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Putin, Merkel, Hollande discuss exchanging information to combat terrorism

Merkel and Hollande "expressed their deepest condolences over the barbaric terrorist attack in St. Petersburg’s metro"

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Leaders of Russia, Germany and France - Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande - in a phone conversation on Tuesday agreed to step up the exchange of info for the fight against terrorism, the Kremlin’s press service said.

"The sides noted the importance of boosting cooperation with the goal of countering terrorism threat, which is common for all states, and agreed to enhance the exchange of information on this through special services," the press service said.

Merkel and Hollande "expressed their deepest condolences over the barbaric terrorist attack in St. Petersburg’s metro, and asked to convey the words of sincere sympathy to the families of the dead and wish for the soonest recovery to the injured people."

On Monday afternoon, a blast rocked St. Petersburg’s metro leaving 14 people dead and another 49 people injured, according to the latest data provided by Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova. An unidentified device went off in a subway train car between two stations, Tekhnologichesky Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad. The Russian Investigative Committee is treating the blast as a terrorist attack, but other theories are being looked into as well.