Russia: Truck-Bomb Attack Kills At Least 20 In Ossetia
Vladikavkaz, Russia, 1 August (RFE/RL) -- A vehicle packed with explosives has blown up a Russian military hospital in the southern republic of North Ossetia, killing at least 20 people and wounding many others.
The explosion took place in Mozdok, the city which is the main headquarters of Russian armed forces fighting separatists in neighboring Chechnya.
In Moscow, Emergencies Ministry official Mikhail Razanov said the blast ripped apart the hospital: "At 7 p.m. a vehicle exploded near the military hospital and completely destroyed the building. That represents approximately 300 square meters. Preliminary information suggest 115 people were in the hospital [at the moment of the blast]."
Razanov said 35 wounded people have been sent so far to Mozdok's civilian hospital.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal investigation into the blast.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered that an Emergencies Ministry team fly to Mozdok to assist local rescuers.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was expected to arrive in the North Ossetian city soon.
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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