails and bolts.

The area around the Hugo and Sala streets intersection hit by the explosion is cordoned by the police.

An investigation has been initiated. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption The device, full of screws, nuts and bolts, went off in Lyon city centre last week

French police have arrested four people after a suspected parcel bomb exploded in Lyon last week, injuring 13 people.

The device, packed with screws and ball bearings, detonated outside a bakery on Friday afternoon.

One of those arrested, a 24-year-old man, is the suspected bomber, prosecutors say. Another man and a woman were also reportedly detained.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast wearing a balaclava and rucksack.

Anti-terrorist prosecutors are leading the investigation, co-ordinating with Lyon police and France's internal security service, the DGSI.

What do we know about the suspects?

French media report that one suspect is an IT student of Algerian nationality. A source told news agency Reuters that police arrested him in Lyon after tailing him in the street. It reportedly decided not to arrest him in his apartment in case there were explosives in the building.

The second suspect, according to local press, is a minor who attends a school in the city.

Two other people, a man and a woman, have also been arrested. They are reportedly the parents of one of the suspects.

Last week, police released a picture from CCTV footage of a person they believe carried out the bombing.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Police called for information on this man after the blast

What do we know about the attack?

The explosion struck near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in Lyon's historic city centre.

Investigators have recovered screws, ball bearings, along with a printed circuit, batteries and a remote-controlled trigger device.

Denis Broliquier, the city's district mayor, told press that "the charge was too small to kill," and a government source told AFP news agency it had been a "relatively weak explosive charge".

Those hurt, including a girl aged eight, appear to have suffered superficial injuries.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner confirmed one of the arrests in a Tweet on Monday, saying joint action by several agencies had been "decisive".

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The last time a parcel bomb had exploded in France was in 2007 when a device killed one person and injured another in front of a law office in Paris. Police never found the bomber.

Jihadist gun and bomb attacks have killed more than 250 people in France since 2015 and the country remains on high alert, with military patrols a regular feature of security in cities including Lyon. </s> French police have arrested two men after a suspected parcel bomb exploded in Lyon last week, injuring 13 people.

The device, packed with screws and ball bearings, detonated outside a bakery on Friday afternoon.

One of the men arrested, a 24-year-old, is the suspected bomber, prosecutors say. No details have been given on the other.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast wearing a balaclava and rucksack.

Anti-terrorist prosecutors are leading the investigation, co-ordinating with Lyon police and France's internal security service, the DGSI.

The explosion struck near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in Lyon's historic city centre.

Investigators have reportedly recovered screws, ball bearings, along with a printed circuit, batteries and a remote-controlled trigger device.

Denis Broliquier, the city's district mayor, told press that "the charge was too small to kill," and a government source told AFP news agency it had been a "relatively weak explosive charge".

Those hurt, including a girl aged eight, appear to have suffered superficial injuries.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner confirmed one of the arrests in a Tweet on Monday, saying joint action by several agencies had been "decisive".

Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon, told local media that a second man was also arrested without giving further detail.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The last time a parcel bomb had exploded in France was in 2007 when a device killed one person and injured another in front of a law office in Paris. Police never found the bomber.

Jihadist gun and bomb attacks have killed more than 250 people in France since 2015 and the country remains on high alert, with military patrols a regular feature of security in cities including Lyon. </s> Lyon: French police have arrested a suspect over an explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week that injured 13 people, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and a carrying a dark rucksack.

The Paris prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over terrorist investigations in France, confirmed that the man, a 24-year-old arrested in Lyon, is the suspected bomber.

He had been the target of an extensive manhunt since Friday night when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.

Police circulated photos of the suspect on Twitter, leading to "several dozen" calls from people with information.

Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive was acetone peroxide, or APEX, a volatile compound used in the deadly Paris attacks on November 13, 2015.

Investigators recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device. Officials later said the charge was relatively weak.

Thirteen people were wounded in the blast - eight women, four men and a 10-year-old girl - of whom 11 needed hospital treatment.

None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening, but authorities said some needed surgery to remove shrapnel.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.

Daesh has been behind many of the attacks, though no one has claimed responsibility for the Lyon blast. </s> A package blast on a pedestrian street in the heart of France’s city of Lyon wounded several people Friday, officials said, just two days ahead of the country’s hotly contested European Parliament elections.

President Emmanuel Macron called the blast an “attack” during a live Facebook interview, adding that no deaths had been reported “for the time being”.

The area where the explosion occurred, on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic centre of the southeast city, was evacuated and cordoned off by police, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

A police source told AFP the package contained “screws or bolts” and had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets.

A man apparently in his early 30s who was spotted near the scene shortly before the attack was being sought by police, a source close to the inquiry said.

Police said eight people were wounded but none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Macron, in his Facebook interview, said: “It’s not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no fatalities. There have been injuries, so obviously I’m thinking of these injured and their families.”

“An eight-year-old girl was wounded…. We’re fairly relieved because apparently there were no serious injuries but on the other hand, we are certain it was an explosive device,” said Denis Broliquier, mayor of the city’s Second Arrondissement.

He said the suspect sought by police had been seen on video surveillance cameras.

“There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash,” said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres (50 feet) from the site of the blast.

“There were bits of electric wire near me, and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out,” he said.

A terrorism probe has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, which has jurisdiction over all terror cases in the country.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.

“It’s an area in the very centre of Lyon, a major street,” the city’s deputy mayor in charge of security, Jean-Yves Secheresse, told BFM television.

“These areas are highly secured, the police are continually present,” as were patrols by soldiers deployed in a long-running anti-terror operation, he said.

Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. The population of the city plus its extensive suburbs is 2.3 million.

The most recent package bomb in France dates back to December 2007, when an explosion in front of a law office in Paris killed one person and injured another. Police never found who carried out that attack. </s> At least 13 people were injured after a blast in a pedestrian street in the French city of Lyon on Saturday. Police in France were searching for a suspect following the blast, AFP reported.

A police source told AFP that a package containing “screws or bolts” had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets on Friday evening. The explosion occurred at on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers.

The area was then evacuated and cordoned off by police.

Those injured included a girl aged ten. None of the injuries are life-threatening.

France’s National Police tweeted a grainy photo of the suspect they believed is “the perpetrator of the attack” and asked the public to call with any information.

The man was caught on security cameras in the area immediately before the explosion. In the photo he is wearing a light-coloured shorts and a long-sleeved dark top and is on a bicycle.

President Emmanuel Macron called the explosion an attack and sent his Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to Lyon. “Tonight I think of the wounded in the explosion in Lyon, their families affected by the violence that has befallen their loved ones in the street,” Macron tweeted later in the day. “And all of Lyon. We are by your side.”

“I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge ‘boom’,” Omar Ghezza, a baker who worked near the spot told AFP. “We though it had something to do with renovation work. But in fact it was an abandoned package.”

The attack came two days ahead of the country’s closely contested European Parliament elections.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly terror attacks since 2015 that have killed more than 250 people. </s> Paris (CNN) At least 13 people were hurt Friday in an explosion in the French city of Lyon, prompting a national investigation into possible terrorism.

The blast occurred in the early evening in the city's central shopping area. Eleven of the 13 injured were taken to hospital, including a 10-year-old child, the Paris Prosecutor's office said Saturday.

French police are still looking for the person suspected of carrying out the attack, according to a tweet from the French National Police verified Twitter account. Police also tweeted a photo of the man they believed to be "the author of the attack" and asked the public to call with any information.

French President Emmanuel Macron characterized the blast as an attack shortly after it happened, telling an interviewer: "I'm late because there was an attack in Lyon."

Emergency workers wheel a woman on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance in Lyon on Friday.

Investigators believe the explosion may have been caused by a parcel bomb packed with nails, a spokeswoman for the city prosecutor told CNN.

Read More
Multiple people are injured in Lyon, France, by a bomb filled with bolts.