A nun injured in a blast at a church in south Ukraine on Wednesday has died in hospital, local media said.

The blast, which ripped through the church in the city of Zaporozhye at 16:26 p.m. local time [13:26 GMT], also injured 8 people, emergencies officials said.

The woman, named only as Lyudmila, 80, died in hospital during an operation.

Zaporozhye Governor Boris Petrov said the explosion was equivalent to 0.5 kg of TNT.

An unattended parcel lying by the entrance was the cause of the explosion, a witness said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti)