St Petersburg subway bombing kills 11, injures dozens, as Putin visits his hometown

An explosion ripped through a subway train in the Russian city of St Petersburg yesterday, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 40 others. The blast went off as Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city, his hometown.

Witnesses on the subway said the blast spread panic among passengers, who ran toward the exits. Russian authorities are hunting for two people suspected of organising and carrying out the attack.

Putin, speaking from Constantine Palace in St Petersburg, said investigators were looking into whether the explosion on the train was a terror attack or if there might have been some other cause. He offered his condolences to the families of those killed.

Within two hours, Russia authorities found and deactivated another bomb at a separate busy St Petersburg subway station, Vosstaniya Square by the Moscow railway station, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

The unidentified explosive device went off at 2.20pm on a train that was leaving the Technology Institute station and heading to the Sennaya Square station, the agency said.