Bomb blasts at concert in Belarus, 50 injured

A homemade bomb exploded at an outdoor concert in Belarus' capital early on Friday, injuring at least 50 people. Officials blamed hooligans.

The blast took place in downtown Minsk at a concert marking the ex-Soviet nation's independence day.

A Minsk police spokesman said authorities had opened a criminal probe. He said more than 20 people were hospitalised, but the Health Ministry put that number at more than 50. Most had leg wounds.

A Belarusian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman said the bomb went off about 0030 local time (2100GMT). The concert was held at the Hero City memorial, which commemorates Minsk's suffering during World War II.

An eyewitness at the concert said he felt a strong shock wave and saw smoke. The 32-year old engineer said that people were crying, some falling on him and that there was a lot of blood.

The explosion was unprecedented in Belarus, a Baltic nation of 10 (m) million that has been tightly controlled by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the West.

Lukashenko, who was attending the concert, inspected the explosion site and urged officials to quickly track down the perpetrators.