Moscow car bomb injures 7

MOSCOW -- A car bomb exploded Saturday outside a McDonald's restaurant in southwest Moscow that was crowded with lunchtime customers, injuring at least seven people.

Officials disagreed on whether the explosion was a terrorist act or part of the criminal underworld violence that plagues Russia.

"Without doubt it was a terrorist act," said Igor Pimenov of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, noting that the homemade bomb was stuffed with shrapnel to maximize the damage.

But Valery Grebokin, a Moscow police spokesman, said preliminary information suggested it was a criminal act and not the work of terrorists. He said the two-story glass-fronted McDonald's restaurant is outside the city center and not one of the American chain's more prominent establishments in Moscow.

Investigators are looking into "possible showdowns between the McDonald's owners and its competitors," Moscow Prosecutor Mikhail Avdyukov was quoted as telling Interfax news agency.

The explosion, which happened shortly after 1 p.m., injured at least seven people, including a 5-year-old girl -- many cut by flying glass from the restaurant's front windows as they ate their meals inside, rescue worker Sergei Tsimburtsum said.

One of the injured was in extremely serious condition, but rescue workers said that the others were expected to live.

The red, Russian-made car loaded with the bomb had been parked near the McDonald's drive-through window. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing bomb disposal experts, said the device contained 11 pounds of TNT. But Grebokin suggested the device may have been less powerful, the Interfax agency reported.

The force of the blast ripped off the back half of the car, scattering pieces around the restaurant's parking lot and front entrance. Part of the car was visible on top of the restaurant, which itself was pockmarked from the shrapnel.

McDonald's trademark golden arches were full of holes. Windows of nearby cars were blown out.

Investigators from Russia's Federal Security Service were at the scene collecting evidence. There was so much debris they ran out of bags and were stuffing the charred remains of the car into paper McDonald's sacks.

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