Explosion hits busy Moscow subway station

A bomb ripped through a subway station in central Moscow during the evening rush hour Monday. Nine people suffered minor injuries.

Officials said a device blew up under a bench at the Belorusskaya subway.

Doctors reported the injured victims, including two children, suffered burns and scratches.

Entrances to the subway station were closed, but trains continued to run without stopping at the station.

Several bombings have rocked Moscow in recent years. Some are blamed on rebels from Chechnya; other attacks stem from organized crime disputes.

A bomb went off in central Moscow's Pushkin Square in August of 2000, killing 13 people.

In 1999, about 300 people were killed in a series of apartment building bombings in Moscow and two other cities. The attacks led the Russian government to send troops against rebels in Chechnya.