Russia: First Twitter Reports of Domodedovo Suicide Bombing

A  deadly explosion killed at least 35, and wounded as many as 70 people in the Moscow airport Domodedovo. Early reports assert (ru) that the attack was a suicide bomb. Information has been coming in from many sources. Twitter is experiencing an explosion of tweets with the hashtag #Domodedovo. At the moment the information flow is extremely intense; the hashtag is receiving about 100 message per second. LiveJournal has been less mobile in reflecting the news not to speak of TV channels that were at least half an hour late with covering the disaster.

Initial reporting

The first news came from Twitter-user Ilya Likhtenfeld (@likhtenfeld). Below is the selection of his tweets:

16:44: В домодедово теракт! Страшный взрыв в здании аэропорта! Десятки тел разорваных людей! Звоните близким. RT

There’s a terrorist act in Domodedovo! An enormous explosion in the building of the airport! Dozens of broken bodies! Call your relatives. RT

16:48 @emenschikova у меня там бизнес, много сотрудников

I have business there, there are many employees of mine

16:57 По оценкам моих сотрудников около 70 погибших! Сергей вынес 15 человек раненых!

According to my employees there are more than 70 dead! Sergey carried out 15 wounded!

17:14 У людей находящихся рядом с Домодедово начинаются перебои с сотовой связью.

People in Domodedovo are having problems with cellphone connection

17:16 Сейчас в новостных лентах ничинают занижать кол-во погибших

Now, all the newswires are starting to lower number of casualties.

17:28 Не можем найти сотрудницу, которая была на смене. Нигде её нет

We can’t find our employee who was on the shift. Can’t find her anywhere.

17:34 Всем отвечаю: у меня там более 100 сотрудников работают! Вся инфа от них! Фото и видео скоро будут!

I’m replying to everyone – I have more than 100 employees there! All the information is from them! Photos and videos will appear shortly!

17:48 НАЧАЛИ ГЛУШИТЬ СОТОВУЮ СВЯЗЬ! постоянные перебои в разговорах с людьми, которые там находятся

THEY STARTED TO STIFLE THE MOBILE CONNECTION! Constant breaks during phone conversations with the people that are there.

17:54 Уже двоих сотрудников не можем найти. Ещё одну девочку увозят на скорой

We can’t find two persons from our staff. One girl is on the ambulance

17:56 Погибших не менее 70! Это говорят несколько человек, который были прямо там. Раненых много больше 100

Number of casualties is not less than 70! This is being said by several people who have been there. There are more than 100 wounded.

17:56 Всё оцепили никого не пускают.

Now they (police – GV) have surrounded everything. They’re not letting anyone (in or out – GV)

18:07 Это не багаж! Бомба была на человеке, который стоял среди встречающих. Рядом с Азия-кафе.

It wasn't luggage! Bomb was on a person who was standing among those who were meeting people. Next to Asia-cafe.

User @stas_grigoriev uploaded series of videos at his twitvid channel:

User Djem79 uploaded this (unverified) video:

Issues and reactions

As information sources have diversified, differences in reporting have started to appear. One of them is the reluctance of the major TV channels to cover the event. Oleg Kozyrev wrote:

центральные каналы не прерывали вещания из-за теракта
по России 24 долгое время была только строка, тогда как мировые каналы уже дали выпуски новостей из Домодедово
Раша Тудей единственный, кто вещает постоянно только об этом
+ молодцы Пятый канал – сделали экстренное прямое включение-сюжет

Central TV stations didn't take planned programs off the air
on Russia 24 TV there was only text, while all the major international channels were put out the news from Domodedovo
Russia Today was the only channel who was broadcasting only about it
+ 5th channel made a special live programme

VicorBad wrote: RT @S1monenko: Медведев из твиттера узнал, что творится в #domodedovo и собрал экстренное совещание. это же хер пойми что,а не страна.

Medvedev (Russian president – GV) found out what was happening in Domodedovo from Twitter and only then assembled an emergency  meeting. It's such a mess, not a country.

Another issues was a taxidrivers that raised the prices for their services.
@MashaDrokova:

позор:( RT @vol1oleg: Опять таксисты в #domodedovo взвинтили цены до 10-20 тысяч рублей

What a shame :( RT @vol1oleg: Again taxi drivers in #domodedovo have jacked up the prices to 10-20 thousand roubles ($330-660 – GV)

As the problem was described, volunteers showed up:
@mrzff:

Снова нужны #freetaxi в #domodedovo

Again #freetaxi are needed in #domodedovo

The hashtag #freetaxi was used during the bombings in April 2010, when a similar problem appeared.

At 18:04 (MSK) a new hashtag #dmdhelp was set up to organize help with transport. As though following the information about the price gouging of taxi drivers, at 18:43 Aeroexpress (an express train that connects airport and the center of Moscow) introduced free transportation for everyone.

The first Twitpics have also begun appearing. User @liktenfeld posted an image of bodies.

This apparent terror act, the first in 2011, has showed an important new feature of the Russian media space. If a year ago Russians were just experimenting with new media tools (and, especially Twitter) during the emergencies, in 2011 they faced this disaster better prepared. Twitterer's quick reaction bore an Twitter anecdote, that even the president found out about the event from his Twitter feed. At the same time, Twitter-mobilization against the escalated taxi rates led to self-help organization and a decision to remove the train tariff for passengers.

11 comments

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.