Explosives were smuggled into Znamenskoye as construction materials

The explosives used in the Znamenskoye terrorist act in Chechnya were smuggled into the village in the guise of construction materials, Chechnya's Prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko told RIA Novosti by telephone.

"The KamAZ truck was stuffed with explosives, with bags containing cement lying on top to hide them," he said. It was easy to smuggle the explosives into the village, since construction materials are actively used in the republic's restoration effort.

"They are now reviving the basics of defence and safeguarding of various important facilities across the republic," the prosecutor added.

At 10:00 a.m. Moscow time on May 12th, unknown persons driving a KamAZ truck made an attempt to access the administrative territory adjacent to a Federal Security Service office at 13 Shosseinaya Street but were stopped.

There followed an explosion, which was said to be equal to that of 1.5 tons of TNT. As of Wednesday morning, the terrorist act claimed 54 lives, including those of two Federal Security Service officers, the Emergencies Ministry said.

124 people were hospitalised with wounds, including 11 FSS officers and 5 policemen. 91 survivors, including 5 Russian servicemen, were treated for injuries.

The blast wrecked the three-story brick building housing the FSS and 6 dwelling houses, and damaged the office of the local administration and several private homes within a radius of 1 kilometre away from the epicenter. The explosion left a crater 5 meters deep and 14 meters wide.