CHISINAU (Reuters) - A car exploded in the centre of the Moldovan capital Chisinau on Tuesday, badly injuring the head of the national tennis federation, police said.
The explosion took place outside the federation's headquarters in an area of the city close to several government buildings and the headquarters of the state security service.
Interior Ministry spokesman Chiril Motpan said federation president Igor Turcan was passing by when a parked car blew up. The cause of the explosion had not been established though a gas cylinder in the car may have exploded, Motpan said.
A senior federation official, however, said a deliberate attempt on Turcan's life could not be ruled out.
"The explosion happened just as the tennis federation's president had parked his car and was walking to his office," federation vice-president Marina Tauber told Reuters.
Apart from his post at the tennis federation, Turcan headed a campaign effort for an independent candidate in last weekend's election for Chisinau mayor.
Doctors said Turcan was in a bad condition with many wounds to his body.
The former Soviet republic, which has borders with Ukraine and European Union member Romania, is one of the poorest states in Europe, but bomb attacks which have been a feature of daily life in many post-Soviet states are relatively unknown.
Earlier, a resident said three people had been killed in the blast, but police did not confirm any fatalities.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov and Richard Balmforth; Editing by Jon Boyle)
