Global General

Suicide bombers kill at least 37 in Moscow subway

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-29 21:57
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Suicide bombers kill at least 37 in Moscow subway
Paramedics carry the body of a victim of a bomb explosion at Lubyanka metro station in Moscow March 29, 2010. [Agencies]

Threats to Russian cities

The Russian rouble fell sharply on the bombings, but later regained ground, with traders arguing the actions were unlikely to undermine the basic stability of the currency.

The rouble-denominated Micex exchange was up 1.1 percent. "The Russian stock market is more than stable, the rouble is stable," said Anatoly Darakov, a trader at Citi. "It's not the first blast in Moscow."

Surveillance camera footage posted on the Internet showed several bodies lying on the floor or slumped against the wall in Lubyanka station lobby and emergency workers crouched over victims, trying to treat them.

"I was moving up on the escalator when I heard a loud bang, a blast. A door near the passage way arched, was ripped out and a cloud of dust came down on the escalator," a man named Alexei told the state-run Rossiya 24 news television channel.

The current death toll makes it the worst attack on Moscow since February 2004, when a suicide bombing killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 100 on a subway train.

Chechen separatists were blamed for that attack. Rebel leader Doku Umarov, who is fighting for an Islamic emirate embracing the whole region, vowed last month to take the war to Russian cities.

"Blood will no longer be limited to our (Caucasus) cities and towns. The war is coming to their cities," the Chechen rebel leader said in an interview on the unofficial Islamist website www.kavkazcenter.com.