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Belarus bomb leaves 50 hurt

04/07/2008

An explosion at an open-air concert in Belarus' capital Minsk last night which injured 50 people was not politically motivated, police have said.

The blast occurred in a park where revellers were enjoying live music. President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since its independence from the former Soviet Union, was attending but was not hurt.

"I heard a loud explosion and there was black smoke," 28-year-old Sergey told the Reuters news agency.

"People started shouting. No one stopped the concert. They just isolated the place around the explosion and emergency vehicles began coming."

Mr Lukashenko reportedly attended the site of the blast before leaving to avoid hindering emergency services. Around 50 were hospitalised while 20 received treatment at the Minsk first aid station, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

No one was killed by the bomb, which was blamed by police on "hooliganism". Itar-Tass said the bomb was believed to be homemade and added that bolts, nuts and other metal pieces had been found at the site of the explosion near the Hero City Minsk Stele.

It follows a similar explosion at a 2005 concert, where over 40 people were hurt.