Russia bus Bomb explosion – Second bomb blast hits Volgograd Russia 12/30/2013 Suicide Bomber, Attacks Russia Bus Explosion explode Russia Terror Attack Volgograd Train Station Explosion At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion on an electric bus in the Russian city of Volgograd, according to reports.
Investigators have described the blast as “an act of terror”.
It comes just a day after a female suicide bomber was blamed for killing 17 people and leaving dozens more injured at the city’s main railway station.
Investigators and Emergency Ministry members work at the site of an explosion at the entrance to a train station in Volgograd Security has been stepped up after the station blast
Police identified the bomber as a Dagestan national called Oksana Aslanova – who had been married to two Islamists killed by Russian forces.
Map of Volgograd, Russia
She apparently detonated a bomb in front of a metal detector inside the main entrance of the station. Russian television is suggesting there may have been two attackers.
MOSCOW — A deadly suicide bombing at a crowded railroad station in southern Russia on Sunday, followed by a blast in a trolley bus on Monday in the same city, raised the specter of a new wave of terrorism just six weeks before the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
President Vladimir V. Putin’s government has worked to protect the Olympics with some of the most extensive security measures ever imposed for the Games. But the bombings, in Volgograd, underscored the threat the country faces from a radical Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus that has periodically spilled into the Russian heartland, with deadly results, including several recent attacks.
Security has become a paramount concern at all major international sporting events, especially in the wake of the bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, but never before has an Olympic host country experienced terrorist violence on this scale soon before the Games. And would-be attackers may have more targets in mind than the Russian state.
Current and former American law enforcement and intelligence officials said Sunday that they were more concerned about security in Russia during the Sochi Games than they have been about any other Olympics since Athens in 2004.
NOTICE HOW RUSSIA HAS RELEASED THE CCTV FOOTAGE OF THIS ATTACK? WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR ALL THE FOOTAGE FOR THE SEVERAL EVENTS IN THE USA IN 2013!
Via RT
At least 16 people were killed in a blast at a railway station in the city of Volgograd, southern Russia. A suicide bomber is suspected to have carried out the attack, says the National Anti-terrorism Committee.
Follow RT’s Live Updates on the blast
“According to verified information, the explosion at the railway station in Volgograd has claimed 16 lives,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said. However later Interfax news agency reported that the death toll has risen to 17, after one victim who was in critical condition died overnight.
At least 44 people were injured, 38 of whom were hospitalized, including a nine-year-old girl. The child has been taken to a local hospital and is expected to be flown to Moscow soon.
The incident is being treated as an act of terrorism, the committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
The blast took place at 12.45 local time inside the building of the railway. It is “thought to have been carried out by a female suicide bomber,” according to the anti-terrorism committee’s statement.
“At 12.45 we got informed that a boom or a blast was heard in the building of the railway station, Volgograd-1. Smoke was reported,” Svetlana Smolyaninova, a police spokesperson said, according to RIA Novosti.
The power of the explosion at Volgograd’s station was equivalent to at least 10 kg TNT, according to Markin. The explosive device was stuffed with pieces of scrap metal. The Committee said that an undetonated F-1 grenade was also found at the scene.
Interfax’s source said that “the blast happened near the metal detectors located at the entrance to the station.”
The Volgograd region has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the railway station blast.
Suicide bomber’s identity disputed
The Committee originally said a female suicide bomber detonated the bomb when she saw a police officer while approaching the metal detector.
But since then the suicide bomber’s identity has been disputed. The female was initially identified as Oksana Aslanova, a close friend of Naida Asiyalova – also known as ‘Amaturahman’ – who was behind the October Volgograd attack. Aslanova is said to have been married twice to two militants, both eliminated earlier.
A few hours later, more evidence emerged suggesting that a man could have also been involved in the attack. The version, which was also picked up by investigators, came after a male finger with a pin from a grenade was found at the scene.
Given the new information, the possibility that the attack could have been carried out by both a man and a woman is not ruled out, Markin said.