Russians mourn bomb dead
Source: Agencies |
November 30, 2009, Monday
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RUSSIANS mourned at religious services and soccer stadiums yesterday after a deadly train wreck that authorities blamed on a terrorist bomb, killing at least 25 people. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church urged the nation not to give in to fear.
Relatives identified loved ones killed in the wreck of the express train that authorities say was blown off the tracks by a blast. If confirmed as a bomb, the wreck would be Russia's deadliest terrorist attack outside the violence-plagued North Caucasus provinces in five years.
Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said 85 people remained hospitalized, 21 of them in grave condition, according to Russian news agencies.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said at least 25 people were killed and 26 others were unaccounted for, though he indicated some may have survived uninjured or never have got on the train.
Television networks took entertainment programs off the air and moments of silence were observed before matches on the final Sunday of the Russian football league.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the country's dominant church, led a prayer service for the victims at Christ the Savior Cathedral near the Kremlin. He urged Russians to help authorities and "display firm will for a victory over terror."
"Our people have been challenged. A crime of which any one of us could have been a victim has been committed for effect," Kirill said. "They want to frighten everybody who lives in Russia."
The rear three cars of the Nevsky Express, one of Russia's fastest trains, derailed on a remote stretch of track late on Friday as it sped from Moscow to St Petersburg, killing some passengers and trapping others in the wreckage.
The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, said that an explosive device detonated underneath the train, gouging a crater in the railbed and pulling the rear cars off the tracks.
Relatives were identifying victims yesterday at a hospital morgue in Tver, the closest sizable city to the wreck site near the border of the Tver and Novgorod provinces, about 400 kilometers northwest of Moscow.
State-run railway company Russian Railways said train traffic was fully restored.
Relatives identified loved ones killed in the wreck of the express train that authorities say was blown off the tracks by a blast. If confirmed as a bomb, the wreck would be Russia's deadliest terrorist attack outside the violence-plagued North Caucasus provinces in five years.
Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said 85 people remained hospitalized, 21 of them in grave condition, according to Russian news agencies.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said at least 25 people were killed and 26 others were unaccounted for, though he indicated some may have survived uninjured or never have got on the train.
Television networks took entertainment programs off the air and moments of silence were observed before matches on the final Sunday of the Russian football league.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the country's dominant church, led a prayer service for the victims at Christ the Savior Cathedral near the Kremlin. He urged Russians to help authorities and "display firm will for a victory over terror."
"Our people have been challenged. A crime of which any one of us could have been a victim has been committed for effect," Kirill said. "They want to frighten everybody who lives in Russia."
The rear three cars of the Nevsky Express, one of Russia's fastest trains, derailed on a remote stretch of track late on Friday as it sped from Moscow to St Petersburg, killing some passengers and trapping others in the wreckage.
The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, said that an explosive device detonated underneath the train, gouging a crater in the railbed and pulling the rear cars off the tracks.
Relatives were identifying victims yesterday at a hospital morgue in Tver, the closest sizable city to the wreck site near the border of the Tver and Novgorod provinces, about 400 kilometers northwest of Moscow.
State-run railway company Russian Railways said train traffic was fully restored.
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