This from
NBR:
Two passenger aircraft have crashed within minutes of each other in Russia and a bomb has exploded on a street in Moscow.
No connection between the incidents, apart from timing and the fact that both flights originated in Moscow, is certain.
Between 88 and 108 passengers and crew may have been lost in the crashes, but considerable confusion exists as early reports do not agree about aircraft identities, locations or souls on board.
Reuters said that a four-engine Tupalov 154 aircraft, with 54 passengers and 8 crew on board, crashed near the village of Buchalki, some 110 miles south of Moscow.
Separately,
it reported that a three-engine Tu-134 airliner with 34 passengers and eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd had crashed and that another plane, a Tu-154 with 44 passengers and eight crew on board had vanished in flight from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Primary source reporting for the incidents is coming from
Itar-Tass, which is being overwhelmed by internet traffic as the breaking story unfolds.
Some
sources say there was an explosion aboard one of the aircraft before it crashed.
Fox News says emergency workers spotted a fire about 600 miles south of Moscow in the region where the second plane went missing, citing an Interfax news agency report.
Homeland Security in the US is said to be monitoring the situation closely and Russian President Putin has ordered an investigation by the
FSB, the nation's top intelligence agency, and tightened security at airports.
Presidential elections are scheduled this weekend in Chechnya and officials have expressed concern that the incidents may be part of a pattern of terrorist activities undertaken in recent years by separatists in the region.
Meanwhile, a bomb injured four when it detonated at a Moscow bus stop. The device had a force of between 100-200 grams of TNT, according to a report on
Itar-Tass
Chechen websites such as
Kavkazcenter.com that normally carry detailed after-action reports have not yet mentioned the incidents.
25-Aug-2004