Explosion in Znamenskoye: 40 people killed, administrative buildings destroyedRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus – On May 12, at 10 a.m. a lorry laden with explosives crashed into a complex of administrative buildings in the district town of Znamenskoye and exploded, killing forty people and injuring 200.
All of the buildings, including the district administration, department of the Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, were badly damaged, as were several residential houses in the immediate vicinity. There is now a crater 16 metres wide and 2 metres deep in that area as a result of the blast.
The casualties included many employees and officials of these buildings as well as local residents; and some people may still be trapped beneath the ruins. Workers of the Emergencies Ministry of the Chechen Republic, along with local residents, are searching through the wreckage; and the wounded have been taken to hospitals in neighbouring republics.
According to early information received from Chechnya’s Ministry of Interior, the blast was equivalent to a tonne of dynamite. Sergey Fridinsky, Deputy Attorney General for the Southern Federal Region, went to inspect the site.
(D/A,E,T) |
