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French hunt for stolen explosives | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
French anti-terrorist officers are hunting 28kg (61lb) of explosives missing from a security services site at Corbas, near the city of Lyon. | |
A police official in Paris said the missing material was Semtex - the powerful plastic explosive which is very hard to detect. | |
France's foreign ministry confirmed an investigation was underway, saying the head of the site had been suspended. | |
Police say they are treating the theft "very seriously". | |
Detonators are also missing, the police official told the AFP news agency. | |
The discovery that explosives were missing from the site, said to be home to a specialist anti-mine division of the security services, was made on Friday. | |
However, it is thought the explosives could have been taken up to one week ago. | |
In a statement released late on Friday the foreign ministry said that explosives were normally kept at the site for use in destroying old munitions, and that "security failings" had made the theft possible. | |
Police sources have declined to confirm a newspaper website report which said that the store had been unguarded. |