MEXICO CITY – A homemade bomb exploded about 50 yards from Mexico City police headquarters Friday, killing one man and injuring a young woman, police said.
The explosion broke windows and damaged cars in the immediate vicinity, part of a popular tourist area. Blocks away, high-rise buildings shook along the capital city's central Reforma avenue. Police officers dressed in riot gear swarmed and cordoned off the area.
A man was killed in the explosion and two other people were injured, Police Chief Joel Ortega said. Police are investigating whether the man killed was responsible for the bomb or if he simply picked up the package inside a plastic bag from the sidewalk, he added.
Ortega said investigators believe the explosive was activated remotely by a cell phone.
A 22-year-old woman, who Ortega said knows the man killed, suffered burns all across her body and a 29-year-old man had minor wounds.
A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak, identified the injured woman as Tania Vazquez and the wounded man as Javier Gonzalez.
Ortega said the motive for the bombing remained unclear.
In recent weeks, police have announced the arrest in Mexico City of several alleged members of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, and the seizure of several large weapons caches, including grenades and high-powered rifles.
Small rebel groups have in past years have set off explosives outside banks during off-hours and blown up pipes belonging to the state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. No one was killed in those attacks.
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