on the. breaking news on our team thirty five people are killed more than one hundred eighty injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack at moscow's busiest airport. the. president made a bit medvedev says those behind the attacks must be brought to justice but first concern is for the victims. i express my condolences to the families of those killed extra security will be put in place in all airports roadways stations and transport the most important thing at the moment is to support the victims and their families a. british citizen british citizens are among those killed in the attack with more foreign nationals also injured. in the.

pearl. it's six am in moscow on top of today's top story the tragedy adama dead of aware port let's get the latest from arena delusion go reporting for us from the airport . as you can imagine the security measures of course at this terminal at the double that of an airport have been stepped way more than you can imagine there are more police officers at the scene probably then there are people coming and going from and to the airports to just so. everyone coming into the airport is going through extensive security checks the ministry of internal affairs and airport security are using sniffer dogs metal detectors and scanners to keep out the level of security. that this is the biggest day here in the country naturally this is a perfect tragedy for the for the. city and for the

country as well when we arrived here shortly after the blast the first thing that we know it was the fact that the planes were coming and going as you said of course at first we were told that there were reports at sonic of chaos basically at the terminal of black smoke everywhere we did speak to some is that my witnesses and this is what they had to tell us about the situation immediately after the blast. if someone detonated a hidden explosive device it was either in luggage or suicide belts are still the blast a suitcase was on fire and a person had his back to me so the explosive devices are the onus personal in a suitcase i don't know what he looked like he was dressed in black and standing with his back to me like glossary me three meters back a car stood up everyone was running towards the exit panicking there was a lot of black smoke and the lights went out i went for medical checkup at first i

thought i had a wound on my head but it turned out i just had someone else's blood on me the damage when it's not you can't see anything at the scene of the blast it's all kind of gone and the investigators are working and you can see anything is up there's a distinctive smell in the air. that he took it off because it was nice of people covered in blood with injured limbs and the ones their faces were covered with blood to someone conscious there was a feeling that something. baek something heavy fell down there is a construction site near there so with that the workers drop something heavy but people from the second floor say that they felt a shake of the door and. who were leaving the airport when we had the explosion when we were leaving the luggage claim area there was something in the air in there was smoke our friends were calling us saying that there was an explosion and there were victims the bomb was not in the baggage area but tried behind the doors in the crowd of people welcoming us in the airport principia we just you know when the blast wave was very strong we are quite far from the explosion but even there we

could feel the blast graziers and we felt a strong blow to the portion of course but we arrived the smoke cleared so to speak both literally and proverbially at that point the security measures of course were in place tremendous security measures the area the area where people were allowed to come in to meet and greet those. who were arriving was that there right by the arrival by the arrival area and that is where the explosion this bridge needed and this point everybody that's coming to the airport to meet and greet their whole force to stand to right at the departures old so there is a sort of there's a lot of commotion there at the moment because that entire area hostin forward and off bob dole so they are there of vehicles being evacuated right now a lot of emergency vehicles still in place you can imagine that immediately following the plus all the emergency vehicles the police vehicles were coming in and because of that the airport security had to basically kick everybody out of the airport and out of the parking area and at this point that parking lot is in fact

is still taken up by all the emergency vehicles a lot there are a lot less of them now that there were several hours ago you can also imagine that probably you would assume that their flights to be counselled some of them were indeed canceled at least several flights to vienna there was also a flight to st petersburg that has been canceled as well but at this point the airport is functioning normally almost to its full capacity but we also know. that they waskow mayor was at the scene also speaking to the investigative comedian not investigate comedian arrived here shortly after the blast and they're still breaking up the scene and they probably will have to stay here for the remainder of the remainder of the night these folks have a lot of work that they have to do in the next few hours trying to figure out who and what is behind this particular blast let's have a listen to what the investigative officials told us earlier. with. the police. at the scene the explosion took place in the international arrivals who the suicide

bomber is suspected of carrying out the attack wolf. of course as we said earlier hundred sixty people are thought to hundred at least hundred sixty people have been injured up despite this horrendous tragedy that took place earlier the deal with that of an airport the mood here of course those old though tense is not to panic at all we also have to remember that in the south in this police in this horrific incident there were there were people coming together we know that people who are working at shops and cafes they were very close to the arrival area came together started helping the airport staff when they were evacuating the injured and the bodies of the killed from of the arrivals area and that of course this is one of the shows of people coming together in times of tragedy but also unfortunately not all stories are that good we know that some taxi drivers were charging as much as five hundred dollars the equivalent of five hundred dollars in

rubles for those who wanted to leave the air force but also good news there as well . there were also volunteers people standing outside offering free rides to moscow or to the closest metro station to those who needed to leave also the air at the train that is taking that this transporting the passengers to and from the air. between you between don't get a ball and most of the bell those train rides were also offered for free for everybody willing to take them at this point all over we do know but that the security measures of course have been stepped way out but of course they actually even for having filming inside the airport when we went in they told us to leave with no more filming no more camera crews allowed inside and the security measures are so strict that at this point people have to literally open their bags before the even get into the departure area you come in and you immediately met with the cordoned off police you have to go through the metal detectors you have to open

your bags they're checking everything even cell phones unfortunately it takes something as big as this tragedy for the security measures to be stepped up to where they really should have been. at the very beginning as some people that we've heard hoppin say. president medvedev held an emergency meeting to discuss the response to the domodedovo blast he's also delayed his trip to the world economic forum in the swiss city of davos where he was planning to make a keynote speech or he has tom barton has the government's response. the president . as you said canceled his i delayed his trip to the the divorce economic forum where he was going to be a keynote speaker and he also recently had this meeting with the prosecutor general the investigative committee and also the russian transport ministry where they outlined really their immediate priorities the immediate priorities that he highlighted were first of all to get on to the people who who were behind this

attack who 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 are in hospital oversee medical help if they weren't actually wounded physically then also need psychological counseling if they're traumatized from this bombing also he extended his condolences to those people are 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 i'm not just here some of the things he had to say there. the explosion in domodedovo took people's lives are spoken for the health minister and the

emergencies minister those injured in the explosion will 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 a special investigation group will be set up to look into the incident we need to look at what's happened in the immediate aftermath as for security and 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 that 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 as the president said in his in his address really. it's a matter of public transport safety all public transport hubs have had 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 police are currently working to identify the suspected suicide bomber behind monday's attack security has been tightened across the capital russia's anti-terrorism committee says the situation at the airport and across moscow is under control. as soon as we received information about the explosion police officers federal security experts and emergency teams went to the airport but we're taking every measure to prevent any such incidents in other public places in accordance with presidential order we've talked in security transportation hubs in moscow we are considering various motives but the most likely one is an act of terror of the national antiterrorism committee has already asked the public for any information about the incident the situation of the affluent across the capital is under

control this is of course a very grave incident and it shows a society should mobilize to fight against terrorism. then a samara london based expert on terrorism and conflict resolution told r.t. there are similarities between this attack and others carried out by terrorists from russia's restive north caucasus region. this is an attack similar to others that have taken place in moscow in recent years and the all indications are that this is part of the insurgency going on in the north caucasus so unless we. have evidence of. other suspects i think it's natural to suspect that it's people from the involved to the insurgency the north caucasus that are behind it we must keep in mind. the insurgency in the north caucuses. now has connections with other terrorist groups in the middle east and in other parts of

the world so we are probably seeing yet another outrage yet another attack against innocent civilians on the same pattern as happened in new york in london and paris and in other parts of the world. of course the insurgency in the north caucuses has domestic routes and. there are courses for it that are local but in the end this is in my view part of much wider international threat to. peace loving people everywhere in the world 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 are or globally in the world so there is

a need to isolate these terrorists wherever they are 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 anybody prizes that would target people that have not been directly involved in this incident it's counterproductive so those who have been behind those who are behind this incident need to be investigated and brought to

justice but other people who perhaps are implicated simply because of it needs three or whatever they have nothing to do with this and they should not be part. of the reaction. earlier r.t. sara first told us about the security measures being taken in moscow second busiest airport sheremetyevo. taking going through the check in and having your luggage checked just taking a lot longer now measures have been stepped up you've also seen patrol staff around the airport grounds with dogs so it is noticeable 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 c. monitor usually anyway with me and notice next to place enough with the. top of the dummy data and i will be speaking to people on the ground in the airport trying

to get a feel for 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 certainly about their safety in the surplus is what we have shared much of that today saying that they were ready to take the extra flights are going to be diverted from the other day you know is actually spoken to share much of this press service just a little while ago you know what they told us was that actually there weren't 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 press service being listed so the flights are returning to normal at the in the dead of a kid they said that was they were some sneaky for ever see some of those diverted flights as well as st petersburg airports and of course to the people who were expecting to land in most skate today no landing quite far out of that city and they'll be looking to face a least

a four hour train ride the hirelings this to some destruction sure much as he said ready to take on the extra capacity the extra people if necessary but what we're hearing at the moment is a looks like they started to flies perhaps won't be necessary and it will look people are understandably nervous anxious when they hear this news the actual stuff on the ground has done a really great job. every assuring people as best they can in keeping that as a phone to say possibly can of what's going on now we actually spoke to some of the people in the apple some of the knew what was happening some of them were just fighting as we were talking to us so we can hear some of their reactions and. 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 want to talk to my parents now because i think they are very worried no good i don't they keep going to change. coming to school.

i was supposed to fly from should me to go but now i'm leaving from douma good 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 is he said the stuff that we try to keep things running is effectively and smoothly and emphasizing that the main priority at the moment is continuing to ensure that they put every measure in place to ensure the safety of the passages coming in and out of these. forrest carter let's hear from the institute of globalization and social movements says the way airports are organized actually gives terrorists a good opportunity to strike the easiest way to do when they're with this situation is to blame for example the chechen or 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 bluster so that sounds i am little worried because i think it can be very much like a pro occasion to increase. the ethnic tension and the general political tension in the country and that will have very negative effects 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 the teesta few days. there was secured his stuff in demanded or was warned that something was happening but in fact very little was actually done to increase the security and safety or into

the safety of the presenters and honestly 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 the security breach of their poor group or to the already zero inventer net that they did have a special security alert not something usual but they were wanted something special was going to happen and the. the third all security apparatus was good to kill her which actually didn't and that's what is exactly really scary on the other hand i personally think that their way out. it's all denies it is actually increasing the risk of terrorist attacks not diminishing it because their way of for a go the control of the 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 really impressive that nothing happened like that so far to the world or in russia because i think that they have was secured is not about providing safety and security of that person just because so far all terrorist attacks were targeted last people who were targeted as those people trolling by metro and they were targeted at people who were 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 of a middle class people and that is absolutely new to russian terrorism. at least one hundred eighty people were injured in the blast it's now reported ninety seven of them have been brought to hospitals across the russian capital many of them in critical condition are t.j. we're piskun are reports from outside one of the hospitals. many injuries are connected with the burns severe burns caused by this blast also appears injuries

caused by shrapnel and head traumas as well that have given me the injuries are typical of explosions these are penetrating here wounds from the blast penetrating injuries or the stomach area brain injuries some are very gravely wounded and others are with light injuries of soft tissue on hands feet and ankles . injured more dispersed and to various hospitals across moscow but also had several clinics in the moscow region and we're getting reports that they may be sent to a bigger more advanced several medical centers to receive more. more advanced medical attention also the this blast happened at four thirty pm and at the time this was right after several international flights had just arrived to

do my due the airport and we're getting reports that some foreign citizens are also affected by this explosion according to investigators to british citizens were killed in this blast and there are differing reports on the number of those foreign citizens who've been injured unconfirmed reports that a german citizen and french citizen were injured in this blast also out of the thirty five people who have been killed in this blast and we've heard that three. three lost their lives already after being delivered to hospital one person died why while on on his way to being treated by doctors at a hospital as well. hotlines have been opened for psychological help and another hotline has been opened for transfer cycle psychologists are also working at the idea they were airport itself. for everybody in need and not only for those who are

going to have been affected by this attack but really everybody because out of the dozens or even hundreds of reports we're joined now flooding the internet and other media and other people who are at the airport at the time of this explosion all everybody says that every person really felt it and this is why everybody's really affected not only those who were in the actual area of the explosion but everybody who was at the airports at over time so. unfortunately officials say that judging by previous. experiences of attacks in moscow the number off a tells he's still mail me rice at the health ministry has published the lists of all the casualties but hopefully it will stay the same as at least it is at this moment. earlier my colleague spoke with political analyst babiche and our own cross talk host and commentator peter lavelle they said it won't be easy to intimidate

russia or attacks like this. people getting back to doing their daily lives you know unfortunately we do have these kind of attacks but people are not intimidated by them life will go on as tragic as this event is today number two russian afghanistan warmed up relations in the last few days don't discount that as somebody sending a signal because you know they've been very good at getting rid of the coalition of the willing america's willing partners in afghanistan has made him a little baby step there to work on the drugs trade but you know it's you know that could be a doctor we could be connecting at one point is this is outside funding these are people outside funding these people training people in many cases or training people to train other people and outside and it's extremely well documented western media doesn't like to do that angle because it makes russia look like it can't deal with the north caucuses and all that has a lot of problems down there who would want to have to deal with that kind of a social breakdown that we've had in many cases and we need investment there's unemployment there's actually discrimination poor governance i would say in many

ways but there is an initiative and has been initiative to deal with that issue but still we have this why did they come to the world capital want to send a message to keep the training going and keep the money coming in from the outside and this is something that russia is very well aware of and i agree with demons he started out here there's still a lot of loopholes here if you look around you know they still have a lot of work to do to stay calm about this kind of activity some loopholes perhaps but certainly security when you when you see it at the metro the airport security is always a far as i'm concerned very impressive but you drool you draw the focus down to the north caucuses here dimitri is peter do you think it's corrected enjoy pointing the finger of blame in that area well if as i said the news that that terrorist act was committed by a suicide bomb. then all because of the. truck will be the first or the number one triple investigation since it's such a huge city you just cannot bring it to a standstill even by

a major donors. but i would get you on what. peter has said before you know of so far and then see if. terrorist. supporters. i think the western audience should step ladder states or the european union we're not can see the russia part of the west what for us when this terrorist russia is upon you i mean you've got me sort of. how do you have terrorism it's not just a domestic issue it's a global issue and i would like to add that it's like the weakest link. in the west it's dangerous and difficult to strike at israel israel's security it's very difficult to strike the united states it's a bit easier to straighten europe but europe gets very easily but in russia because it's such it's basically a new state and it's a porous. porous there are all sort of communities here so it's

just easier to strike at russia but the problem with russia for these people the terrorist is that russia is not so easily intimidated for example speed in spain the terrorist immediately had a positive effect on their actions in russia because of its political system and because of all the main reasons they can strike again if. there is no result and if we have a north caucasus connection here too we have a very huge immigrant communities from central asia i mean we have people mixed in here very easily in very strong communities right here it's very good coverage here because they're not they're not wiretapping the technology isn't really they're not know he's dropping i mean of course you can find individuals and groups and in clans that could be very dangerous but there is so again it is not as tight here security wise as so many people would think it would play good russian.