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Russia unveils new 'bomb proof' toilets

By Matthew Chance and Alla Eshchenko, CNN
The shells will be made from ultra-strong fibrous concrete, while fittings inside will be steel and reinforced plastic.
The shells will be made from ultra-strong fibrous concrete, while fittings inside will be steel and reinforced plastic.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Official says new public toilets will be virtually indestructible
  • The toilets will also be kept warm
  • But they will open if an occupant stays inside more than 30 minutes
RELATED TOPICS
  • Moscow
  • Russia
  • Terrorism

Moscow (CNN) -- Officials in the Russian capital say new public toilets, to be introduced by the end of the year, will be virtually indestructible.

With basins made from ultra-strong fibrous concrete, and fittings hewn from a mixture of steel and reinforced plastic, officials say the state of the art WC's are vandal and terrorist-proof.

"If somebody will leave a bomb inside the lavatory and it explodes, then the toilet won't be destroyed," said Anatoly Ashikhmin, an official involved in the project from the Moscow State Department of Building Maintenance.

The drive to introduce bomb-proof toilets in the city follows a spate of deadly bomb attacks in recent years.

In the most recent incident, a suicide bomber struck Moscow's main airport killing 37 people.

The high tech facilities, say officials, will also be kept above 16 degrees centigrade ­ (about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), important in a city where winter temperatures often plunge below -30 degrees centigrade.

City officials say an extra security feature of the new unisex toilet is that members of the public will be able to spend a maximum of 30 minutes inside before the doors automatically open and an alarm sounds.