At least three killed in explosion near cafe in Russia’s Moscow

An explosion near a cafe in the Russian capital has killed at least three people, police said, without saying what caused the blast.

The explosion took place near a restaurant in Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow on Saturday evening, the Interior Ministry said.

In a statement on the Russian social media platform Max, the ministry said the blast occurred at about 8.10pm (17:10GMT) near Building 1 on Kudrinskaya Square.

Moscow police told state news agency Ria Novosti that the blast caused “three deaths and 15 injured, of varying degrees of seriousness”. The injured were receiving medical care.

Police, firefighters and emergency services were deployed to the scene, while authorities said the cause of the explosion was under investigation.

Traffic near the square has been temporarily blocked, Russian media reported, and the entrances to the Barrikadnaya metro station have been closed.

More to come…