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April 6 (UPI) -- St. Petersburg city officials said authorities defused an explosive device found during a raid of an apartment building three days after a blast between subway stations killed 14 people. Konstantin Serov, head of the city's Nevsky district, told reporters investigators discovered the bomb Thursday morning during a raid on the building.
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"Orders have been given to return [the evacuated] residents, everything is safe up to the seventh floor," Serov said, adding that investigators were evaluating the eighth and ninth floors of the building.
Police arrested multiple people at the scene.
Serov said the people inside the apartment where the explosive device was discovered were not the owners of the residence.
"Time will be needed to find out how they found out to be there," he said.
St. Petersburg was already on high alert after an explosion between two subway stations Monday killed 14 people and injured dozens others.
Authorities in Russia and Kyrgyzstan identified the attacker as a Kyrgyz-Russian citizen, Akbarjon Djalilov. It's unclear if the raid Thursday was linked to the attack earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, Russia's state investigative committee said it arrested six men on suspicion of aiding terrorist activity. The Central Asian men were accused of recruiting other men from the region to join the Islamic state and other terror groups.
Investigators said there was no evidence linking the six men to Monday's bombing.
