Ananya DuttaAccording to a news report by Russia’s state run media, two blasts in subway stations in the country has led to at least 10 deaths and many injuries. The blasts occurred in St. Petersburg underground metro stations. Reuters reported that the first blast occurred at 2.30 pm local time on Monday at Sennaya Ploshchad metro station. BBC reported that the second blast occurred at the Tekhnologichesky Institut station.
8 ambulances and 80 rescue workers are working at the scenes of the blasts. Multiple metro stations have been shut down to facilitate rescue operations. Helicopters are also being used for the evacuation. So far there is no official confirmation about the number of injured or their condition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been in St. Petersburg earlier Monday but at present he is in a nearby city of Strelna. He condemned the blast and expressed condolence for the victims. He also said that thorough investigation will be conducted and all possible motives including terrorism will be looked into.
He said, “It’s too early to talk about it. The investigation will show what happened. Naturally, we always consider all options — both domestic and criminal, primarily incidents of a terrorist nature.”
Videos and images of the blasts have started to circulate in social media depicting wounded lying in pools of blood, medics helping the injured and people running away amidst the chaos and smoke. The damages to the trains and the stations are extensive.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened in Russia, in 2010, 33 people died when two female pro Chechen suicide bombers detonated bombs in a crowded metro station.
Zainab Asif
Damodar Kalyan
