Bulgaria 'alarmed' after blasts

President Petur Stoyanov of Bulgaria has spoken of national alarm, after a second suspected bomb blast in two days in the capital, Sofia.

A suspected car bomb in the Boyana suburb of the capital killed one person, a day after an explosion at the city's Ambassador hotel.

Two people, one an Armenian, are known to have been killed at the hotel, and the authorities say the number of deaths may rise as debris is cleared.

President Stoyanov, in a statement, called for stringent measures against criminal activity.

Reports from Sofia say the authorities are refusing to say if the blasts are linked, or whether political groups or criminal gangs are being blamed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service