Three arrested on suspicion of trying to blow up Paris apartment block expected to face terror charges

A prosecutor has confirmed three men will be presented to judges before being put under formal investigation on suspicions that they tried to blow up a Paris apartment block.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said it was thanks to a resident that four gas canisters were found in the affluent 16th district of western Paris.

Mr Molins said the explosive device could have made significant damage had it been triggered successfully.

He added that a firing device with a mobile phone had been found and that the perpetrators had tried to trigger the bomb by calling it in the early hours of October 3.

Mr Molins told reporters that two of the suspects had been under surveillance for ties to radical Islam.

He said the three will meet with investigating judges, who are expected to file preliminary terrorism charges.

Mr Molins said the three have denied involvement and refused to answer investigators. Three others held in the investigation were released for lack of evidence.

He notedthat the investigation found that the mobile phone used to trigger the explosive device had been used close to the apartment block.

Investigators are still wondering why this block of flats had been chosen as a target, saying that the suspects had not given any explanation to the police. 

With AP.