At Least 15 Are Killed in Explosion at Russian Rail Station
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A suicide bombing at a railroad station in central Russia killed at least 15 people on Sunday, according to official accounts, raising the specter of a new wave of terrorism ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. More than two dozen were wounded, some of them critically, meaning the death toll could still rise.
The explosion, which officials said was caused by a bomb possibly carried in a bag or backpack, struck the main railroad station in Volgograd, a city about 550 miles south of Moscow, at 12:45 p.m. It blew out windows in the building’s facade and left a horrific scene of carnage at the station’s main entrance.
The blast, captured on a surveillance video camera from across the central plaza in front of the station, occurred near the metal detectors that have become a common security fixture at most of Russia’s transportation hubs, suggesting that an attack deeper inside the station or aboard a train might have been averted.
Vladimir I. Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee, called the bombing an act of terrorism, though the exact motivation, target and perpetrator were not immediately clear.
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