New details have emerged about the preparation behind Monday night’s bombing in Monaco, with France Télévisions reporting that the suspect spent hours surveilling his victims before triggering the device remotely from a short distance away.
According to Eric Pelletier, a police and justice journalist at France Télévisions, investigators now have a precise picture of the suspect’s movements on the day of the attack. Surveillance footage shows he observed the family’s comings and goings on the morning of June 29 before returning in the evening. He then waited for close to an hour near the victims’ building.
When Ermolaev and his family arrived, the suspect walked ahead of them towards the building entrance, placed the bag containing the explosive device, then continued past before turning back to confirm the family had reached the doorway. He then detonated the device remotely from a distance of 40 to 60 metres.
Seconds after the explosion, he fled on foot. He was captured on CCTV cameras just metres from the building before reaching the French border via a stairway, at which point investigators lost his trail.
Forensic specialists from Marseille’s technical and scientific police unit are now analysing the remains of the bag for DNA traces. Investigators are also examining a bench where the suspect is believed to have sat while waiting for the family to return.
A foreign national was detained in Monaco on the morning of Wednesday July 1 for verification checks but was released that afternoon without charge, according to the Prosecutor General’s office.
The woman critically injured in the blast remains in an unstable condition, according to the latest official update.