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Young man wounded in blast in St.Petersburg

A blast was not a terrorist act

ST.PETERSBURG , July 3 (Itar-Tass) - A blast which went off in St.Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon was not a terrorist act. "There are no reasons to believe that the blast went off as a result of an act of terrorism," press service Chief of the FSB department for St.Petersburg and the Leningrad region Dmitry Kochetkov told Itar-Tass.

The blast produced by a fragment-free pyrotechnic device had an estimated power of one gram of TNT, the FSB spokesman said. Specified reports said that a 18- year-old man was wounded in the blast which occurred near house 1/6 in Stremyannaya street, while earlier reports said the blast went off in Nevsky Prospect.

The young man, who was in shock condition, ran as far as McDonald's restaurant in Nevsky Prospect and called an ambulance, said a representative of the Head Interior Department for St.Petesburg and the Leningrad region. The victim said he picked up a package from the ground which exploded in his hands.

The victim, who had his arm torn off in the explosion and was wounded in the belly, has been hospitalized.

Incidentally, a law enforcement source said that the version of the incident told by the victim might not conform to the reality.

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