Police are investigating a bomb explosion in a kindergarten in eastern Russia, which seriously injured one of the children.
The bomb was hidden in a small box decorated with a ribbon, which the culprit left on the terrace of a kindergarten in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far-Eastern Khabarovsk Region.
A five-year-old girl noticed the box and opened it, which triggered the blast. The girl sustained injuries to her hands and face.
The victim has been taken to hospital. Doctors say her condition is serious, but not life threatening.
Police believe that the bomb had explosives to the equivalent of five to seven grams of TNT. It was also packed with nails and other small metal objects. The bomb was made by an amateur, police said, and caused less damage than a professional device of this power would have.
The crime is considered an act of terror and police are taking it very seriously.
“The motive of the people behind this loathsome act is beyond comprehension. Certainly, organizers and all accomplices to this crime will be identified and duly punished. If they resist arrest, they will be eliminated,” a police spokesman warned during a media conference.
A 26-year-old man has been detained by the police over possible connection to the crime.
Police have also taken under additional protection schools and kindergartens in the region.