MAKHACHKALA, Russia – A bomb detonated by remote control killed at least three police officers in the troubled southern Russian region of Dagestan and wounded several more, officials said Saturday.

An Associated Press reporter saw two dead bodies in police uniforms lying inn the street in downtown Makhachkala, the capital of the Caspian Sea region. Armed police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene, and dazed residents watched workers sweep glass from the street.

City police officer Akhmed Magomedov told the AP that a six-man police patrol was walking past a grove of trees at about 4 p.m. when the bomb exploded.

He said four officers were wounded, but police spokeswoman Marina Rusolova said one officer died on the way to the hospital.

The blast occurred near a banquet hall, Rusolova said, but it was unclear whether the wedding was targeted.

Makhachkala is about 1,000 miles south of Moscow.

Near-daily attacks on police and authorities in the Caspian Sea region have raised fears that violence is spreading from neighboring

Chechnya. Some of the violence is believed to be linked to criminal gangs.