At least 10 people were killed in a blast on the St. Petersburg metro Monday, three state-run Russian news agencies said. Authorities say the explosion is a terrorist attack.
An explosion tore through a train as it was traveling between two stations in Russia’s second-largest city, injuring dozens more.
A second device was found and defused at another station, Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which led to the shutdown of the city’s metro system.
President Vladimir Putin, who had been in St. Petersburg earlier in the day, laid roses at a makeshift memorial with candles outside the bombed metro station.
Earlier, Putin said all causes were being investigated, including terrorism. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described the explosion as a “terrorist act.”
President Donald Trump spoke briefly with Putin on Monday, according to a senior administration official. Trump expressed his sympathies for the Russian people in the wake of the terror attack.
Latest developments
The blast was caused by an unidentified explosive device
It happened in a train car as it passed through a tunnel
The train’s conductor possibly saved lives, committee said
Dozens were injured, several in critical condition, authorities said
A second device was found at another metro station and disabled
News agencies’ death toll one less than previous Health Ministry report
The train came to a stop at Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg.
The blast happened just after 2:30 p.m. (7:40 a.m. ET) as the train was traveling in a tunnel from Sennaya Ploshchad to Tekhnologichesky Institut stations in the city center. In the confusion, initial reports suggested there were two blasts.
Investigators are seizing items relative to the investigation, questioning witnesses and metro employees and working to confirm the number of dead and injured, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.
The train’s conductor possibly saved lives, the committee said, because rather than stop the train after the blast, he continued on to the next station, which allowed passengers to evacuate and rescuers to tend to victims.
Photographs show the facade of one of the cars ripped off and passengers running from the Tekhnologichesky Institute station as it filled with smoke. Victims said they helped each other escape the train.
Bodies were seen strewn across a station platform outside the train. Rescuers carried bandaged and bloodied victims out of the station.
