COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Police in the Danish capital said two predawn explosions occurred Wednesday in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen, prompting a nearby Jewish school to close for the day. Three men were later arrested.
Police said no one was injured and they were investigating whether there was a link between the blasts, which happened around 3:20 a.m., and the Israeli diplomatic mission, which is near several other embassies.
Three men were arrested in connection with the explosions, police said. Two of them were arrested on a train at Copenhagen’s central station, while a third was arrested “elsewhere” in Copenhagen, police said. They were not identified.
The Ekstra Bladet newspaper ran photos of a man in a white hazmat suit being taken away by police on a train platform at the central station.
Heavily armed officers, search dogs and forensic teams were inspecting the area, which had been cordoned off.
Copenhagen’s Jewish school, Carolineskolen, which is just down the street from the embassy, was already due to close on Thursday and Friday for the Jewish New Year holidays, said Michael Rachlin, a spokesperson for Denmark´s Jewish community.
There will also be extra security around the main synagogue in downtown Copenhagen, the Jewish community said in a statement. Community chairman Henrik Goldstein wrote that he “would like to encourage people to be aware when moving in public spaces.”
“And be critical of what you hear on social media and rumors,” he wrote, adding that “there is no reason to refrain from participating in Jewish life.”
Police refused to give details about the intensity of the reported blasts or the damage they may have caused.
Denmark’s Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told broadcaster TV2 that the incident was “inherently serious,” adding it was too early to say anything about a motive.
On Tuesday night, the area around the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm was also closed off after a loud bang was reported. Police later announced that findings from the scene indicated that the embassy was hit by bullets. No one has been arrested, they said.
Swedish broadcaster TV4 said that a weapon and an empty shell casing had been found at or near the embassy. Sweden’s domestic security agency told The Associated Press that it was not conducting a preliminary investigation and referred to the ordinary police.
“It is true that the police have made findings at the Israeli embassy (in Stockholm), but we will not go into detail about what these findings are,” police spokeswoman Rebecca Landberg told the AP, citing pre-investigation confidentiality.
In late January, the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm was sealed off after what was then described as “a dangerous object” was found on its grounds in an eastern Stockholm neighborhood. Swedish media said the object was a hand grenade.
“I look with severity on the shooting at Israel’s Embassy in Stockholm last night and the events reported from Copenhagen this morning,” Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told the Swedish news agency TT.
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