The death toll in Wednesday's twin bombings in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has gone up to 12, investigators said.

Another 23 people have been hospitalized after two explosions rocked the town of Kizlyar near Chechnya. The first occurred at 08:45 Moscow time [04:45 GMT] on Wednesday, while the other came 20 minutes later.

"The blasts resulted in the deaths of 12 people, nine of whom were members of police, including the Kizlyar police chief," the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement. "Twenty-three people have been hospitalized with various injuries."

A criminal investigation has been launched in the bombings.

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti)