16, incl. suicide bomber, killed at Russian railway station
俄罗斯火车站遭遇自杀式爆炸袭击

A suicide bomb attack at a train station in Southern Russia has killed 16 people, including the bomber. The city, Volgograd,is a busy hub north of the violence-plagued North Caucasus region. After the deadly explosion, the local government announced 3 days of mourning starting January 1st. The bombing highlights the daunting security challenge Russia will face in hosting the Sochi Winter Olympics in February.

A terrifying moment.

Sunday’s explosion rocked the Volgograd station at a time when millions of people were travelling home for the New Year holidays.

The explosion shattered windows and sent debris and smoke into the air.

"Everything was covered in smoke. After 10 minutes I was able to see again, and there were bodies everywhere. Inside the train station itself everything was destroyed." Nona Kapilova, staff of Newspaper Kiosk, said.

The spokesman for the nation’s top investigative agency said the bomber detonated explosives at the station’s main entrance. The bomb contained about 10 kilograms of explosives and was rigged with shrapnel.

"The explosion was done by a suicide bomber, who, when trying to pass the gates of a metal detector saw a police officer there, got nervous and detonated the bomb with grave consequences." Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russian Investigative Committee, said.

13 people were killed on the spot, and Volgograd’s regional government said two other people died later at a hospital. About 50 people were injured.

Markin said that security controls prevented a far greater number of casualties at the station, which was packed with people at a time when several trains were delayed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Volgograd, but it came several months after Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov called for new hits on civilian targets in Russia, including the February Olympics in Sochi.

A Russian website with ties to security agencies, Life News, said authorities had identified the bomber as a resident of Dagestan, the province adjacent to Chechnya and now the centre of a long-running Islamist insurgency.

It was the second deadly attack in Russia within three days. With the Winter Olympics to start in 40 days, it has really raised security concerns.

We've had conflicting reports on the bomber’s identity. The Interfax news agency quoted unidentified law enforcement agents as saying that footage taken by surveillance cameras indicated that the bomber was a man. It also reported that it was further proven by a torn male finger ringed by a safety pin removed from a hand grenade, which was found at the site of the explosion.