MOSCOW — An explosion hit the Moscow (search) metro during Friday rush hour, killing 22 people and injuring 30, Interfax reports, citing fire officials. A severe fire broke out in the train and passengers were being evacuated from the Avtozavodskaya station, ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov (search) said.
He could not confirm that the cause or give any further details about the number of victims. He said that rescuers were already on the site, and numerous ambulances could be seen outside the station entrance.
Russian prosecutors said they could not rule out terrorism, but that it was too early to say definitively. President Vladimir Putin (search) was informed.
The explosion occurred in the second wagon of a train after it left the Paveletskaya station near the center of the Russian capital and headed southeast to Avtozavodskaya station, the news agency Interfax reported, citing emergency officials.
The train wagon was badly damaged, according to Interfax and ITAR-Tass.
Police immediately barricade the two metro stations and stopped all traffic on the metro, clogging up the capital's streets.
The Russian capital has been on alert for terrorist attacks following a series of homicide bombings that officials have blamed on Chechen rebels.
In December, a female homicide bomber blew herself up outside the National Hotel across from Moscow's Red Square, killing at least five others. Two homicide bombers blew themselves up at a Moscow rock concert in July, killing themselves and 14 other people. That was followed five days later by an aborted homicide bomb attack at a central Moscow restaurant that killed the sapper trying to defuse the bomb. The suspected attacker was arrested and is currently awaiting trial.
In August 2000, a bomb exploded at a crowded pedestrian underpass filled with kiosks at Pushkin Square, a popular meeting place located near a metro line. The attack was initially blamed on Chechen rebels, but some police later said that a turf battle between rival businessmen or criminal gangs could have been the motive.