Categories
Perspectives

January 24, 2011: Baggage carousal bombing in Moscow airport

On January 24, 2011 suicide bombers bombed baggage carousel at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, killing 37 people and wounding 181.

DOMODEDOVO AIRPORT MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Airport terminals are bad enough to endure without throwing terrorism into the mix.

Some of you may know that I have traveled – a lot. And when I say a lot I mean A LOT! While working for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and even afterwards in my poorly defined ‘retirement’, I have been around this little blue planet many, many times – well, until COVID-19 hit that is.

On some of those occasions I was able to travel first/business class. Now THAT’s the ticket (literally and figuratively)! Access to nice lounges, lie-flat seats for long transoceanic flights, pretty good meals and wines…why would you fly any other way? Well, there is the price I assume!

On many other occasions I did not have that option and had to endure the typical airport terminal. Some were ok and some were – how shall I put this nicely – NOT so ok. This may sound like grousing – after all being able to get from A to distant B in a number of hours rather than months as was necessary in centuries past should be reward in itself – but we all have our favourite worst airport experiences, don’t we?

Given the long waits should these not be called airport ‘interminables’? (Photo: jgmarcelino on flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Well, at least few of us have had to witness a terrorist attack while hanging about a terminal. This was not the case in Moscow in early 2011.

On this day in 2011

Two suicide bombers (or perhaps just one) detonated their deadly load at a baggage carousel at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, killing 37 people and wounding 181. A few weeks later a faction of the Caucasus Emirate claimed the attack.

We were walking out through the exit of the arrivals hall towards the car, and there was this almighty explosion, a huge bang… my colleague and I looked at each other and said ‘Christ that sounds like a car bomb or something’, because the noise was, literally, it shook you.

British passenger

Imagine waiting for your bags wondering whether they made it on your flight. Now imagine a suicide bomber standing beside you. Enough said.

Read More Today in Terrorism

Listen to the Latest Borealis Podcast

By Phil Gurski

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.

Leave a Reply