Woman killed by Paris parcel bomb

A PARCEL bomb addressed to a lawyer killed his secretary and injured five other people yesterday in central Paris.

Police trying to find a motive said far-right extremists could be involved because the building houses a foundation for Holocaust research and a second law firm partly owned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But they have also not ruled out a revenge attack on the legal practice, which specialises in divorce, insurance and property deals.

The parcel had been addressed to Olivier Brane, who was near his secretary and suffered serious injuries when the bomb exploded. Four other people suffered minor injuries.

Paris public prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin said two devices were delivered by courier in the same parcel and exploded shortly before 1pm when the package was opened.

“It seems the lawyers’ practice is mystified by this incident,” said Mr Marin.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said the bombed lawyer’s office was on the same floor as the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, created in 2000 with an endowment from recovered funds that were confiscated from French Jews during the Second World War. It supports research and education about the Holocaust and Jewish culture.

He and other officials stressed, however, that the motive for the attack was unclear.