Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Death Toll in Chechen Truck Bombing Rises to 52
The death toll from a truck bombing of a Chechen government complex rose to 52 Tuesday while 57 of the estimated 300 injured were in critical condition, Russian emergency officials said.
The death toll from a truck bombing of a Chechen government complex rose to 52 Tuesday while 57 of the estimated 300 injured were in critical condition, Russian emergency officials said.
Senior officials of the Nadterechny region of northern Chechnya were holding a regular morning meeting in the government headquarters in Znamenskoye, when suicide bombers drove a truck loaded with about a ton of explosives into the complex Monday.
This is the second major terrorist attack against a government installation since a similar event took place on December 27, when 80 people were killed in a "vehicle explosion" at the headquartersof Chechnya's administration in Grozny.
Unlike Grozny, where rebel attacks against Russian troops, Chechen police and civilians have become a common occurrence, Nadterechny has always been regarded as a rather tranquil place.
Russian media reports have quoted Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration, as saying that the attack appeared to be the work of separatist rebels.
But rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has denied responsibility for the attack.