Parcel Bomb Injures Ukrainian Businessman in Monaco, Manhunt Underway in France

A manhunt is under way in southern France after a parcel bomb exploded at a residential building in neighbouring Monaco, injuring a wealthy Ukrainian businessman and two others.

Vadim Yermolaiev and two others are believed to have been injured in the attack on Monday evening, according to French media reports. Their identities have not been officially announced.

Two are in a critical condition in hospital in Nice, Monaco public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said, adding that a woman was the most seriously hurt.

The blast occurred shortly before 21:00 (19:00 GMT) at an apartment building on Rue Révérend Père Louis Frolla, near the border with France.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said its embassy in France was in touch with Monaco's authorities and was working to officially identify those reported injured in the blast.

Monaco's government said the explosion had been caused by a parcel bomb, while the Minister of State of Monaco, Christophe Mirmand, told AFP news agency the explosive device had appeared to contain bolts and pellets.

Thibault said four other people had been treated by emergency services - one for shock and three for cuts from debris from nearby shop windows as a result of the blast.

He said authorities were searching for a single suspect and that the incident was being investigated as attempted murder, not as a terrorist attack.

On Tuesday morning, Mirmand told French broadcaster BFM TV the suspect appeared to "have left for France".

The Monaco government has said a suspect was seen on a video surveillance system fleeing towards the French commune of Beausoleil on foot after the explosion, where a major police effort to find them is now taking place.

Video surveillance images of the moments before the attack showed a man dropping a backpack in the lobby of a building shortly before the explosion, French newspaper Le Figaro reported.