Today Moscow has mourning day on casualties of metro terror acts

A mourning day was announced today in Moscow - in memory of the casualties of the terror acts committed at Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations. All the flags are half-mast in the capital, and all entertainment events are cancelled. Television and radio channels have corrected their programmes. Requiem services will be held in all temples. The death roll of yesterday's explosions is 39 persons by now. The authorities promise to find and punish the organizers of the crimes.

Death roll on the rise

Under the latest data, the number of casualties of the explosions in Moscow metro has went up to 39 persons. This was reported by Andrei Seltsovskiy, head of the Moscow public health department, said to the TV Channel "Rossiya-24". According to his story, last night one heavily wounded woman died in the N. V. Sklifosovsky First Aid SRI. Mr Seltsovskiy also said that nine victims of the explosions had been let home. Earlier it was reported about 65 persons injured by terror acts.

In total, within the last 24 hours, 84 persons have addressed hospitals, out of them, over 70 are still hospitalized, five - in grave conditions. Patients who left the place of the tragedy by themselves continue to come - as a rule - with medium and light traumas.

The procedure of identifying the bodies will be over by the middle of today.

In the centre of the platform of the Lubyanka station, the metro workers have placed a special table for flowers; and quite a lot of them were already brought. Passengers bring and lay red carnations and tulips directly onto the edge of the platform; someone has left an orthodox icon. The same was done at the Park Kultury station; here the table for flowers is in the centre of the hall, opposite to the passage to the same station of the ring line. People bring flowers and commemoration candles; however, they cannot be lit for safety reasons.

Many of those who dared get down into the metro in the morning or afternoon marked that that train cars were almost empty. However, by the evening the passenger traffic looked as usual: in the rush hours usual crowds were observed in trains and at changeovers. "Maybe, the passenger flow has gone down, but just a little," workers of one of central metro stations explained.

Families of Moscow metro terror act casualties will get one million roubles each

Compensations will be paid out by Russian federal and Moscow city authorities to relatives of those who perished in explosions on March 29. In answer to journalists' question, the head of the press service of the Russian Prime Minister said that the casualties' families will receive 300,000 plus 700,000 roubles; those who suffered grave or medium harm - 300,000 plus 100,000 roubles, light injuries - 50,000 plus 150,000 roubles.

Russia's authorities promise to liquidate organizers of Moscow metro explosions

President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev has promised that the organizers of explosions in Moscow metro will be found and liquidated. "They are beasts, and, irrespective of their motives, what they do is a crime under any law and within any morals," said Mr Medvedev after visiting the Lubyanka metro station. He reminded that recently all the organizers of blowing up the "Neva-Express" train have been killed. "We've liquidated everybody - to the ground," the ITAR-TASS quotes President Medvedev as saying.

"Prevention of such terror acts is a difficult matter, same as ensuring transport safety in general. The latest experiences confirm this. What is already done should be essentially amplified; the problem should be viewed nationwide - not just as applied to particular transport or region - as country-scaled," said the President. He noted that what had been done earlier was not enough.

"Therefore, interior and security bodies together should run explanations and be tough in controlling the situation - without breaching, naturally, rights of citizens," Mr Medvedev has noted and added that the situation should be toughly controlled and - if required - interfered and decided on in operative manner.

Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin also made a statement on the committed terror acts. He named the explosions to be crimes against peaceful citizens "awful by consequences and vile by execution character." "Dozens were killed and wounded by these metro terror acts. I am sure that law enforcement bodies will make everything possible to find and punish the criminals. Terrorists will be liquidated," he said.

Sergey Lavrov, head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not exclude that the terror acts in Moscow metro could have been supported from abroad.

Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), suggests restoring death penalty for gravest crimes, including terrorism; he told it in his interview to the "Echo Moskvy" Radio.

According to his version, one of the reasons of such terror acts is that power agencies cannot get along with ensuring safety, as they "are non-professional; many of them serve the capital, not public order and the law."

In the opinion of Vladimir Vasiliev, head of State Duma Committee on security, the terror acts in Moscow metro should not strike lawful migrants. The MP has emphasized that Russia, like any other state, is interested in migrants - because without them economic development is problematic. However, he added, Moscow is interested to have lawful migrants. Let us note here that the explosions in Moscow metro provoked attacks on North-Caucasian natives - after the terror acts, two women in hijabs and two men were beaten in the metro.

World community condemns terror acts in Moscow metro

The news about terror acts in Moscow flew around the world in few minutes. The very first condolences to Russia were expressed by the authorities of France, Germany and Baltic states. Leaders of dozens countries of the world voiced out their condemnation of terrorism and expressed condolences to casualties' families, same as heads of European institutes of democracy, members of international and religious organizations.

"G8 MIA heads have already passed a statement resolutely condemning the terror acts and expressing solidarity with the Russian government and Russian people," said Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, who is in Canada at the G8 MIA Summit and Arctic Council.

US President Barack Obama, who had earlier sent a written condolence to President of Russia, thought it necessary to personally convey the words of solidarity and support in the context of the brutal terror acts. A telephone conversation of Russian and American Presidents took place on March 29 under the initiative of the American party, the press service of the Kremlin reports.