this is. breaking news at least thirty five people killed by a terrorist explosion at moscow's domodedovo airport the busiest in the country around one hundred thirty others of the blast in the luggage collection area of the international arrivals hall police say one or several suicide bombers could be to blame investigators are currently looking for three people who they believe could be linked to the explosion russian president dmitry medvedev has ordered extra security to put in place in all of moscow's and stations despite the planes are

continuing to take off. the main building there was evacuated shortly after the explosion at around four thirty pm moscow time now to give you an idea of the international time one thirty pm g.m.t. what we have correspondents. you also have with me the host of the. program to give us his analysis on the events and we have correspondents throughout the whole of moscow looking at the impact of this latest incident to affect the russian capital. what is the scene the moment. well right now you can see if you can probably imagine of course this is nowhere near normal day at the airport first of all we have to start with i would say significantly a lot less people a lot less passengers on the spot and. security i would say that there's more police officers and there is. there are security officers at the airport more there

was more of them then of actual passengers of course people are not panicking of course at this point but they are there is some sort of tension in the areas you can imagine because for every for every two people for every two passengers arriving where people who are trying to meet their loved ones were coming into the airport there's about four or five security officers on his hands and of course opt out the area the arrivals area international arrivals area where the blast response last has occurred earlier today that area has been cordoned off nobody at all is allowed into it we just see some people coming out of it people who have a quarrel arriving right now but there's a lot less of them than normally of course you can imagine i mean you have probably seen the pictures the pictures of her thick i we've spoken to some people who were . who were actually able to a woman that works here at a cafe as well and she told us that she had seen people being transported carried back and forth without with their legs with their legs and arms torn off people

covered in blood people with the severe it very severe injuries and she said one died it has occurred of those who were working mr fay and all the other stores and nearby. then used the old came in to help the security this is already off system and the airport staff in order to transport the wounded and the bodies of the children from the international arrivals area but of course we also spoke to more i would you says and me that we could have a listen to what they told us earlier. oh maybe maybe but maybe it was into them a little bit later but like i'm saying of course also at this at this particular moment. we're waiting for the moscow mayor because the betting to arrive on the on the scene we're also we're hoping for the most good district mayor. or to come as

well so we're waiting for all sorts of very high ranking officials to come in observing this scene see for themselves what's happening of course there's more cars security and more emergency vehicles coming and going as as we're standing here we see it we see the wood on their own eyes and of course you can imagine that there's going to be a lot more bio there's may be a lot more information coming in as hour as as we're waiting but i believe that at this point with the role the siren song you can listen to the people who are eyewitnesses who told us a lot more information that we could get from any officials. ordered for airborne. unit. for young world for for the way very. believable because. we're going over. north. and we're going to be squished go

forward through regarding morphine and it'll turn no report of smoke a little. overly critical of the. local who are cruel or. don't you know. who will. be able to afford to get people. normal to come to do to get out so. if you. want to. go over come from. behind you know i own a cafe at domodedovo airport and one of my colleagues was taken to hospital she's in intensive care because it happened in the arrivals area that's enough to ing of the airport the explosion must have been very strong because our cafes about one hundred meters from the arrivals area and when we had to be. asked kloster started

falling from the ceiling. i'm at the departure zone of the gym i did about airports right now they've just announced that the airport is working normally all the flights had to point to on time i'm not sure about the international arrivals airport staff don't know where they will be diverted to and i came here about half an hour ago i was waiting at passport control i heard that there was a blast at their rivals area there was already a lot of smoke at the very least claim area there were a lot of people crowded there because the escalator stopped the stuff organized emergency exit but the job was very narrow and people crowded they immediately so the stuff started breaking the walls to let the people old soon after the airfield stopped receiving the arriving flights everyone left the passport control area and started leaving the baggage claim area and of those who hadn't received their luggage stayed. well of course like i said earlier there is more cars coming and going the planes are flying in and out of the airport that we know for sure because

earlier there has been some information. that the flights have been cancelled airport has been shut down but that is obviously not the case so we have to say that the staff and their business of the airport are doing everything in their in their power in order not to let this horrific incident shut down the airport completely but of course as i was saying it's a journey measures are immense and of course there is some tension in the air force in the aftermath of the of the blast that has killed at least thirty five people and has caused injuries to war than one hundred people are in a glasgow thanks very much indeed for that update more from you throughout the day there from moscow's domodedovo airport and of course we'll be bringing you live coverage also from our correspondents in other parts of the city obviously state of emergency has been cleared throughout many parts to transportation hubs in particular also we're going to report from moscow second largest. a little later now with me the host of crosstalk program. your immediate reaction and how the

authorities have reacted to this incident compared to what we saw last year in march when we saw the most. it was actually quite good i mean because of the location of the metro right around the corner from our studio here a lot of us actually saw the reaction and it was very very quick what we're seeing exactly the same thing. we were so we saw the authorities expect with the president come out and reassure people that they're doing the authorities the security forces are doing their jobs to follow up on this to resolve this and this is very very important because terrorists they want to strike fear and this is what we don't have to fear we have to have more secure the more logical about it and all work together bring society together to fight this what many would find remarkable is that our reporting was saying a little earlier that the airport is actually functioning now we actually saw last march the the underground operating fairly soon after what does that say about it's a very stoic people they're very tough people we've seen this before we've sensed

the new russia twenty years ago there's been quite a bit of terrorism on russian soil unfortunately i would say in a very sad way that terrorists were very successful in getting their word out early on in the one nine hundred ninety s. and we've seen it get lower and lower intensified in some ways but not as often and this is a very long struggle i don't like to use the term war on terror because it's nonsense it's bush in the united states mistakes they made but russia as a long struggle in dealing with these types of people and you say these types of people many say would be behind such a thing let's not jump to conclusions here and i think that you know in the in the very bizarre world of terrorism and terrorists they a lot of smoke and mirrors who did it make some false flag this or that let's look at the evidence look at the physical evidence they apparently have the body of a suicide bomber let's look at the evidence look at the forensics here then let's look for motive and then we'll find out who did it let's look at the implication.

for russia this is an international target so many travelers whether it's on business or tourism use this airport i was there just this morning what impact will that have on the country it will of course russia's going to have to reassure people that it's airports are safe but everybody has to do that everybody has to do that the airport regulations of lease going into the terminal is same everywhere in the world i mean the same as it is in the west ok maybe maybe not we're not we're not experts on the topic maybe the exit was not. people to be saying if you look at it just then in the arrivals hall there is an exit to where friends relatives and taxi drivers will be waiting just after you've gone through a small customs area now that is just one area obviously that isn't heavily policed now if you think bombs going off in the arrivals hall some people might speculate that was a bomb on a bag from an incoming aircraft i would tend to very very much doubt but what it what it tells us is that you know logic would tell us that you know airports that

make sure but don't get on airplanes ok now this is a different element of this and of course russia is going to have to reassure the international community that it's airports are safe you know but this is what terrorists want to do they want to wreck want to wreck havoc with infrastructure make you pay a lot of money for it you know what the political motives are for this we don't know yet i hope we'll find out there are three people are being questioned right now it's look at the forensic evidence i hate when people politic these things from the from the word get go what sort of support will russia get from the international i should hope that people should stand in solidarity with russia russia does that all the time with countries around the world that are affected by these types of terrible acts ok and it's we're all equally victimized by this scourge here but let's be calm about it let's be calculated about it let's look at the physical evidence and try to follow the trail and they have good good security forces here that can do that here and i would hope that the. international

community would be very much open to helping russia do that job to keep the domestic situation here there in russia people will want to politicize this when they know it well yeah i mean you know that's the nature of politics here i i tend to think on the issue of terrorism across the board there's a lot of solidarity in russia. i don't think would be over politics i mean of course with president medvedev is going to say to his immediate and your legs to the security what happened here ok and you know i wouldn't want to be in that room right now ok because he is ultimately responsible he goes on air it tells people i will keep you safe he wants his word to be good would you make of his reaction so i thought it was excellent it was so quick. a little bit more than an hour. you know other other heads of state would go off to davos and have a good time and leave their country in bad shape ok and with a bit of that made the right move he stayed in solidarity with his people and i think people very much appreciate that that's why he gets on the air to do it so quickly the authorities are there they're working on this case and want to resolve

it and they're doing the best they can to keep it safe what about tomorrow the russian capital what will the atmosphere be like here. like so many of the people i take the metro because the traffic in moscow in the morning is so it's so deadlocked you can't get anywhere and i only live literally around the corner i will take the metro and i'll be looking at this and we are looking at on the way home i'll be looking at it everyone will be and then the metro isn't a isn't a luxury it's a necessity it's how you get around airports are also a necessity ok this is why there are targets from what you've seen so far what about the performance of the emergency services. must march you and i were on. site unfortunately i'm not there at the airport now but from what the picture i've seen what our correspondents have said to us it looks like again they're reacting extremely fast doing their job doing a very professional like to point out living here after twelve years i've seen the professionalism and the investment in anti-terrorism contradictories. thanks very

much indeed good to have your insights into the developing situation at the moment part of the well for maltese cross talk program joining us here in the studio just to reiterate if you just joined us an explosion at moscow's main airport domodedovo went off at one thirty pm g.m.t. that's four thirty pm moscow time and we have of course our correspondents there bringing you the latest information from not only that airport but also others here in the russian capital and we're getting international reaction let's now go to fred where from the christian science monitor now we spoke to him a little early he says that terrorists aim at weak points and that he experienced poor security measures at the airport whatever just a few weeks ago. you know i think that we will we know that he is the gateway to the north caucasus as far as russian domestic airports go from moscow that may be a reason. but i think it's all so check that. over the past few years we see

terrorists striking in moscow most memorably less than a year ago when two suicide bombers hit the moscow metro. i think they find vulnerable points i think they noticed that. security is lax and and they select these places for for max and impact and i know since i went through the bill just because weeks ago their security measures at really fallen off i suppose it was because of the black coat that they had on december twenty sixth the airport was shut down and and they had all these problems i'm sure introduced me to him made them speed up made them perhaps less more careless i don't know what are the reasons and we're speculating here but i think that one thing you have to understand about terrorists are people who want to inflict maximum damage and get

maximum attention for it as they study these things and they select their targets it's the see is the way and it is the way everywhere not just in russia but i have noticed particularly here that when bad things happen there's a few weeks there's a period in which everybody is striving to change their ways and and and plug those holes of whatever that were identified as as contributing to that and then after some time they become more relaxed and careless then after some time after that they've forgotten all about it and i fear this is yet another example of that. for where they're from the christian science monitor as i said a little earlier we're getting international. actually let's now go to peter power he's a crisis management specialist from visa consultancies in the british city of southampton thank you very much indeed for joining us now after the blast emergency teams were in the airport immediately and security was tightened at all the major moscow

transport hubs what do you make of the response from what you've gathered so far. well the first thing to realize that it won't be just moscow airport where tightening up you've got twenty million passengers flying through that airport which actually is a lot less heathrow but nonetheless it's a major part of the world another question i've already heard in the last few minutes is was that the real target could something have happened here with a bomb exploded on route to somewhere else for example if a bomb detonated in the air invariably near any airport you're going to show it to be over a wide area it could be detonated by a mobile phone providing it's at low level so there's a chance that the target might have been somewhere else this is the first attack in moscow since march of last year where two female suicide bombers blew themselves up and if you go back to two thousand and four again two female suicide bombers which is almost unique blew up an aircraft in the air to separate aircraft through

a fault arguably of a head of security that you actually detain women but then let them on so light think that the security has been tightened since then but believe me right now all major airports around the world are looking into this and asking themselves these sorts of questions it's not just moscow as a crisis management expert what should the authorities be concentrating on now at domodedovo. one of the questions you're going to ask is well who is the perpetrators mean all these events go into three stages there's always a sort of mayhem when as a mastermind and as a manhunt the mayhem is where we are now the dust is hardly circled could it be due . who's already talked about bringing threats of terrorism to the streets of russia he is probably going to be the number one suspect here but it's too early to find blame what we're now to what is happening now i'm sure as it will be in any country is gathering the evidence and finding out where is the cause and most importantly

could something happen in the next hour the next day the next week this is the beginning of a campaign and so far as far as i'm aware we haven't got anybody admit to the crime or your person in question about anything could happen in the immediate future and then the next hour or or day or week what do you make of the fact that the airport actually is currently running flights in and out of. it as a crisis management expert would you say that is reckless or is that the right thing to do. well last one for the russian authorities i'm not going to sit here in comparative peace of southampton and united kingdom and giving any advice about moscow suffice to say that one of the rules with dealing with terrorism in the twenty first century is not to stop everything if you can possibly keep things going it is a judgment of moscow airport that they can allow some flights in a well that's the core you have to remember that terrorism doesn't actually rely on the bang they were lies on the fear of the bang and so yes we've heard of such

a catastrophe and by the sound of it many deaths today which is a tragedy but overall actually you are probably a lot more likely to be hit by lightning than ever be to be killed by a terrorist bomb it is just the random nature of terrorism so if we can carry on business as usual as quick as we can so much the better i mean there are companies all around the world like take for example one in the u.k. called the anvil company who actually followed their clients through satellite navigation around russia and so on and they're busy now trying to give them advice where they go to the airport or whether they stay behind and so on that's my point about a lot of people affected beyond this but the issue is gather that intelligence as most important make sure your security is. the reason we can be and remember we're talking about weapons of mass effect not weapons of mass destruction so we still don't know who did it whether it was an affiliate of al qaeda we simply don't know yet. peter power crisis management specialist from visa consultants ltd joining us

in the u.k. we very much appreciate your time thanks for joining us here on r t just to remind you if you're just joining us breaking news within the last four hours an explosion has gone off in its main capital. and so far hundred thirty reported injured and thirty five killed by security has been increased in all of the capital's airports in response to what has happened at domodedovo port. that's russia second busiest airport now sara is the increasing security where you are now noticeable because. i had a little earlier from our previous guest was saying that the whole of russia's major transportation hubs will be affected so what is the situation there are. now operating under a possible terror regime as we speak into the security. that they've increased the security levels and you can see it on the ground in the airport the check in for

the luggage is taking a lot longer the security measures you can see. around the airport we've also heard that all the stuff on high alert they're going to be checking all the luggage directly and they will say monitoring the c.c.t.v. cameras for any suspicious behavior so really every single measure that they possibly can put in place at the maybe people at the airport safety is happening at them a bit but are people concerned they're obviously news does travel fast presumably some people are very nervous about going anywhere near an airport here in moscow. well those who have heard the news are understandably extremely anxious about that they're wanting to know about their safety and whether they will be affected and how they increase security on the ground at the airport doing all that they can to reassure people to calm their fears there's not a sense of panic the flights operating as they were before and the security as you said doing a very good job of keeping people informed as best they can they're going to want to keep everything running as smoothly as possible because they're going to be

picking up some of the diverted flights from domodedovo we've heard show much saying they're ready to take on these flights but obviously that will require extra staff and the increase in the measures that they'll have in place so they're really working on that they meant to keep people calm and just to keep everything running smoothly as possible of course the impact is for those passengers who arrived at a different airport which they weren't expecting to arrive at what about the ground staff and all the infrastructure of the transport extra taxes and even laying on baby extra air express trains which is the main express train route between turkey and the capital i mean did you see that they're making any provisions for this extra passenger. capacity well if he said sharon actually has said they are ready to take on this increase as well as show much of the some of the flights are also expected to be diverted to new can for airport it is going to be an increase obviously in the start having to take on these acts of passengers

having to manage that as it is he said it all seems to be running quite effectively at the moment as i continue some more people come in they might have to step up the staff and step up the measures that they're taking over at the moment they're just trying to get things running as they were keep the flights meeting keep the passengers meeting and keep them calm as well presumably a much stronger security presence around the airport. yes that's an interesting to see it when you're on the ground the measures that they put in place mean that people checking in and taking longer coming through and getting your luggage that's taking longer you've got the stuff going around with the dogs checking people say these measures are in place you can see that is that there's an increased security stuff on the ground and really really important for them to be reassuring people that they're doing everything that they can to ensure the safety of the passengers traveling in and out today zero obviously a very confusing and worrying situation obviously you're a british worker here

a foreign national working in more sco your representative of many people who are working here what sort of reaction have you had already from around the world from from your friends and relatives for example. well again it's a nerve wracking situation we still the much a blast last march again another terror attack in the country it's an uncomfortable situation obviously i think many people still as once they check that friends and family is safe anyone coming in and out would say we've been extremely concerned about loved ones say really everyone's thoughts are with these people he had relatives he had friends and family involved in that attack and hoping that the people who have been injured recover soon as possible but it certainly is a tense situation reassuring to see the response again the similar to last year we had met is a very strong response from the government and from the people as well that they're not going to be scared by these attacks they're going to continue and that's what

we see today is the operations continuing to the best of their ability. throughout the evening and no doubt monitoring what the situation is i mean i'm sure you are expecting quite an impact i want to show me tell you more and more flights is a very very busy time of the day and of course this explosion went off at a time when we're thinking about european flights coming in. and obviously other international flights so it could actually get more difficult. as time goes on and also for people if they are indeed meant to be flying to moscow how do they find out what the situation is there so no doubt they've got to prepare themselves for much more difficulties as time goes on this will escalate probably. yes we see the flight plan. and i think anyone he's going to be traveling in and out could well have the. traffic controllers are

now going to be obviously working very closely with the flight and the ad to make sure that they're diverted effectively and just to try and deal with the passengers once they learn safely that really is the main thank you here is making sure that these passengers coming in and out are safe. thanks very much indeed for that live update we'll get more from you throughout the evening as it is here in moscow but of course throughout the rest of the day thanks very much indeed. just to give you an idea of the location sarah was reporting from russia's moscow's second largest airport there are three main airports here in the city but the biggest one was affected today this afternoon moscow time four thirty pm by an explosion in the arrivals hall in the baggage area where the baggage carousel zar and that explosion had a massive impact with exulting in the deaths so far of thirty five passengers thirty five people and indeed workers at the airport and so far we're discovering that one hundred thirty have been injured so gradually getting more and more information as

to what it is suspected that it was the work of a suicide bomber but obviously investigators are there at the scene indeed the man who's only recently been appointed. to. the port so just to recap the. bomb explosion occurred a little earlier this afternoon four thirty pm moscow time that's when you. have officially declared that this is the work of terrorists now the explosion took place in a waiting area usually filled with family members and taxi drivers but we're just getting this information now as opposed to what was thought originally that it was the baggage area it's now perhaps being speculated that this could be the waiting area where. people in taxi drivers are waiting for newly arrived international passengers this is the latest development now we're getting sick a journalist a member of russia's cultural defense and foreign policy says it's not by chance but that's part of the airport was chosen. and worst of all is that of course if

you go through security control in the months that we care about supply you have to pass through a state of the art security here they actually organize bickel in an area which is not normally checked in any order anywhere in the world because the waiting area where people wait for those passengers we ride it. if memory serves me well about seven or eight years ago there was a priest teach out of moscow. to check every one of the terminal. interleave that somebody was apply it would mean people used to have to you know get checked i think the whole thing was. five or six years ago. and he's a results so you know the whole thing is very sad but it's the.