Five suspects detained in wake of bomb in Chechen capital

Five people have been detained in the Chechen capital of Grozny, on suspicion of complicity in the May 9 bomb attack at the Dynamo stadium this morning, Ruslan Atsayev, of the republic's Interior Ministry, reported to RIA Novosti. That stadium was the venue of official Victory Day ceremonies today.

Atsayev would not disclose any details of the detention, saying only that the suspects had been arrested during police raids across the city and that law-enforcers were now working with them.

Chechen Ethnic Policies Minister Taus Jabrailov told RIA Novosti in a telephone interview that the four people killed in today's bomb blast included President Ahmad Kadyrov, State Council Chair Hussein Isayev, reporter Adlan Khasanov, and an eight-year-old girl. He put the number of those wounded at fifty-six.

The Chechen Cabinet will gather for an emergency session tonight to discuss the aftermath of the terrorist act at the Dynamo stadium, the minister said. He expressed confidence that the republican authorities' work would not be disrupted by today's bomb attack and that those who had orchestrated and executed the attack would not get away with it.

A deputy to the Russian Prosecutor General, Sergei Fridinsky, is now working on the crime scene. He and his assistants are trying to identify the type of the explosive device used in the attack and to find out where exactly the device was planted.

Kadyrov met his death as a true man and hero should, Jabrailov emphasized, adding that the Chechen president had cherished a lot of plans to bring peace back to his republic.

According to Chechnya's presidential staff, funeral ceremonies for Kadyrov will be held on May 11, in his native village of Tsentoroi.