An explosion has ripped through the international arrivals hall at Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 35 people and wounding about 130, Russian authorities said.

President Dmitry Medvedev said preliminary information indicated the explosion at Domodedovo Airport on Monday was a terror attack. Medvedev added he had delayed his trip to the 41st World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, which begins on Wednesday.

Medvedev was due to fly to Switzerland on Tuesday to deliver the opening speech at the annual forum.

Domodedovo Airport was closed briefly. A Swiss International Air Lines flight from Geneva landed normally at around 4pm.

“There is no word of any Swiss passengers or staff being affected,” Sonja Ptassek, a Swiss spokeswoman, told swissinfo.ch. “No decision has been made regarding the Swiss flight due to land at 7.30pm.”

The Swiss foreign ministry it had no information on possible Swiss vicitims.

Moscow police were put on high alert and immediately beefed up patrols in the subway system, a previous target of terrorists.
 
Domodedovo is generally regarded as Moscow’s most up-to-date airport, but its security procedures have been called into question.
 
In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel. The bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.
 
Built in 1964, Domodedovo is located 42 kilometres southeast of the centre of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the Russian capital, serving over 22 million people last year.

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