Moscow: An unexploded device was found at a second Saint Petersburg metro station after a blast in the underground that killed around 10 and injured dozens, local news agencies cited Russia's anti-terrorism committee as saying.
The national anti-terrorism committee (NAK) said in a statement carried by Russian agencies that such a device was "found and neutralised in a timely fashion" at the Vosstaniya Square station.
According to the Russian governor's spokesman, the blast on Monday also injured 50 people.
The company running the metro earlier said an unidentified object blew up in a train. while Interfax cited a source as saying that the blast involved a device filled with shrapnel.
The Life News website showed pictures of blown-out train doors and injured people on the station platform.
"An evacuation from the stations is ongoing, there are people injured," the Saint Petersburg metro said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. "An unidentified object supposedly blew up in a (train) carriage."
"The Saint Petersburg prosecutor's office has begun to investigate the blast in a train carriage" at the Technological Institute metro station's platform, the prosecutors' statement said.
The station is a busy hub of the underground network in the centre of Russia's second largest city.
The metro servicing Russia's second largest city said it had closed all stations amid an ongoing evacuation. It remains unclear when the underground system will open again.
President Vladimir Putin, who is holding a meeting near Saint Petersburg in his official Strelna presidential palace, offered "condolences" to those hurt in the blast.
Following the reports, the Moscow metro also announced that it is "taking additional security measures" as required by law in such situations, according to the network's official Twitter account.
UAE condemns bombing
The UAE strongly condemned the bombing in the St Petersburg metro.
In a statement issued on Monday, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, expressed the UAE’s full solidarity with Russia.
He said that the UAE stands with Russia to eliminate criminal and terrorist elements that strive to shake up stability and security, spread chaos and target the lives of innocent civilians.
Shaikh Abdullah said that crimes that harm civilians and target places that bring them together cannot be taken lightly, and reaffirmed that such cowardly terrorist acts require strong international cooperation to put an end to these criminal phenomenon.
Shaikh Abdullah expressed his heartfelt condolences to the Russian leader, government and families of the victims. He also wished the injured a speedy recovery.
