Bomb victim still in critical condition

Explosives experts led by Armed Forces commander Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi have a very difficult task ahead of them combing through debris scattered onto the road, caused by a bomb placed beneath the chassis of Darren Degabriele’s Pajero vehicle, last Sunday afternoon.

So far, bomb experts say they cannot say exactly how the bomb was detonated.

Police sources told MaltaToday that there could be number of ways the bomb could have been exploded. "One way was by a thermostat connected to the manifold, so that when it reaches high temperature the bomb goes off. But this has been excluded from investigations carried out, it results that Degabriele had been driving for a while before the explosion and if this was the case then the bomb would have been triggered before."

The other method being suggested is that a mobile phone or radio-activation was used to to detonate the bomb. A similar bomb was exploded in November 2011 in Hamrun when a red Fiat Fiorino was blown up in Canon Bonnici Street. The car belonged to Keith Galea, 31, who at the time was in his mother’s house.

Bomb experts working on Degabriele’s case have a more difficult task ahead of them due to the extent of the damage the fire cause to the vehicle. "They have to go through not just the remains of the car, but also through a lot of ash."

Meanwhile investigators have been busy interrogating quite a few acquaintances who knew the victim or worked close to him, particularly in the transportation of fuel from Libya. Degabriele is the owner of Degabriele Fuels and operates the boat San Niklaw, which has also made frequent trips to Misurata, Libya.

This morning a Libyan national was also interrogated because of allegations that Degabriele owed a mutual acquaintance money, but it seems that Darren Degabriele had already paid the man, another Libyan national residing in Misurata.

Degabriele, 35 from Għaxaq, is still under strict medical observation at the ITU in Mater Dei Hospital. He is suffering from about 60% burns but the burns are mostly on the exterior of his body. But Degabriele is still fighting for his life.

So far the police are investigating this case as an attempted murder on two people, since at the time of the explosion in the same car with Degabriele there was his girlfriend, Stephanie Tonna, 28 from Birkirkara.