MOSCOW — An explosion rocked an international terminal of
Moscow’s busiest airport on Monday afternoon in what Russian
officials described as an apparent terrorist attack. The Health
Ministry reported that at least 30 people had been killed and 130
injured, according to Russian state media.
Russian news agencies, citing witnesses, said the airport’s
halls were filled with so much smoke that it was difficult to count
the dead.
The blast occurred in the arrivals hall of Domodedovo airport,
according to a spokeswoman. Investigators said the explosion
occurred at 4:32 p.m. local time.
An eyewitness who gave his name as Yuri said the blast was
intense and sent 200 people scrambling for safety.
“There were many people; if I were two meters to the side I
would have been badly hurt,” he told the news channel Pervy Kanal.
“There was a bang, and all I remember is that the shock wave pushed
me to the floor. My hat flew away, and I put my jacket over my
head. Five seconds later, when the smoke cleared, I saw people
running out.”
Irina Tsvei, who was at the airport for a flight to Geneva, told
the news channel that she saw the wounded being carried out of the
airport and that the surrounding roads were jammed with ambulances
and fire trucks.
In televised remarks, the Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said: “At
Domodedovo an explosion has occurred, and according to preliminary
information it was a terrorist attack. There are dead and there are
wounded.”
He admonished officials for their failure to prevent the attack,
and ordered the police to boost security at all airports and on
public transportation.
International arrivals were being diverted to nearby airports,
according to local news media reports.
The airport, southeast of the capital, is Russia’s largest
airline hub, with more than 20 million passengers passing through
last year.
If investigators find that the explosion was the result of
terrorism, it would be the first such attack to hit Moscow since
March, when two suicide bombers detonated explosives on the city’s
subway during rush hour. More than 40 people were killed in that
attack, which was traced to two women from Dagestan who had ridden
buses into the capital.
The rebel leader Doku Umarov took
responsibility for the March attack. In 2009, Mr. Umarov revived a
suicide battalion linked to the most notorious attacks of the last
decade. In a video apparently made hours after the blast, Mr.
Umarov said “the war will come to your streets, and you will feel
it in your own lives and on your own skin.”
In August 2004, two Chechen suicide bombers boarded separate
planes at Domodedovo airport before killing themselves and 88
others in midair. The attack exposed holes in security at the
airport: the two bombers, both women, had been detained shortly
before boarding, but were released by a police supervisor. The
authorities have since worked to improve procedures at
Domodedovo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/world/europe/25moscow.html