Russian judiciary starts terrorism enquiry after bomb (Roundup)

Oct 31, 2007, 15:34 GMT

Moscow - The Russian judiciary has started a terrorism enquiry after a serious bomb explosion on a bus which killed eight people and injured more than 50 in the Russian city of Togliatti on the Volga River on Wednesday.

'Our main suspicion is moving towards terrorism,' the governor of the Samara region, Vladimir Artyakov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Security experts has expressed suspicions that the attack was an attempt by terrorists to destabilize the country before the December 2 parliamentary elections.

'These forces are using the election campaign for their own purposes,' Russian Senator Nikolai Tulayev, head of the parliamentary committee for domestic security, told radio broadcaster Echo Moskvy.

Investigators however have not completely excluded the possibility of an unintentional detonation of explosions.

Russia has for years battled Chechen militants who have carried out kidnappings and bombings before, but large amounts of high explosives are in the possession of unauthorized people in the country, and hand grenades or other explosives have unintentionally exploded in the past while being transported on buses or trains.

The authorities also say they are investigating the illegal possession of explosives.

The explosion occurred in the centre of the industrial city about 800 kilometres south-east of Moscow as the bus was stopped at a traffic light. On the bus were many students and lecturers on their way to university at the time of the explosion.

The force of the explosion, which had the power of several hand grenades, also injured a number of pedestrians on the street.

About 42 of those injured including a number of children were treated in hospitals.

Following the explosion, an atmosphere of fear prevailed in Togliatti, named after Italian communist Palmiro Togliatti (1893- 1964). Authorities denied rumours that other bombs had been detonated, as parents rushed their children from schools and kindergartens, according to reports.

The domestic security agency FSB hung a ban on information on the circumstances of the attack, and journalists complained of being arrested as they attempted to gather information near the site of the explosion.