An explosion hit a McDonald's restaurant in St. Petersburg on Sunday, injuring at least six people, partially destroying a ceiling and breaking windows, an emergency official said. The Interfax news agency said a bomb had detonated.
Police investigating the explosion doubt it was an act of terrorism, Russian media said yesterday.
"At the moment the main priority version is hooliganism," the spokesman told Interfax news agency.
PHOTO: AFP
Police have said they were checking other McDonald's in the city for explosives.
The blast occurred around 8:30pm at one of the restaurant chain's outlets in the city center, said Irina Andriyanova, a spokeswoman for the federal Emergency Situations Ministry.
Four of six people injured were hospitalized with various injuries, including concussions and cuts from flying glass.
Part of the restaurant's ceiling collapsed and several windows were shattered or blown out. Dozens of police kept reporters and onlookers away from the scene along Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg's main avenue, as investigators and security agents combed the sidewalks for evidence.
Ekho Moskvy radio, citing witnesses, said the blast went off in the hand bag of one of the patrons in the restaurant.
The St. Petersburg news Web site www.fontanka.ru said a German was among the injured.
City prosecutor Sergei Zaitsev said late on Sunday the explosion had been caused by an unidentified substance.
McDonald's restaurants in Russia have been targets of both criminal gang disputes and terrorist attacks in the past.
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