Over 50 injured in blast in Belarus during Independence Day celebration

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-04 14:06:03

·More than 50 people were injured in an explosion in Minsk late Thursday. ·There were no reports of deaths in the blast. ·A criminal inquiry was underway, with police suspecting that "hooligans" were to blame.

MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) --

More than 50 people were injured in an explosion in Minsk, capital of Belarus, late Thursday during the Independence Day celebration, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Friday, citing Belarussian Interior Ministry sources.

Belarussian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Alexei Usatov said a bomb went off on Thursday midnight during an outdoor concert in downtown Minsk marking the nation's independence day.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko also attended the concert called "We are Belarussians."

According to the latest information, more than 50 people were injured in the blast and were taken to hospital.

There were no reports of deaths in the blast, said Alexander Lastovsky, head of the city police information department.

"There are different types of injuries, some of them heavy, but no one was killed," Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying on Friday.

A criminal inquiry was underway, with Minsk police suspecting that "hooligans" were to blame. "It was an action by hooligans," said city police chief Lastovsky.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

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