‘Homemade grenade’ thrown at congresswoman’s head in Honduras

A congresswoman in Honduras has been hospitalised after she was struck in the head by an explosive device outside the country’s parliament.

Gladis Aurora Lopez was being filmed approaching a press group in the street in the capital of Tegucigalpa and had just begun speaking when the spherical device was thrown from a distance behind her.

It detonated as it hit the back of her heard, sending her to the ground with severe wounds on the head and upper back.

Ms Lopez is part of the conservative National Party whose presidential candidate won a razor-thin election weeks ago amid delays due to technical problems and fraud allegations.

Nasry Asfura, who was backed in the race by Donald Trump, won with 40.3% of the vote to the 39.5% gained by Salvador Nasralla of the Libre party.

Tensions have remained high since, with Libre refusing to recognise the result and the non-partisan president of the country’s Congress, Luis Redondo, insisting the result was ‘completely illegal’.

Tomás Zambrano, the president of the National Party’s delegation in Congress, blamed Libre for the attack and claimed it was an attack against his party.

Local reports said CCTV footage showed the device was thrown from outside the building and that the person who threw it appeared to have an accomplice.

Zambrano said Lopez was treated immediately by medics at the scene and taken to a hospital, though her injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Local police are searching for those responsible, officials said.

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