MOSCOW / BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife) — At least ten people died and dozens were injured Tuesday, August 31, in a suicide bomb attack near Moscow's Rizhskaya metro station and the Krestovsky shopping mall, Russian officials said.

Two cars caught fire after a female suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near the station, Bloomberg news agency quoted Federal Security Service Spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko as telling state-owned Rossiya television.

"Eyewitnesses saw a woman walking toward the subway station," Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said earlier on television, Bloomberg reported. "When the woman saw police checking documents near the station, she turned around and an explosion followed," Luzhkov reportedly said.

"It was a big load of explosive, equal to as much as a kilo of TNT," Luzhkov added. "The bomb was loaded with screws and other small metal objects." Russian officials said there were at least 33 people injured. There are three children among the injured, the Interfax news agency reported.

BLAST AFTER CRASHES

The blast comes a week after two Russian passenger airplanes crashed simultaneously after explosions, killing all 89 aboard. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said the explosions were the work of terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Some Russian officials have accused the network of maintaining close ties with rebels fighting for independence in Russia's troubled republic of Chechnya. The United States said it was "very concerned" about the bombings in Moscow, several media reported.

"We have seen the reports of bombings in Moscow just recently. Obviously we are very concerned about the situation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reportedly said at a news briefing. Russian government officials said a full scale investigation was now underway.

AUTHOR: STEFAN J. BOS CONTRIBUTED TO THE REPORT

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