Death Toll of Moscow Blasts Rises to 39 on National Mourning Day

Russia began a national day of mourning today as the death toll from yesterday's double suicide bombing on the Moscow metro increased to 39 when a woman died from her injuries.

Photo: Death Toll of Moscow Blasts Rises to 39 on National Mourning Day

Death Toll of Moscow Blasts Rises to 39 on National Mourning Day

Flags flew at half-mast on government buildings, entertainment events and shows on television were cancelled. Services were to be held at several churches, Guardian.co.uk reported.

The blasts occurred during the early morning rush hour on Monday on the Sokolnicheskaya line of the Moscow subway, killing at least 39 people and injuring some 70.

The first attack took place at around 8:00am (04:00 GMT) at the Lubyanka station near the former KGB headquarters, which now houses the Federal Security Service. The second bomb detonated some 40 minutes later four stops along the same subway line at Park Kultury station, which is within walking distance of the Kremlin, RIA Novosti reported.

According to Itar-Tass, already late on Monday dozens of Muscovites and guests of the Russian capital began bringing flowers and lighting candles at the two stations. Tables had been brought in for people to put flowers, icons and crucifixes. People stand in silence unable to find words.

President Dmitry Medvedev also visited the Lubyanka metro station on Monday to put flowers at the site of the tragedy. The Russian president vowed that the masterminds of the blasts would be found and destroyed.

"These are animals. Irrespective of their motives, what they do is a crime by any law and any moral standards," Medvedev said after visiting the Lubyanka metro station where one of the explosions occurred in the morning.

The escalator took the president downstairs to the platform where he laid flowers at the scene of the tragedy.