RUSSIA: SECURITY STEPPED UP ACROSS MOSCOW AFTER A DOUBLE SUICIDE ATTACK AT AN OPEN AIR ROCK CONCERT CLAIMED 14 LIVES

Record ID: 646029

  • Title: RUSSIA: SECURITY STEPPED UP ACROSS MOSCOW AFTER A DOUBLE SUICIDE ATTACK AT AN OPEN AIR ROCK CONCERT CLAIMED 14 LIVES
  • Date: 6th July 2003
  • Summary: (U4) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 6, 2003) (REUTERS) MV/SLV: POLICE PATROL NEAR SITE OF SATURDAY'S DOUBLE SUICIDE BOMBING, PAVEMENT AND ENTRANCE TO CONCERT VENUE WHERE AT LEAST ONE WOMAN SUICIDE BOMBER TRIED TO ENTER GROUNDS (2 SHOTS) CU: FLOWERS LAID FOR VICTIMS OF BLASTS, PAN TO SHRAPNEL DAMAGE ON PAVEMENT CAUSED BY BLAST INCREASED SECURITY IN MOSCOW CITY CENTRE, VARIOUS OF INTERIOR MINISTRY POLICE STOPPING AND CHECKING CARS AND EXAMINING CONTENTS OF VEHICLES (3 SHOTS) SV: SMALL CROWD AT MOSCOW BEER FESTIVAL STALL CLOSE-UP OF BEER BEING POURED SV: ANOTHER BEER STALL/ SMALL CROWD MV: POLICE WITH SNIFFER DOG ON PATROL AT FESTIVAL SV: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MAN DRINKING BEER, AND WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS WORRIED TO COME TO A PUBLIC EVENT, SAYING: "Yesterday was yesterday, today is today. We are not frightened and those Chechen terrorists can't scare us away, what more can I say." SV: PEOPLE SITTING DOWN AND DRINKING BEER AT FESTIVAL SV: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) YOUNG MAN, WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS WORRIED TO COME TO A PUBLIC EVENT, SAYING: "It's not really worrying, it (an attack like Saturday's suicide bombing) can't happen twice, a shell won't hit the same place twice. We thought there would be few people here today, and it's quiet." SV: PEOPLE BUYING BEER
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA1L7SH4U4R2MMQO3JOJDZMYFVB
  • Story Text: Security has been stepped up across the Russian capital Moscow after a double suicide bombing that killed 14 people and wounded many others. The attack has been blamed on Chechen separatists.
    Russian police patrols on Sunday (July 6) guarded the site of the attack, carried out by two women suicide bombers, that killed 14 people and wounded scores at a rock concert.
    People laid flowers in memory of the victims at the scene of the attack. The nearby pavement was scarred by shrapnel from the bomb blasts.
    Russia vowed that elections in Chechnya would go ahead later this year despite the double suicide bombing in Moscow on Saturday (July 5), blamed on Chechen separatists.
    The attack, shattered the bright Saturday afternoon at Moscow's Tushino airfield where tens of thousands had gathered to hear well-known Russian bands. At least 60 people were wounded, police said.
    Security has been stepped up across much of the Russian capital after Saturday's attack. Scores of police and interior ministry soldiers stopped and checked cars.
    People going to a summer beer festival in the city centre were checked as security men patrolled the venue. But the turnout at the annual event was visibly lower compared to last year.
    At Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, a memorial service was held for the victims of Saturday's suicide bomb attack.
    Russia's Interfax news agency quoted the interior ministry as saying policing would have to be tightened at future mass public events, and asking for "patience and understanding of the need for such measures in the complicated situation".
    President Vladimir Putin stressed the government's "business as usual" line by preparing to leave on Sunday on a scheduled trip to Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Azerbaijan.
    But the bombing in the Russian capital, coming so soon after last October's theatre siege, brought the issue of Chechen separatism, and resentment by many there of Moscow's rule, home to Muscovites who have long been used to stories of suicide bombings and mass killings in Chechnya itself.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register