Bomb blamed for Russia bus blast, 8 killed -Ifax

MOSCOW, Oct 31 (Reuters) At least eight people were killed and 42 injured today when a suspected bomb exploded on a bus in the Russian city of Togliatti, the Russian news agency Interfax said.

The early morning explosion on the bus at an intersection in the city may have been caused by a 1 kg explosive device, the agency quoted local police as saying.

''There is reason to believe that the explosive was planted either underneath or on the floor of the bus,'' the police source was quoted as saying.

Togliatti, more than 1,000 km (620 miles) southwest of Moscow, is home to the country's biggest carmaker, AvtoVaz, and is sometimes called Russia's Detroit.

Organised crime groups, many of them involved in the trade in car parts, fight regular turf wars and gangland killings are common.

Explosive devices without shrapnel, like the one Russian media said may have caused the bus explosion, are frequently used to settle scores in business feuds.

Interfax quoted Samara regional medical centre as saying eight people had been killed and 42 others injured in the incident.

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