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Blast1: A wounded man is helped by emergency services outside a St. Petersburg metro station. – Anton Vaganov/Reuters

At least 10 people have been killed and 50 more injured in explosions in the St Petersburg metro system.

There were blasts in two metro carriages at two stations, St Petersburg emergency services said.

News agency Interfax cited a source as saying at least one of the blasts was caused by a bomb filled with shrapnel.

Fifty people were injured in the blasts, Andrey Kibitov, the head of the city governor’s press service said on Twitter.

Seventeen ambulances are currently treating the injured, Mr Kibitov added.

A Reuters witness saw eight ambulances near the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station while local media reported the nearby Institute of Technology station was also affected.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorist Committee confirmed at least 10 people had been killed.

It said an unidentified explosive device went off on a train travelling between two stations.

All metro stations in St Petersburg have been closed, Interfax reported, citing metro staff.

The Life News website, a news outlet with close ties to Russia’s security services, showed pictures of blown-out train doors and injured people on the station platform.

Video footage posted on social media shows a train with mangled doors standing at the platform.

Frantic commuters reach out into the doors and windows, trying to see if anyone is there and shout “Call an ambulance!”

Local news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the explosion.

Investigators are looking into a possible terror attack and other theories for the St Petersburg subway blast, Mr Putin said.

“The causes of this event have not been determined yet, so it’s too early to talk about [possible causes],” he said.

“The investigation will show. Certainly, we will consider all variants, common, criminal, first of all, of a terrorist nature.”

Mr Putin said that the cause of the incident still isn’t clear, but he had spoken to the heads of the Russian security services.

He was visiting the city and was expected to hold talks with the Belarusian president later in the day.

He offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the attack.

Moscow’s deputy mayor has said the authorities are tightening security on the Moscow subway after the blasts in St Petersburg.

“The Moscow metro is taking up additional security measures in the framework of the federal law on Russia’s transport security,” a statement posted to Telegram said.

“Authorities of the Moscow metro are ready to provide any assistance to the St Petersburg metro if needed.”

Russia has been the target of attacks by Chechen militants in past years and Chechen rebel leaders have frequently threatened further attacks.

At least 38 people were killed in 2010 when two female suicide bombers detonated bombs on packed Moscow metro trains.-independent.co.uk