SEVEN DIED IN MASCOW EXPLOSION
MOSCOW, May 27 (Xinhua) Seven people have died in an explosion that tore through the center of southern Russian city Stavropol, an emergencies official said on Thursday. As of 8:00 a.m. Moscow time (0400 GMT), seven people had died due to the blast triggered by a home-made explosive device at around 06:45 p.m. local time (1445 GMT) Wednesday outside the city's House of Culture and Sport, just minutes before a folk dancing performance of a Chechen group started.
"According to preliminary information a self-made explosive device went off. It was either remote controlled or equipped with a timer and placed into an empty box of juice," said an official from the regional Investigative Committee Yekaterina Danilova.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the blast, but local police had already searched homes of two suspects with the seizure of an improvised explosive device, a gun and ammunition, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
A criminal investigation into the incident was currently underway, with the terrorist attack as one of the possible causes. Stavropol regional governor Valery Gayevsky on Wednesday called the blast "an unprecedented brutal provocation." He said the blast was "a purposeful action" ahead of the arrival of presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin on Thursday or Friday. The provocation was aimed to undermine their neighborly relations, he said. The governor meanwhile did not rule out that the blast was relevant to the Chechen dance performance. The Stavropol territory was part of the North Caucasus Federal District, the newly founded federal district to better fight against economic backwardness, rampant militant violence and clan rivalry in the mainly Muslim region of North Caucasus. RSS