Officials: Suspected terror blast in southern Russian city kills 5, wounds at least 20

Officials: Terror blast in southern Russia kills 5

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — An explosion tore through the center of a southern Russian city on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding at least 20 as locals gathered for a Chechen dance concert, officials said.

The blast bore the hallmarks of terrorist attacks that plague Russia’s North Caucasus region, though the city of Stavropol rarely suffers the separatist-related violence that pervades Chechnya and other bordering provinces.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a website statement that the blast occurred near an outdoor cafe that served as a cultural center. A renowned Chechen dance company was scheduled to perform there 15 minutes after the blast struck. A terrorism probe has been opened, the statement said.

It said five people were killed and 20 hospitalized with injuries. A regional Emergencies Ministry spokesman who asked not to be named in line with official policy said 39 were wounded. The spokesman said three of the victims were women sitting on a bench near the tree. Russia has several investigative bodies, and information each gives is frequently contradictory.

State television cited witnesses describing victims covered in blood and running around in a panic. One woman commented that the death toll would have been far higher had the blast struck minutes later, when more people were expected to gather for the concert.

Authorities in three of the country’s seven provinces in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region suffer regular attacks from an active Islamist insurgency seeking independence from Russia.

Human rights activists maintain the attacks are retribution for widespread police abuse, kidnappings and torture.

In March, a few months after warnings from warlords that they would take their fight to the rest of Russia, two suicide bombers from Dagestan blew themselves up on the Moscow subway, killing 40 people and wounding 100.

Days later, a double suicide bombing in a small town in Dagestan killed 12 people, including the local police chief.

Associated Press Writer David Nowak contributed to this report from Moscow.