VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (AP) - The death toll in a bombing in an outdoor market in southern Russia rose to eight on Monday after another victim died in the hospital, officials said.
Thirty-four people remained hospitalized after Sunday's blast in the city of Vladikavkaz, five of them in serious condition, Lev Dzugayev, chief of staff for the president of the North Ossetia region, said. He did not give details about the man who died overnight.
Large pools of blood, mixed with metal and concrete fragments and the petals of flowers, stained the market as investigators swarmed the area to look for clues. The market had been crowded with people preparing for the Orthodox Palm Sunday ritual of purchasing flowers and pussy willows to place on relatives' graves. The bomb was placed in a sturdy iron pipe.
Prosecutors launched a criminal investigation on counts of terrorism and murder.
Investigators speculated that the blast might have been set off to destabilize the region during presidential elections in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia. Bombings are also often used by criminals warring for control of enterprises in Russia.
It was the latest in a series of market blasts in Vladikavkaz, in which scores of people have died over the past three years.
Vladikavkaz is located in the republic of North Ossetia, which borders on the breakaway republic of Chechnya, where Russian troops have been battling rebels for 2 1/2 years.