RIYADH, 11 January — An explosion in a major shopping mall yesterday damaged a telephone booth and caused part of a wall to collapse. The blast was apparently caused by TNT connected to the telephone by an electric wire. There were no injuries.
Riyadh police director confirmed the blast and said it might have been caused by firecrackers left on the side of the mall. “After an inspection of the area, it appeared to specialized agencies that there were traces, possibly of firecrackers, placed on the side of the market’s outside wall.” He said security officers would continue their investigation into the incident.
Mall officials said the explosion at Euromarche, an 80-shop complex in the city center, occurred about 11:40 a.m. local time. According to Euromarche chairman, Ibrahim Al-Malek, “It was a small explosion which caused slight damage to the telephone booth and to a car which was passing by.”
Witnesses said the explosion occurred at the entrance to the shopping center’s supermarket. Part of a wall also collapsed from the impact. A mall employee said, “Shoppers and staff were in a state of panic and rushed out of the mall expecting further blasts.”
Police closed the shops and all roads leading to the mall for about three hours from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. They collected rubble from the blast site, including a device that was partly burned, and fingerprints from the telephone. The damaged car was a Honda Odyssey.
The blast fortunately injured no one as it occurred just before the closing of the center for noon prayer. Euromarche is 100 percent owned by Saudi investors and is located on Takhassusi Street, one of the important commercial streets in the capital.
The incident comes after three blasts in Riyadh and Dhahran in November and December in which one Briton was killed and five others were injured. Saudi authorities have made several arrests, including an American, while pointing to possible criminal rather than political motives for the attacks.
A high-level Saudi security source said recently that the results of investigations into the three bombings involving British nationals in the Kingdom would be announced soon.
One Briton was killed and his wife was injured in the first attack in Riyadh on Nov. 17. Five days later another bomb injured three Britons and an Irish woman. In December a fruit juice carton on the windshield of his car injured another Briton who was a Coca-Cola employee in Alkhobar.
The British and US embassies have reminded their citizens to be on the alert following the bombings which took place amid growing anti-US sentiments in the Arab world over what is seen as US support for Israel. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
