Volgograd trolleybus explosion related to train station blast

Photo: AP photo

The second terrorist attack in Volgograd in less than 24 hours - the explosion in the trolleybus - was carried out similarly to the bombing at the railway station on Sunday, December 29, investigators said.

It was originally reported that the bomb had been placed in the trolleybus and then detonated remotely. The reports have already been refuted. Investigators tend to believe that it was a male suicide bomber, who exploded the trolleybus.

"Now we can say that the bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber, a man. Fragments of his body had been recovered and sent to genetic examination to establish his identity," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.  The two explosions are most likely interrelated, he added.

According to Markin, the power of the explosive device was at least four kilograms of TNT.

"Like the bomb at the railway station, it was packed with shrapnel. Since the strike elements are identical in the two bombs, it confirms the version of our investigation saying that the two attacks are related to each other. Perhaps they could be prepared in one place," Markin said.

According to most recent data, the suicide attack in Volgograd on December 30 killed 14 people, 28 were hospitalized, said Markin. Law-enforcement agencies strengthen security measures in the entire Volga Federal District, as well as in other regions of the country, including Moscow.