Italian police are checking out all embassies in its capital city after a pair of package bombs injured staffers at the Chilean and Swiss embassies on Thursday.

The first of the two package bombs exploded at the Swiss embassy, where the staffer who opened the package was wounded.

Swiss ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni said the staffer will live, but suffered serious hand injuries in the explosion. The Italian news agency ANSA reports that the staffer is a 53-year-old male who may lose his left hand as a result of the blast.

Three hours later, another package bomb exploded at the Chilean embassy at about 3 p.m. local time. One person was wounded.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said "it's a wave of terrorism against embassies, something more worrisome than a single attack."

The immediate suspicion appeared to be pointed towards an "international path," Alemmano said, though the attacks drew much speculation about who could be responsible.

Globe and Mail correspondent Eric Reguly was among reporters waiting outside the Chilean embassy for an update from police.

He said it seems most likely that the two incidents must be linked to one another.

"When the first bomb went off…the one theory was that it could be a disaffected employee, someone who was really angry at the Swiss embassy," Reguly told CTV News Channel by telephone.

"But when the second bomb went off, the second parcel bomb and it looks to be an identical technique, then do you have two disaffected employees with bombs going off, you know three hours from eachother? No, that doesn't seem likely."

A subsequent report of a suspicious package at the Ukrainian embassy turned out to be false, said Rome police Chief Francesco Tagliente.

Tagliente said all embassies in the city have been informed about the bombs that went off Thursday.

Simonetta d'Aquino Allder, the media relations officer at the Canadian embassy in Rome, directed calls for comment to Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Laura Markle told CTV.ca that the department is "monitoring the situation in Rome closely" and has been in contact with embassy security staff.

With files from The Associated Press