Eighteen people were killed and more than 40 wounded in a deadly explosion in a Crimea college on Wednesday, a top official in Crimea said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the regional leader in Crimea, said the perpetrator, who killed himself in the attack, was a student at the school.
He didn't name the man, only saying he was a local resident and was acting alone.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack was a tragedy and offered condolences to the victims' families, adding that investigators are looking into the circumstances of the attack and its motives.
The site of a bomb blast at a college in the Crimean city of Kerch, October 17, 2018 /VCG Photo
He promised that the government will do everything necessary to help those wounded.
Russia's top investigative agency says an explosive device rigged with metal fragments caused the carnage at the school. Yet Russian news media reported that at least some of the victims died in an attack by an unidentified gunman or gunmen.
The Kremlin said the blast could have been a terror attack.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that officials are looking into a possible terrorist attack. He did not elaborate.
The site of a bomb blast at a college in the Crimean city of Kerch, October 17, 2018 /VCG Photo
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia said in a statement that the blast at the vocational college in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea was caused by an unidentified explosive device.
Earlier, emergency officials said the blast was caused by a gas canister explosion.
The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and Russia's health minister, have headed to the area.