15 dead, dozens injured in Russia train suicide bombing

At least 15 people have been killed and a further 50 have been injured in an apparent suicide bombing attack in a train station in the southern Russian city of Vologograd.

The blast ripped through the railway station building in an area between the entrance and the metal frames installed as precaution against terror attacks.

Initial suspicions suggest that the suicide bomber was a woman, the police said.

CCTV video shows a bright flash of light inside the station and clouds of smoke emerging later. Witnesses reported seeing many dead bodies near the station entrance while emergency officials have sent equipped aircraft to hospitalise the seriously injured in Moscow to get a better treatment,

The bombing highlights the region's security vulnerability just six weeks from the Winter Olympics which are set to be hosted 600 miles away in Sochi.

This is the second suicide bombing in the space of three days after three people were killed near a police station in the North Caucasus city of Pyatigorsk on Friday, while a female suicide bomber also struck a crowded bus two months ago.

In the wake of the attack, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered law enforcement agencies to take all necessary measures to ensure security after the blast. A federal police spokesman, Vladimir Kolesnikov, said security would be stepped up at train stations and airports.

A statement by the Russian national anti-terrorist committee said the explosion was presumed to have been caused by a female suicide bomber. A criminal case has been launched under the "terrorism" and "illegal handling of weapons" clauses of the Russian criminal code.

A spokesman for the committee said the frames placed at the entrances of all Russian train stations and airports - a security measure often ridiculed in the Russian media - had prevented more casualties. A train from Moscow was due to arrive half an hour after the explosion took place.

Russian authorities have insisted there will be no security threats to the event, despite the fact that the city lies just west of the restive North Caucasus region. In July Doku Umarov, the leader of the remaining Chechen jihadist groups, warned that militants would try sabotage the Games.