Parcel bomb shatters festive season and maims 60-year-old man
Karl Stagno-Navarra Philip Cini, a 60-year-old hawker from Qormi, was grievously injured at his home in St Edward Street yesterday, in an explosion believed to have been caused by a parcel bomb.
Cini’s injuries included the loss of one hand and serious injury to the other. He was transferred to Mater Dei hospital shortly the after incident, and at the time of going to press was considered to be in imminent danger of dying.
No one else was injured in the blast, although the damage to the residence was described as extensive.
The explosion took place at approximately 1:20pm. It is understood that the bomb had been placed on the victim’s doorstep in his house behind the Qormi health centre, but exploded in the hallway after being carried inside.
Initially the bomb was believed to have gone off inside the health centre itself, as the column of smoke appeared from a distance to rise directly from this building. However, these rumours were soon dispelled by the police.
The first to offer assistance were the victim’s wife and a member of his family, who were also in the house at the time of the incident but escaped injury.
They were joined by neighbours and passers-by until the police, AFM bomb disposal unit and members of the Civil Protection Department arrived at the scene.
While Police Commissioner John Rizzo led the investigations on site together with other senior officials from the Criminal Investigations Unit, forensic experts were seen elevating fingerprints from the door-bell as it was believed that whoever placed the package on the doorstep had rung the bell to draw the occupant’s attention.
Police officers were also busy collecting CCTV footage of the area from cameras placed at the entrance to the health centre and a nearby bank.
A magisterial inquiry is also being held.
Neighbours described Philip Cini as a jovial character and expressed disbelief at the attack.
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