Investigators looking into Monday’s attack on a metro station in St Petersburg, Russia, confirmed on Tuesday that the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, reported AFP. Kyrgyzstan’s security service has said that the perpetrator is a native of the Central Asian country who obtained Russian citizenship, according to BBC.
Russian investigators later confirmed that the suspect had been identified as Akbarjon Djalilov, who was born in Krygyzstan’s Osh in 1995. They said he had planted a second bomb, AFP reported. However, there are conflicting reports on whether Djalilov was killed in the blast or whether he is absconding.
Meanwhile, the toll in the explosion in St Petersburg’s Sennaya Ploshchad metro station has risen to 14. More than 45 people were injured in the incident, and several were hospitalised. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had called the blast a “terrorist attack” on Monday evening.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee had said the blast took place while the train was travelling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. The explosion had ripped through part of the train. Investigators said they had found a live explosive device at a nearby station, which was later diffused by experts.
Early reports had suggested that there were two explosions, but authorities had denied it. Investigators had initially said that they were looking for two men in connection with the explosion, but they later held that a suicide bomber might have caused the blast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the city when the explosion took place. He visited the site later in the day. “Do everything to find out the causes of what happened,” Putin has told investigating agencies. “The government, both at the city and federal levels, will do everything to support the families of the victims and injured.”
City authorities have declared three days of mourning from Tuesday, reported The New York Times. “I appeal to you citizens of St Petersburg and guests of our city to be alert, attentive and cautious and to behave in a responsible matter in light of events,” said St Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko.
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