MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the deadly explosion at a college in Crimea (all times local):
2:55 p.m.
Russia's top investigative agency says an explosive device rigged with metal fragments has killed 13 people at a college in Crimea.
The Russian Investigative Committee's spokeswoman, Svetlana Petrenko, said the device went off Wednesday in the canteen of a vocational college in the Black Sea city of Kerch. She said most of the victims were students and more than 50 people were injured as a result of the explosion.
Yet Russian news media, however, reported that at least some of the victims died in an attack by an unidentified gunman or gunmen. Russian officials wouldn't confirm those reports.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that officials are looking into a possible terrorist attack. He did not elaborate.
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1:50 p.m.
The Kremlin says the blast at a college in Crimea that killed at least 10 people could have been a terror attack.
Authorities say that at least ten people have been killed and more than 50 injured as a result of the explosion at a vocational college in the Black Sea city of Kerch.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that officials are looking into a possible terrorist attack. He did not elaborate.
Peskov said Putin has instructed investigators and intelligence agencies to conduct a thorough probe and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
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1:45 p.m.
Russia's counter-terrorism agency says the blast that killed 10 people at a college in Crimea was triggered by an explosive device.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that the blast at the vocational college in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea was caused by an unidentified explosive device.
It said about 50 others were wounded, but gave no further details.
Earlier, emergency officials said the blast was caused by a gas canister explosion.
The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and Russia's health minister, have headed to the area.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that triggered Western sanctions.
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1 p.m.
Russian news agencies say that up to 10 people may have been killed and at least 40 others wounded by a natural gas explosion at a college in Crimea.
The gas canister explosion is said to have occurred Wednesday at the vocational college in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea, according to local emergency officials.
The Interfax news agency cited local officials as saying up to 10 people might have been killed and about 40 others might have been injured by the blast.
The cause of the explosion wasn't immediately clear.
Russia has annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that triggered Western sanctions.
