Explosion on Belarus subway kills at least 11 people and injures 126
An explosion tore through a key subway station in the Belarusian capital of Minsk during evening rush hour today killing 11 people and wounding 126. An official said the blast was a terrorist act.
President Alexander Lukashenko did not say what caused the explosion at the Oktyabrskaya subway station, but suggested outside forces could be behind it.
‘I do not rule out that this gift [sic] could have been brought from outside,’ Lukashenko said.
The authoritarian leader, under strong pressure from the West over his suppression of the opposition, has frequently alleged outside forces seek to destabilize his regime. Deputy prosecutor-general Andrei Shved said the blast was a terrorist act, but did not give further details.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw heavily wounded people being carried out of the station, including one person with missing legs. Several witnesses said that the explosion hit just as passengers were stepping off a train about 6pm (1500 GMT). The Oktyabrskaya station, where Minsk’s two subway lines intersect, was crowded with passengers at the end of the work day. The station is within 100 metres (100 yards) of the presidential administration building and the Palace of the Republic, a concert hall often used for government ceremonies.
Lukashenko visited the site about two hours after the blast and left without comment. He later ordered the country’s feared police to ‘call in all forces and turn everything inside-out’ to investigate the blast.
Kavkaz Center: Moscow hints at Lukashenko's involvement in metro bombings. - One of the Kremlin's propagandists, who is considered an expert on Belarus, Pavel Sheremet, made an open accusation of Lukashenko's involvement in organization of the bombings in the Minsk metro. He said in a live on Kommersant FM that the explosion in the Minsk metro is likely organized by Lukashenko, "because it is very beneficial to him".
PressTV: Metro blast kills 11 in Belarus capital
Al Jazeera: Deadly blast hits station in Belarus capital