This past Monday, an explosion tore through one of the main subway stations in the Belarusian capital of Minsk during heavy rush hour. President Alexander Lukashenko informed that 11 people were killed as a result of the explosion, and 100 people were injured. There was no immediate determination of what caused the explosion, but Lukashenko did not discount the possibility of the explosion being an “attack from the outside.”

A reporter at the scene recalled heavily injured people being carried out of the Oktyabrskaya station, including a person without legs. The explosion hit just as passengers were stepping off of the 6:00 p.m. train, where Minsks’ two subway lines intersect. This area was known to be crowded with passengers at the end of their work day. The station is located 100 meters away from the President’s residence and the Palace of the Republic, which is used for government ceremonies.

There has been political tension rising in Belarus since December, when a massive demonstration against a disputed presidential election sparked a harsh crackdown by police. There were more than 700 people arrested, including seven presidential candidates. In 2008, a bomb blasted at a concert that Lukashenko attended, injuring about 50 people in Minsk. Lukashenko believes that the subway blast could have been connected to that bombing three years ago.