Deadly Moscow Blast Investigated

31 August 2004 -- A car exploded near a subway station in northern Moscow today.
Initial casualty reports varied, but police spokesman Valerii Gribakin said on Russian television that six people were killed and more than 20 wounded.

The explosion happened between the Rizhskaya metro station and a nearby department-store complex, and the cause was not immediately clear. An Interior Ministry official said one version was that an explosive substance went off under a car parked outside the metro station, but other security officials suggested a suicide bomber may have been responsible for the blast.

The explosion came a week after two Russian passenger planes crashed almost simultaneously after explosions on board, killing all 90 people aboard in what authorities say was a terrorist attack.

(Reuters/AP/AFP/ITAR-TASS)