A blast ripped through a fast-food restaurant next to a busy subway station in Chilean capital Santiago on Monday, injuring at least 14 people in the most damaging of nearly 30 bombings or attempted bombings in the city this year, according to Reuters.
The explosion took place during lunchtime at a restaurant in a small, underground shopping mall connected to the Escuela Militar subway station in Santiago's affluent Las Condes neighborhood, according to Reuters.
The injuries apparently were caused by fragments from a fire extinguisher filled with gunpowder that detonated in a trash bin, said fire department Commander Ivo Zuvic Garcia, Reuters reported.
While no group claimed responsibility for the blast, many past bombings have been claimed by anarchist groups and Chile's government said it would invoke the country's tough anti-terror laws, Reuters reported.
Anti-riot police, firefighters and bomb squad officers briefly closed the subway station after the explosion, but it was partly re-opened about an hour later, according to Reuters.
Christian Toledo, the prosecutor investigating the blasts, said the explosive device was similar to the ones used in the nearly three dozen planted so far this year, according to Reuters.
President Michelle Bachelet called it an abominable act of terrorism, Reuters reported.
"That's why we're going to use the full force of justice, including invoking the anti-terrorist law," Bachelet said, according to Reuters.
The anti-terror law enacted during Chile's 1973-90 dictatorship lets suspects be held in isolation without charges and permits the use of phone taps and secret witnesses in investigations, Reuters reported.
Santiago is one of the safest capitals in Latin America, but Chileans have been shocked by at least 29 bombs that have been found across the city so far this year. Some have not gone off, and none of the other bombs before this one caused any injuries, according to Reuters.
Deputy Interior Secretariat Mahmud Aleuy said two suspects believed to have planted the explosive device escaped in a car, Reuters reported.
