 Investigators say it could have been a gangland settling of scores |
An explosion at a Moscow market has killed 10 people, including at least two children. The blast brought down a two-storey building at the eastern Cherkizovsky market on Monday. Five Chinese citizens and one Vietnamese were among the dead.
Russian news agency reports say two people have been detained.
Officials said the bomb was a home-made device and that the most likely motive was a gangland feud. Earlier, police had blamed a faulty gas cylinder.
At least 40 people were injured in the blast at 1030 (0630 GMT).
'Premeditated act'
Officials and witnesses initially said the explosion was caused by a faulty gas cylinder, but police later said a bomb had been hidden in a bag and left in a cafe.
"The way I see it, it was not an accident but a premeditated act," Moscow's First Deputy Mayor Vladimir Resin told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.
Rival criminal gangs in Moscow occasionally plant small bombs at markets.
The Cherkizovsky market is used mostly by traders from China and the Far East or from former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
It has numerous stalls offering a wide range of goods, including leather coats, electrical products and fast food.
Gas cylinders are widely used at Moscow's markets for heating and cooking.
Chechen rebels or their supporters have also exploded bombs or taken hostages in Moscow, killing dozens of people, but the last such attack was more than a year ago.
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