Police in the northern Polish city of Elbląg are investigating who left two containers containing flammable liquid and fitted with wires beside the gas connection of a private company, prompting an evacuation and a response by bomb-disposal specialists.
The objects were discovered on Monday, 28 September, by an employee of a company in the Rybna Street area, who alerted emergency services.
Elbląg police spokesman Krzysztof Nowacki told Radio Olsztyn that the containers had been placed next to the building’s gas connection. Officers and firefighters secured the area, established a safety zone and evacuated people from the building while specialists were called in.
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According to information reported by RMF FM, the objects were two approximately five-litre plastic water containers holding a yellow liquid. Batteries were inside the containers and wires extended from them.
The colour and appearance of the liquid initially led to comparisons with petrol, but authorities have not confirmed what the substance actually is.
A bomb-disposal team from the Independent Counter-Terrorism Police Unit at the Provincial Police Headquarters in Olsztyn was sent to the scene together with forensic laboratory officers.
Police initially said the specialists would determine whether the objects could have posed a genuine threat or whether somebody had constructed them to cause a false alarm.
By early afternoon, however, investigators had established one important point: the liquid was flammable.
Local outlet PortEl reported that Nowacki said the containers had been removed and samples secured for detailed examination. Tests are still needed to determine precisely what substance was inside them.
The emergency operation at the site had ended by around 12.35 p.m., according to the local report.
Police are now investigating how the containers came to be beside the gas connection and who was responsible for leaving them there.
Nowacki said investigators had already secured surveillance footage and were carrying out intensive work to identify the person responsible. He added that the precise direction of the investigation would depend on a decision by prosecutors.
Authorities have not said that the incident was an attempted bombing, arson attack or act of sabotage, and no motive has been established.
It is also not yet known whether the wires and batteries formed a functioning ignition system or whether the arrangement was capable of setting the liquid alight.
That distinction is important. The discovery of a flammable substance beside a gas connection makes the circumstances potentially serious, but investigators have not yet established what the objects were designed to do.
The company involved has not been publicly identified. RMF FM reported that it operates in the electrical-installation sector.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of unusual threats to infrastructure in Poland, but there is currently no evidence publicly connecting the Elbląg case to foreign interference or a wider sabotage campaign.
For now, the investigation is focused on identifying the substance, establishing how the containers were constructed and determining who placed them beside the gas connection and why.
