This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/27/ukraine-bomb-blasts-scores-injured

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Ukraine bomb blasts injure dozens ahead of Euro 2012 Ukraine bomb blasts injure dozens ahead of Euro 2012
(about 4 hours later)
At least 27 people were injured on Friday when a series of blasts hit Ukraine just weeks before it is due to co-host the Euro 2012 football championship. At least 29 people were injured on Friday in a series of explosions that shook the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk just weeks before the country is due to co-host the Euro 2012 football championship.
Authorities said they were treating the attack as an act of terrorism. The blasts sent panic through a country unused to the scourge of terrorism. They also raised concerns about the security of the thousands of football fans due to flood the country when the month-long tournament kicks off on 8 June.
The blasts went off in quick succession around noon in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk, targeting a tram stop, a cinema and a railway station. Witnesses said it appeared that explosive devices had been placed in nearby rubbish bins. Authorities said at least four blasts had gone off, but some reports placed the number as high as 10. The blasts went off in quick succession around noon in Dnipropetrovsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine. A first explosion shook a tram stop, smashing windows and scattering the ground with debris. Video uploaded to YouTube by witnesses showed people with bloodied limbs. No one died in the attacks.
Chris Cole, a 22-year-old English teacher from Swindon, was walking by the tram stop when the first blast went off. "There was a loud bang that blew my earphones out of my ears," he said. "The first thing I saw was a lady lying on the ground, then another lady came running off the tram screaming, holding her arm. A few people were wandering around confused."
Twenty minutes later, there was a second explosion in front of a cinema, followed by a blast near the railway station. A fourth blast targeted the same tram stop as the first.Twenty minutes later, there was a second explosion in front of a cinema, followed by a blast near the railway station. A fourth blast targeted the same tram stop as the first.
Ukraine has no history of modern terrorism and it was unclear who could be behind the blasts. The attack will raise concerns as Ukraine gets ready to host Euro 2012 from 8 June. Dnipropetrovsk lost its bid to host a match, but nearby Donetsk is one of the championship's main sites. Witnesses said it appeared that explosive devices had been placed in bins at the blast sites. Some reports said there were as many as 11 explosions. Nine children were among the injured.
Dnipropetrovsk is the birthplace of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister who is currently in jail on charges of abuse of power that she insists are politically motivated by her chief rival, President Viktor Yanukovych. He has denied the accusation. Tymoshenko launched a hunger strike last week to protest the conditions under which she is being held. Local media reported that mobile phone connections had been shut down in Dnipropetrovsk. Armoured cars, filled with special forces, poured into the centre shortly after the blasts, the local Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported on its website. There were also reports of a police shootout with a suspect in front of a central shopping complex.
Commenting on the blasts, Yanukovych said: "We understand that this is yet another challenge for us, for the entire nation." Chris Cole, a 22-year-old English teacher from Swindon, was walking by the tram stop when the first blast went off.
"We don't know why this would have happened," said Cole, who has been living in Ukraine since August. "It's dead outside – all you can see is police officers and medics. I've never heard the city so quiet." "There was a loud bang that blew my earphones out of my ears," he said. "The first thing I saw was a lady lying on the ground, then another lady came running off the tram screaming, holding her arm. A few people were wandering around confused."
Ukraine has no history of modern terrorism and it was unclear who could be behind the blasts.
Dnipropetrovsk is the birthplace of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister who is in jail after being convicted of abuse of power. She insists the case was politically motivated and blames her chief rival, President Viktor Yanukovych, who denies the accusation. Tymoshenko began a hunger strike last week to protest at her prison conditions.
Yanukovych said of the blast: "We understand that this is yet another challenge for us, for the entire nation."
His prime minister, Nikolai Azarov, took to his public Facebook page to say that the attack was carried out by "those who are interested in destabilising the situation in the country". "They really don't like that the whole country has finally started to come out of the crisis," he wrote.
Residents remained in shock. "We don't know why this would have happened," said Cole, who has been living in Ukraine since August. "It's dead outside – all you can see is police officers and medics. I've never heard the city so quiet."
Dnipropetrovsk lost its bid to host a match for the Euro 2012, but nearby Donetsk is one of the championship's main sites. England will play two games there.