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Moscow Metro blast toll rises to 41, human bomb suspected | At least 41 people were reportedly killed in twin explosions on the Metro system in central Moscow on Monday
morning. Following the incident, the Russian administration expressed suspicion over the
blast being suicidal in nature. Moscow's metro is one of the busiest subways in
the world, carrying some 5.5 million passengers a day. The first blast took place
at the Central Lubyanka station, killing at least 26 people. Another 15 people
were killed in a second explosion, at the Park Kultury station. According to a
Moscow Metro release, 14 people were killed in the train and 12 on the platform
at Lubyanka. Over 10 people sustained severe injuries. "The blast hit the second
carriage of a metro train that stopped at Lubyanka, said a spokesperson. The
Russian
Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters is located just above the Lubyanka
station. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said both explosions were believed to have
been set off by female suicide bombers as the trains entered the stations. Moscow
Chief Prosecutor Yuri Syomin said the blasts were suicide in nature. "We can
assume
that belts with explosive devices were attached to their bodies," he said. Though
no-group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, the explosions do appear
to have been co-ordinated, said a Russian official. Suspicion is likely to fall
on groups in the troubled North Caucasus region, where Russian security forces
are fighting Islamist militants. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is
currently visiting Siberia, is monitoring the situatuion with detailed information
from security agencies. The Moscow Emergencies Department said there was no
fire
and rescue teams have been pressed into service. There was a major attack on the
Moscow Metro in February 2004, when at least 39 people were killed by a bomb
on
a packed train as it approached the Paveletskaya Metro station. Six months later,
a suicide bomber blew herself up outside a station, killing 10 people. Both attacks
were blamed on Chechen rebels, who had targeted the capital in the past. Over
the last decade Moscow has been hit by a string of deadly explosions claimed by
militants from its turbulent southern region of Chechnya, but this has become
less frequent in the last few years.
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