A thundering explosion early Sunday tore through the fortresslike headquarters of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in the Danish capital.
More than two men in biker garb were taken away from the scene in an ambulance, but there was no official word on casualties. Sources said on condition of anonymity that one person was killed and about 20 injured, three of them seriously.The cause of the 3 a.m. blast was not known, but officials suspected the Bandidos gang, which has been fighting a two-year war with the Hells Angels in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
On Saturday, the Hells Angels threw a party at the compound for bikers from the Nordic countries.
The compound contains at least five buildings surrounded by a 10-foot wooden fence emblazoned with the gang's logo.
Reporters were kept 200 yards from the scene and could not see if any of the surrounding buildings were damaged. Neighbors in a residential Copenhagen area have feared getting caught in the feud's escalating violence.
It is unclear what started the feud in the Nordic countries between the Bandidos, based in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Hells Angels, based in Oakland, Calif. But police suspect a grab for drug and crime markets.
Police say the feud began in February 1994 with the murder of a Hells Angels ally in Helsingborg, Sweden. It reached a spectacular climax in March, when members of Hells Angels opened fire on members of Bandidos at the international airports in Copenhagen and Oslo. One Bandido was killed.