iStock/Thinkstock(KERCH, Crimea) — An explosion at a college in Crimea has reportedly killed 10 people and injured dozens, in what Russian counterterrorism officials have said they suspect is a bomb attack.
The explosion occurred at a polytechnic college in the town of Kerch on the eastern side of Crimea around midday local time. Initial reports suggested it had been a gas explosion, but Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee then issued a statement saying the blast was caused by an “unidentified explosive device”, Russian state news agencies reported.
The committee said 10 people had been killed and around 50 had been injured according to its initial information. The Russian state news agency, TASS, said 34 people had been delivered to two hospitals, citing medical officials.
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that investigators were treating the incident as a possible terror attack. President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to the victims of the blast and ordered Russia’s emergency services to take measures to provide assistance.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the equivalent of the FBI, said in a statement it is opening a criminal investigation into the blast.
Video and photos published by local Crimean media showed ambulances at the scene, where some of the college’s windows appeared blown out.
Crimea has been under Russia’s control since it sent troops to seize the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
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