- Title: RUSSIA: MUSCOVITES GIVE BLOOD FOR VICTIMS OF METRO BOMB.
- Date: 7th February 2004
- Summary: (U3) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FEBRUARY 7, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. MV/CU: NURSES AND VOLUNTEERS IN BLOOD BANK; MAN GIVING BLOOD (6 SHOTS) 0.39 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) BLOOD DONOR, ROMAN, SAYING: "I want to make my own small contribution, this is some real assistance that I can give." 0.49 3. GV/CU: WOMAN GIVING BLOOD; BLOOD IN BAG (2 SHOTS) 1.01 4.
- Embargoed: 22nd February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVA3Z2HGCO986RARS1ASFXV5H1UI
- Story Text: Muscovites give blood for blast victims.
Muscovites gathered on Saturday (February 7) across
the city to give blood for the victims of Friday's
explosion in the underground metro system that killed 39
and wounded more than 100 others.
The city's mayor warned the final death toll could
rise.
Survivors said the blast blew out carriage windows,
shredded seats, twisted metal and sparked a fire. Some had
to walk about two km (one mile) to safety after clambering
from the wrecked train, which had been crammed with
commuters going to work.
Moscow's deputy prosecutor Vladimir Yudin said 20 of
the dead had been identified, but added that he thought the
number known to have died so far was unlikely to rise
significantly.
Moscow authorities said that police were also stepping
up patrols and checking city buses and the tram system.
Extra police were also posted at main line railway stations
and airports around the capital.
Meanwhile a massive hunt for the perpetrators has been
launched.
Officials gave different explanations for the blast,
which shattered the second carriage of a packed train as it
was speeding between two central Moscow stations.
The Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said the train
driver had saved some 800 people by stopping the train and
keeping the doors closed to prevent people jumping out onto
the live rails.
Some suggested the blast was caused by a package left
on board. Deputy Moscow prosecutor Vladimir Yudin said the
most likely scenario was a suicide bombing -- like a series
of other attacks which have struck the capital in recent
months.
President Vladimir Putin said there was no doubt
Chechen rebels, fighting for independence for their Muslim
homeland in the north Caucasus, had carried out the attack.
He linked it to the March 14 presidential election, in
which he is strong favourite, and said he would not talk to
rebel Chechens.
A spokesman for the fugitive Chechen leader Aslan
Maskhadov, whom Putin explicitly accused of masterminding
the attack, said neither he, nor his separatist government,
were "connected to this bloody provocation and (they)
unequivocally condemn it".
Putin, his poll ratings over 70 percent, has never been
hurt by attacks like Friday's train blast and used the
fight against separatists to his advantage in first winning
election in 2000.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Saturday
that foreign fighters including Arabs, Turks and West
Europeans were still taking part in what he called
anti-Russian terrorism in Chechnya.
He added that the Russian authorities would "not yield
to that sort of pressure" and would not negotiate either.
Putin has shunned talks with Chechens who disagree with
his peace plan -- based on a referendum last year
entrenching Chechnya in Russia and the election of a
pro-Moscow president.
Chechnya could become an election issue, though most
parties, a few liberals excepted, broadly back Putin's
stand.
Recent attacks in Moscow by Chechen separatists include
a bomb last December a short walk from the Kremlin which
killed six people. Last July, two Chechen women blew
themselves up at an outdoor music festival, killing 14
other people.
A total of 129 spectators, among hundreds held hostage
for three days in a theatre, were killed in October 2002
when security forces used a toxic gas to storm the
building.
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