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Death toll rises to 15 in blast in Dagestan, 100 injures

04 May 2012 03:45 (UTC +04:00)

"Thirteen people died. 83 people were hospitalized, while 26 received medical treatment on site," the source said.

According to preliminary information, a suicide bomber blew his Lada Priora car up when it was stopped for a security check at a police post on the outskirts of the city. At approximately 22:45 local time, or about half an hour after the first blast, the second bomb went off in a vehicle parked nearby.

The second blast took place when a vehicle with emergency responders had arrived at the scene. According to the republicâ€™s interior ministry, the blasts claimed the lives of three rescuers and six police officers, but casualty reports are still being verified.

The explosions could be heard throughout the city, located in Russiaâ€™s volatile North Caucasus. Attacks on security forces, police and civilians are still frequent in the region more than a decade after the end of a war against separatists in Russiaâ€™s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya.

A law enforcement said that the twin blasts are likely to be qualified as a terrorist attack.

The republicâ€™s head, Magomedsalam Magomedov, had to cut short his working visit to Moscow and is urgently returning to the republic.