Story highlights
NEW: "The explosive device was probably part" of a safe's security mechanism, police say
Police identify the dead man as Jamal al Jamal, 57
His wife was taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke and suffering from shock
Their son was not hurt
Illegal weapons have been found inside the northern Prague residence of a Palestinian diplomat who died Wednesday of injuries suffered when he opened a safe in the living room and an explosion occurred, police said Thursday.
He died after he was taken to Prague Military Hospital.
“The explosion was most likely caused by dangerous or unqualified manipulation with the safety box by the ambassador himself,” Zoulova said Wednesday. “The explosive device was probably part of the safety mechanism of the safe.”
She added that authorities had found evidence of explosives in the debris.
However, police have ruled out any “criminal involvement of a third person intending to kill a particular person,” she said Thursday. She had said Wednesday that the incident was not related to terrorism.
But Zoulova stressed that the incident was not related to terrorism. “There is not a single piece of evidence that would suggest this was a terrorist attack,” she said.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the explosion occurred minutes after al Jamal opened an old safe that had been moved from the old diplomatic mission to his two-story house, which was being readied to house the new diplomatic mission.
A high-level delegation sent by the ministry arrived in Prague on Thursday to help with the investigation.
The house was newly constructed, said CTK, a state-run news agency.
The blast, which occurred about 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. ET), also injured al Jamal’s 52-year-old wife, who was treated at an area hospital for smoke inhalation and shock.
The couple’s son, who was also in the house at the time of the blast, was not hurt.
Al Jamal had been a diplomat in the Czech Republic since last October, CTK said.
CNN’s Tom Watkins contributed to this report.