At least 18 people have been killed and dozens injured at a college in the Black Sea region of Crimea when at least one attacker set off a bomb in the cafeteria and went through the building shooting at random, officials said.
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Sergei Aksyonov, the head of the Russian-backed administration in Crimea, a region Moscow annexed from Ukraine four years ago, said the main suspect was a male student of the college and that he had killed himself.
Aksyonov, the regional leader in Crimea didn't name the man, saying only he was a local resident and was acting alone.
The TASS news agency cited Russia's National Anti-terrorism Committee as saying the suspect's body has been found inside the college.
Aksyonov told Russian state television the death toll from the attack now stood at 18, up from a previous estimate of 13.
Video footage from the scene showed armoured personnel carriers and military tucks lined up on the approach to the college, in the Crimean city of Kerch.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said investigators were trying to work out the motive and promised the government will do everything necessary to help those wounded.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military was sending forces and supplies to help the victims.
A local resident said officials had instructed parents to collect their children from schools and kindergartens in the city for their safety.
Olga Grebennikova, the college's director, told Crimean media outlets in an interview outside the college that the bodies of children were everywhere.
The Investigative Committee, the law enforcement body that investigates major crimes, said initial information was that an explosive device packed with metal objects had gone off in the cafeteria of the college.
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine four years ago, prompting international condemnation and Western sanctions.
Australian Associated Press
