A suicide bomber has killed 35 people and injured more than 140 others when he blew himself up in a packed terminal at Moscow’s busiest airport.
The city was immediately put on a terror attack alert with extra police patrolling transport and other likely targets.
“From the preliminary information we have, it was a terror attack,” President Dmitry Medvedev said, saying it was clear that security had failed.
It is not the first time Domodedovo airport’s security has been breached. In 2004 two suicide bombers were able to board planes by buying tickets illegally from airport staff. The women blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people on the two flights.
Monday’s blast left the arrivals terminal at Domodedovo engulfed in smoke, while amateur video posted on YouTube showed a pile of bodies on the floor, and other bodies scattered around as several small fires burned.
The airport was closed to planes immediately after the blast, but soon reopened.
No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion. Chechen militants have claimed responsibility for previous terror attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the underground in March 2010 that killed 40 people and wounded more than 100.
Car rental agent Alexei Spiridonov, 25, was at his desk when the blast struck about 100 yards away.
“The explosion was so strong that it threw me against the wall,” he said. “People were panicking, rushing out of the hall or looking for their relatives. There were people just lying in blood.”
Built in 1964, Domodedovo is 26 miles south-east of the centre of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the Russian capital, carrying more than 22 million people last year.