News
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has condemned as “cruel and despicable” the actions of those responsible for the lethal blast on the St Petersburg metro that killed 14 people and injured at least 49, calling for prayers for the victims and their close ones.
“Once again innocent people are victims of a heinous, cruel and despicable act that targeted train commuters in the underground system going about their normal daily lives in Russia’s second city,” said WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a statement on 4 April.
“We express our condolences and let us pray for the victims, their families and close ones as well as the people of St Petersburg and Russia in this tragic time.”
World leaders also condemned the 3 April afternoon bombing as “barbaric”.
The head of Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said the blast hit a train between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations on 3 April, Russia Today reported.
President Vladimir Putin was in St Petersburg at the time of the attack to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The Kremlin has yet to officially denote the bombing as a terrorist attack but the Russian president stated that “all variants” were being considered in the investigation, and investigating a terrorist motive has been prioritized, Russia Today said.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had said in a Facebook post that the explosion was a "terrorist attack", according to the BBC.
No group had claimed responsibility for the blast by the morning of 4 April.
