11 people have been killed and several injured in an explosion that occurred between two underground stations in St Petersburg. The blast hit a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. According to the Russia’s Anti-Terrorism committee, a larger explosive device was later found at another station but was defused immediately.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev narrated the attack as a “terrorist act.” No group claimed responsibility for the attack, leading to shutdown of the city’s metro system.
What Happened?
According to the early reports, there had been two explosions, one each at Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.
Later this confusion was clarified and the Committee confirmed that there had been only one blast, between the two stations, at around 2:30 p.m. local time.
Soon after the blast happened, ambulances and fire engines reached at the Sennaya Ploshchad station and people were rushed to the hospital.
This blast was carried out by a suspected suicide bomber with ties to radical Islamists, Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying.
Witness’s Story
“I saw a lot of smoke, a crowd making its way to the escalators, people with blood and other people’s insides on their clothes, bloody faces,” St Petersburg resident Leonid Chaika told Reuters by phone.
“Many were crying,” said Chaika, who was at the station where the blast happened.
Quotes-Unquotes
“So far, we say it was an unidentified explosive device as investigators and the Federal Security Service’s bomb specialists are to establish the exact cause of this explosion,” Andrei Przhezdomsky told state-run Russia 24.
