Russia: Terror attack kills 35 at Moscow airport (1 Viewer)

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Lucky13

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Aug 21, 2006
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By LYNN BERRY, Associated Press Lynn Berry, Associated Press – 37 mins ago
MOSCOW – A spokeswoman for Moscow's busiest airport says 35 people have been killed by an explosion in its international arrivals hall.

Domodedovo Airport spokeswoman Yelena Galanova made the statement Monday on Russia's NTV television.

Other officials put the death toll at 31 and said about 130 people were injured in the explosion Monday afternoon. President Dmitry Medvedev said it looked like a terror attack and the state RIA Novosti news agency said the blast may have been set off by a suicide bomber.


MOSCOW (AP) — An explosion ripped through the international arrivals hall at Moscow's busiest airport on Monday, killing 31 people and wounding about 130, officials said. The Russian president called it a terror attack.

The state RIA Novosti news agency, citing law enforcement sources, said the mid-afternoon explosion at Domodedovo Airport may have been caused by a suicide bomber.

Amateur video posted on YouTube showed the terminal engulfed by smoke, with a pile of bodies in one section and other bodies scattered around the floor. Luggage lay strewn across the ground and there were several small fires. A dazed man in a suit pushed a baggage cart through the carnage.

"From the preliminary information we have, it was a terror attack," President Dmitry Medvedev told officials in a televised briefing.

He ordered authorities to beef up security at Moscow's two other commercial airports and other key transport facilities, including the subway system, the target of past terror attacks. He said the explosion demonstrated that security regulations had been breached.

Medvedev postponed his planned Tuesday departure for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was to give the opening address on Wednesday.

Although there have been repeated attacks on the Moscow subway and on Russian trains — most blamed on Chechen militants — the bombing Monday was the first involving a Russian airport since 2004.

Sergei Lavochkin, who was waiting in the arrivals hall for a friend to arrive from Cuba, said he saw emergency teams carrying bloodied people out of the terminal.

"I heard a loud bang, saw plastic panels falling down from the ceiling and heard people screaming. Then people started running away," Lavochkin told Rossiya 24 television.

Mark Green, a British Airways passenger who had just arrived at the airport, told BBC television he heard the huge explosion as he left the terminal.

"Literally, it shook you," he said. "As we were putting the bags in the car a lot of alarms ... were going off and people started flowing out of the terminal, some of whom were covered in blood."

"One gentleman had a pair of jeans on that was ripped and his thigh from his groin to his knee was covered in blood," he added.

Green said thousands of people were in the terminal at the time of the blast.

Sofia Malyavina, a spokeswoman for the Social Development and Health Ministry, said 31 people were killed and about 130 were wounded. She said 56 ambulances were sent to treat the victims.

"The airport is filled with smoke," she said on Rossiya 24.

Built in 1964, Domodedovo is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) southeast of the center of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the Russian capital, serving over 22 million people last year. It is generally regarded as Moscow's most up-to-date airport, but its security procedures have been called into question.

In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel. The female bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.

Currently 77 airlines offer regular flights to Domodedovo, serving 241 international and national routes, according to airport's website.

The airport insists that security is one of its top priorities, claiming on its website that its "cutting-edge operations technology guarantees the safety of passengers' and guests' lives."

Terrorists have previously targeted other transportation centers in Moscow.

Twin blasts in the subway last March killed 39 people and wounded more than 60 people. Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for that attack, warning Russian leaders that "the war is coming to their cities."

In December 2009, Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for blowing up a high-speed train between Moscow and St. Petersburg, an attack that killed 26 people and injured scores.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply disturbed" by the reported terror attacks.

"I strongly condemn it," he said on Twitter. "NATO and Russia stand together in the fight against terrorism."

_____

AP writers Vladimir Isachenkov and David Nowak in Moscow and Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.
 
at present count there are 31 -35 dead as a result of an apparent bomb blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport. a suiside bomber is being blamed for the recent attack.
the following is the nypost article:

The severed head of a suspected suicide bomber was located Monday after a massive bomb ripped through a bustling Russian airport, killing at least 35 people and injuring dozens more.

The explosion brought devastation to the arrivals area of Domodedovo Airport, the busiest of Moscow's three airports, at 4:32pm local time.

Law enforcement officials told the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency that the bomb had the power of five kilos (11 lbs) of TNT.

It's believed the deadly device was hidden in a bag or suitcase and packed with metal objects to maximize the damage it inflicted. Around 130 people were injured in the carnage, officials said.

"Burned people are running about ... they are carrying pieces of flesh on stretchers," a shaken eyewitness named Andrei was quoted as saying by AFP.

"Something terrible is happening there. Tens of people are being dragged out on stretchers, on trolleys," he added.

News reports in Russia suggested the atrocity was the work of two, or more likely one, suicide bomber.

The Interfax news agency said that a severed head found at the bomb site was believed to be that of the bomber.

"We found the head of a man of Arab appearance, aged 30 to 35. It seems he detonated the explosive device," a law enforcement source told the agency.

Russia Today Live said that three men were being hunted by Russian authorities, who immediately opened a criminal probe into the carnage, describing it as an "act of terror."

According to Fox News Channel, investigators have not ruled the possibility that the bombing was not a suicide attack after all, and that the perpetrator either left the luggage in arrivals before slipping away or was accidentally killed.

Planes from Dusseldorf, Odesa and London landed at the airport shortly before the attack. Arrivals and departures continued after the explosion, Interfax added.

The dead are believed to include two foreigners. Britain's Foreign Office was investigating whether any of those killed were British.

"Today [Monday] at 4:32pm [local time] an explosion went off in the international arrivals hall of Domodedovo Airport," the Russian investigative committee confirmed in a statement.

So far no group claimed responsibility but Russia is battling a Muslim insurgency in the North Caucasus, and previous terror attacks have targeted Moscow.

President Barack Obama led global condemnation of the attack, calling it "outrageous" and vowing to stand against those who use terror tactics.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened at today's explosion at Moscow's Domodedovo airport with the loss of many lives," Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the current NATO secretary-general, condemned the bombing on his Twitter account.

"Deeply disturbed about the terror attack in Moscow and I strongly condemn it. NATO and Russia stand together in the fight against terrorism," he posted.

A US State Department spokesman, David Siefkin, told Fox News that to his knowledge, no US citizens were injured in the incident, but he added that officials were monitoring the situation.

Meanwhile, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered a security blitz across the country's transport hubs following the blast.

Security measures were heightened at Moscow's other two passenger airports, with all luggage being searched and staff examining footage from terminal security cameras.

Police were also checking subways and busy pedestrian areas as a precaution, Interfax said.

"A blast went off at Domodedovo that, according to preliminary information, was an act of terror," Medvedev said. "It is necessary to introduce a special regime in all airports and transportation hubs."

Medvedev added that the incident showed Russia's security laws were not being followed in full. "What happened indicates that far from all the laws that need to be working are being used correctly," he said.

Medvedev instructed his government to provide emergency assistance to those who suffered in the blast.

The Russian premier had been scheduled to fly to Switzerland for this week's World Economic Forum in Davos but he postponed his trip.

Last March, Moscow was targeted by two female suicide bombers, both from the North Caucasus region of Dagestan, who killed 40 people in coordinated attacks on the city's subway network during the morning rush hour.

Domodedovo is located 13 miles (21 km) southeast of the Russian capital. It hosts 77 airlines with more than 22 million passengers estimated to have traveled through the airport in 2010.


Suicide bomber kills 35 at Russia's biggest airport | Reuters

Severed head found at Moscow airport thought to belong to suicide bomber - NYPOST.com

ok i see you moved it...that good..
 
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Dang. Hope they find the other pricks who were working with the body-less head. These douchebags never work alone...there's always some coward somewhere who planned the thing, picked the target, etc. I'm guessin Russia's still got some deep, dark Siberian holes they can be quietly dropped in to...
 

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