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Russian hydroelectric power station blast kills two

21 July 2010 08:18 (UTC +04:00)

Four bombs caused a fire in the Baksan plant’s engine room which was later extinguished, prosecutors said.

Supplies to the electricity grid were not affected, according to the state-run RusHydro Company.

The plant on the Baksan River lies in a part of the North Caucasus gripped by a violent Islamist insurgency.

RusHydro said in a statement on its website that explosions had hit the plant at 0525 local time (0125 GMT) on Wednesday.

The attackers detonated four explosive devices in the 25-megawatt Baksan plant while a fifth failed to go off, prosecutors said.
Map of Kabardino-Balkaria

According to police spokesman Adlan Kakakuyev, two cars carrying half a dozen assailants had attacked the plant, shooting two guards and wounding three other people.

No group was saying immediately that it had carried out the attack, the agency adds.

The Baksan hydroelectric power station was built in the 1930s.