Investigation underway into car bomb blast in Pyatigorsk

A criminal case is opened over the car bomb explosion in Pyatigorsk. According to the preliminary information, the explosion killed two residents of Georgiyevsk and a Pyatigorsk resident. The blast power was equivalent to 50 kg of TNT, law-enforcement sources said. The National Antiterrorism Committee told Itar-Tass earlier that a parked car was blasted with an explosive device at a parking lot near a furniture store apposite a traffic police station in Pyatigorsk at 19:15 Moscow time on Friday. It was a homemade explosive device without a cover. The blast killed three people. Meanwhile, a fire broke out at a market in same Pyatigorsk overnight. More than 80 stalls and containers with goods burned up. About 1,500 sq m were ablaze. Nobody was hurt. The fire alarm call was received after midnight, and the blaze was brought under control at 01:36 Moscow time. Firefighters were called when the blaze already swept a large area, the Emergencies Ministry's North Caucasian regional centre said. The fire supposedly was caused by carelessness in using heaters.