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Mailbox bomb blast injures 12-year-old girl

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Mailbox bomb blast injures 12-year-old girl
Photo: DPA

A 12-year-old girl has been severely injured by a mailbox bomb that appears to have been rigged in a family dispute in the Berlin district of Rudow, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported on Thursday.

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The makeshift bomb exploded on Wednesday afternoon when Shalin J. opened the letterbox to check for mail in the apartment building where her family lives, the paper reported.

“Her whole arm was torn into pieces, there was blood everywhere,” a neighbour told the paper after the girl was taken to hospital.

The police assume the attack was directed against the family, but has ruled out a racist motive because the family is German, the paper reported.

On Wednesday morning Shalin’s father had discovered a suspicious “object” on the roof of his car, but simply put it in the vehicle and went to work. But in the afternoon the 32-year-old became worried and handed the parcel over to the local police department, which said it a dangerous explosive, Der Tagesspiegel reported.

About the same time police were investigating the parcel, the mailbox at the apartment exploded, injuring his daughter.

The father reportedly revealed during police questioning that he suspected someone in his extended family might want to harm his immediate family, but refused to comment further, the paper said.

“He expressed his assumption in the interrogation,” a police spokesperson told Der Tagesspiegel. “Therefore we assume the attack has a family background,” he added.

Investigation into the event is ongoing, and police are trying to clarify why the man put the explosive package in his car instead of turning it over to authorities immediately.

Neighbours told the paper they are shocked that something like this has happened “such a quiet and peaceful area.” No one knew anything about a dispute in the J. family, they said.

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