Uglovka bomb in Moscow, 39 People Killed

Russian government to investigate the possibility of acts of terrorism in the region yesterday (28/11).

That came after a fast train overturned because of a bomb explosion in or around the forests near the timber Uglovka City, 400 km northwest of Moscow, at 21:34 Friday (27/11) or early Saturday at 01.34 pm today (28/11).

In the accident, at least 39 people were killed and about 100 others wounded. Four of the 14 train cars rolled around a few feet from the tracks after traveling at 200 km per hour. While the broken rail and bumpy. The rescue workers continued to search for victims who are still trapped in the ruins of the train.

Head of Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Borotnikov, as quoted by news agency Interfax and RIA Novosti, said that a homemade bomb intentionally planted on the railway track fast (express) Nevsky Express that came from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Bomb explosives equivalent to 15 pounds or 7 kg of TNT (trinitrotoluene) were detonated as the train passed.

''The Nevsky Express crash site, teams from Russia Investigation Committee found the elements and the remaining explosives,''he said. The accident was''really a terrorist attack,''he continued.

At that time, quickly Nevsky Express train carrying 660 passengers and 24 crew. The train crossed the route Moscow-St Petersburg as far as 651 km. Upper-class carriage was very popular and usually boarded by government officials and Russian business executives.

If indeed the cause is a terrorist, a train accident was the deadliest terror (most claimed) in Russia outside the North Caucasus region is vulnerable in recent years. At the same location, Nevsky Express train had also been overturned by a bomb mounted on the rail in August 2007. At that time, 60 passengers injured.

A number of passenger trains as well as residents who live around the site said that they had heard a loud explosion before the train came out of the tracks. Police say, a large hole under the tracks was found after the disaster.

''The situation is really tense and very scary. I think (the accident) it is an act of terrorism because it sounded quite loud explosion,''said Vitaly Rafikov, passengers who became a witness, told state television station Channel One. He was not hurt. Having helped rescue workers, Rafikov helped lift the victims from the ruins of the train.

So far there has been no claim that can be confirmed about who is responsible for the attack. Echo of Moscow radio had reported that the hardline nationalist group calling itself Combat 18 claimed responsibility for the accident. But, the source of these reports came from a blog entry of anti-immigrant activist who can not verify the truth.

The number of victims had mixed. Russian Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said, at least 26 people dead, 18 missing, and about 100 others injured. Office of the Attorney General mentioned, the death toll reached 30 people and injured 60.

But, Alexander Basulin, officials at the Russian Emergency Ministry, as quoted by news agency ITAR-TASS, ensuring the death toll amounted to 39 people. A total of 25 bodies were found after the accident and 14 bodies were found later outside the train car.

Andrei Abramenko, train police, described the condition of the victims. ''Two carriages overturned. Some people are crushed or punctured metal body. I heard screams and cries for help,''said Abramenko told television station Vesti-24.

At least three foreigners come to be victims of the accident. According to ITAR-TASS, the foreign citizens who became Nevsky Express passenger was a citizen of Italy and two citizens of Finland.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for residents to remain calm. He also ordered a number of law enforcement institutions to investigate the attack as a whole train. Make sure that''no chaos because the situation was tense,''Medvedev sternly in the video conference with the Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev.

In previous meetings with the commission response to the crisis, Medvedev convey condolences to the families of the victims.

In Washington, the White House also expressed condolences for the tragedy. ''We are truly sorry and deeply grieved over the fall of human casualties and injuries,''said White House statement. In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy also expressed deep sadness over the disaster.

Terrorist attacks occur several times in northern Russia. Last August, a suicide bomb blew up a police station in the City magas, Ingushetia, killing 25 people and injuring another 164. September 2004, a school in the city of Beslan, North Ossetia, occupied by militant groups. More than 330 hostages were killed. Then, in December 2003, suicide bombers blew up a train near Chechnya, killing 44 people.

Then, in August 2004, a car bomb exploded in Moscow, killing 10 people. Earlier, a bomb also blew up two passenger planes in Moscow, and killed more than 80 people. Chechen rebels blamed as the culprit as the bombing of the subway (subway) in Moscow in February 2004 that killed 40 people.

Hostage-taking at a theater in Moscow in 2002 ended with the deaths of more than 130 people. Next, a train rolled over when moving from Chechnya to Moscow in June 2005. No casualties were killed, but 12 people were injured.