Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download MP3
At least 38 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro trains in the morning rush hour, officials say. Twenty-four died in the first blast at 7.56am local time as a train stood at the central Lubyanka station, beneath the offices of the FSB intelligence agency. About 40 minutes later, a second explosion ripped through a train at Park Kultury, leaving another 14 dead. The FSB said it was likely a group from the North Caucasus was responsible. Jessica Golloher reports from Moscow.
Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World. The wars Russia has been fighting in the Caucasus may have come today. At least 38 people died in two suicide bombings on Moscow subways this morning. More than 70 others were injured, many of them seriously. Officials are blaming groups from such regions as Chechnya and Ingushetia. Rebels there have been waging violent campaigns for independence from Russia. We get the latest from reporter Jessica Golloher in Moscow.
JESSICA GOLLOHER: The first attack happened just before 8:00 a.m. Officials say a female suicide bomber used a cell phone to detonate explosives as passengers were boarding the train at the Lubyanka metro stations. Officials say other passengers were killed as they were waiting on the platform to get on. The second blast happened about 40 minutes later at the Park Kultury Station near Gorky Park. Another woman suicide bomber set off another package of explosives, again, with the aid of a cell phone. Russia’s intelligence agency says both bombs were filled with iron bolts and rods so that they’d wreak as much havoc as possible. Officials say today’s bombings were probably the work of Islamist rebels from the north Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya and Ingushetia. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cut short a trip to Siberia to return to the Russian capital.
INTERPRETER: As you know, today a crime with horrible consequences, heinous in nature, was committed against peaceful citizens in Moscow. I am confident that the law enforcement agencies will do everything to trace and punish the criminals. The terrorists will be destroyed.
GOLLOHER: Putin’s words did not reassure all Muscovites. Some say they’re feeling unsettled by the first attacks in the city in six years.
INTERPRETER: I’m frightened to some extent, but we live in Moscow, it’s like sitting on a powder keg.
INTERPRETER: I think it’s terrible when a blast happens right here. I think it’s a war. Who started this war? We will probably know soon.
GOLLOHER: In the U.S. transit agencies in New York, Washington and Atlanta are beefing up security in response to the Moscow bombings. For The World, I’m Jessica Golloher in Moscow.
Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.
Discussion
No comments for “Moscow subway bombers kill dozens”