Minsk

Minsk

An explosive device killed at least seven people in the Minsk subway during the evening rush hour, hitting the Belarusian capital’s busiest metro station near President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s residence.
About 50 people were hospitalized following a blast at 5:56 p.m. local time, Belarusian statetelevision reported, citing preliminary information. The capital’s two metro lines intersect at the Oktyabrskaya station where the bomb went off as two trains were arriving, according to Russian state television.
Lukashenko, 56, whose regime the U.S. dubbed the “last dictatorship of Europe, has been in power since 1994 and was returned to office for a fourth term last December. The country’s leader plans to hold an emergency meeting on the blast tonight, according to a statement on his website today.
The blast may have been a terrorist act, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified law enforcement official.
A bomb explosion in the capital during a concert attended by Lukashenko in July 2008 was classified by law-enforcement authorities as “hooliganism.” The incident injured about 40 people.
Sources: http://www.bloomberg.com

Minsk