“Sudden Flames”
The delivery of letter bombs in the Spanish capital led to road closures and traffic chaos around key diplomatic and public buildings.
Speaking before the latest package was found at the US embassy, Spain’s deputy interior minister said early indications suggest the first five packages were sent from within Spain.
Rafael Pérez, the junior minister responsible for security, told a news conference that the household appliances had been sent in brown packages with flammable powder and tripwires that would generate “sudden flames” rather than an explosion.
The packages were addressed to the heads of the institutions to which they were sent.
Perez said one of the devices was retained for investigative purposes, while the others were blown up by security forces in controlled explosions.
“It appears that they were all sent from within the country, but we are basing this on preliminary visual inspection without an in-depth technical report,” he said.
Perez said it did not seem necessary yet to convene a security committee that would evaluate raising Spain’s terrorist threat level, already at the second highest after Islamist attacks around Europe over the past decade.
A source close to the investigation said that while the devices were homemade, “they were not something that anyone could have made”, and that investigators were now trying to trace their contents to their origin.
Another source involved in the inquest said the larger envelopes all had the same typeface and appeared to come from the same sender. The source said they contained an “electrical ignition mechanism” and a gunpowder-like substance.
He said the postal service has been asked to scrutinize all letters addressed to high-profile institutions.
Spain’s High Court, which specializes in terrorism, has launched an investigation.