Explosion near hospital kills one in Ingushetia republic, in Russia's south

A remote-controlled explosive device blew up underneath a gas pipe

One person was killed and three wounded as a result of the explosion, which rocked near the building of the republican hospital in the city of Nazran, the republic of Ingushetia (the south of Russia).

”The explosion occurred on a natural gas pipeline line. According to preliminary information, it was a bomb,” acting Minister for Internal Affairs of Ingushetia, Beslan Khamkhoyev said. The official said that a group of experts started investigating the reasons of the blast. “The explosion killed one and wounded three. There are no victims among law-enforcement officers,” Khamkhoyev said.

A source from Ingushetia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs told Interfax that a remote-controlled explosive device blew up underneath a gas pipe in Nazran at 3:50 p.m. local time. The blast did not result in a fire, the source said, because the damaged pipeline was a low-pressure system, which delivered natural gas to the private sector. The explosion damaged a vehicle of the Internal Affairs Ministry, a KamAZ truck and a BMW car, the driver of which was killed on the scene.

In the meantime, Russian special services prevented a large terrorist act in the republic on Monday morning. A bomb was found at a gas station near the “Caucasus” federal highway. The live bomb was found in the basement of a building next to fuel tanks. “The bomb was equivalent to 150 grams of TNT. The device was filled with shards of metallic rubble to intensify the destructive effect. Russian military columns often use the above-mentioned highway. If the bomb had exploded, it would have led to incredibly severe consequences,” the head of the Ingushetian Ministry for Internal Affairs said. 

The republic is considered to be another Russian hotspot; it borders on Chechnya (colored as bright-green on the graphic picture).