Russian investigators said they believe a male suicide bomber carried out an attack that killed at least 14 people on a trolleybus in the southern city of Volgograd today.
“It is now possible to preliminarily say that the explosive device was set off by a suicide bomber - a man whose body fragments have been collected and sent for genetic testing,” the federal Investigative Committee said in a statement.
The blast is the second deadly attack in the southern city in two days and raising fears of further violence as Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics.
The morning rush-hour bombing, which left mutilated bodies in the street, underscored Russia’s vulnerability to militant attacks less than six weeks before the Sochi 2014 Games, a prestige project for president Vladimir Putin.
It came less than 24 hours after a suicide bomber killed at least 17 people in the main railway station in the same city, a major transport hub in southern Russia.
A witness saw the blue-and-white trolleybus reduced to a twisted, gutted carcass, its roof blown off. The remains of victims and debris were strewn across the street. Federal investigators called the blast a “terrorist act”.
“For the second day, we are dying - it’s a nightmare,” a woman near the scene said. “What are we supposed to do, just walk now?”
Mr Putin ordered law enforcement agencies today to increase security in Volgograd and nationwide after the deadly bombings, the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin issued several instructions to a committee that coordinates counterterrorism efforts “to strengthen security Russia-wide and specifically in the Volgograd region,” the Kremlin said. It did not describe the instructions.
The consecutive attacks will raise fears of a concerted campaign of violence before the Olympics, which start on February 7th in Sochi, about 690km southwest of Volgograd.
In a video posted on the internet in July, the leader of insurgents who want to carve an Islamic state out of the North Caucasus, a string of Muslim provinces south of Volgograd, urged militants to use “maximum force” to prevent the games from being held.
A female suicide bomber from the North Caucasus killed six people on a bus in Volgograd in October.
Spokespeople for the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, could not immediately be reached for comment on the most recent bombings.
Mr Putin secured the Games for Russia and has staked his reputation on a safe and successful event.
The Russian president was first elected after winning popularity for a war against Chechen rebels, but attacks by Islamist militants whose insurgency is rooted in the war have clouded his 14 years in power and now confront him with his biggest security challenge.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the Volgograd attacks, which have left dozens wounded in addition to the deaths. Authorities said 37 people were hospitalised after yesterday’s attack and 23 were so far reported wounded today.
Reuters