Ukraine victim's father sets off courtroom grenades Published duration 30 November 2017

image copyright DP.NPU.GOV.UA image caption The grenade were detonated during a murder hearing, local police say.

A man has set off two hand grenades in a courtroom in eastern Ukraine, killing himself and one of the suspects on trial for murder, local police say.

The explosions occurred during a hearing in Nikopol, in Dnipropetrovsk region.

The man was the father of one of two murder victims at the centre of the trial, the police say.

In all, nine people were injured, including two other defendants, two guards, a court official and civilians.

The three defendants are accused of firing on a car and killing two passengers in February 2016 - including the son of the man who set off the grenades, local media report.

"According to preliminary reports, a man pulled out two hand grenades and detonated them at 11:20 (09:20 GMT) during a murder case hearing," the Ukrainska Pravda news website quoted police spokesperson Yaroslav Trakalo as saying.

The man acted after it was announced that the hearing was being adjourned and the defendants were being handcuffed.

An investigation is now under way.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine means weapons are readily available among the population.

More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict, which erupted in April 2014 - shortly after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula.