Blast near KGB building in Vitebsk (Photo)

The explosion occurred in Vitebsk in early hours of November 12. It is reported to have happened close to the KGB office.

Journalists and Facebook users were the first to spread the information.

Journalist Dzmitry Brushko wrote: “It is said something exploded in the city centre. The police are arresting young people in streets. Nothing is clear. The police are arresting everyone wearing a hood.”

Photographer Anton Matolka notes: “The blast is reported to have occurred near the KGB building. Judging by silence, it may be just an act of hooliganism.”

Natasha Che: “I was not there, so I cannot say the details. My brother says he returned home at 2 a.m. He had been waiting for his friend at a police station for five hours. He saw that the KGB building, which is near the police station, was surrounded with caution tape. He says windows were broken, but no significant damage was noticed. No one, except for the people living in the nearby houses, is allowed to come closer. I think it is a sort of hooliganism.”

Alena Styapanava: “Something really happened. Eyewitnesses say the right wing of the building, which is close to the Dvina river, is cordoned off with caution tape.”

Pavel Levinau, a representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Vitebsk, visited the scene of the incident.

He says what he saw at 3:30 a.m. near the KGB building:

“There are lights in the windows of the KGB building. A special bus stands near the entrance;  the right wing of the building (if you face the central entrance) is surrounded by caution tape. There are many plainclothes men near the building. Policemen guard the surrounding area.

A duty officer at the Kastrychnitski district police department (which is situated 90 metres from the KGB building) refused to say anything about the incident. He also refused to say if there were any people detained. He advised to refer to the press service of the Vitebsk police department.”

The website charter97.org phoned the KGB directorate in the Vitebsk area at 4 in the morning. Asked if the blast really happened KGB officers answered: “No comments”. Such an answer gives grounds to suppose there's no smoke without fire.

BelaPAN news agency confirmed in the morning with reference to eyewitnesses that the area close to the building of the Vitebsk region KGB  directorate on 18 Savetskaya Street, has been cordoned off by the police for several hours.

The KGB released the following information at 10 a.m.:

A primitive home-made explosive device exploded near the building of the KGB directorate in the Vitebsk region at 6:48 p.m. on November 11, 2012, damaging two windows of the administrative building.

According to preliminary information, the device was a cardboard or plastic tube with 50-70 grammes of pyrotechnic mixture placed into a metal box of 0.25-0.33ml without destructive agents. The bomb detonated after firing.

Three persons have been detained as a result of urgent investigative procedures and questioning of eyewitnesses. One of them, having external signs of deviation from normal behaviour, called the KGB directorate earlier to say offensive remarks relating to government agencies. A criminal case over article 339 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (hooliganism) has been opened. An investigative team is working at the scene.

Photo by Narodnye Novosti Vitebska: