Russia: Bomb Caused Fatal Train Crash

(AP)  Last Updated 12:21 p.m. ET

A homemade bomb was planted on the tracks of the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg train route, causing a derailment that killed at least 26 people and injured dozens more, Russian officials said Saturday as they opened a terrorism investigation.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Borotnikov, said an improvised explosive device equivalent to 15 pounds of TNT had detonated when the train passed over it Friday night about 9:30 p.m. Remains of the device were found at the site of the crash, Borotnikov said.

"Indeed, this was a terrorist attack," the Interfax news agency cited Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, as saying. He told the ITAR-Tass news agency the bomb crater on the track was 5 feet deep.

The derailment of the upscale train, which was popular with government officials and business executives, was Russia's deadliest terrorist strike outside the volatile North Caucasus region in years.

The force of the derailment crumpled several cars in a remote rural area, trapping some injured passengers in the wreckage for hours and scattering luggage and metal pieces across the track. As of late Saturday, authorities still said 18 people were unaccounted for.

A second explosive device partially detonated Saturday during the clear-up operation near the disaster site, according to the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin.

The last three carriages of the 14-car Nevsky Express careered off the tracks Friday night as the train approached speeds of 130 mph, officials said. More than 650 passengers and staff were on the train when it derailed near the border of the Novgorod and Tver provinces, some 250 miles northwest of Moscow and 150 miles southeast of St. Petersburg.

Reports on the death toll varied.

Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said at least 26 people were killed, 18 were missing and nearly 100 were injured and hospitalized in the derailment. The Prosecutor General's office said the death toll had risen to 30, with 60 others in the hospital.

There have been no credible claims of responsibility.

But sketches were being composed of several suspects, Interior Ministry head Rashid Nurgaliyev told Interfax, including of a man with ginger hair who is about 40 years old.

Witness accounts appeared to back up reports of a bomb blast.

"It was immensely scary. I think it was an act of terrorism because there was a bang," passenger Vitaly Rafikov told Channel One state television. He said he helped with the rescue, hauling victims from the wreckage and lighting fires for warmth.

Passenger Igor Pechnikov was in the second of the train's three derailed cars.

"A trembling began, and the carriage jolted violently to the left. I flew through half of the carriage," he said.

Terrorism has been a major concern in Russia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, as Chechen rebels have clashed with government forces in two wars and Islamist separatists continue to target law enforcement officials.

Amid the reports of terror, President Dmitry Medvedev called for calm.

"We need there to be no chaos, because the situation is tense as it is," he said.

The injured were transported to hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg by bus, train and even helicopters, but some said the evacuation was agonizingly slow.

Yekaterina Ivanova, a wounded passenger, told the NTV television network that workers took at least four hours to get her out of the train.

"In the hospital, the doctors are better, the medical teams are working in harmony," she said. "The young people from the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried us out on stretchers, but other people in uniform were just standing there and staring, and no one was even helping to carry out the wounded."

Police and prosecutors swarmed over the disaster site Saturday and restricted access to the bomb crater. Rescue workers scoured the wreckage, searching for the missing, as two huge cranes lifted up pieces of twisted metal.

A battered railway carriage lay on its side across the tracks, while baggage and metal debris were scattered in the mud. Emergency workers wrapped up in blankets and huddled around fires as a light rain started to fall.

Their efforts came to a halt after the second explosion was heard, forcing Russia's security services to close rail links between the two main cities that had been partially reopened, Yakunin said.

Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told APTN that Islamist separatists who operate in the North Caucasus and nationalist groups would naturally fall under suspicion.

One prominent nationalist group, the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, issued a denial of responsibility Saturday. Nationalists were blamed in a similar blast that caused a derailment along the same line in 2007, injuring 27 passengers. Authorities arrested two suspects in the 2007 train blast and are searching for a third - a former military officer.

Across Russia's North Caucasus region, attacks are relatively frequent. In August, a suicide bombing of a police station in Ingushetia's capital killed 25 people and injured 164. A September 2004 attack on a school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan ignited a three-day hostage-taking ordeal in which more than 330 hostages were killed in a botched rescue. In addition, a December 2003 suicide bombing of a train near Chechnya killed 44 people.

But outside the volatile southern region, the last fatal terrorist attacks occurred in August 2004. A suicide car bombing in Moscow that month killed 10 people only days after bombs ripped through two passenger aircraft, killing more than 80 people. Those attacks were blamed on Chechen rebels, as was a February 2004 Moscow subway bombing that killed 40 people.

A 2002 hostage-taking at a Moscow theatre ended with the deaths of around 130 people.

Another train derailment in June 2005 left at least 12 injured on a train that had been travelling from Chechnya to Moscow.
By Associated Press Writers David Nowak and Ivan Sekretarev; AP writers Steve Gutterman and Douglas Birch contributed to this report

[Sloughfoot]

As more and more of the old "Cold War" dogs of America and Russia are laid to rest, perhaps Ivan and I will realize that only through mutual cooperation will we identify and address the festering boil of Islamic terrorism that spans this world.

[krmopilci]

you certainly did not talk with russians much.they hate you as hell.

[mysteriousjz]

"Civilized Violence" is more brutal and barbaric; it causes more death and destruction; killing and maiming people. Unfortunately, the human "casualties" then are reported, if at all, in mere numbers; and even worse, death and destruction is then justified in sophisticated PR by people in suits and ties. There are two sides to a story; this is just a return of "taste" that the other side have endured dearly.

Too bad one side does not have high tech missiles, and bombs fired from billion dallar jets raining on people homes.... Those barbarians!

(For educational purpose only-Not a fodder for endless arguments but an honest opinion on "wars" under any pretext)

[sonofsummarex]

Oh no
Now these law enforcent idiots in this country will have fouind yet another thing to do. "Safeguard our nations railways" That's right be prepared to have your nearest tracks fenced off at tax payers' expense. Why don't these animals get real jobs instead of living off the taxpayers. Law enforcementr welfare is what I call it.

[askagain]

sonofsummarex - Your post shows how little you know. One of the few things specifically required in the constitution is the protection of America. That is what Homeland Security does. Perhaps the federal government should get out of the welfare business, the health care business, and other social programs not specifically authorized in the constitution. If Russia is having problems with terrorism, what makes you think that we won't have similar problems? Protecting America and its citizens is what the federal government is charged with. You seem to lack appreciation for the police, first responders, the military, and any any other group that puts their lives on the line to protect us.

[krmopilci]

what lives?without social and health care,much more lives will be lost than from terrorism.i suggest you quit your job(probably paid by government) and get out of your government subsidized house and then talk about health and social care.why don't you mention trillion for wars?why not billions for israel?one must have a spine to be honest.

[krmopilci]

i didn't know there are immigrants to russia.who wants to go there?

[rbstrcklnd]

Muslims

[krmopilci]

we are spreading like an epidemic.nobody can stop us.in 30 years there will be 5 billion muslims.and aziz tyson will be our next president.he is black,too.

[salibason]

Give me the S300 system or else?

[msimamaji]

Yesterday Obama met with Medvedev in Moscow. Now we are witnessing a tragic train crash.

This latest terrorist attack underscores a truth that few Americans seem to recognize. That Russia's president Dmitri Medvedev and President Obama have more common ground than we previously believed.
The CBS news report neglects to point out the suspects of this attack. One suspect group, which has disavowed any responsibility, is a right-wing group of Russian Nationalists who are opposed to illegal immigration. So like the US, Russia has its version of Glen Becks and Lou Dobbs, who find nothing wrong with violence in the name of racial purity.

The other suspect group are Chechen terrorists. No one can condone the brutal way that Russia suppressed Chechnya, but that suppression has generated a wave of terrorist attacks against Russians. This train crash could be well the latest installment.

Muslim fundamentalists have plenty of reasons to put Russia on their hit list. First of all, the Soviets repressed Islam through their realm, including Central Asia. They invaded Afghanistan and attempted to wage war against Islam there. Their suppression of the Islamic Chechens is another example of Russia's war against Islam. And the history of the Russian Orthodox Church involves centuries of Holy Wars and Crusades against Muslims.

Our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan have succeeded in making the US the Grand Satan, but suppose we were to eventually withdraw from both these countries, who would be next? Russia might discover that their aid to Iran could indeed backfire and that if Iran wants to become the Islamic avenger of the world, Russia too could become target, and Chechnya could well become a new terrorist hide-out.

Although I do not expect any miracles from Obama's latest meeting with Medvedev, I hope that Obama's attempt to open up dialogue with Russia will provide an incentive for stronger sanctions against Iran. I also feel that Obama's emphasis on negotiations rather than armed confrontation might solve some of the horrible problems in North Ossetia and Cechnya.

Basically we must ask ourselves which Russia we want to live with. Do we want the Russia of Putin? Do we want a Russia of fanatic nationalists who glorify Stalin and who want to avenge the Soviet Union's humiliating defeat by Western powers? Or, do we want the Russia that Dmitri Medvedev seems to represent at great political risk to himself - a Russia that could eventually become a partner, not an enemy? Obama has chosen the final option. And it is to our long term national interest to support Obama in this goal.

[xenia-moscow]

2msimamaji: you have a few points there, but the picture you paint is a bit distorted, probably because it is an outside view.
Russia has never waged a war on Islam, although it must be admitted that the Russian Orthodox church has lots of privileges over other religions in the country. there are over 9 milion muslims in Russia, and the majority of them live outside Chechnya. There are 4 mosques in Moscow. My next-door neighbors are tatars and practicing Muslims - nobody persecutes them. You are free to wear a headscarf to university. Some even have special rooms for praying.
Another myth is that the Soviet army was fighting Islam in Afganistan. It was not about religion at all. Afghanistan is unfortunately strategically situated, and there were lots of those who wanted to use the place, not only the USSR, but the British before them and ever Alexander the Great ? you wouldn?t call HIM an antiislamist, would you.
It would be absolutely crazy for Russia to get involved in Afghanistan again. Once was enough, let the US and NATO disentangle themselves from the mess they made there.

[ffoulkes-2009]

You don't have to wage war against Islam for Radical Islam to wage war against you.