UPDATE 3: 9 dead, over 20 injured in St Petersburg metro blast

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MOSCOW, Apr 3 (PRIME) -- Nine people were killed and more than 20 were injured in a blast at the St. Petersburg metro on Monday, the National Antiterrorism Committee said in a statement.

“According to preliminary data, nine people died after an explosion in the St. Petersburg metro, and more than 20 people were injured, including serious injuries. Necessary medical and psychological assistance is delivered to all the injured people,” the statement read.

Earlier on Monday, a source in the emergency services told PRIME that 10 people were killed by explosions that ripped through two stations of the St. Petersburg metro – Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologicheskiy Institut.

President Vladimir Putin said that the reasons and causes of the incident will be uncovered by the investigation. “Of course, we are always studying all possible options, including household conflicts, criminal causes, and cases of terrorism character in the first place,” he said.

The committee said in a statement that a man-made explosive device was found and defused at the St. Petersburg’s metro station Ploshchad Vosstaniya. Law enforcement authorities are taking measures aimed at uncovering and prevention of terroristic threats, the statement read.

Alexander Kurennoi, an official representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that it is too early to make any conclusions and call the incident a terrorist act, and all versions of the event will be studied by the official investigation.

After the incident, all stations of the metro in the city were closed. Andrei Kibitov, press secretary of the city’s Governor Alexander Poltavchenko, said that all on-land public transport will be free for all passengers until the end of the day. A representative of Uber, a U.S. online taxi hailing service, told PRIME that the company will transport people from the places where the incidents happened free of charge until the end of the day.

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