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2 dead, 12 wounded in Russia railway explosion
April 28, 1997
Web posted at: 3:19 p.m. EDT (1919 GMT)In this story:
- Chechen rebels suspected
- 2 suspects detained
- Yeltsin angered by explosion
- Related stories and sites
MOSCOW (CNN) -- A blast at a railway station in southern Russia killed two people and wounded a dozen others Monday in the second railway explosion in a week, security officials said. Chechen rebels, who had claimed responsibility for an earlier station bombing, were suspected in the attack.
The train station in Pyatigorsk, a resort in Russia's Northern Caucasus, was damaged in the explosion, Viktor Khoruzhii, deputy regional premier, told the Interfax news agency.
Two suspects were detained on suspicion of planting the bomb, Alexander Zdanovich, a spokesman for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), said, giving the casualty figures. Regional police headquarters said two women were detained, according to Interfax.
"There are signs of possible involvement of Chechen terrorists," according to V. Horuzhnevo, a public affairs official for the FSB, Interfax reported.
A group of anti-terrorist FSB agents have already been dispatched to the bombing site, according to the report.
Yeltsin angered by explosion
President Boris Yeltsin immediately issued an angry statement saying he was "extremely concerned by the terrorist act in Pyatigorsk."
Yeltsin, who is vacationing in Sochi on the Black Sea, urged security forces to take decisive steps to combat terrorism, and summoned Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov and other officials to meet him in the next few days, said his spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky.
The apparent attack followed an incident last Wednesday in which a bomb concealed in a piece of luggage exploded in the waiting room of the southern Armavir railway station, killing two people and wounding eight.
Police said they were looking for three men suspected of involvement in that bombing and issued descriptions and composite portraits.
A Chechen rebel, Salman Raduyev, claimed responsibility for that bombing, which he called "the beginning of a series of spot strikes throughout Russia, especially at railway stations and military facilities," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Raduyev has said the attacks were to mark the first anniversary of the death of Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, killed by Russian forces in April 1996.
Like Armavir, Pyatigorsk is close to Chechnya. It is situated about 225 kilometers (140 miles) west of Chechnya's capital Grozny and 1,350 kilometers (850 miles) south of Moscow.
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Related sites:
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- Chechnya - As seen on Russian TV
- Interfax Homepage (Russian News Service)
- ITAR-Tass Homepage (Russian News Service)
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