The death toll of the Tuesday explosion near a metro station in
northeast Moscow has reached ten, an official with the Federal
Security Service (FSB) said.
Sergei Ignatchenko, head of FSB's Public Relations Center, said
37 people were wounded in the incident, Itar-Tass news agency
reported.
The explosion, which has been confirmed as a terrorist act, was
carried out by a female suicide bomber, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov
confirmed at the scene of the incident.
He noted that the woman "was scared of police officers, who were
on duty at the entry to the metro station, and set off the bomb in
the crowd," according to Itar-Tass.
There are four children among those injured and 12 of the
wounded are in critical condition, Interfax news agency cited the
mayor as saying.
The explosion, which broke out between the Rizhskaya metro
station and the Krestovsky department store at about 8:15 p.m.
Moscow time (1615 GMT), was equivalent up to 1 kilogram of TNT and
it was so powerful that two cars parked nearby caught fire,
according to Luzhkov.
Xinhua reporter saw two cars scorched by the blast were parking
at the site and the wave of the explosion shattered the window
glass of the metro station.
Dozens of law enforcement officials are cordoning the site of
the blast and the metro station has been temporarily closed to
passengers. Policemen accompanied by sniff dogs are searching for
evidence at the scene.
Investigators are trying to identifying the type of the bomb and
the explosives it contained. Earlier reports said the bomb was
loaded with bolts and metal pieces.
Moscow has tightened security measures following the blast,
including reinforcing police patrol at key administrative
facilities and public gathering places, Interfax reported.
The explosion came after Sunday's presidential election in
Russia's Chechen republic, in which Kremlin-backed Alu Alkhanov won
a landslide victory to replace pro-Moscow Akhmad Kadyrov who was
killed in a terrorist bomb blast on May 9.
Precisely a week ago, two Russian passenger planes crashed
almost simultaneously, killing all the 90 people aboard and raising
suspect that terrorist attacks were behind the tragedies.
Traces of explosives were found aboard both planes and
investigators suspected that two female Chechen passengers – each
aboard one aircraft -- might have brought down the planes.
A group called the "Islambouli Brigades" have claimed
responsibility for the twin crashes.
Moscow has suffered from a number of suicide bombings blamed on
Chechen rebels in recent years. A female suicide bomber blew
herself up outside a hotel adjacent to Red Square in December,
killing five other people. In February, 41 people were killed in a
rush-hour explosion on the Moscow subway that officials said was a
terrorist attack.
(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2004)
