Azerbaijan gunman kills 10 at college

At least 10 people were shot dead this morning and eight injured after a student went on the rampage at his campus in Baku, the capital of oil-rich Caspian state of Azerbaijan.

The student opened fire after a dispute with other members of his college faculty, the Russian news agency Interfax reported this morning. He then shot himself.

According to witnesses a quarrel erupted on the campus of the Azeri state oil academy in Baku. One student produced a pistol and started shooting at the others point-blank. He then ran into the academy building and continued to fire.

The news agency Interfax said that one of the victims was the mother of one of its correspondents in Azerbaijan. They identified her as Tamilla Azizova, 58, a faculty member at Azerbaijan's state oil academy.

Police this morning had sealed off the scene.

There were contradictory accounts over the death toll at the institute – with the ANS channel reporting that 15 bodies had been recovered.

Masul Gamidov, the chief doctor of Baku's emergency medicine service, said he did not know the number of victims. "Seven bodies and eight wounded people were taken away from the scene," he said.

Russian news agencies identified the gunman as a Georgian citizen, Mursal Gamidov. The shootings may have broken out following a row between a rival group of foreigners at the college and Azeri students, the agencies suggested.

The Azeri press agency this morning quoted a senior police officer as saying that the gunmen were "terrorists" who had been "neutralised". A student told the news agency Reuters he believed two gunmen were involved.

"As far as I know there were two terrorists. One of them committed suicide and the other was arrested," he told the agency. He said the shootings erupted at 9am just after classes began.

Azerbaijan is a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where it holds vast reserves of oil and gas. link...