Russians Name Six Victims Of Bus Bombing
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 22 October 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russians Name Six Victims Of Bus Bombing , 22 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52712f154.html [accessed 23 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
MOSCOW -- Russian officials are piecing together details of an October 21 terrorist attack aboard a city bus in Volgograd and have identified six people killed by the suspected female suicide bomber.
The spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said on October 22 that the explosive device used in the afternoon attack contained 500 to 600 grams of TNT and was packed with small metallic objects to maximize the damage.
Markin said the suspected bomber -- identified as Naida Asiyalova -- boarded a bus in the Daghestani capital, Makhachkala, that was headed to Moscow. He said that "for some reason" Asiyalova got off the bus in Volgograd one hour before the bombing on the city bus.
Officials said Asiyalova recently married a Russian man who is currently a wanted Islamic militant believed to be living in Daghestan. Russian investigators say they believe Asiyalova's husband either made or obtained the explosive device used in the blast.
Markin said most of the victims of the attack were teenagers. He identified them as Yulia Prikhodchenko, Maria Popadinets, Yelena Mikhailova, Viktoria Koneva, Kirill Litvenenko, and Maksim Ledkov.
Russia's First Channel reported that many of the people using city buses at that time would have been students returning home from school.
Two young men were interviewed at a hospital in Volgograd where they were being treated for their injuries.
One of the young men, Dmitry Yudin, said on the bus that he noticed the woman who [turned out to be the bomber]. "She was panicking and rushing saying, 'Out of my way. I need to get off fast.' The bus was pulling up at the Lesobaza stop and then the explosion took place."
More than 40 people were injured in the bombing, some seriously. Several were taken by plane to Moscow for treatment.
Authorities in Volgograd Oblast have declared a three-day period of mourning.
Volgograd Governor Sergei Bozhenov said authorities would help the families of those who were killed and those who survived. "The decision has been made ... to compensate families of the victims with 1 million rubles ($31,000) each; the heavily injured will receive 400,000 rubles ($12,500)," he said.
In Moscow, the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, observed a minute of silence for the victims.
Also in Volgograd, police said on October 22 that someone threw Molotov cocktails at a Muslim prayer house in the city late on the previous day. A custodian at the building managed to put out the flames quickly.
