Mail Bomb Detonates in Philadelphia
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PHILADELPHIA — A suspicious package found inside a postal box exploded Monday as it was being defused by a police bomb squad, authorities said.
The blast sprayed shrapnel for 100 feet, but there were no injuries, according to FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi.
Mark Chait, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said he wasn’t sure what the explosive device was made of but said its remnants would be analyzed.
A mail carrier discovered the package inside the postal box in a residential neighborhood and became alarmed by writing on its exterior.
“He didn’t like the looks of it, he didn’t like the writing on it,” Vizi said. She declined to describe the writing.
A police official who spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity said a note on the package said “Free Palestine” and mentioned the Al Qaedaterrorist network.
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