Seven die in Kyrgyz blast

Seven people were killed and 26 were injured today when a container of fireworks exploded, detonating a gas tank in a crowded market in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

Workers were welding bars on the windows of a cloakroom for market employees when the fireworks container blew up and set off a nearby gas tank, the state press service said.

National Security Council spokeswoman Chinara Asanova said the council was considering the possibility of a terrorist act.

The Dordoi market, where the blast occurred, is the largest in the former Soviet central Asian republic.

The US has 1,900 troops based at an airport outside Bishkek to support the military campaign in nearby Afghanistan.