ST PETERSBURG // The intelligence agency in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday said the man behind a deadly bombing on the St Petersburg metro was a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen.
A bomb blast tore through a train under Russia's second-largest city on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding more than 40. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came while President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city, his hometown.
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said the man behind the bombing is a Kyrgyz-born Russian national. The intelligence agency said it is co-operating with Russian authorities to help the investigation.
In the past two decades, Russian trains and planes have been frequent targets of attack, usually blamed on extremist militants.
Neither authorities in Russia nor in Kyrgyzstan have specified whether the attack was a suicide bombing or whether the bomber got away.
The Interfax news agency on Monday said authorities believed the suspect, a 23-year old who came from ex-Soviet Central Asia and was linked to radical groups, carried the explosive device onto the train in a rucksack.
Within two hours of the blast, authorities had found and deactivated another bomb at another busy station, the antiterror agency said. That station is a major transfer point for passengers on two lines and serves the railway line to Moscow.
The entire St Petersburg metro system was shut down and evacuated, but partial service resumed after about six hours.
St Petersburg residents on Tuesday laid flowers outside the city's metro stations near where the blast occurred. Every corner and window-sill at the ornate, Soviet built Sennaya Square station was covered with red and white carnations.
Typically crowded during the rush hour, the metro on Tuesday morning looked almost deserted as many residents opted for buses.
"First, I was really scared," said Viktoria Prishchepova who did take the metro. "I didn't want to go anywhere on the metro because I was nervous. Everyone was calling their loved ones yesterday, checking if they were OK and how everyone was going to get home."
*Associated Press
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