Palestinian Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal killed by explosion in Prague

Head of Palestinian mission in Czech Republic, Jamal al-Jamal, has been killed by an explosion at his home in Prague.

Jamal al-Jamal had been taken to hospital after the explosion but died of his injuries some four hours later.

Palestinian officials said the blast happened when the Palestinian diplomat was moving a safe. Czech police say there is no evidence that it was a planned attack.

A 52-year-old woman was also taken to hospital suffering from shock.

The explosion happened at a two-storey property in the city’s Suchdol district.

Palestinian mission spokesman Nabil El-Fahel told Czech public radio Jamal al-Jamal had been in the flat with his family at the time of the explosion.

Jamal al-Jamal had only recently moved into the property.

Palestinian officials have been quoted as saying the blast took place when Jamal al-Jamal attempted to move a safe from an old embassy building to the new one.

“The device was in a safe and was triggered after the door of the safe was opened. The police are not ruling out that the device was a part of the safe,” Czech police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova told Reuters.

There are no visible signs of damage to the house from the street, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said it would send a delegation to Prague to assist with the investigation.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which is recognized by the UN and Israel as representing the Palestinian people, has diplomats based in European and other capitals, and has a mission in Prague.