SAO PAULO – At least 21 people were injured when a homemade bomb exploded at a spot where participants gathered after the gay pride parade in Brazil’s largest city, authorities said Monday.

The explosive device was thrown around 9:00 p.m. Sunday in a square in downtown Sao Paulo where there are a number of nightclubs and which has become an area frequented by gays and lesbians.

Present at the time of the attack were dozens of people who had taken part a few hours earlier in the 13th edition of the gay pride parade that, with close to 3 million participants, is considered the biggest demonstration in the world in defense of gays.

The bomb explosion scattered shrapnel, injuring many of those at the scene where 21 people had to be treated by a team of doctors and paramedics that had been mobilized for the parade.

Most of the injuries were not serious and only five people had to be taken to hospital, doctors said.

Some witnesses said that the bomb was thrown from a building on the square.

The bombing was not the only show of homophobia during the gay pride parade.

Police said there had been reports of other attacks on people who took part in the parade, as well as several cases of robbery and assault.

A 17-year-old boy who took part in the parade remains in a coma at a Sao Paulo hospital after being attacked by a group of unknown persons who found him alone on an empty street after the nearly eight-hour parade.

Another youth was attacked in Roosevelt Plaza where the march ended, and a third was stabbed in Largo do Arouche Plaza. EFE