Two dead in Moldova grenade explosion

CHISINAU: Two people were killed and two others injured in Moldova on Tuesday after a man set off a grenade near a shop where he tried to steal several packs of cigarettes, the country’s police chief said.

A man went into a shop in the capital Chisinau before midday, took 10 cigarette packs and tried to leave without paying, the chief of Moldovan police Alexandr Panzari told reporters. The man, identified as a resident of Chisinau with a criminal record, had the grenade “either in his bag or his pocket”, he said.

“The salesman did not allow him to leave with the cigarettes,” said Panzari. “He dropped the grenade while exiting the shop which blew up at the entrance,” he added. It was unclear whether the man had intended to set off the grenade at the shop.

The explosion killed the man as well as another person who stood near the store, while the saleswoman and another person were wounded, added Panzari. “An investigation is under way,” he said. The former Soviet republic, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, is one of the poorest countries in Europe.