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At least three people have been killed and another 15 people injured in a huge explosion at a restaurant in Moscow.
The blast took place outside the upmarket Balzi Rossi eatery in Kudrinskaya Square, just over a mile from the Kremlin, at around 8.10pm local time today.
The restaurant’s website said the venue, which is favoured by the Russian elite, had been closed for a private ‘banquet’ event.
One witness told the Baza Telegram channel the venue was hosting a wedding reception attended by about 50 people.
They added that they saw people being brought out covered in blood after the explosion.
Prominent war propagandist Anastasia Kashevarova said ‘someone from the elite’ was hosting the event.
‘Today, during another banquet, an explosion occurred. There are dead and many injured,’ she wrote.
‘They say they were celebrating a holiday, for someone from the elite.’
Investigators are now examining whether the blast could have been caused by a bomb on the restaurant’s terrace.
Pictured: The blast took place outside the upmarket Balzi Rossi eatery in Kudrinskaya Square, just over a mile from the Kremlin, at around 8.10pm local time today
Passersby and emergency services gather at the scene in Kudrinskaya Square near the Kremlin on Saturday
At least three people have been killed and another 15 people injured in a huge explosion near a restaurant in Moscow. Emergency services are pictured at the scene
Emergency services are pictured at the scene following an explosion near a cafe in Moscow
The explosion happened close to one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers
Russian state TV suggested it may have been a gas canister detonating.
An eyewitness said: ‘There were people lying on stretchers, a young woman was hysterical.
‘I saw a man with his shirt splattered with blood.’
The upmarket Italian and Mediterranean eatery earlier denied they had been affected by the blast in a now-deleted post on Instagram.
The head chef added on his personal account that they were ‘fine’ but there had been ‘some problem outside’.
Images posted on Russian Telegram channels showed fire engines and ambulances rushing to the scene, which is near one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers.
Traffic near Kudrinskaya Square has been temporarily blocked and the entrances to the Barrikadnaya metro station have been closed.
Photographs from the scene show heavily armed cops standing guard beside a police cordon.
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the site of an explosion at a restaurant in central Moscow
Officials from the Russian Ministry of Health said the exact number of people killed in the blast is yet to be determined
Emergency vehicles are parked close to the scene of the deadly explosion
A spokesman for Moscow police said: ‘From the information we have, an explosion happened today at around 8.10pm (5.10pm GMT) near a summer cafe, causing three deaths and 15 injured, of varying degrees of seriousness.’
Officials from the Russian Ministry of Health said the exact number of people killed in the blast is yet to be determined.
They added that those injured are all receiving the necessary medical care.
Pro-Kremlin Readovka channel reported: ‘A forensic team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and emergency services are working at the scene.’
