Moscow market blast 'may have been hate crime'

The Russian capital’s top prosecutor today said that a bomb blast at a Moscow market that killed 10 people was most likely a hate crime, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Monday morning blast hit the Cherkizovsky market, where a large number of traders gather from Asia or the Caucasus regions – both ethnic groups have been victims of a growing wave of hate crimes in Russia.

Two suspects have been detained and reports say they are believed to be members of extremist organisations.

The dead have not been identified, but Russian news agencies reported that preliminary information showed five were Chinese and one was Vietnamese.

Moscow Prosecutor Yuri Syomin said belief the attack was motivated by hatred for ethnic minorities “is one of the theories and now is the dominant one”, Interfax reported.