Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Suicide bomber strikes at Domodedovo

Domodedovo Airport has re-opened after a terrorist detonated a bomb yesterday, killing 35 and injuring more than 100 people.
The suicide bomber detonated around 7kg of TNT in the airport’s busy international arrivals zone at around 4.32pm local time. A Briton and a German were among those killed, while reports of the number of people injured vary from 46 to 168.

According to reports, inbound flights to Moscow’s busiest airport had to circle for some time before being given permission to land. At least one British Airways flight from the UK was forced to turn around midway to Domodedovo.

US news channel CNN quoted a spokesman as saying the airport had re-opened within 20 minutes of the blast. Currently, 77 airlines offer regular flights to Domodedovo, the busiest of Moscow’s four airports, with those flights covering 241 national and international routes.

It is also used by members of airline groupings Star Alliance and Oneworld as their hub in Russia, and it has the country’s largest international air cargo terminal. Russian officials are blaming the blast on airport management.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: “Someone had to try very hard to bring through such a vast amount of explosives. “Judging from the location and other indirect signs, this well-prepared terrorist attack aimed to kill as many people as possible.

“The airport is good, and this is recognised by all. It is new and modern. However, what happened shows that, clearly, there were violations in providing security.

“Those who take decisions there, and the management of the airport itself, must answer for this.”

As a result of the attack, Russia has increased security measures in Moscow and at airports and other transport hubs. Medvedev has also ordered an investigation into how the security measures failed.

“After previous similar events, we passed appropriate legislation, and we have to check how it has been applied, because obviously there have been lapses.”

The attack has been blamed on militants from the North Caucasus.


Source: IFW

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