A car bomb has exploded outside a police station on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

"It’s a miracle there was only material damage. People could have been killed," a Corsican government spokesman told the AFP news agency.

He said attackers had rigged up a gas bottle in the car and detonated it at around 0600 local time (0400 GMT).

The car was blown to pieces by the force of the blast, which also knocked the son of a gendarme off his bicycle.

Corsica suffers infrequent small-scale attacks by separatists opposed to French rule.

Wednesday’s attack in the northern town of Vescovato was the first car bomb on the island since 2006, AFP said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux called a "totally irresponsible act."</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A car bomb has exploded outside a police station on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

"It’s a miracle there was only material damage. People could have been killed," a Corsican government spokesman told the AFP news agency.

He said attackers had rigged up a gas bottle in the car and detonated it at around 0600 local time (0400 GMT).

The car was blown to pieces by the force of the blast, which also knocked the son of a gendarme off his bicycle.

Corsica suffers infrequent small-scale attacks by separatists opposed to French rule.

Wednesday’s attack in the northern town of Vescovato was the first car bomb on the island since 2006, AFP said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux called a "totally irresponsible act."</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.