At least 31 people
were killed and over 130 were injured in an explosion at Moscow’s Domodedovo
airport on Monday, the Russian Health Ministry said.

Emergency vehicles travel outside the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, capital of Russia, Jan. 24, 2011. At least 31 people were killed and over 130 others injured in an explosion at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on Monday, the Russian Health Ministry said. (Xinhua/Wei Dafang)

The Russian Investigative
Committee’s Transport Investigative Department has confirmed that an explosion
occurred at Domodedovo Airport’s luggage reclaim zone at the international
arrivals terminal.

But a spokesperson for the
Federal Customs Services (FTS) told Interfax news agency that the blast happened
in the lounge area near the Asia cafe next to an international departure area.

The preliminary reports
suggest that it might be a suicide bombing, a source told local media.

Eyewitnesses said two
terrorists blew themselves up when people emerged from the international
arrivals zone.

“According to available
information, an explosion occurred at Domodedovo’s arrivals hall at 16:32 Moscow
time (1332 GMT),” a spokeswoman for the investigation committee, Tatyana
Morozova, said.

The Health Ministry said
among the 130 injured, 20 are in serious condition.

A law enforcement source
said three men are wanted in connection with the explosion.

“According to
intelligence, three men may have been involved in organizing the explosion. They
have been living in the region of the Russian capital for some time,” the source
was quoted by Interfax as saying.

A source said the blast
was equivalent to 5-10 kg of TNT.

Eyewitnesses said there
was a heavy smoke at the airport and the entry from the arrivals zone has been
closed.

After the blast, Moscow’s
Sheremetyevo Airport is accepting planes that were bound for Domodedovo.

Moscow police has
tightened the security in the city’s other airports and metro system.

Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev, who called this blast a terrorist attack, is holding an urgent meeting
and ordered measures to ensure security at all Russian airports and transport
facilities.

Medvedev has decided to
cancel his trip to the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos after
the deadly blast, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Domodedovo is Moscow’s
most updated and busiest airport. In 2004, two planes which took off from the
airport were blown up by female Chechen suicide bombers, killing a total of 90
people on board.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet