Truck Bomb at Russian Military Hospital Kills 35

Truck Bomb at Russian Military Hospital Kills 35 Fri August 1, 2003 07:33 PM ET By Yana Voitova

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (Reuters) - Rescuers combed the wreckage of a Russian military hospital near separatist Chechnya on Saturday after at least 35 people were killed in a blast triggered by what witnesses said was an explosives-packed truck.

"Judging by the scale of the destruction and the number of people in the hospital -- 150 people, including 100 patients and 50 staff -- the number of victims is likely to rise," Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax news agency.

He said 35 bodies had been pulled from the rubble of the hospital in Mozdok, site of a big military base used in Russia's drive against Chechen rebels. Officials said 76 people were undergoing medical treatment.

Fridinsky suggested the blast on Friday could have been an act of revenge by separatists involved in 10 years of on-off warfare because servicemen hurt in Moscow's crackdown against rebels were treated at the hospital.

Salambek Maigov, envoy for the rebels, told Interfax exiled separatist Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov had nothing to do with the blast at the hospital.

"I take full responsibility in declaring that neither Aslan Maskhadov nor the (separatist) Ichkeria leadership are involved in this explosion," he said.

Maskhadov was elected in 1997 during a period of de facto independence for Chechnya, but chased from power when Russia launched a new crackdown against separatists in 1999.

The blast appeared to be the most deadly attack in Russia since 59 people were killed when two suicide bombers drove a truck bomb into an administration building in Chechnya in May.

Friday's explosion and high casualty toll were bound to put further strain on President Vladimir Putin's efforts to push ahead with a peace plan in which the Kremlin refuses to talk with rebels.

A witness, contacted from the North Ossetian region's capital of Vladikavkaz, said he saw a truck hurtle toward a compound where the hospital was situated.

"The driver was a middle-aged man. We did not see anyone else inside," said the man, who asked not to be identified.

Galina Zubenko, a paramedic at the scene within minutes of the explosion, saw charred corpses outside the building.

"Of the four-story building a single wall was left standing," she told Rossiya state television.

Russian media said a cargo plane carrying medics and supplies had been dispatched to Mozdok within hours. Also aboard were dogs trained to search for survivors trapped in rubble.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov went to Mozdok as the Kremlin said Putin had sent condolences to victims' families.

Chechnya is gearing up for an October 5 election to choose a regional president -- a key event in Kremlin plans to restore peace.

Chechen rebels reject the plan and have vowed to fight on to oust tens of thousands of Russian troops.

Rebels have been emboldened since seizing a Moscow theater last year in which 129 members of the audience were killed in rescue efforts.

Two woman suicide bombers blew themselves up last month at a Moscow open-air rock festival, killing 15 spectators. Days later, a bomb disposal expert was killed on the capital's main thoroughfare when a device he was trying to defuse exploded.

Russian authorities have sealed off Moscow's Red Square, its most famous landmark, at the height of the tourist season -- apparently out of fear of bomb attacks by Chechen rebels.

Russian blast toll reaches 39

By Yana Voitova (Reuters) - August 2 2003

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (Reuters) - Rescuers are continuing to pull corpses from under the rubble of a Russian military hospital after a Chechen suicide bomber drove a truck bomb into it, killing at least 39 people, officials say.

Only part of one wall of the four-storey hospital was left standing and surrounding buildings were gutted. Television footage showed workers passing rubble along human chains and the exact death toll was uncertain as many were believed buried.

Witnesses said an explosives-packed truck driven by a single man smashed through the hospital gates in the Caucasus town of Mozdok late on Friday, before exploding and bringing most of the building down on top of itself.

It was the bloodiest Chechen attack since May and the deadliest outside rebel Chechnya itself since October, when rebels took a Moscow theatre hostage and 129 people died when security forces stormed the building.

"Rescue workers have just found another two male corpses, so the number of killed now comes to 39," said Viktor Beltsov, Emergencies Ministry spokesman, adding that most of the dead were soldiers or medical personnel.

Mozdok in North Ossetia, which borders Chechnya, is the site of one of Russia's top Caucasus military bases. President Vladimir Putin demanded to know how rebels managed to enter it and ordered Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov to the site.

"The first priority is to find the people connected to the suicide bomber," Ivanov told Interfax news agency.

WEAK POINTS

Deputy General Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said the hospital had treated many of the soldiers injured in a decade of fighting against separatist rebels in Chechnya, which may have caused rebels to target it.

"This was a well-prepared and well-planned terrorist act," he told NTV television. "Criminals are continuing to exploit weak points in the defences of military bases."

Salambek Maigov, representative in Moscow of separatist Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, told Reuters Maskhadov had nothing to do with the blast. But he said he could not speak for other groups from the fragmented Chechen guerrilla forces.

"It is hard to say who is behind this act... but it is not a commander from the official armed forces of Ichkeria (separatist Chechnya). We...do not carry out such acts," he said.

Maskhadov was elected in 1997 during a period of de facto independence for Chechnya, but chased from power when Russia launched a new crackdown against separatists in 1999.

Russian media said a cargo plane carrying medics and supplies had been dispatched to Mozdok within hours and authorities were appealing for blood donors to come forward.

The International Committee of the Red Cross sent medicine and bedding to the site.

Doctors were treating dozens of wounded at remaining hospitals in the area. "We've got 76 (injured) people from the hospital, mainly from the military and the hospital staff," head doctor Vladimir Selivanov, from Mozdok's civilian hospital, told Russian television. Other injured had been flown further afield.

Chechnya is gearing up for an October 5 election to choose a president -- a key event in the Kremlin's plans to restore peace -- but rebels reject the plan and vow to fight on.

In Washington, a White House spokesman denounced "this act of terrorism", which was the latest in an increasing number of attacks outside Chechnya itself.

Two woman suicide bombers blew themselves up last month at a open-air rock festival in Moscow, killing 15 spectators -- the first time the Chechen war had come to the capital since the October theatre siege.

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