MOSCOW — An explosion tore into a minibus in Russia’s tumultuous Caucasus region Thursday, killing at least eight people in what investigators said might have been an act of terrorism, possibly by a female suicide bomber.
Investigators and local officials said at least 30 people were wounded in the blast, which occurred close to the central market in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia. The Russian region borders South Ossetia, the separatist enclave where Russia and Georgia fought a short, bloody war in August.
The investigative committee of the Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow said it had opened a criminal inquiry into whether the bombing was a terrorist attack, a statement on the committee’s website said, though no information on possible suspects was released.
