Police Official Killed in Paris Bomb Attack

A bomb ripped through police offices near City Hall today, killing the head of the anti-crime squad and wounding at least 27 other people, three of them seriously, authorities said.

Several people were believed still trapped after the blast, which brought down the ceiling in the fourth-floor headquarters of the squad near City Hall, where Prime Minister Jacques Chirac maintains an apartment as longtime mayor of Paris.

Firefighters and heavy equipment were quickly on the scene after the afternoon blast, which did not cause a fire but wrecked 300 square yards of offices. Windows were shattered over a wide area and parked cars were damaged.

Security Minister Robert Pandraud went to the scene soon after the explosion.

Initial reports said the explosion apparently was caused by a gas leak, but Pandraud later said it was caused by a bomb.

Common Criminals Pursued

Police identified the dead officer as the squad commander, Divisional Inspector Marcel Basdevant, about 50. The anti-crime squad specializes in the pursuit of common criminals, burglars, holdup men and petty thieves.

The blast came as the National Assembly neared completion of tough new law-and-order measures and amid an uproar over the shooting by a riot policeman of a young motorist who drove the wrong way on a one-way Paris street.

The last fatal bombing attack in Paris was in a shopping arcade on the Champs-Elysees on March 20 as Chirac took office after the rightist victory in the general elections four days previously. Two people were killed.