Two explosions have rocked the Moscow Metro this morning, claiming dozens of dead and injured.
The first explosion happened in a carriage at the central Lubyanka underground station at 07:56, informs RIA Novosti news agency.
The second blast happened at the Park Kultury Metro station also in a carriage of a train at 08:39.
Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika has officially announced that 37 people died in the two terrorist acts this morning.
 RIA Novosti / Vladimir Fedorenko, STF |
Russian news agency Interfax quoted an unnamed source in Russian law enforcement structures as saying that the attacks were carried out by female suicide members. The source said that this conclusion can be drawn from the type of damage inflicted upon the exploded Metro carriages. Preliminary reports say that body fragments of the attackers have already been found, the source added.
According to Russia’s Emergency Ministry, the first explosion presumably happened in the second carriage of a Metro train stopped at the Lubyanka station in the very center of Moscow, only several hundred meters from the Kremlin. At 9:30 am Moscow time, the Emergencies Ministry gave the number of casualties as 20 to 25 killed and 17 wounded on Lubyanka station, and 12 to 15 killed and over 20 wounded at Park Kultury station.
Rescuers and police are working at both scenes.
The explosions happened during rush hour. Both Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations are very busy interchange stations, with many people there at any given time, particularly on Monday morning.
According to preliminary data, the explosions were carried out by suicide bombers with about four kilograms of TNT at Lubyanka station and two kilos of TNT at Park Kultury Metro station, informed Moscow’s Prosecutor General.
Meanwhile, all train services have been suspended on the Moscow Metro system for the time being, with security services on high alert.
Mobile telephone networks in Moscow are overloaded.
A criminal investigation into a terrorist act has been initiated.
 Lubyanka station (image from CCTV) |
RT correspondent Yulia Shapovalova was leaving the RT office, which is very close to Park Kultury station, and she was an eyewitness to the scene. She reported that escalators were not working and were crammed with people being evacuated from the station.
“People are very nervous, but there is no panic,” she said, adding that people were calling each other to be sure those they know were not affected by the blasts.
RT’s political commentator Peter Lavelle labeled the events “a coordinated terrorist attack, as simple as that.”“Whoever is behind this, whatever groups are behind this – they are sending a message. Their war is far from being over,” he said.
RT Director General Aleksey Nikolov said he himself missed the blast on Park Kultury station by 10 minutes said that “Most people are aware that there is a terrorism and this can happen.”
RT presenter Rory Suchet pointed out that “those people behind these attacks – as pleased as they may be with bringing the Moscow Metro to a standstill – they have not brought Russia’s capital to a standstill."
"It has been a planned action"
Aleksandr Pikaev, an analyst from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, recalled that this has become the first terrorist act on such a scale in Moscow since 2004.“Russia is under a terrorist attack and authorities should pay more attention to combat it,” he said. “Authorities need to demonstrate what they can do.”
Political analyst Vladimir Kozin condemned the terror acts in Moscow Metro as “another barbaric act of aggression against the entire Russian population.”He called on the all forces inside and outside Russia “not to incite any so-called separatists. They are not freedom fighters, they are subversive elements.”
Viktor Linnik, Editor-in-Chief of Slovo newspaper, told RT that “this is obviously a planned action.”
“Probably there have been leaks on terror acts being planned in Moscow because there have been very strong armed patrols in Moscow for the past five or six days,” he said.
“What has happened is a shock, but not a cause for panic. We have seen it before,” Linnik added.
Aleksandr Konovalov from the Institute of Strategic Assessment commented to RT that “terrorists [have] reminded us that they are alive, active and are going to continue their job.”
Watch full interview with Aleksandr Konovalov
http://rt.com / Bulgaria Today:::
Law enforcers pursue possible causes of Moscow bombings !
Published 29 March, 2010, 13:20
37 people have died as a result of two blasts in Moscow Metro this morning, according to Russia’s Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika
Moscow City Public Prosecutor Yuri Semin set forth the sequence of events.
“At 7:52am, following the train’s arrival at Lubyanka Metro station, while passengers left the train and another set of passengers walked in, a blast occurred. Its power was equal to about two kilos of TNT. We can assume that the explosive device was attached to the attacker’s body. About half an hour later, another blast hit the Park Kultury station. Explosive experts are currently investigating the circumstances. The injured people have been evacuated from the scene and are being given treatment. It is not the right time to give the exact number of fatalities.”
All injured are being brought to the hospital, he added.
Oleg Yelnikov, spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, stated that, “Due to terrorist acts, Moscow police have been put on high alert. Supplementary measures to maintain security in public places are being implemented. The number of police patrols has been increased. We are urging everyone to report immediately if they see any suspicious objects or people.”
Female suicide bombers are linked to the blast, according to the Federal Security Service, said Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
“It was a terrorist act, carried out by female suicide bombers,” Yuri Luzhkov said. “This information comes from the FSB [federal Security Service]. They were specifically timed for the moment the train was nearing the station to cause the most damage. The blasts were caused by 300 to 400 grams of explosive. There was no fire, that’s why we immediately sent the fire engines away, so they wouldn’t block the transport. Ambulances came at once, and there were more than enough vehicles. So one thing I had to organize was the clearing of roads for transport.”
The city’s mayor said Metro services may be completely restored by 1 pm [9am GMT].
A source in Russian law enforcement told the Interfax news agency that the blasts may be a terrorist payback to the Federal Security Service (FSB). Recently, security services have successfully eliminated a number of terrorist leaders, such as Anzor Astemirov, Salambek Akhmadov, Abu Khaled and Said Buryatsky. “The explosions are possibly the terrorists’ revenge,” the source said.
http://rt.com / Bulgaria Today
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