VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia — Flags flew at half-staff in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz on Friday and stunned residents laid flowers in a square where a suicide car bombing killed 17 people and wounded more than 140.
Thursday's bombing near the central market of the capital of the North Ossetia republic was the most serious attack in Russia since the March subway bombings in Moscow that killed 40 people.
Of those wounded, 107 were in local hospitals and 11 severely injured victims had been flown to Moscow, North Ossetian Health Minister Vladimir Selivanov said Friday, according to state news agency ITAR-Tass.
The Vladikavkaz market was cordoned off Friday, with investigators combing the site for clues about the bombing. The blast was so powerful that glass in nearby buildings shattered. The area was cleaned of blood and shreds of clothing but twisted wrecks of several cars littered the streets, grim reminders of the attack.
There has been no public claim of responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants who launch frequent small attacks in neighboring North Caucasus republics, including Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia.
