Crimea attack on college in Kerch has possible terrorist attack

MOSCOW – A student at a vocational college in Russian-annexed Crimea allegedly took his own life after detonating an explosive device on Wednesday at least 18 people and injured dozens more. Russian officials called it a possible terrorist attack.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that the blast at the college, in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea, was caused by an explosive device. The committee's spokesman Andrei Przhezdomsky said bomb technicians were inspecting the building for other explosive devices.

Sergei Melikov, deputy chief of the Russian National Guard, said the explosive device was homemade. Russia's Investigative Committee, the nation's top investigative agency, said the device that went off at the college's canteen was rigged with shrapnel.

Sergei Aksyonov, Moscow's senior official in Crimea, said 18 people were killed and more than 40 others injured. Most of the students were among the students. He told a 22-year-old male student of the college that he was killed by the alleged attack.

"He shot himself, he was a Year Four student at the college," Aksyonov said, according to the BBC. "The killer's body was found in the library on the second floor … It's a horrible tragedy, we do not know what caused it."

russia unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that triggered Western sanctions.

The Reuters news agency said Olga Grebennikova, the college's director, had told Crimean news that the gunmen entered the building and was deliberately fired. Aksyonov denied those details however, saying there had been no gunfire and the situation in Kerch was calm.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that officials were looking into a possible terrorist attack. He did not elaborate.

Peskov said Putin has instructed investigators and intelligence agencies to conduct a thorough probe and offer condolences to the families of victims.

Emergency officials said that the blast had been caused by a gas canister explosion.

The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and Russia 's Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova.