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Russia says bomb caused Friday's train derailment | As Russia is coming to terms with Friday's train derailment that killed at least 26 people, including several top government officials, Moscow has confirmed that the event was a terrorist act caused by a powerful bomb. Among the dead were several senior Kremlin bureaucrats,
including Boris Yevstratikov, the head of Russia's Federal Reserve Agency, and
Lyudmila Mukhina, a deputy head in the Federal Fishing Agency. A former St Petersburg
senator, Sergei Tarasov, also died. On Saturday, two huge cranes lifted up wreckage
at the crash site as workers searched for the missing. At least 18 people were
still unaccounted for. Nearly 100 people injured in the crash were being treated
in hospitals. The head of Russia's FSB counter-terrorism agency, Alexander Bortnikov,
said the bomb, hidden on the railway line between Moscow and St Petersburg, contained
the equivalent of 7kg (15.4lb) of TNT. Officers had found "elements of an explosive
device." So far, investigators have not said who they believe planted the homemade
bomb. In the days before the crash villagers reported seeing a suspicious individual.
"As far as theories go ... our main version is that this was an explosion of an
unknown device, by unknown individuals. Put simply, it was an act of terror,"
The Guardian quoted Vladimir Yakunin, Russia's railways minister, as saying. There
were speculations that the explosion could be the start of a new campaign by Chechen
extremists. Yakunin said the incident was "analogous" to another derailment on
the same line three years ago, also involving the Nevsky Express, in which 19
people were injured. There seems little doubt that the Kremlin will point the
finger of blame at Islamist insurgents currently waging a guerrilla campaign across
the north Caucasus. Rebel fighters have carried out numerous attacks in recent
months, including suicide bombings, in their apparent attempt to establish an
Islamic caliphate. |
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