Authorities investigate explosion at Allianz office in France

A man has been seriously injured after a parcel exploded at a small Allianz insurance agency in central France, authorities said on Monday.

The blast occurred early Monday afternoon in the city of Montluçon, some 200 kilometres north-west of Lyon, when the 34-year-old son of the agency owner retrieved the day’s mail from the letterbox, Mayor Frédéric Laporte told broadcaster France Info. The circumstances of the incident remained unclear.

Broadcaster Ici, citing early investigative findings, reported that a grenade hidden inside the parcel detonated. The victim sustained severe injuries to his hands and chest and was taken to the university hospital in Clermont-Ferrand. Bomb disposal specialists were deployed to the scene.

Prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation.

Allianz France condemned “any act of violence or criminal action directed against its staff, business activity or property,” France Info reported.

Just days earlier, another Allianz agency in the southern city of Toulouse was attacked. The local anarchist group Marseille Infos Autonomes published a claim of responsibility on its website, saying it had smashed windows at the branch.

In its statement, the group justified the Toulouse attack by alleging that Allianz insures an Israeli arms company developing systems intended for use in Palestinian territories.

Whether there is any connection to Monday’s explosion at the Allianz agency remains unclear.