Organised crime suspected for Cologne bomb blast

Investigators spent the night combing a Cologne shopping street for evidence after a nail bomb injured 22 people, but said they still had no solid leads to chase.

“We are investigating all possibilities,” said police spokesman Juergen Laggies.

Laggies said there was not any evidence the attack was politically-motivated terrorism, but that “it would be irresponsible to rule out any possibilities at this juncture.”

He said he could not confirm a report that the attack was suspected to be linked to organised crime.

The blast shortly threw broken glass and debris along the street in the Muelheim neighbourhood of Cologne, a Turkish area of family shops and three-storey residential buildings.

Twisted carpenter’s nails littered the street, leading police to conclude that they were part of a bomb.

Four of the 22 injured were seriously hurt, most suffering broken bones, but authorities said the most critically injured seemed to be out of life-threatening danger today.