3 killed, including bomb-carrying woman, and 21 injured in blast near Moscow restaurant

A homemade bomb has killed three people — including the woman carrying the bomb, who reportedly may not have been aware she was carrying explosives — and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow, authorities say.

The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, the police say.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee says that an unidentified woman tried to get into the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard, the state RIA news agency reports.

It says the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant were killed in the blast that followed, along with the woman who had been carrying the bomb.

Those injured received wounds of varying seriousness, the police say.

The authorities do not name those killed or injured, nor do they say who they think might have been responsible.

The Kommersant daily newspaper cites its own sources as saying that the bomb had been intended to maim and kill guests who were enjoying themselves on the restaurant’s summer terrace outside.

It suggests that the bomb was set off by someone else remotely and that the woman carrying it may not have known that it was an explosive device.

The restaurant’s website says the venue had been closed for a private event.