Moscow bombing: Medvedev in Domodedovo airport pledge

CCTV footage shows the blast as passengers walked through the airport

Related Stories

President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to track down and punish those behind an apparent suicide bomb attack at Moscow's Domodedovo airport that killed 35 people and injured more than 100.

He also said "there were clear security breaches" at the airport, which allowed Monday's bombing of the international arrivals terminal.

Unnamed officials said three suspects were being sought over the attack.

Suspicion has fallen on Russia's restive North Caucasus region.

Last March the Russian capital's underground system was rocked by two female suicide bombers from Russia's volatile Dagestan region, who detonated their explosives on the busy metro system during rush hour, killing 40 people and injuring more than 80.

Militant groups fighting in the Caucasus know how important the perception that the president and prime minister provide a secure society is, and to undermine that is a key aim, analysts say.

Police sources have hinted that the Domodedovo airport bombing may be linked to Russia's most volatile region.

Thick drops of blood

Monday's explosion rocked the airport's busy international arrivals hall, where friends and drivers meet passengers who have passed through customs.

Austrian traveller Dr Johann Hammerer: "Injured people were lying on trolleys"

Eyewitnesses told Russian TV that before a bomber detonated the equivalent of 7kg (15lb) of TNT, he had shouted: "I'll kill you all!"

Scenes of panic ensued as the area filled with smoke, with bodies strewn across the floor.

One Briton was among the dead.

Thick drops of blood and pieces of shrapnel were scattered across the snow-covered tarmac outside the hall, and emergency workers used luggage trolleys to ferry the dead and injured from the scene to hospitals in Moscow, 40km (25 miles) to the north-west.

Mr Medvedev has vowed a thorough investigation.

Militant attacks in Russia

• Oct 2010 - Six people killed as militants storm parliament in Chechnya, North Caucasus

• Mar 2010 - Suicide bombings at two Moscow metro stations kill 40 people; attack blamed on North Caucasus militants

• Nov 2009 - Bomb blast hits Moscow-St Petersburg luxury express train, killing 26; North Caucasus Islamist group claims responsibility

• Sept 2004 - Chechen rebels seize school in Beslan; 334 hostages, including many children, killed in ensuing battle

• Aug 2004 - Suicide bomber blows herself up at a Moscow metro station, killing 10

• Aug 2004 - Two Tupolev airliners that took off from Domodedovo blown up in mid-air by suicide bombers, killing 89 passengers and crew

"After previous similar events, we passed appropriate legislation, and we have to check how it has been applied," he said. "Because obviously there have been lapses, and we have to get to the bottom of this."

He has admitted that poverty, corruption and conflict in the North Caucasus is Russia's biggest internal problem.

He ordered increased security across Russia's capital, its airports and other transport hubs.

But he, like Vladimir Putin before him, appears unable to find a solution that would bring stability to that region and peace to Russia, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.

Mr Putin has built much of his reputation on a tough security stance to crack down on such violence.

More generally, security authorities internationally have been concerned that - while there has been a huge effort focused on airline passenger and airliner security - keeping airports and airport terminals themselves secure remains a major challenge.

The EU, US and UK were among those who condemned the attack, offering their support to the mourning Russian nation.

"We should never allow the terrorists to win," said UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Map

Were you at the airport? Did you see or hear anything? Send us your accounts using the form below.

If you are happy to be contacted by a BBC journalist please leave a telephone number that we can contact you on. In some cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. When sending us pictures, video or eyewitness accounts at no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. Please ensure you have read the terms and conditions.

Terms and conditions

More on This Story

Related Stories

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

More Europe stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

Elsewhere on BBC News

  • Lake Chapala in Mexico (Pic: Joel Espinosa/Flickr)Crossing borders

    Illegal migration between Mexico and the US is not all one way

Programmes

  • The deep water submarineFast Track Watch

    Pushing the limits of tourism - how much would you pay for a real voyage to the bottom of sea?

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.