11 killed, 100 wounded in metro blast in Belarus

[1]

At least 11 people were killed and over 100 injured in a blast at a metro station in the Belarus capital Minsk during evening rush hours, dubbed by the authorities as a "terror attack".

According to Russian radio Mayak, the blast took place at the Oktyabrskaya station, the only interchange junction of the Minsk metro, and the eyewitnesses have reported a column of black smoke rising from the underground station.

Interior ministry officials said that 11 people were killed and 100 others wounded.

At an emergency meeting of the top security officials, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenka said the blast was an "act of terror."

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The police and security agents are confiscating all the cameras and cellphones with cameras even as President Aleksandr Lukasehnko of the former Soviet republic has summoned an emergency meeting of his advisors.

Kremlin spokesperson Natalia Timakova said President Dmitry Medvedev has talked to Belarus leadership and has offered assistance in probing the blast.

According to Rossiya 24 channel, Lukashenka has accepted the Medvedev's offer and a crack Russian team is expected in Minsk on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Moscow have boosted the security at local metro stations, which have been targeted in the past by the terrorists from the restive Caucasus.

In July 2008, a blast at a concert attended by Lukashenko injured about 50 people in Minsk.