Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

1 died, 2 wounded in blast in Russia's Ingushetia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-06 04:26

MOSCOW: One people died and two others were injured on Wednesday in a blast and subsequent blaze at an indoor market in the city of Nazran, regional capital of Russia's turbulent North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, Russian news agencies reported.

Related readings:  Six killed in suicide blast in Russia's Chechnya  China, Russia kick off anti-terror drill  Russia willing to fight terrorists with China: General  China and Russia conduct joint military exercises  Senior official shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia

Alexei Vorobyov, Ingush security council secretary, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying that the blast occurred at 7:52 p.m. Moscow time (1552 GMT) on Wednesday.

He also excluded the possibility of a terrorist attack, saying that a gas tank exploded at the market because of violation of security rules.

Meanwhile, the Interfax news agency reported citing Ingush Emergency Situations Ministry that a Gazelle vehicle near the market exploded, triggering the subsequent blaze.

The blaze has been extinguished, said the Interfax. Experts were working at the scene to determine the actual cause of the fire.

The Kremlin in April formally ended an anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya, which has experienced two bloody separatist wars in the past 15 years.

The restive Chechnya, along with its neighboring republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan, has seen a rise in daily violence in recent months.