Backpack containing explosives discovered in Madrid

A BACKPACK discovered near the Public Prosecutor’s Madrid office was later found to contain explosives.

It was left in Calle Capitan Haya by a man on a motorcycle who crossed the street on foot and deposited the bag before leaving the way he came.

A security guard observing the episode on CCTV cameras contacted the police who immediately cordoned off the area.

Sniffer dogs did not react to the backpack and the contents of the bag were at first described by a police communiqué as “a dummy device resembling a bomb.”

Despite this initial reaction, a Tedax bomb disposal unit destroyed the backpack with two controlled explosions later that same evening.

The homemade device – a pressure cooker packed with nails, cables and sand –  was very elaborate, police said.  They are now trying to identify the explosive used.

This was the second bomb threat in just over a month. A home-made explosive device was found near the Almudena cathedral in February.  Anarchist group Comando Insurreccionalista Mateo Morral claimed responsibility for the first bomb, although last week’s bore the stamp of the Resistencia Galega separatist group, police sources said.