2 dead in car explosion in Russia's North Caucasus
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At least two people have been killed in the explosion of an automobile in a main city of Russia's restive North Caucasus region.
The state news agency RIA Novosti cited a spokeswoman for the regional Investigative Committee, Yekaterina Danilova, as saying two people were known dead in the Friday evening blast in Pyatigorsk.
The explosion took place near a traffic police station. News reports said investigators had not determined the cause of the blast and the victims had not been identified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bombings and other attacks occur frequently in the North Caucasus, where violence has spread following two separatist wars in Chechnya.
Pyatigorsk is the center of a federal administrative district created to oversee Kremlin efforts to stabilize the region, which is just east of Sochi, site of February's Winter Olympics.