No one hurt as bomb explodes in Odesa utility hole overnight

An improvised bomb is believed to have exploded in a utility hole on Oleksiyivska Square in the Ukrainian southern city of Odesa last night, the press service of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's branch for the Odesa region has reported.

Senior officials of the regional administration, police, investigators, explosives experts and gas service specialists are working at the site.

Experts have tentatively blamed an improvised explosive device containing the equivalent of some 400 grams of TNT for the incident, in which no one was hurt.

For his part, a source in law enforcement agencies said that the explosive device used on Oleksiyivska Square was similar to the bomb that exploded on rail tracks in Odesa early on Wednesday morning.

The explosion on rail tracks in Odesa left a crater almost one meter deep. It is being investigated as an act of sabotage.