MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - A criminal case has been opened into the killing of three tourists from Moscow and the Moscow region in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the Investigative Committee told Interfax.
"Two masked men armed with assault rifles and driving a car caused a Gazelle van to pull in at the entrance to the village of Zayukayevo, Kabardino-Balkaria, at 6:55 p.m. Friday. Then they gunned down those in the vehicle and fled from the scene. There were six people from Moscow and the Moscow region in the Gazelle. Three were killed and two injured and hospitalized," it said.
The Investigative Committee department for Kabardino-Balkaria has opened a criminal case under Article 105 Part 2 (murder of two people), Article 30 Part 3 (attempted murder), and Article 222 Part 2 (illegal trafficking in arms) of the Russian Criminal Code, it said.
The department denied some media reports claiming that the fourth tourist died later.
"The second man wounded in the attack has been transferred to the central clinical hospital in Nalchik. Both wounded are in this hospital now," an official from the Investigative Committee department for Kabardino-Balkaria told Interfax.
All possible theories of the crime are being analyzed, he said.
Asked by Interfax whether the attack on the van was planned or was spontaneous, the official said both theories are being verified, but the investigation so far does not possess information that the attack had been planned.