Moscow: A suicide truck-bomb attack inside a military hospital in Southern Russia killed at least 35 people and wounded scores of others, with authorities blaming Chechnyan separatists for the act.

The toll was likely to cross 100 as over 150 patients and staff were inside the three-story building in Mozdok in Russia's North Ossetia region, which collapsed under the impact of the blast at around 7.00 pm (9.30 IST) on August 1.

Thirty-five bodies had already been recovered, Russian deputy general prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax news agency.

"Judging by the scale of the destruction and the number of people who were in the hospital – 150 people, including 100 patients and 50 staff members – the number of casualties will probably be much higher," he said.

However, North Ossetia's Prime Minister Mikhail Shatalov put the toll at 26.

At least 76 people were injured, media reports said.

A truck laden with explosives was driven into the hospital and detonated, leaving a four-metre deep and five-metre wide crater, Itar-Tass reported. Reports differed whether there were one or two suicide bombers in the vehicle.

The force of the explosion was equivalent to at least one ton of TNT, Fridinsky said.

Mozdok is the main military headquarters of forces fighting in neighbouring Chechnya and many wounded soldiers were being treated at the hospital.

President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the bereaved families and immediately dispatched Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov to Mozdok.

A fire engulfed the building after the blast and took over two hours to be brought under control. This hampered the work of rescuers who were looking for survivors in the rubble.

Forty-five rescuers with equipment and drugs arrived in Mozdok early on August 2 from Moscow and more were expected later in the day, Interfax reported.

The intensity of the blast was such that it shattered glass panes and caused plaster to come off walls in neighbourhoods four kilometres from the hospital. Its report could be heard 15 kms away.

Fridinsky said investigators believed the attack was carried out by Chechen separatists.

"Because the hospital was providing treatment to servicemen from the federal forces in the Northern Caucasus who have fought in Chechnya, we are inclined to see this crime as an act of vengeance from rebel groups," Interfax quoted him as saying.

However, no one claimed responsibility for the blast. Interfax quoted Salambek Maigov, Moscow spokesman for rebel Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov, as saying that if investigators could establish a Chechen responsibility in the bombing, the Chechen leadership was prepared to co-operate with the Russian authorities to prevent future attacks.

A truck-bomb attack similar to The August 1 blast killed 60 people in Chechnya in May. In July, two Chechen suicide bombers killed 15 people in a rock concert in Moscow. In June, a female suicide bomber blew herself up in a bus carrying Russian Air Force personnel outside Mozdok, killing 16.

PTI