Russia Caucasus Violence
Rescuers and investigators work at the site of an explosion outside a cultural center in the southern Russian city of Stavropol, Wednesday, May 26, 2...
Rescuers and investigators work at the site of an explosion outside a cultural center in the southern Russian city of Stavropol, Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Explosives placed in a bag under a tree in the center of a southern Russian city blew up Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, officials said. (AP Photo)
Russia Caucasus Violence
Rescuers tend to an injured person at the site of an explosion outside a cultural center in the southern Russian city of Stavropol, Wednesday, May 26...
Rescuers tend to an injured person at the site of an explosion outside a cultural center in the southern Russian city of Stavropol, Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Explosives placed in a bag under a tree in the center of a southern Russian city blew up Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring at least 13, officials said. (AP Photo)
Officials in Russia say the death toll in a bombing in a southern city has risen to seven.
No arrests have been made in connection with the blast that wounded 28 others Wednesday evening in the city of Stavropol.
The explosion took place near an outdoor cafe that serves as a cultural center, shortly before a renowned Chechen dance company was scheduled to perform there.
A spokesman for the emergencies ministry office in Stavropol, Sergei Orlov, said Thursday that seven people were killed and 28 others were hospitalized.
Officials are calling the bombing a terrorist act. Russia's Investigative Committee says the bomb was homemade and had the explosive equivalent of 250 grams of TNT, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
