real life stories from world war. two nineteen forty five. live here. breaking news tonight up to thirty five people killed by a terrorist explosion. the busiest in the country. around one hundred thirty people have been hurt by the blast in the international arrivals hall thirty five have been confirmed dead so far and those security area often filled with waiting family members and taxi drivers who suspect

a suicide bomber is to blame but don't know yet whether it was a man or the nationality. some of us cages are also studying c.c.t.v. footage of the moment of the explosion was caught on camera russian president dmitri medvedev has ordered extra security at all of moscow's outlets and railway stations to be increased but despite the planes continue to land and take off at domodedovo airport the main building at the airport was evacuated shortly after the explosion that was around four thirty pm moscow time that's one thirty pm g.m.t. well now let's get the latest from. the airport. for several hours of course now tell us what's happening at the airport now after the suspected suicide bomber. well bill the best point we can see that the things that the airport have been kind of dwindling down back to normal of course as normal as it could be in the aftermath of such a horrific tragedy as of course there is that and then security presence on hand

there are literally hundreds of police officers in the building by representatives from all sorts of security organizations we're talking about they're all security services mr emergencies that guy with my own eyes have seen in all circumstances from the psychological service to russia so we can assume that there are psychologists have been at the airport working with the most who may have needed help i don't know whether we were talking about relatives of those who were wounded or with people who were eyewitnesses because of course. those who have it with their own eyes there were in the vicinity of the rival called the international arrivals fold when it was last up and of course will probably need some sort of technological help that will never ever forget this what the militants what some of them shared with us. when i arrived on my plane from the go to. those little smoker terminals so i thought that maybe some technical problems was

a christie or something like this. stuff in the airport what's happened lately didn't stray something to tell but i didn't understand what they said and then my parents start to call me and i realize what happened. to us all when i arrived so i saw only one. clean room from. blood on the floor and people in the back of all the plans working so i didn't be in a moment of explosion but i sold the. house to rights work of crew for board there was no panic in terminal so i realize only when i've been in the car and my friends start to call me. well ended around four thirty pm what could. be twenty minutes or so. to the gate and the door of the aircraft was opened by stewards. there was

a guy entering the airplane saying oh we have an emergency at the airport. everybody should stay. right. because from outside started. shooting right next to me got off toward the right. she actually told me she was right. from the explosion. she was not injured and he was a doctor and he started helping people injured. i own a cafe at domodedovo airport one of my colleagues was taken to hospital she's in intensive care the blast happened in the arrivals area that's the left wing 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 the blast plaster started falling from the ceiling. i'm at the departure zone of the

demoted about able to write now they've just announced that the airport is working normally all the flights are department on time i'm not sure about the international arrivals till airport staff don't know where they will be diverted to i came here about half an hour ago i was waiting at best with control i had that there was a blast at their rivals area that was already a lot of smoke at the bench claim area there were a lot of people crowded there because the escalators stopped the stuff organized emergency exit but the door was very narrow and people crowded they mediately so the staff started breaking the walls to let the people old soon after the airport stopped receiving the arriving flights everyone left the best for control area and started lead. in the baggage claim area only those who hadn't received airline you stayed. and of course we also spoke to some other eyewitnesses another lady who worked at another nearby she said that she had seen with her own eyes people being

carried out from the arrivals area people with with their legs or their arms torn off people with severe injuries covered in blood and those who are working at cafes and shops which are adjacent to the arrivals area they were helping the airports in the initial moments out there the bombing they were helping them clearing out the bodies then and. and then transporting the wounded from that area well when we got here of course the international arrivals area has been cordoned off as you said earlier before people could come in and go and meet and greet go square arriving that is definitely not the case now basically and all that you had the approach to that area has been cordoned off closed to to everybody including the president fortunately and we were not able to go in and see with our own eyes what exactly has happened there but we're hoping to do that later on tonight and of course of course there is still a. security presence like i said. the even the most the mayor and the

originator whirls on hand earlier today and i believe the. officials from the investigative committees are still inside we have not seen them leave we saw them arrive but we did not see them leave as of yet of course there's still have been a lot of security and official vehicles coming and going elsewhere standing here but i believe that the secure that the investigative committee of course is still working on this on this horrific tragedy they're trying to piece together the puzzle to figure out what exactly has happened of course as you said earlier we are examining the equipage from this disease we cameras to try to figure out whether they can pinpoint the kind of deal with the very moment of the blast don't know whether they can find loss of the person who has committed that last. and there's also you have said there we do not know at this point the gender or the nationality of the suicide bomber at this point it is believed to be a suicide bomber attack but they're still searching for at least three people in connection with this terrorist act and of course bill yet right now the situation

at the airport as they have said earlier is normal i mean people are calm nor can they flights are coming and god has scheduled the start of their work canceled earlier today a lot of them however have been operating. in their normal capacity so the airports dappy airport authorities are doing their best in order to keep this a major part of this major air hold the country working and going as smoothly as possible because of course as soon as we get the latest details it will bring them to you thanks very much indeed for that update. from done with that of an airport. now the russian president held an emergency meeting to discuss the response to the want of a blast he's also delayed his trip to the world economic forum in the swiss city of devils where he was planning to make a keynote speech was get details on the government's reaction from. who's in central moscow to tell us what did the president have to say soon after this incident. yes in this recently seeing the president.

as you said canceled his or delayed his trip to the the divorce economic forum where he was going to be the keynote speaker and he also recently had this meeting with the prosecutor general the investigative committee and also the russian transformed ministry where they outlined really their immediate priorities the immediate priorities that he highlighted were first of all to get to the people who who were behind this attack he planned it in his words to be hot on their heels also really to provide immediate assistance to the people on the ground medical and psychological help. if the people of hospital oversee medical help if they weren't actually wounded physically that then also need psychological counseling if they're traumatized from this bombing also he extended his condolences to those

people affected by the attack the russian prime minister vladimir putin also spoke to the health minister saying that those people will be will get compensation and recommending the health minister visit them in person the president earlier spoke after this meeting a more just some of the things he had to say there. is. the explosion in domodedovo took people's lives i've spoken to the health minister and the emergencies minister those injured in the explosion move receive all necessary aid i express my condolences to the families of those killed extra security will be put in place in all airports roee stations and transport hubs and special investigation group will be set up to look into the incident we need to look at what's happened in the immediate aftermath and as for security on transport we've recently approved a number of laws on that we need to check that those laws are working because what

happened shows not all of those rulings are being properly applied we have to look into about the most important thing at the moment is to support the victims and their families. the laws to which president medvedev are referring is referring there are laws passed after last year's march metro bombings and the earlier bombing of the netsky express train on its way to st petersburg in both cases extra laws were added to russia's antiterrorism legislation but as he said those laws are either not being adhered to properly or are in need of some adjustment and they'll have to be scrutinized to see how they actually work in practice. also of note was the fact that the moscow's mayor and also the regional governor of the moscow region made a very swift public response to go to the scenes the hospitals and the airport to

show leadership on the ground and to be at the center of the decision making process. although this incident happened walked twenty two kilometers outside of central moscow is clearly having an impact on all the major transportation hubs throughout the city but what's the atmosphere like there you are in the streets of moscow at the moment of this tragic incident just a few hours later what's it like to be there on the streets of moscow. well obviously this is some distance but as as the president said in his in his address really. it's a matter of public transport safety public transport hubs security massively steps up especially the other airports but also here in the center of moscow i'm pretty close to the kremlin now in the head of the federal security service there's a visibly heightened police presence on the streets here it is reminiscent of the increased police presence after the moscow metro bombings which only happened under

under a year ago and so the atmosphere of what it be vigilance really a lot of increased vigilance now from the security services told botan in central moscow thanks for the update more from you later well earlier i spoke to our correspondent sara firth she's in moscow's second busiest airport asked about the security measures taken there although the incident didn't of course occur at that airport but what sort of impact has the incident dead of a had on. taking going to the check in and having your luggage checked us taking a lot longer now as a measures have been stepped up you've also seen the troll stuff around the airport grounds with dogs so it is nature's way you can see we've spoken to the security staff and they said that they've got the highest security level in place now all the stuff from high alert they've been extra vigilant checking the luggage and they've got people monitoring the c.c.t.v. extremely closely does of

a see monitor usually anyway me and money back to face with the threat and the attack that's happened at all the data and i will be speaking to people on the ground in the airport trying to get a feel there's certainly no panic at the moment but people who are traveling today extremely anxious about what's happening i wanting to know as much information as possible especially about their safety in the services we're going to be in part where we understand the despite of planes still leaving and arriving you don't with do you that though there are indeed planes being diverted to show it to be a so what's the impact there on the b. overcoat with that extra capacity. we had share much of that today saying that they were ready to take the extra flights are they going to be diverted from the other day divert you know is actually spoken to share much of this press that this just a little while ago you know what they told us was that actually the one that many flights diverted to share matches and there was about a thirty minute gap when flights were restricted from coming into domodedovo

airport and that's actually now according to show that the president has been listed to the flights are returning to normal at domodedovo here they said that was they will learn something new can for airport ever see some of these diverted flights as well as st petersburg airports and you know of course to the people who were expecting to land in most kate today and now landing quite far out of that city and they'll be looking to face a least a four hour train ride the high welling's this school some destruction chair much as he. that ready to take on the extra capacity the extra people if necessary but what we're hearing at the moment is a little like they start to flies at perhaps would be necessary and he will. tell us so what's the atmosphere there amongst the passengers there because clearly the capitol is in a state of alert can you sense any nervousness tension there or are almost people like we saw over a year ago after the most metro bombings getting on with life as usual what is the

situation there the feeling of this fear. book people are understandably nervous anxious when they hear this nice they're just up on the ground have done a really great job every assuring people as best they can and keeping that as a phone the safe possibly can of what's going on out there we actually think that some of the people in the airport some of them knew what was happening some of them were just finding out as we were talking to the so we can hear some of their reactions now. you know the most important thing is people safety i'm a little scared but there's nothing i can do have to go in there there's no other way home. you know i don't know what happened when we have been i really want to know what happened and they went to talk to my parents now because i think they're . i don't they keep going to change their on coming to school. i was supposed to fly from should i meet you but now i'm leaving from goma did or

airport i'm not scared here and i don't have any other troops there what has been interesting to know in the comparison as well to the bombing last year is a real resilience of people they're not going to be terrorized by these people by these attacks are they getting on with things as best as they can as he said the stuff that we try to keep things running as effectively and smoothly and emphasizing that their main priority at the moment is continuing to ensure that they are every measure in place to ensure the safety of the passages coming in and out of these airports. sara first talking to be a little earlier here naughty well now let's talk to moscow based sociologist and political expert ski. in central moscow thanks very much good to have you here on r.t. so many people will be watching this learning this tragic news saying why who would want to do such a thing. so where is the finger of blame pointing to at the moment. well it's very unclear and people are extremely confused because of course the easiest

way to do when they're with this situation is to blame for example nora cook asian terrorists and i think quite a lot of people already quite ready to do it though there is very little evidence behind these claims and in fact would know. little if anything about their real causes and. the people behind the blast so that sounds a little worried because i think it can be very much like a pro occasion. increase. in the ethnic tension and their general political tension in the country and that will have very negative effect but the signs are that they did have the hallmarks of a suicide bombing we know that two female suicide bombers from dagestan region were responsible for the moscow metro bombings last year it's only right that people probably would link the two isn't it. well of course it's pretty logical though

still we have to wait for more evidence and more knowledge. to have more knowledge about what's really happening and what actually happened because so far again the big question for example is why it all happened given all the security measures and among all the things we know that for example for at least a few days. there airport security is stuff in demanded a was warned that something was happening. in fact very little was actually done to increase the security and safety guarantee the safety of the presenters and obviously people were waiting for something to happen for a few days already because there were rumors in moscow for for about two weeks or it is something was going to happen and still didn't happen so my big problem with this is to understand why the security apparatus let it happen because some will

say the security alerts happen all the time in airports all over the world but sadly this is how no no i disagree really fight is the group by the way well i disagree because first of all the security breach of their port reported already all the enter net though they did have a special security alert not something usual but they were warned us on the special is going to happen and the. the third all security apparatus was good to cure which actually didn't and that's what is exactly really scary and on the other hand i personally think that their way airports all denies it is actually increasing the risk of terrorist attacks not diminishing it because their way of forego the control of their crowd of the airports is done it's creating bottlenecks it's creating tough crowds of people which are very very easy targets for terrorist attacks and it's really him. brescia that nothing happened like that so far to the

world or in russia because i think that they are for security is not about providing safety and security of the presenters but what impact will this though have on russia's image of bearing in mind this was an international target many tourists many business people used to make that a very it's the most use it but the biggest in the country what. impact will it have on russia's image i had a future that is exactly exactly they have a major problem all this terrorist attack because so far all terrorist attacks were targeted at working class people who were targeted of those people travelling by metro and they were targeted people who are not really important for the first time you know have an attack which was targeted at people whose closs level was kind of a bit higher middle class maybe even off of middle class people and that is absolutely new to russian terrorism will people try to politicize this incident to

become a major political issue here in the country. of course ever terrorist attack of this country becoming a major political issue. i think it well it depends on what will happen next because one way to use it is to increase ethnic tension and to to use that as a pretext of groans or ethnic attacks on the people from the caucuses and then provoked for a lot of more reaction from the cook asian minority both here in moscow and in the caucasus so basically it's a very good way to destabilize the country and then possibly you can have some kind of state of emergency whatever you write some very interesting points as always it's very good to hear what you have to say but it's kind of you see thanks very much indeed for joining us here live on. but just to remind you just joined us we are covering the incident which occurred a little later a little earlier i should say here in the russian capital moscow is main airport was attacked. but what's speculated as being suicide bombers at four thirty pm

moscow time which is one thirty a g c and reports are confirming that thirty five have been killed and one hundred thirty injured we have our correspondents not only there down with that of airport but also at other major transportation hubs around the city and we're getting also international reaction from all over the world just to let you know we have heard from robert gibbs the white house spokesman president obama condemning the outrage and sending condolences to the russian people let's no one gets up more reaction from the summit he's a london based expert on terrorism conflict resolution good to have you thank you very much indeed for joining us here so. do you think could be behind this attack. well obviously the first impression is that this is a similar to others that have taken place in moscow in the. indications are the. part of the insurgency going on in the north caucasus so are less we hear.

of. other suspects i think it's natural to suspect that it's people from the involved with the insurgency the north caucasus that are behind it but nevertheless there are people saying this isn't just russia's problem this has an impact around the world this is an international airport that has been targeted today there are some saying that this could actually be linked to international terrorists. well it could be also we must keep in mind that. the insurgency in the north caucuses. now has connections with other groups in the middle east and in other parts of the world so we are seeing yet another. yet another attack against innocent civilians on the same. as happened in new york. work in london and paris and in other parts of the world. of course

the insurgency in the north caucasus has domestic routes and. there are courses for it that are local but in the end this is in my view a part of much wider international threat to. peace loving people everywhere in the world being an expert on terrorism here we have the classic case of a public area being targeted is there anything you can really do about it when you have people who are prepared to kill themselves suicide bombers. of course this attack will need to be investigated and those behind it. need to be brought to justice there are other things what that one needs to be doing and that is to try to undermine any popular support. these groups have either in a rush our or globally in the world so there is

a need to isolate these terrorists wherever they are but in some ways they're doing the opposite and eight by targeting an international airport we understand that foreigners are being violent as being casualties of this attack and in effect that they're they're playing to a larger audience beyond russia even though some are saying this is a domestic problem that russia has to cope with. i'm sorry i'm not sure i understood the question but they got it to national impact they've achieved an international impact these terrorists and i know are broadening their cause beyond the russian borders are such as what many make may be saying. well as i said this is a global threat the. terrorism that we're seeing in different parts of the world has a connection with each other and. obviously russia has now been targeted in the same way that a number of western countries in the past have been targeted this is not an

isolated incident there have been other incidents like this in moscow and in other parts of russia. and obviously the russian government is going to have to deal with this firmly but on the other hand it needs to deal with this problem also wisely because the any prizes that would target people that have not been directly involved in this incident is counterproductive so those who have been behind those who are behind this incident need to be investigated and brought to justice but other people. perhaps are implicated simply because of ethnicity or whatever they have nothing to do with this and they should not be part. of the reaction that is somewhat we appreciate what you have to say thank you very much indeed an expert on terrorism conflict resolution from the london information network on conflicts and state building joining us live there in oxford thanks very much indeed. well there's been international condemnation to this attack from the

u.s. germany and france among others we are learning that french and italian and a british national a could well have been caught up in this incident at domodedovo airport as casualties but let's get more now from auntie's going to come on he is in washington now so what kind of reaction have we now been hearing from around the world gonna. president obama's condemned the blast and he called it an outrageous attack. terrorism against the russian people he also expressed condolences to the families of the victims here is what the white house spokesperson robert gibbs that said earlier today take a listen. and we can do so reduce terrorism against the russian people at the dome of yet of the airport i want to express the solidarity of the american people with the russian people in the aftermath of this premeditated attack against innocent civilians michelle and i offer our deepest condolences to the russian people who

have suffered greatly the hands of terrorism we share your sorrow in a resolve to stand with you in our common fight against those who used terrorism for their political goals. thoughts are with the families of the victims and we are praying for a successful recovery. many other world leaders have done the same they expressed their condolences their solidarity we have a statement from nato secretary general who said he was shocked by this attack he says solve terrorism is a common threat and the international community has to fight it together all of the leaders are saying that in this really was an act of international terrorism if you think about it the they attacked the busiest international airport in russia the terrorists clearly knew that not only russian nationals are going to suffer more we're getting reports about french italian nationals caught up in this tragic attack this sort of the.