Terror and Tragedy A bomb explodes in the heart of Moscow
DMITRI ASTAKHOV/AP Rescue personnel escort an injured woman out of the underground passageway
A bomb tore through a busy pedestrian underpass in central Moscow during Tuesday's evening rush hour, killing eight people and injuring dozens more. Hundreds of commuters and shoppers were in the passageway in Pushkin Square when the device exploded.
Chechen separatists were widely believed to be responsible for a series of bomb blasts across Russia last September, though no evidence for this was produced and no arrests were made. Early speculation placed the blame for this attack on Chechens. But Russian president Vladimir Putin urged his countrymen not to make Chechens the scapegoats and liberal newspapers warned against an "ethnic witch hunt."
