Blast at Russian elite military academy wounds 4
AP
1554227069000

russia.JPG

Soldiers guard an entrance while students evacuate from the Alexander Mozhaysky Military Space Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (Photo: AP)

Officials in Russia say an explosion inside an elite military academy in the country’s second-largest city has wounded four people.

An unidentified explosive device went off early Tuesday afternoon inside the prestigious Mozhaisky Academy in St. Petersburg, which trains officers for the army’s missile defense unit, according to acting governor Alexander Beglov.

Russia’s top investigative body says that it has launched a criminal inquiry into conspiracy to murder.

Authorities didn’t immediately give other details.

Several windows were shuttered on the second floor of the building, and dozens of cadets were being led out of the gated compound.

A local news website, Fontanka, reported that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device with an equivalent of 200 grams of TNT.