French police hunt suspect after Lyon bomb attack

LYON: French police were on Saturday pulling out all the stops to locate a suspect following a blast in the heart of Lyon that wounded 13 people.

"All means have been activated to identify and detain the person who committed this act," Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz told media in Lyon, the third-biggest French city.

The blast occurred just two days ahead of hotly contested European Parliament elections and with France on watch for any repeat of recent deadly terrorist attacks which have rocked the country.

Heitz has taken charge of the investigation into "attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise and association with terrorist criminals."

French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said late on Friday however that it was too soon to say whether the blast could be termed a "terrorist act".

President Emmanuel Macron initially called the Friday evening explosion an "attack" but later took a more cautious tone with a tweet that condemned "the violence that has struck" the city’s residents.

Police issued an appeal for witnesses on Twitter as they sought a man -- described as "dangerous" -- who was believed to be in his early 30s and who was picked up by security cameras riding an all-terrain bicycle immediately before the explosion.

An image of the suspect, wearing light-coloured shorts and a long-sleeved dark top, was posted. His face was partially covered by a khaki cap and sunglasses.

The number of wounded stood at 13 -- eight women, a 10-year-old girl and four men -- of which 11 needed hospital treatment. None of their injuries were life-threatening.

No one has claimed the attack, Heitz noted.

He said investigators had recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device, and pieces of white plastic that might have been part of the explosive device.