Moscow - Russia, still reeling from a spate of deadly disasters, was rocked yesterday by a powerful blast at a food market in Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, which left three people dead and 11 others injured.
Police arrested five suspects and launched a criminal investigation into gangland vendettas after the bomb exploded at 8.35 a.m. (local time) in a roof gutter between market stalls in the town, 200 km from the Russian capital.
Hours later an explosion damaged the premises of an upmarket fashion boutique in the nation's second city, St Petersburg. The Interior Minister, Mr Vladimir Rushailo, ruled out terrorism as a motive for the Ryazan bomb, which he attributed to "a local conflict".