BBC: Many reported hurt in explosion at Chechnya stadium

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3697715.stm

An explosion in the Russian republic of Chechnya has injured an unknown number of people, reports say.
The blast at the Dynamo stadium in the capital, Grozny, came during a ceremony marking victory in World War II, according to Russian media.

A reporter for the Associated Press news agency at the scene said many people had been injured.

Russia's emergency situations ministry and the defence ministry said they had no details of the explosion.




Edited for link...

CNN International: "This just in to CNN. Reports are coming in of an explosion in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Russian media reports the blast was inside a crowded stadium, and that there are casualties. The explosion came during a ceremony marking Victory Day, the Russian holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany."

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/8625179.htm

Excerpt:

A land mine exploded during Victory Day celebrations Sunday in a stadium in the Chechen capital, Grozny, injuring 10 people, an emergency official said.

The explosion happened during a ceremony in the Dynamo stadium that was attended by Chechnya's Kremlin-backed President Akhmad Kadyrov.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said that numerous people were injured.

Wow - who knew? I would have thought that it would have been reduced to rubble long ago... :shrug:

-SM

is some dirt. Spectators can sit on rubble. That's probably what the stadium is like.

Why the hell are they having a military parade in Grozny? I assume it's not the native Chechens who are reliving former Soviet glories, so marching the Russian troops around is just asking for trouble down there...

-SM

An explosion in the Russian republic of Chechnya has killed and injured a number of people, reports say.

(snip)

A spokesman for Russia's emergency situations ministry said a landmine had exploded in a VIP seating area.

Interfax news agency says the commander of Russian troops in Chechnya, Gen Valery Baranov, and the pro-Moscow leader Akhmad Kadyrov were killed.

However, the Russian news agency Interfax put the number of casualties at one dead and 25 injured.

(more)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3697715.stm

Also in MattforClark's BBC Link, above.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2899116

Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov was killed today after an explosion tore through a stadium where he was attending a Victory Day celebration.

At least 25 people were also wounded in the blast, including senior military official Colonel General Valery Baranov, head of the Joint Army Command of the North Caucasus.

The explosion was caused by a landmine planted under VIP seats at the Dynamo stadium in the capital Grozny, officials said.

As in, asassination? sp?

CNN reports that "Victory Day" is one of the most sacred of Russian holidays, which makes this event all the more shocking.

Our government, like a few others, regarded cheap and easily delivered land mines as a legitimate part of it's military arsenal. Anti-landmine resolutions were stonewalled, if not vigorously opposed. Here's a little info on them:

"Children in at least 68 countries are today threatened by what may be the most toxic pollution facing mankind — the contamination by mines of the land they live on. Over 110 million land-mines of various types — plus millions more unexploded bombs, shells and grenades — remain hidden around the world, waiting to be triggered by the innocent and unsuspecting, the report says. So common are mines in Cambodia that they are now used for fishing, to protect private property and even to settle private disputes."
http://www.unicef.org/graca/mines.htm

My guess is that the Shock & Awe guys will start to have second thoughts on landmine proliferation, now that they realize how easily they too can be targeted. Expect some righteous "gun-grabbing" to come from this.

pnorman

Absolutely horrible. Dear God... the video of the president is just god-awful... very, very graphic...