Tears, fears and anger at Moscow blast scene

Rescuers help an injured woman after the explosion in Pushkin Square on Tuesday

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A woman picks through the sooty, charred clothes she used to sell from her small shop in a central Moscow underpass, fighting back the tears as she tries to scrub them clean with her blackened hands.

"These are the worst days of my life," she cries, turning to a friend who is desperately trying to wash the window, cracked by a deadly bomb blast on Tuesday evening which killed eight people and left more than 90 injured.

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"I'm scared to live in Moscow, to tell the truth I don't want to live here anymore. Everything's gone, I've lost my work, my money and could have lost my life," said the woman, her red-rimmed eyes surveying the once multi-colored fashion clothes from which they had made their money.

Dozens of people walked through the narrow tunnels, blackened by smoke after the explosion swept through the corridors, destroying many small shops which sold everything from videos to flowers, perfume to children's toys.

On Wednesday most people walked quickly on their way to work, desperate to leave the eery gloom and breathe fresh air above ground on Moscow's main thoroughfare, Tverskaya Street.

But for some the workplace was underground.

"It's awful, cleaning up all this stuff," said one cleaner, trying to find words to describe what he had swept up and washed clean since the early hours of the morning.

"I can't tell you what I have seen," he said, looking at the shops which had stayed shut.

The blast, which hit during Moscow's busy rush hour, sent dozens of injured fleeing the passage, their faces covered with blood and their clothes torn. Late on Tuesday, the tunnel was still littered with pieces of clothing, blood and twisted metal.

Charred bodies were put into ambulances, while frightened Muscovites looked on.

On Wednesday, many on Moscow's streets said they felt fear and anger.

"I fear for my family, for all our people. What have we done to deserve this?" said Nadezhda Grigoryeva, 50, mopping the floor at a nearby cafe. "I couldn't sleep last night, it's terrifying," she said.

People laid flowers at the entrances of the underpass. Some wept. Others stood in groups, wondering out loud whether this heralded a rerun of last year's series of apartment block bombings which killed nearly 300 people.

"If war is going on here in Moscow, let's do it openly. There can't be more blasts, oh God," Grigoryeva said.

Some blamed Chechen separatists for the latest blast, others refused to point the finger. Russia's FSB domestic security service said it had detained two men -- one from rebel Chechnya -- in connection with the explosion. Dozens of Muscovites queued to give blood for the victims. "I heard about the tragedy and I understand very well that it could happen to anyone. Normal people are suffering and I knew I had to help," Nadezhda Germanovna said at the crumbling blood donors' center in Moscow.

Yevgeny, 23, his arm bandaged, said he and his girlfriend just wanted to help out.

"I am sad for the people, I just had to come and give blood. It's terrible," he said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Russian Informational Center
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
Interfax International Group
ITAR-Tass

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