CBS/AP October 17, 2018, 7:49 AM Crimea attack on college in Kerch a possible terrorist attack, Russia says
An image made from video shows the scene as emergency services load an injured person onto a truck, in Kerch, Crimea, Oct. 17, 2018, after a suspected terror attack.
AP
MOSCOW — An explosive device killed 10 people and injured at least 50 others at a vocational college in Crimea on Wednesday. Russian officials called it a possible terrorist attack, and the head of the college told local media it involved a gunman who fired on students indiscriminately.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that the blast at the college, in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea, was caused by an unidentified explosive device. The committee's spokesman Andrei Przhezdomsky said bomb technicians were inspecting the building for other explosive devices.
The Tass news agency reported that most of the victims were students, quoting local ombudswoman Lyudmila Lubina.
The Reuters news agency said Olga Grebennikova, the college's director, had told Crimean news outlets that gunmen entered the building and deliberately fired on students and blew up explosive devices. She said someone blew themselves up inside the building.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that officials were 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.
Emergency officials said earlier that the blast had been caused by a gas canister explosion.
The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and Russia's Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova haded to the area to coordinate assistance to those injured.
Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that triggered Western sanctions.
