TWO FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS BLEW THEMSELVES UP on the Moscow subway system at the peak of the morning rush-hour today. The attacks took place in different locations, both in underground stations.
RIAN
The early reports say that at least 38 people have been murdered and another 65 injured. Both numbers are expected to grow. The Times of London reports:
The first blast came at the Lubyanka station in central Moscow at around 8am (0400 GMT), killing 24 people. The station is deep below the headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, and is just yards away from the Kremlin.
Around 45 minutes later the second explosion happened a 15 minute journey away at Park Kultury station, near Gorky Park, killing around 12. Both stations are situated on Moscow’s busy Red underground line, or line number one.
The blasts have brought the Russian capital to a standstill, with parts of the sprawling Metro system halted in case of further attacks and traffic gridlocked. Emergency services were calling in helicopters to take the wounded to hospital, amid delays in bringing some of the injured to the surface.
Russia Today has just posted some raw video from the scene:
A Web site associated with Chechen separatists claimed responsibility for the attacks. CNN is quoting government officials’ statements:
“It was a terrorist act carried out by the female suicide bombers,” said Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, citing Russia’s intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service. “They were specifically timed — for … the train was nearing the station — to make the most damage. The blast was caused by 300 to 400 grams of explosives,” he said.
“Our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terrorist group from the North Caucuses region,” said Alexander Bortnikov of the Federal Security Service. “We consider this the most likely scenario, based on investigations conducted at the site of the blast.
“Fragments of the suicide bombers body found at the blast, according to preliminary findings, indicate that the bombers were from the North Caucuses region,” he said.
RT has just filed this citizen-video taken inside one of the stations immediately after the blast:
Alexander Bortnikov told RIA Novosti news service that the bomb at the Lubyanka station exploded with a force of up to 4 kg of TNT and the second, at Park Kultury, had between 1.5 kg and 2 kg of TNT. He added that in both cases the bombs were packed with metal nuts and bolts meant to increase the destructive nature of the blast.
A police source earlier told RIA Novosti that the bomb was detonated at a height of 100-200 cm and was apparently attached to the waist of a female suicide bomber.
This posting will be continually updated throughout the day.
Also on FireGeezer…
- Restaurant Ka-Boom Kills 2 in Moscow – January 10, 2012
- It Was Something Very, Very Important – November 22, 2010
