St Petersburg blast caused by ‘homemade explosive device’

Nobody was killed in the explosion, but at least four people were hospitalised and there were unconfirmed reports of a further 10 people being injured.

A blast in a supermarket in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg that injured at least four people on Wednesday was caused by a homemade bomb, an official said.

A policeman stands guard near a supermarket after an explosion in St Petersburg, Russia.(Reuters)

“A homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grammes of TNT filled with lethal fragments went off in a Saint Petersburg shopping centre,” Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told Russian news agencies.

She said the incident has been classed as attempted murder, without mentioning terrorism as a possible cause.

Police said the blast occurred in a supermarket northeast of the city centre, with sources telling Russian agencies that the exploding object was traced to a storage locker.

“About 6:30pm there was the sound of a blast. As a result, several people have been injured,” the Saint Petersburg police said, giving the incident’s location.

“There is no fire. All shoppers have been evacuated,” an emergencies ministry representative told Interfax, adding that police and investigators were at the scene.