New York Times - 08.21.2006

New York Times

Blast in Moscow Market Kills at Least 10

BY James K. Philips

MOSCOW — An explosion in a market in Moscow killed at least 10 people and injured more than 40 today in what the authorities described as a criminal attack, not a terrorist act.

The bombing, at the Cherkizovsky Market in northeastern Moscow, occurred amid heightened fears of terrorist attacks, but the city’s chief prosecutor, Yuri Syomin, blamed the blast on gangs fighting for control of Moscow’s lucrative and largely unregulated markets. By this evening, Russian news agencies, citing unnamed officials, reported that two men had been arrested, but provided few details on the motive for the bombing.

Appearing outside the market, which was severely damaged, Mr. Syomin said that “criminal elements” are responsible for the violence. The force of the blast was the equivalent of 3.3 pounds of dynamite and leveled more than 2,000 square feet of the market’s roof. 

“Either it was a collision of major commercial interests or a trivial instance of gang war,” he said.

At least two children were among those killed. Some of the injured were seriously wounded, suggesting the death toll could rise still higher.

Russia’s booming, half open-air markets are labyrinths of hawking traders and haggling shoppers, where physical movement is at best limited. They have long been battlegrounds of criminal groups. In the 1990s, gunfights were common. 

Most of those killed, Interfax reported, were Chinese and Vietnamese migrants, which raised the possibility of an ethnically motivated attack in a city where such crimes are routine.

The two suspects detained after today’s blast were captured by the market’s workers, who noticed that three people dropped a bag outside stalls in the blast area. A third suspect escaped, Interfax reported. 

Within 30 minutes, the area around the bomb site was sealed off by both local security and the police. The walkways were clogged with men hauling carts piled with goods as they fled the immediate area of the explosion. Most of the market, however, continued with business as usual, onlookers merely shaking their heads at the nearby destruction.

Today’s explosion is the second tragedy to strike a Moscow market this year. The roof of a produce market collapsed in February after heavy snows, killing 66 people.