Terrorism suspected in deadly Moscow subway attack (video)
By Peter Fedynsky
Russian authorities blame female suicide bombers for the two explosions at metro stations during rush hour Monday morning
Two female suicide bombers are suspected in two explosions that ripped through Moscow's subway system early Monday. At least [37] people have been killed and more than [65] others wounded in the blasts. Authorities have opened a criminal case into possible acts of terrorism.
Authorities say the first blast occurred at 7:56 AM on the second car of a train as passengers entered and exited at the Lubyanka metro stop in central Moscow.
The station is located next to the headquarters of the Russian State Security Service, the successor to the KGB. The second blast occurred about 40 minutes later at the Park Kultury station, also in city center.
Moscow city prosecutor Yuri Semen says the bombs may have been tied to the bodies of the alleged attackers. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov says preliminary information indicates both were women.
A spokesman for the State Prosecutor's office, Vladimir Markin, says a criminal investigation into possible terrorism has been opened.
Markin says the case has been opened based on Article 205 of the Russian criminal code, which deals with terrorism. He says criminal investigators are on the scene trying to determine the type and power of the devices used and other details of the blast.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Earlier suicide bombings in Moscow were blamed on separatist rebels seeking the independence of Chechnya in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus region.
The last terrorist bombing in the Russian capital occurred in August 2004, when a female suicide bomber claimed the lives of ten people outside a Metro station. About 40 people died in February of that year in a bombing inside the subway.
VOA News
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