Moscow, Aug. 31 (Reuters): Eight people were killed in an explosion, possibly the work of a suicide bomber, in a central Moscow car park this evening near a metro station, Interfax news agency said.

It quoted police as saying the explosion was caused by a bomb packed with metal bolts. At least 10 people were wounded. Russian news agencies said the explosion blew out windows in an entrance to a metro underground station. It was not immediately clear what had caused the blast. Television footage showed the car burning fiercely.

“There were five dead and five injured,” a police spokeswoman said. Interfax news agency quoted emergencies ministry officials as saying eight people had died and 10 people were injured.

Moscow police had been put on high alert after a bomb exploded at a bus stop in southern Moscow on Tuesday last week, injuring three people.

Hours later 90 people died when two Russian airplanes exploded in the air within one minute of each other. Officials describe the plane crashes and bus stop blast as“terrorist acts”.

A suicide bombing killed at least 39 people on an underground train in Moscow in February, and a Chechen rebel group claimed responsibility. Many bombings in Russia in recent years have been linked to the Chechen conflict, but some have been blamed on organised crime.

Vladimir Putin said today investigators were probing a possible link between the al Qaida and Chechen rebels widely believed to have downed the planes.

At a meeting with the leaders of France and Germany in Sochi, Putin also defended Sunday’s election in the turbulent Chechnya region, which was denounced by rights groups as stage-managed, and by Washington and the EU as seriously flawed.Chechens had voted “with their feet” to stay in the Russian fold and finally find peace, Putin said.