Explosion rocks French mayor's house

An explosion damaged the house of a conservative mayor in southern France today, but no one was hurt, police said.

Witnesses saw four people running from the seaside home in La Ciotat minutes after the blast at 4am, police said.

Mayor Patrick Bore was not home when the device went off behind his villa, damaging the veranda.

Bore is a member of the Rally for the Republic party of conservative President Jacques Chirac, who is running for re-election on May 5 against far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The criminal unit of the Marseille police department was investigating the incident.

In February, La Ciotat’s communications director, Gilbert Malapert, was shot and injured by an unidentified gunman.