BBC 11 April 2011 Last updated at 18:41
Belarus: Blast rocks Minsk metro near Lukashenko office
At least seven people have been killed by an explosion in the metro system in the Belarussian capital Minsk, the state news agency Belta said.
It said 35 people were injured in the blast just before 1800 local time (1500 GMT). The cause is not yet known.
An eyewitness reported smoke rising from the Oktyabrskaya metro station in the city centre, and casualties being taken to the surface on stretchers.
The station is near the offices of President Alexander Lukashenko.
"According to the initial information, five people were killed in the metro explosion," said a police source quoted by the official Interfax news agency.
Interfax also quoted a security source as saying the most probable cause of the explosion was an act of terror.
An Associated Press (AP) reporter at the scene saw heavily wounded people being carried out of the station.
Witnesses told AP that the blast erupted as passengers were stepping off a train at Oktyabrskaya station, where two underground railway lines intersect.
One said at least part of the station's ceiling had collapsed after the explosion.
An eyewitness, Maskim Lew, told Ekho Moskvy radio: "There are a lot of special forces troops, a lot of ambulances and firemen.
"Some people are being treated on the spot, some are being taken away, some - those who are conscious and in a more or less normal state - are being helped into ambulances."
The metro was all cordoned off, he said.
Exits from the station lead both to Mr Lukashenko's main office and his residence, as well as the country's powerful security council.
Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, claimed victory in a presidential election last December, but international observers condemned the vote.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of opposition figures - activists and presidential campaigners - were rounded up and arrested. Some are still in jail.
Tensions are rising in the former Soviet republic, says the BBC's David Stern in Kiev. As well as the political tensions, Belarus has also suffered economic difficulties since the beginning of the year.
In July 2008, about 50 people were injured by a bomb blast at an independence day concert attended by Mr Lukashenko.
Belarus: Blast rocks Minsk metro
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Re: Belarus: Blast rocks Minsk metro
Minsk metro bomb could be work of outsiders, says president
President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, says deadly blast in Minsk metro station was an attempt to destabilize the country
* Reuters
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 April 2011 09.05 BST
President Alexander Lukashenko has said that a blast that tore through a crowded metro station in the Belarus capital Minsk in the evening rush hour, killing 11 people, was an attempt to destabilize the country.
As police placed the capital on high alert, Lukashenko linked the explosion to a previous unsolved blast in 2008, saying: "These are perhaps links in a single chain."
"We must find out who gained by undermining peace and stability in the country, who stands behind this," added the president, whose re-election for a fourth term and subsequent crackdown on protests in December was criticised by western nations.
Acts of deliberate violence are unusual in the ex-Soviet republic of 10 million people which shares borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania and with Russia and Ukraine.
One opposition figure said he feared Lukashenko would use the blast to crack down even more harshly on political rivals. "Prosecutors qualify this as a terrorist act," a source in Lukashenko's administration said.
Lukashenko said: "I do not rule out that this [the blast] was a gift from abroad."
A former state-farm boss, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, jailing opponents and silencng independent media while offering generous welfare and pensions to his citizens on the back of Russian subsidies.
After the election, police arrested nearly 700 protesters and reporters during protests.
The EU and the US have imposed a travel ban on Lukashenko and his closest associates because of the 19 December crackdown. He has said the opposition rally was an attempted coup financed by the west.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors said the vote count was flawed and criticised police for being heavy handed. The remarks angered Minsk, which forced the OSCE to close down its office there.
In typical combative style, Lukashenko hit back, defending the police, dismissing members of the opposition as being bent on "banditry" and denouncing the OSCE verdict as "amoral".
Monday's blast occurred on a platform at around 6pm at the Oktyabrskaya metro station – one of the city's busiest underground rail junctions – about 100m from the main presidential headquarters.
Lukashenko was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying 11 people had been killed and 100 injured. A presidential administration source later said 126 people had been injured.
In his remarks, Lukashenko referred back to July 2008 when a homemade bomb wounded about 50 people at an open air concert he was attending. The crime was never solved.
"Regardless of who organised and ordered the blast, the government will be tempted to use it as an excuse to tighten the screws ... I am afraid they will use it," said Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the opposition United Civic party.
President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, says deadly blast in Minsk metro station was an attempt to destabilize the country
* Reuters
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 April 2011 09.05 BST
President Alexander Lukashenko has said that a blast that tore through a crowded metro station in the Belarus capital Minsk in the evening rush hour, killing 11 people, was an attempt to destabilize the country.
As police placed the capital on high alert, Lukashenko linked the explosion to a previous unsolved blast in 2008, saying: "These are perhaps links in a single chain."
"We must find out who gained by undermining peace and stability in the country, who stands behind this," added the president, whose re-election for a fourth term and subsequent crackdown on protests in December was criticised by western nations.
Acts of deliberate violence are unusual in the ex-Soviet republic of 10 million people which shares borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania and with Russia and Ukraine.
One opposition figure said he feared Lukashenko would use the blast to crack down even more harshly on political rivals. "Prosecutors qualify this as a terrorist act," a source in Lukashenko's administration said.
Lukashenko said: "I do not rule out that this [the blast] was a gift from abroad."
A former state-farm boss, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, jailing opponents and silencng independent media while offering generous welfare and pensions to his citizens on the back of Russian subsidies.
After the election, police arrested nearly 700 protesters and reporters during protests.
The EU and the US have imposed a travel ban on Lukashenko and his closest associates because of the 19 December crackdown. He has said the opposition rally was an attempted coup financed by the west.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors said the vote count was flawed and criticised police for being heavy handed. The remarks angered Minsk, which forced the OSCE to close down its office there.
In typical combative style, Lukashenko hit back, defending the police, dismissing members of the opposition as being bent on "banditry" and denouncing the OSCE verdict as "amoral".
Monday's blast occurred on a platform at around 6pm at the Oktyabrskaya metro station – one of the city's busiest underground rail junctions – about 100m from the main presidential headquarters.
Lukashenko was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying 11 people had been killed and 100 injured. A presidential administration source later said 126 people had been injured.
In his remarks, Lukashenko referred back to July 2008 when a homemade bomb wounded about 50 people at an open air concert he was attending. The crime was never solved.
"Regardless of who organised and ordered the blast, the government will be tempted to use it as an excuse to tighten the screws ... I am afraid they will use it," said Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the opposition United Civic party.
