St Petersburg metro attack 'carried out by suicide bomber'

The St Petersburg metro attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

St Petersburg metro attack 'carried out by suicide bomber'

Moscow: The St. Petersburg metro attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, the Kyrgyz Foreign Minister has said.

Kyrgyz authorities had earlier identified a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan Akbarjon Djalilov as a suspect in the blast.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the blast was raised from 11 to 14 by the Russian health ministry although it was unclear whether that included the attacker.

Four of the people injured are said to be in critical condition, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova has said, TASS reports.

The Russian state media had earlier reported the death toll to be 10 and the count of the injured to be 50.

What we know so far:

- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which led to the shutdown of the city's metro system

- Analysts speculated that the bomber could be affiliated with either a Chechen separatist group or ISIS

- U.S. President, Donald Trump, dubbed the explosion at St. Petersburg as a 'terrible thing'

"Terrible. Terrible thing. Happening all over the world. Absolutely, a terrible thing," Russian state-owned news website Sputnik quoted Trump as saying.

- Russians laid flowers and tributes at memorials and a three-day period of mourning has begun

- St. Petersburg explosion was a terrorist attack, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Facebook

"Those who suffered during the terrorist act in the St. Petersburg metro will be provided with all the necessary assistance. All instructions to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are given. My most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the explosion. This is a common pain," he wrote

- The Prosecutor General's office in St. Petersburg called the explosion a terrorist attack, TASS reported

- United States President Donald Trump was briefed on the situation in Russia, deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders told CNN

- "Terrible news. Condolences to relatives and loved ones," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on her Facebook account

- Alexander Yakovenko, Russia's ambassador to UK, shared a message on Twitter thanking people for offering sympathy in the wake of blast- An additional device was found at a second St. Petersburg metro station -- Revolutionary Square -- but was secured, the National Anti-terrorism Committee said in a statement
- Unidentified explosive device caused the blast, says Russia anti-terror spokesperson

Investigators believe an explosive device is the cause of the blast, Andrei Przhezdomsky, a spokesperson for the National Anti-terrorist Committee, told state-run Russia 24.

He added that evacuation was over and medical assistance was being offered to the injured.

- Putin expressed his condolences and has indicated that there will be an investigation. He said he was in contact with the FSB security services and law enforcement to determine the reason behind the explosion

- President Vladimir Putin was in the city speaking at an event early Monday morning

- The explosion took place in a tunnel between two metro stations, Russian state media reported, citing officials

- The Russian state media initially reported the death toll to be ten

- An explosion at the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station shook the Russian city of St. Petersburg. State media originally reported that there were two blasts. 

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