Bomb blast in Minsk. About 50 people injured

An explosion occurred in Minsk during the official Independence Day celebration. Allegedly a self-made explosive device with screws and bolts exploded. About 50 people were hospitalized after the incident near the stela in Victor’s Avenue according to reports from the ambulance service to the Charter’97 press-centre.
The injured with different traumas were taken to different hospitals of Minsk in period between 0.30 to 4.00 a.m. Majority of them have arms and legs wounded. Police officers stay in all the hospitals that have accepted the wounded. The health Ministry confirms the information about 50 injured who had been hospitalized.
According to reports of different medical institutions, 6 persons were put to the Emergency hospital, about 30 persons were taken to the 6th Hospital’s City Centre of traumatic surgery; 6 persons to the Second City Hospital; 2 persons in the Military Hospital; one injured input in the Internal Affairs Ministry Hospital and one to the Infectious Diseases Hospital.
Meanwhile first information from witnesses of the blast in Minsk appears in LiveJournal.
"My brother called. Something exploded in Nemiha Street about half an hour ago. He was about 30 meters from the blast site. He is celebrating his second birthday today. He saw more than 30 wounded. At least one guy lost his hand, one girl lost toes, another guy had something stuck in his hip wound. There were seas of blood. He didn’t see dead bodies, but they were possible there. The explosion was loud, there was a little column of smoke, and there was no flash or plenty of fragments... Policemen in cordon say that it was a cracker, nothing special," – writes blogger mirritil.
«We were about 20 meters from the explosion site near the road. We heard a strong bang, we felt a strong shockwave and saw a small pillar of black smoke. It looked like smoke from gun powder that makes think that it was a home-made bomb. Strange as it may seem, there was no panic. Law enforcers’ actions were well organized. I’d like to believe that it is a kind of weird accident», -- writes mr_freezze.
“I was in the clinic No.2. I saw a guy wounded in chest. His condition was grave, liver and stomach are also injured. They removed 2 bolts from him. So it doesn't look like a firework at all!”, -- has commented a visitor of the Charter’97 website.
Minister of the Interior Affairs Uladzimir Navumau, who visited the place of the tragedy said: “It will become clear whether it was a terroristic act or something else”. A criminal case has been opened, but the Minister hasn’t specified under which articles of the Criminal Code.
Lukashenka: “Blast on July 3 in Minsk wasn’t directed against me”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka believes that the blast in Minsk during the night gala concert on Independence Day wasn’t directed against him. He has informed journalists about that today when visiting “Stalin’s Line” historical and cultural complex.
“It would have been for their good, but it is hardly possible. It is very difficult to intimidate us. I think that they are mean, cowardly people,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka said to BELTA.
“If you want to fight, make it head-on,” Lukashenka stated. “Now we are to speak with them in a different way”.

Viktar Ivashkevich: «Even at that time we warned police that such jokes with bombs “

In the connection with the blast in Minsk the deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front party Viktar Ivashkevich urges upon policemen to turn their attention to pro-fascist organizations:
“Back a year ago a bomb was attached to the door of the Belarusian Popular Front party head office. Policemen of the Central police department of Minsk called in mine pickers. It was a hoax explosive device filled with leaflets of National Bolsheviks and of some organisation of Communist youth.
Even at that time we warned police that such ‘jokes’ with bombs will end in no good, that these “jesters” should be found. But the regime didn’t search for anybody. One should think that the action was organized by those who oppose Belarus’ independence, and in fact these are the same organizations which support liquidation of Belarus and its merging Russia in a form of 8 regions. The regime should direct attention to these terroristic organisations. The fact of terroristic hooliganism of them against patriotic organisations of Belarus is well-known”.
Uladzimir Matskevich: «It is not excluded that blast was provoked by Belarusian secret services“

In an interview to Deutsche Welle an independent Belarusian political analyst Uladzimir Matskevich said that it is entirely possible that the explosion in the centre of Minsk during the celebration of the official Independence Day could have been provoked by secret services.
The political analyst draws a parallel between this terrorist attack and blasts in Vitsebsk a few years ago.
“The explosive device used looks very much alike. Like in Vitsebsk, a blast was needed, but its victims and consequences were to be minimized. Everything has been done for the fact itself to come in view of the public. Actions of the law-enforcing agencies are similar, too. All services concerned seem to be informed that such incident is possible, and that there won’t be any further terrorist attacks,” Uladzimir Matskevich says.
And besides, Matskevich believes that “in this regard an explosion of a firecracker a few hours before the explosion is very amusing”. To his mind, the reaction of special services to the explosion is surprising as well.
“At such a mass public event reaction should be no less than immediate; and it should have involved evacuation. If nothing were known about the explosion, security services would have taken measures making an allowance for a several-blasts scenario. Such measures haven’t been taken, moreover, the concert continued, and the Belarusian president arrived to the site of the explosion. This fact has been noted by many commentators as unacceptable unprofessionalism of secret services. One cannot even doubt that could happen only because there was some certainty about the things which were possible, and which were impossible later on,” the political analyst is convinced.
To the question of the Deutsche Welle who stood to gain from it, the expert supposed that the matter could involve «redistribution of forces and influence within the commanding elite”.
“This question is very difficult to answer, as in the present situation no one of the acting subjects, neither the regime nor opposition, could gain rational advantage from that. It is more likely that some outcast was an actual doer, but he couldn’t do without protection of some state structures. I think that the problems which could be solved through the consequences of this incident, are connected with some redistribution of forces and influence within the commanding elite,” Uladzimir Matskevich states.