Parcel bomb in Grange-Canal: shocked residents testify

The explosion of a parcel bomb injured a 12-year-old child Monday afternoon in Grange-Canal. According to our information, the victim underwent abdominal surgery for six hours.

Shortly after the events, the Geneva prosecutor on duty went to the site with the Criminal Brigade. The two police dogs mobilized on site spotted the explosives. It is in particular because of the presence of these products that the procedure passes into the hands of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Confederation.

According to the first elements of the investigation, this case is linked to another similar explosion in August in the Saint-Jean district. A father was injured. Common point between the two procedures: the packages would target two residents, both employed at Patek Philippe. Does anyone want to bully them? A former colleague? A competitor? For what? So far, no arrests have taken place.

The two people who were likely targeted by these explosions were both employees of Patek Philippe for more than ten years. One a mechanical engineer, the other a movement manufacturer. When contacted, several current or former employees of the company know nothing of a potential conflict linked to the company which could link these two events. As a reminder, numerous denunciations of mobbing harassment have agitated the company in recent years.

“It’s a filthy process!”

At number 36 Chemin de la Petite-Boissière this Tuesday morning, shoes crunch on the numerous broken glass still present on the sidewalk. In the lobby of the six-story building, the mailboxes are ripped open. A gaping hole replaces one of them. Their top and bottom plates are open like can lids. The large bay window in the hall is now blind. Carried away by the explosion, it is replaced by a wooden panel.

The residents who open their doors are just emerging from a sleepless night, still in shock from the tragedy. The explosion rang out at 4:15 p.m., the return-to-school time for families. This father of two children was just walking his youngest home when he received a text message from his eldest daughter warning him of the explosion. “I was already almost there and when I arrived, I saw the little girl. She was bleeding.”

Another father was also returning from school. “Blood was running down her face and she had lacerations to her lower abdomen. There were already neighbors present, I ran home to get a blanket and water. We didn’t dare touch his stomach wound for fear that there would still be shards of metal or glass. Fortunately, the police and then emergency services arrived very quickly. It’s terrible.”

Other neighbors were just as shaken, even though they arrived after the police had already cordoned off the scene. “I left the building a few minutes before the explosion… and I returned in the evening,” confides a resident. I was able to enter my accommodation through the basement. We were all questioned by the police, I barely slept, I spent the night wondering if I had met someone suspicious. It’s so shocking to put a parcel bomb in a mailbox, anyone could be hurt. And there it was a little girl who was! It’s a disgusting process.”

Another neighbor arrived in front of the building when the perimeter was already cordoned off. “We didn’t know when we would be able to return to our accommodation, so we decided to go to a hotel so that the children could sleep. We bought some things because we couldn’t go back to our house.”

A close neighbor of the victim’s family testifies: “Their daughter used to open the milk box every day. This gesture cost him dearly, it’s horrible.” The tenant on the ground floor returned home “two or three minutes” before the explosion, her son confirms: “She saw the little girl covered in blood. Two people tried to soothe him despite the pain.”

The residents interviewed confirm having been heard by the police on Monday: “Psychological support was also offered to the tenants and other children in the building.”

Enhanced security

Contacted, Patek Philippe did not wish to comment. However, an internal communication states that the “Management Board is in shock” following this event. The safety of employees is an “absolute priority and as a precaution, reinforcement measures have been put in place at the factory”. Management reminds employees to exercise “caution and discretion in your activities at Patek Philippe.”

Note that in Saint-Jean the entrance to the building, which was the scene of the first explosion last summer, is still subject to private surveillance.

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