Furniture attack
June 11, 2011
Two people were lightly injured after an explosive went off at the Ikea furniture store in Dresden, the latest in a string of puzzling explosions at branches of the chain in Europe.
Dresden police on Saturday said the explosion occurred Friday evening in the kitchen section of the store. Two people, 32 and 41 years old, suffered shock from the blast and some items on display were damaged, the police said.
There has been no claim of responsibility and police are investigating the incident.
The explosion follows similar incidents at Ikea stores in Belgium, France and the Netherlands on May 30. Rigged alarm clocks blew up inside the stores in Ghent, Belgium and Lille, France. A trash bin exploded at the store in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
No one was seriously injured in the explosions.
Ikea said after those three explosions that it had received no threats or warnings, and that it was not considering the incidents as blackmail or extortion.
Two Polish men were convicted in 2004 for planting bombs at Ikea stores in the Netherlands in 2002 and trying to extort 250,000 euros ($360,000) from the Swedish company.
Seven people were arrested in 2009 for threatening to blow up several Amsterdam businesses, including an Ikea outlet, but were released when the threats turned out to be a prank.
Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Kyle James