MOSCOW A blast ripped through a busy rush-hour underpass in Moscow on Tuesday, killing seven people and injuring at least 28 just a short distance from the Kremlin, a Moscow city official said.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov described the explosion as a "terrorist act" and did not rule out a link to Russia's rebel Chechnya region, Interfax news agency said.
Dozens of people, many with shredded and bloody clothing, stood about in shock around one of the entrances of the underpass, which crosses under the capital's main thoroughfare, Tverskaya street.
One woman was carried to an ambulance, her flesh severely charred and blood gushing from her nose. Another woman lay on the pavement, screaming in pain as paramedics bandaged her legs.
"There are seven dead. Eight people have been seriously injured and 20 slightly injured," city official Alex Musikansky told Reuters.
A second bomb was later found and defused near the site of the explosion, Interfax news agency reported.
Natalya Zulumatova, the ends of her hair singed and her ankles stained with blood, said she was inside one of the small kiosks which line the inside of the passage when the blast hit just after 6 p.m. (1400 GMT) "We were inside the stand. We heard a bang and the lights went out. I was hit by the blast wave," she said. "There was smoke all over the place. We all managed to get out in the smoke. I saw many injured people." Yevgeny Karamyan, his face covered with ash and dust, said he was walking past the entrance when the explosion occurred.
(Reuter)