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Dozens Injured In Belarus Bomb Blast


23 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Belarusian state television is reporting that 46 people were wounded, six of them seriously, in a bomb explosion late on 22 September in the city of Vitebsk. There were no reports of fatalities.

State television said the bomb exploded at a dance. Interfax reported earlier that the device exploded in a flowerbed outside a cafe, in the center of the city. The area remains cordoned off this morning and police teams are investigating.

A local official said that 25 of those wounded remain hospitalized.

Regional police chief Vyacheslav Astafev said police have been placed on high alert:

"I ask all citizens who have any information about what happened to contact the police," he said. "We guarantee anonymity and also offer a reward for information that helps solve this crime."

The is the second such explosion in Vitebsk this month. Police blamed the previous bomb blast, in which two people were injured, on "hooliganism."

(AP/Interfax/ITAR-TASS)

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