Two terrorists involved in Domodedovo blast, both killed - UPDATE - PHOTOS

Two terrorists were involved in a suicide bomb attack at Moscow's Domodedovo  International Airport that killed 35 and injured up to 180 on Monday, a law enforcement source said, RIA Novosti reported.

Both died in the explosion that ripped through the international arrivals zone at 4:40 p.m. (13:40 GMT), as friends and taxi drivers were meeting arriving passengers. The blast was equivalent to 5 kilograms of TNT and the bomb was packed with metal objects to cause maximum damage. Earlier reports said that the bomb was equivalent to 7 kg of TNT.

"The blast occurred when a suspected female terrorist opened a bag. She was accompanied by a man whose head was ripped off by the explosion," the source told RIA Novosti.

"It cannot be ruled out that the terrorists wanted to leave the explosive device in the hall but the bomb was detonated inadvertently or by a remote control device," he said.

"The terror attack was done according to a scheme that is used by terrorists from the North Caucasus region," he said. "The [2004] blasts at the Rizhskaya subway station and other explosions in the Moscow metro [2010] were carried out similarly, when the terrorists were accompanied by militants."

Reports suggest the terrorists were driven to the airport, Moscow's busiest, by an accomplice.

The bombing was the worst terror attack since two female suicide bombers from the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan blew themselves up at two of the capital's subway stations last March, killing 40.

Police have hinted the latest outrage may be linked to the Islamist radicals in the North Caucasus. Three suspects are being sought over the bombing.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said there were obvious security lapses at the airport, while the country's national anti-terrorism committee (NAC) said insufficient security measures were to blame, as the terrorists entered the airport unchecked.

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10:27

At least 31 people were killed and scores injured in a suspected suicide bomb blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport today, local agencies reported.

The Russian state news agency said 23 people died, and around 130 were injured in the explosion.

A traveller, identified as Viktor, told the Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei radio station that he heard the bang outside the airport, where he was waiting for a car.

"There was an explosion, a bang. Then I saw a policeman covered in fragments of flesh and all bloody. He was shouting 'I've survived! I've survived!'"

Smoke was seen billowing out of the baggage claim area with people running out of the emergency exits at the airport, local media reported.

A spokeswoman for the investigative committee of the federal prosecutor's office put the number of casualties at about 20, and said the cause of the blast was as yet unknown.

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18:53

Up to ten people have died and many people got injured as a result of the explosion at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, a source said. Several people died and injured in the explosion, Sergei Izvolsky, official representative of the Russian  Aviation Agency, told RIA Novosti.

"The explosion occurred in the arrival hall of international flights at 4:37 p.m. Several people died and injured, " he said.

Alexander Neradko, the head of the Russian Aviation Agency, went to the airport.


/Trend, The Guardian/

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