14 die in 2nd Volgograd suicide bombing
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A bomb blast ripped a trolleybus apart in Volgograd yesterday, killing 14 people in 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 mangled bodies in the street, underscored Russia’s vulnerability to militant attacks less than six weeks before the Sochi 2014 Games.
The bus blast came less than 24 hours after a suicide bomb blast killed at least 17 people in the main railway station in the same city, a major transport hub in southern Russia.
The blue-and-white trolleybus reduced to a twisted carcass, its roof blown off and bodies and debris 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, her voice trembling as she choked back tears. “What are we supposed to do, just walk now?”
The consecutive attacks will raise fears of a concerted campaign of violence before the Olympics, which start on February 7 in Sochi, 690 kilometers southwest of Volgograd.
In a video posted online in July, the leader of insurgents wanting 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 spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, said: “Our condolences go to all those affected by today’s bombing in Volgograd. Unfortunately, terrorism is a global phenomenon and no region is exempt, which is why security at the Games is a top priority for the IOC. At the Olympics, security is the responsibility of the local authorities, and we have no doubt that the Russian authorities will be up to the task.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the Volgograd attacks, which also left dozens wounded.
A Health Ministry spokesman told Rossiya-24 TV that 14 people were killed in yesterday’s attack and 28 wounded.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered law enforcement agencies to enhance security after Sunday’s attack at the Volgograd station.
Police said additional officers were being deployed to railway stations and airports nationwide.
The police force in Volgograd has been depleted in recent months as some 600 officers were redeployed to Sochi, a local police officer said.
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