MOSCOW, Russia - A SUICIDE bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens when he blew himself up in the packed arrivals hall of Moscow's largest airport.There were scenes of carnage at Domodedovo airport in southern Moscow as corpses were stretchered out of the smoke-filled arrivals area after the blast, the latest deadly attack to hit the capital after the metro bombings in last March.
Describing the attack as an act of terror, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev chaired an emergency meeting of top officials and ordered a special security regime across the country's main airports and railway stations.- Russia's Western partners strongly condemned the blast, with US President Barack Obama describing the attack as "outrageous" and German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she was dismayed by the "cowardly" act.
- Airport spokeswoman Elena Galanova said that the blast had gone off in a freely accessible public area of the airport where passengers meet relatives after passing customs.
At least 35 people were killed, she said, a figure confirmed by the investigative committee. At least 130 were wounded, the health ministry said in a statement. It said that of the wounded, 20 were in a serious condition.- "All of a sudden I heard a huge bang, as if something had fallen. No-one understood what had happened," Elena, a Lufthansa stewardess, said at the airport. "Everyone was in shock."
- A Briton and other foreigners were among those killed, the Interfax news agency quoted a security source as saying. However despite the mayhem, the airport carried on working normally with only handful of flights affected, Domodedovo said.
Russian investigators found a head of "Arab appearance" that is presumed to have belonged to the suicide bomber responsible for setting off the blast, Interfax said.According to preliminary information, the bomber was a resident of the overwhelmingly Muslim Northern Caucasus region, Interfax said.
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