MOSCOW, May 20 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior government official of Russia's North Caucasian republic of Dagestan was killed in an explosion Friday night, police said.

    A bomb went off as Zagir Arukhov, Dagestan's minister of national policy, information and external relations, entered the stairway of his apartment building in the republic's capital Makhachkala.

    "The minister died on the spot. His bodyguard died too. Three children who were playing in the yard sustained injuries and have been hospitalized," a police officer was quoted by Interfax as saying.

    The blast destroyed parts of the stairway and more than 60 residents in the building were evacuated, the officer said.

    A group of Russian Interior Ministry officials will soon leave for Dagestan to investigate the blast.

    Arukhov was appointed to the post in October 2003, replacing Magomedsalikh Gusayev who was also killed in a car bombing on August 27, 2003.

    Dagestan is an impoverished republic neighboring Chechnya, where the fighting between government forces and separatist rebels has spilled over into nearby regions including Dagestan. Enditem