Bomb blast at Moscow restaurant kills 3, injures 21

Three people were killed and 21 others injured in a bomb blast near a restaurant on Moscow's Kudrinskaya Square on Saturday, Russian authorities said.

In a statement on the Russian social media platform Max, the Interior Ministry said the explosion occurred at about 8.10 pm local time (1710GMT) near Building 1 on Kudrinskaya Square.

Police and emergency services were deployed to the scene as authorities launched an investigation.

Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee later told state news agency Tass that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device.

The committee said those killed were a security guard who tried to stop a woman suspected of attempting to bring the explosive device into the restaurant, the woman herself, and a restaurant customer.

Meanwhile, the Telegram monitoring channel ASTRA, citing witnesses, reported that a birthday celebration for a general was taking place at the restaurant at the time of the explosion.

The report could not be independently verified, and Russian authorities have not confirmed the claim.