GROZNY. May 14 (Interfax-AVN) - At least ten people were killed and several dozen others wounded in a new terrorist act in the Chechen village of Iliskhan-Yurt on Wednesday, Shamsail Saraliyev, an official with the Chechen administration, has told Interfax.
The terrorist act was carried out during a religious festival, presumably by a female suicide bomber, he said. Most of the victims were elderly people who hadarrived at the festival.
Head of the Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov, who took part in the festival, was not injured, Saraliyev said, adding that it has not been established yet whether other officials had suffered.
He also said that Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov and a team of policemen are working at the scene, trying to identify and catch those associated with the suicide bomber.
The wounded are being moved to hospitals in the Kurchaloi and Gudermes districts. The other participants in the festival are hastily leaving the area by car.
Prosecutor for Chechnya Vladimir Kravchenko told Interfax by telephone that the terrorist act was carried out on the outskirts of the village at about 3:00 p.m. Moscow time (1100 GMT) on Wednesday and that several people had been killed or wounded.
"The female suicide bomber used a so-called shahid belt," Kravchenko said.
He said he and other investigators are leaving for the scene.
He told Interfax that a criminal investigation has been started on charges of terrorism and premeditated murder.
About 15,000 people took part in the religious festival organized by the United Russia Party, Kravchenko said.