Eleven people were killed by the blast in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz [AFP]

A duty officer at the province's emergency ministry said an improvised explosive device went off on Thursday as the vehicle was passing through the centre of Vladikavkaz, the provincial capital.

The investigative committee of the Russian prosecution service said it had opened a terrorism investigation into the incident, Russian news agencies reported.

Emergency services said 28 injured people had sought medical help.

In the immediate aftermath, bodies could be seen lying in the road around the badly damaged white public minibus.

North Ossetia borders Chechnya as well as Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region, the focus of a war in August between Russia and Georgia.

It has been the site of several bomb blasts since the start of Russia's conflict with Chechen separatists which began over a decade ago.

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