Twin blasts kills 13, injure 100 in Russia's North Caucasus

PanARMENIAN.Net - The death toll in Thursday, May 3 evening's twin blasts in Dagestani capital of Makhachkala in Russia's North Caucasus has hit 13 people, with about 100 injured, a source in the Republic of Dagestan's law enforcement services said, according to RIA Novosti.

Eighty-three people were hospitalized, while 26 received medical treatment on site. The thirteen dead include seven police officers, two firefighters and two local residents.

According to preliminary information, a suicide bomber died when he blew up his car after it was stopped for a security check at a police post on the outskirts of the city.

“The explosive technicians say the first car, a Mitsubishi, had a 30 kg TNT equivalent bomb in it,” said the National Antiterror Committee’s Nikolai Sintsov. The bomb was so powerful that it was hard to tell what kind of car was involved, he said.

At approximately 10.45 pm local time, or about half an hour after the first blast, the second bomb, which contained 50 kg TNT equivalent, went off in a Gazelle light van parked nearby, killing twelve.

The second blast took place when a vehicle with emergency service personnel had arrived at the scene. The blasts claimed the lives of three rescuers and six police officers, but casualty reports are still being verified, according to the republic’s interior ministry.

Police are also trying to find out whether the blasts were meant to go off near the police station or whether the perpetrators had hoped to smuggle the bombs past the police checkpoint, a law-enforcement official said. The interior minister of Dagestan said his agency knew who was behind the attack.