An explosive device went off outside a Paphos bank branch causing extensive damages, local police said on Monday.

Spokesman Kyriacos Nicolaou said that the incident took place outside a bank on Ellados avenue at around 5am.

A high-power improvised explosive device had been placed inside the bank’s ATM machine, destroying it completely and causing extensive damages to both the outside and the inside of the bank, he said.

Paphos CID officers and pyrotechnicians rushed to the scene and are gathering information to locate evidence that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators.

CCTV footage from the area is also being evaluated, he added.