Bomb explodes in Brazilian finance ministry

A bomb has exploded in a government building in Sao Paulo, slightly wounding two people and damaging three floors.

The blast occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Finance Ministry's headquarters in the city. The blast destroyed the fourth floor and damaged the floors immediately above and below it.

The bomb was placed in the men's room in the fourth floor of the 23-story building in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial nerve centre.

Police Spokesman Gilberto Tadeu Cezar told the O Estado news agency: "Whoever placed the bomb knew the building very well. Luckily, the fourth floor was practically empty at the time of the explosion."

The Finance Ministry's press office said the floor was used for specialisation courses and that, at the time of the blast, no classes were being held.