Dozens injured in Kosovo blast
A huge explosion ripped through the centre of Kosovo’s capital Pristina late today, injuring more than 20 people, seven seriously, local hospital officials and police said.
Witnesses at the scene and local television stations said the explosion was caused by a car bomb, but the police said they did not yet know what caused it. Zeke Zekaj, a doctor on duty in the local hospital, said that seven of more than 20 people injured in the blast suffered serious injuries.
UN police and Nato-led peacekeepers cordoned off the area – a part of the city popular with young people in the evenings – and ambulances rushed people to a hospital.
Some restaurants and bars near the explosion were heavily damaged as a result of the blast. At least two cars were burning in the aftermath.
Kosovo has been administered by the UN since June 1999, when Nato’s air war forced former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to relinquish his control over the province. Despite the large presence of peacekeepers and police, the province still remains tense.
Tomorrow, a UN Security Council delegation is expected to arrive in the province for a three-day fact finding visit.
