Blast Hits Apartment Block in South Russia, 17 Dead

MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least seventeen people were killed when a blast caused by a car bomb ripped through a nine-storey apartment block on Thursday in a south Russian town of Volgodonsk, some 1,200 km to the south of Moscow, the Emergencies Ministry and Interfax news agency said. A spokesman for the ministry said two children were among the dead. She said that a total of 276 people had requested medical help, 45 had been taken to hospital and 25 people were seriously injured. She could not confirm the details of the blast but Interfax news agency said it was caused by explosives left in a vehicle outside the building. It said the facade of the block had been ripped off while neighbouring buildings had windows shattered and balconies damaged. The latest blast comes after Moscow itself was hit by two devastating bombs, one on Monday of this week which killed 118 people and the other seven days ago, which killed 94. Itar-Tass news agency quoted the Russian government‘s information office as saying Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had been informed about the blast and that he had ordered the law enforcement agencies to investigate and report to him. The earlier blasts have been blamed by the Russian authorities on the breakaway region of Chechnya and Moslem rebels led by unruly Chechen warlords. Both Chechen officials and the warlords have denied being involved in the blasts.