John
01-24-2011, 09:49 PM
At least 35 people have been killed and 130 injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack at Moscow's largest airport - two Britons are reported to be among the dead.
The explosion ripped through the Domodedovo airport's international arrivals hall.
President Dmitry Medvedev said terrorists were behind the attack and vowed to track down those responsible. He ordered increased security at Moscow's travel hubs.
"We mourn the victims of the terrorist attack at Domodedovo airport. The organisers will be tracked down and punished," he said.
President Barack Obama also condemned the blast while David Cameron described the bombing as an "appalling attack".
The interfax news agency says a British citizen and other foreigners are among the dead.
Associated Press reported that two Britons had been killed.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber walked into the arrivals hall and detonated explosives in a suitcase.
Twitter users posted mobile video mobile phone footage of dozens of people lying on the floor as thick smoke filled the hall and a fire burned along one wall.
Airport staff were shown using flash lights to pick their way through the debris.
Other videos posted on Twitter showed emergency workers wheeling injured people out of the terminal on stretchers or luggage trolleys.
Witness Frank Osterdyke described distressing scenes in the arrivals hall.
"I heard a loud explosion and the roof was coming down," he said.
"It was a terrible view. There were people dying and lying on trolleys. I am in shock."
The Interfax news agency said 35 of the injured were in a grave condition.
Two of the injured are also reported to be foreigners.
Domodedovo is the busiest of the Russian capital's three commercial airports.
One witness said thousands of people were in the terminal at the time of the attack.
Two flights from the UK are believed to have landed at the airport at around the same time as the explosion.
BMI have confirmed that flight BD891 landed in Moscow at 13.36 UK time, 16.36 Moscow time, around four minutes after the attack.
All crew have been contacted and accounted for and the airline says it is waiting to hear news of other passengers but there is no suggestion that any of them were caught up in the incident.
A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the incident at Moscow's Domodedovo airport and are speaking to our teams at the airport to establish further information."
Flight BA872 landed at 15.46 local time with 165 passengers on board.
The passengers disembarked and the flight turned around, leaving Moscow at 16.49.
The British Embassy says there have been no reports of British casualities.
The Foreign Office said British passengers should not travel to the airport.
Moscow suffered its worst attack in six years in March 2010 when two female suicide bombers from Russia's volatile Dagestan region set off explosives in the metro, killing 40 people.
Russia is battling an Islamist insurgency in the Caucasus and deadly attacks on government and police officials in Dagestan as well as neighbouring Chechnya and Ingushetia are an almost daily occurrence.
Sam Kiley, Sky's security correspondent, said insurgents from the North Caucasus were probably responsible for the attack.
He said reports from Russia say the FSB, the country's state security service, had been tipped off about a possible bomb attack at the airport, with one report saying the organisation had been told a suicide bomber was planning to attack the area near customs.
Analysts say rebels are planning to increase violence in the run up to 2012 presidential elections.
In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel.
The bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.
Source - Yahoo.
The explosion ripped through the Domodedovo airport's international arrivals hall.
President Dmitry Medvedev said terrorists were behind the attack and vowed to track down those responsible. He ordered increased security at Moscow's travel hubs.
"We mourn the victims of the terrorist attack at Domodedovo airport. The organisers will be tracked down and punished," he said.
President Barack Obama also condemned the blast while David Cameron described the bombing as an "appalling attack".
The interfax news agency says a British citizen and other foreigners are among the dead.
Associated Press reported that two Britons had been killed.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber walked into the arrivals hall and detonated explosives in a suitcase.
Twitter users posted mobile video mobile phone footage of dozens of people lying on the floor as thick smoke filled the hall and a fire burned along one wall.
Airport staff were shown using flash lights to pick their way through the debris.
Other videos posted on Twitter showed emergency workers wheeling injured people out of the terminal on stretchers or luggage trolleys.
Witness Frank Osterdyke described distressing scenes in the arrivals hall.
"I heard a loud explosion and the roof was coming down," he said.
"It was a terrible view. There were people dying and lying on trolleys. I am in shock."
The Interfax news agency said 35 of the injured were in a grave condition.
Two of the injured are also reported to be foreigners.
Domodedovo is the busiest of the Russian capital's three commercial airports.
One witness said thousands of people were in the terminal at the time of the attack.
Two flights from the UK are believed to have landed at the airport at around the same time as the explosion.
BMI have confirmed that flight BD891 landed in Moscow at 13.36 UK time, 16.36 Moscow time, around four minutes after the attack.
All crew have been contacted and accounted for and the airline says it is waiting to hear news of other passengers but there is no suggestion that any of them were caught up in the incident.
A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the incident at Moscow's Domodedovo airport and are speaking to our teams at the airport to establish further information."
Flight BA872 landed at 15.46 local time with 165 passengers on board.
The passengers disembarked and the flight turned around, leaving Moscow at 16.49.
The British Embassy says there have been no reports of British casualities.
The Foreign Office said British passengers should not travel to the airport.
Moscow suffered its worst attack in six years in March 2010 when two female suicide bombers from Russia's volatile Dagestan region set off explosives in the metro, killing 40 people.
Russia is battling an Islamist insurgency in the Caucasus and deadly attacks on government and police officials in Dagestan as well as neighbouring Chechnya and Ingushetia are an almost daily occurrence.
Sam Kiley, Sky's security correspondent, said insurgents from the North Caucasus were probably responsible for the attack.
He said reports from Russia say the FSB, the country's state security service, had been tipped off about a possible bomb attack at the airport, with one report saying the organisation had been told a suicide bomber was planning to attack the area near customs.
Analysts say rebels are planning to increase violence in the run up to 2012 presidential elections.
In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel.
The bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.
Source - Yahoo.