KHABAROVSK, August 2 (Itar-Tass) — The five-year-old girl, injured in the explosion at a kindergarten in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, is in medium severity condition. Medics said she is being treated for complicated eye burn, a neck burn and injuries to the hands and body.
A council of town physicians said the girl’s life was not under threat, though a decision to send her for treatment to a federal medical facility is possible.
Komsomolsk-on-Amur mayor Vladimir Mikhalyov visited the hospital where the girl is staying with her mother. The head of Town Hall’s health care department was ordered to provide the necessary assistance to the little patient.
The mayor also ordered a service check into the incident. The town commission on education will review the actions by the kindergarten personnel, and analyze security measures at other local education institutions.
On August 3, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur administration will host an extraordinary meeting of the anti-terrorist commission to which the directors of the town’s education and sports facilities have been invited.
An explosive device built into an aerosol spray-can in gift wrapping went off at a kindergarten veranda in Komsomolsk-on-Amur at around 07:25, local time on Tuesday, injuring a five-year-old girl. She was rushed to hospital with eye and chest burns, the Investigative Committee said.
A preliminary analysis showed that the bomb yield was 5 to 7 grams of TNT and that it was filled with destructive agents such as bits of metal, nails and metal wire.
Experts said the explosive device had not been assembled by a professional, which lessened its “destructive effect.” It exploded when the girl, upon seeing the box lying on the ground, kicked it and the aerosol spray-can rolled out of it.
The SK department for the Khabarovsk Territory opened a criminal case under Article 205, Part 2 of Russia’s Criminal Code (“act of terror”).
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev and Khabarovsk Territory governor Vyacheslav Shport are monitoring the investigation.
Regional police already arrested the suspect. He is a 28-year-old resident of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Aide to the director of the regional department t of the Investigative Committee (SK) Ilya Gudkov said he had confessed to making the explosive device.
According to regional police, the man has a criminal record for hooliganism.
Meanwhile, director of the Interior Ministry’s department for the Khabarovsk Territory Andrei Sergeyev said law-enforcement bodies had inspected the premises of kindergarten # 80 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in May, and recommended to install CCTV cameras and grate the windows.
“An inspection of this kindergarten was carried out on May 20, and a recommendation was issued to install CCTV cameras in and outside of the building, replace the watchman and grate the windows. This recommendation was not implemented by July, and a presentation was made to Komsomolsk-on-Amur’s education department. It was completed by 40 percent,” Sergeyev reported to Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev.
He also said he had ordered police to check security measures at all the kindergartens and children’s recreation facilities in the Khabarovsk territory.