27 hurt in eastern Ukraine blasts

Officials say four blasts within minutes have rocked the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, injuring at least 27 people, including nine schoolchildren, in what prosecutors believed was a terrorist attack.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova says the first blast occurred at a tramway stop in the centre of Dnipropetrovsk, injuring 13 people.

The second injured 11 people near a school, among them nine children, while the third wounded three near a railway station.

A fourth blast was also heard in the city centre, Yershova said. It was unclear whether anybody was injured.