Two women suicide bombers blew themselves up at a giant rock festival in suburban Moscow on Saturday, killing at least 16 people, Russian officials said. The interior minister said Chechen rebels may have been beind the attack.
| That comes as no surprise at all. |
Up to 40,000 spectators, many of them young, were attending the popular annual festival at the Tushino airfield when the explosions went off at two differnt gates. One of the blasts tore off people's clothing and sent garbage flying through the air. The first blast took place after guards stopped a woman at the entrance to the festival and she detonated an explosives-packed belt. Police then directed the audience to leave through the airfield's second gate — and there the second bomb went off. Bodies lay splayed on the pavement, surrounded by pools of blood. Emergency response officers covered them with black plastic garbage bags. Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov said that 16 people were killed, not including the bombers, who he said were women. News reports said a passport found at the bombing site identified a Chechen woman. Saturday's blasts were set off by two suicide bombers and that both were killed. Remnants of one of the bomber's explosives went off about 20 minutes after the two blasts, which some witnesses mistook for a third bombing. Police later discovered another explosive device near one of the entrances to the festival and defused it. |