Undefined Explosive Device (UED) event in Argentina on Thu 5th September 2024

A package addressed to Nicolás Pino, the president of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA, by its Spanish acronym), inflicted minor injuries on his secretary and led to the evacuation of the influential agricultural organization’s offices on Thursday morning.

A video of the explosion, to which the Herald had access, shows an office worker approach and lean on what looks like a reception desk just as Pamela Sousa, sitting alongside a colleague, opened the letter bomb. All three jump, with Sousa leaping away as a small fire erupts underneath the counter, and the office is engulfed in a cloud of white smoke.

Aside from light bruising on Sousa’s hand, nobody was injured.

Buenos Aires City Police told the Herald that it’s the first time since its creation in 2017 that they’ve dealt with a letter bomb of this magnitude.

While business chambers such as the Argentine Agrarian Federation condemned the letter bomb, the SRA published a communiqué reassuring the public that the workers involved were in “perfect condition.”

“We must clarify that no one was injured, and the people who were in contact with the smoke were taken to an assistance center to get checked,” said the SRA press release.

The city’s Emergency Medical Assistance System (SAME, by its Spanish initials) took seven workers to the Fernández Hospital — all were confirmed to be safe and uninjured, aside from Sousa’s bruising.