Grief, flowers swell after terror attack at Domodedovo (News Feature)

By Benedikt von Imhoff Jan 25, 2011, 19:34 GMT

Moscow - The atmosphere at Moscow's largest airport one day after a suicide bomber killed 35 people is understandably tense as special police units step up their patrols and mourners file in to lay flowers at the scene.

Any traveler passing through the arrivals hall at Domodedovo airport would have difficultly suppressing his or her own grief upon seeing dozens of carnations and chrysanthemums placed at the scene of the attack.

'We have a very uneasy feeling,' said a passenger who identified himself as Sergey, traveling with his girlfriend Olga. 'But we have greatly looked forward to our vacation, therefore we are going through with it.'

Marina, a 25-year-old, called the attack a 'terrible tragedy' as she placed a flower at the scene where police have cordoned off a large area.

Friends and relatives stand at the end of an exit tunnel, waiting for arriving passengers and anxious to take their loved ones into their arms. It was in just such a crowd of people that the terrorist exploded a bomb packed with bits of metal 24 hours earlier.

People standing near the killer had no chance; their bodies were ripped to shreds by the force of the detonation. To commemorate the victims, Wednesday has been declared a day of mourning in Moscow.

'What should I do?' asked Ruslan, a taxi driver toward the front of the crowd who waited on a fare. 'This is my job. I have to feed my family and this is where I can earn the most money.'

Farther toward the back, Lyubov Mironova waited to pick up her daughter. 'I promised I would,' she mumbled almost inaudibly. 'But I am looking around closely to see who is standing near me.'

Dressed in camouflage, police belonging to the anti-terror OMON force patrol the entire arrivals hall fixing their gaze on passers- by.

People who look like they are from the Caucusus are most likely to be stopped by the police, not just at Domodedovo, but at Moscow's other airport and it's central train station and the city's underground rail.

The suicide bomber who struck on Monday reportedly came from the North Caucasus. Many Russians are casting disparaging looks more than ever at the few people from that region who appear in public.

Everyone who arrives at the airport must put his bag on an X-ray machine at the airport entrance. Before the attack most people simply walked by the checkpoint.

The entrances also have metal detectors, but even though the systems peeped frantically, few people were ever frisked. And at Domodedovo, passengers don't pass through body scanners until they reach the departure gate.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the lax security checks at the airport entrance 'anarchy.'

The spokesman for the investigative authorities admitted that the terrorist had no major problem marching into the building. Airport police and employees had nothing to say about the accusations, referring questioners to their supervisors.

In a train to the city centre there was just one subject being discussed: the previous day's attack. Many passengers still have in their heads the gruesome images of bodies lying around and injured people covered in blood.

Igor Volkov arrived from Dushanbe, capital of the former soviet republic of Tajikistan, and is now a passenger on one of those trains.

'It's unbelievable that we had to land at Domodedovo of all places after what happened,' said Volkov, a manager.

When he arrived in the city centre, he crowded himself into the metro. The attack didn't stop people using the underground system, the fastest way to get around in the metropolis of several million people.

Police in flak jackets stand on the platforms and at the entrances to the metro. But so many passengers crowd, that security checks are impossible.

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