Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said the terrorist act in the capital's Domodedovo International Airport was created with the goal of killing as many people as possible.
According to preliminary reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up Monday afternoon in the airport's crowded international arrivals hall on, killing at least 35 people and injuring up to 180.
"Taking into consideration the location and other indirect indications, this was a well-planned terrorist act aimed at killing as many people as possible," Medvedev told journalists, adding: "Medical personnel are trying to help those in need, there is a large number of injured."
A spokesman for Russia's national anti-terrorism committee (NAC) said earlier on Tuesday that insufficient security measures in Moscow's Domodedovo Airport are to blame for Monday's deadly blast.
"Security measures in the Domodedovo airport were insufficient, otherwise the terrorist attack would have never taken place," Nikolai Sintsov told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
"This is a terrorist act, this is grief, this is a tragedy," Medvedev said. "I hope law enforcement bodies are able to quickly determine the main explanation [for the terrorist act] and conduct an investigation," the president added.
Medvedev pledged assistance to the families of the dead and those injured in the attack and announced he would postpone his visit to the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland where he was scheduled to make an opening address.
A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti that the security services were aware that terrorists were planning an attack on a Moscow airport, but were unable to locate and detain the three suspects they had been searching for.
The international community condemned the blast, with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying he was "deeply disturbed" by the attacks.
"I strongly condemn this outrageous act of terrorism against the Russian people," U.S. President Barrack Obama said in a statement.
British Premier David Cameroon offered the Russian authorities "complete support" and "made clear that the people of Britain stood with the people of Russia in the face of these events," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
This is not the first time Domodedovo has been targeted by terrorists. Two planes which took off from the airport, Moscow's busiest, were blown up by female Chechen suicide bombers in August 2004, killing a total of 90 people.
MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti)
