Up to seven people reportedly injured after blast at convent outside Moscow
Law enforcement officers are seen outside the Vvedenskiy Vladychny convent school in the town of Serpukhov near Moscow on Monday. Photograph: Serpukhov Administration/TassLaw enforcement officers are seen outside the Vvedenskiy Vladychny convent school in the town of Serpukhov near Moscow on Monday. Photograph: Serpukhov Administration/TassAgence France-Presse in Moscow
An 18-year-old graduate of a Russian Orthodox school tried to blow himself up at a convent outside Moscow on Monday, wounding at least one teenager, the interior ministry said on Monday.
“An 18-year-old graduate of this educational institution entered the premises of the Orthodox gymnasium of the Vvedenskiy Vladychniy convent and blew himself up,” the ministry said in a statement.
A 15-year-old was injured in the attack, which took place in the city of Serpukhov south of Moscow, the statement said.
According to preliminary information, the graduate was not killed in the blast, it said.
The ministry said the staff of the school had been evacuated and that “information about other victims” was being clarified. Several Russian news agencies said that up to seven people were injured in the attack.
Moscow prosecutors posted a video from the scene of the incident, with police and ambulance cars outside the convent in snowfall.
The incident took place in Serpukhov, about 100km (62 miles) south of Moscow. The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had sent detectives to the scene.
There has been a rise in teenage attacks on Russian schools in recent years. In September, a student killed six people and wounded dozens on a university campus in the Urals city of Perm. In May, a 19-year-old opened fire in his old school in the central city of Kazan, killing nine people.