M A I N   N E W S

Suicide bomber kills 35 in Russia

Moscow, August 2
A suicide truck-bomb attack inside a military hospital in southern Russia killed at least 35 persons and wounded scores of others, with the authorities blaming Chechnyan separatists for the act.

The toll was likely to cross 100 as over 150 patients and staff were inside the three-storey building in Mozdok in Russia’s North Ossetia region, which collapsed under the impact of the blast at around 7.00 pm (9.30 pm IST) yesterday.

Thirtyfive bodies had already been recovered, Russian Deputy General prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax news agency.

“Judging by the scale of the destruction and the number of people who were in the hospital - 150 persons, including 100 patients and 50 staff members - the number of casualties will probably be much higher,” he said. However, North Ossetia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Shatalov put the toll at 26.

At least 76 persons were injured, media reports said.

A truck laden with explosives was driven into the hospital and detonated, leaving a four-metre deep and five-metre wide crater, ITAR-TASS reported. Reports differed whether there were one or two suicide bombers in the vehicle. — PTI

India condemns terror attack in Russia

New Delhi, August 2
Strongly condemning the terror attack in a Russian city, India today called for “more effective action” at the level of the UN and by individual countries to fight the scourge.

“The Government of India vigorously condemns the heinous attack on a hospital in the North Ossetian city of Mozdok in the Russian Federation, which has resulted in several casualties,” an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said in a statement here.

“No cause, no grievance, can justify such senseless and brutal terrorist attacks,” he said, adding that the perpetrators of these acts should understand the deep revulsion they provoked internationally. — PTI