VOA常速英语2007-Bomb Blast in Russian City of Togliatti Kills at

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
31 October 2007

At least eight people are dead and 56 have been injured following a bomb blast on a bus in the Russian city of Togliatti. VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports that local authorities are treating the explosion as a possible act of terrorism.

The bomb exploded at a busy intersection¹ in downtown Togliatti, a city of about 700,000 people and home to AvtoVaz, Russia's largest car maker². Most of the injured were college students, and a small child is reported among those killed.

A spokesman for the local rescue service, Andrei Derbenev, says the explosion shattered windows on nearby residential³ buildings. Law enforcement officials say the blast had the equivalent of up to two kilograms of TNT.

Officials are ruling out a gas tank explosion, because the bus is reported to have run on diesel⁴, a less volatile⁵ fuel. They are also trying to learn if the bomb was carried on board by a passenger, whether it was attached on the floor or underside the bus, or whether it was laid in its path.

Vladimir Artyakov, the governor of Samara Province, the region of southern Russia that includes Togliatti, says the basic premise⁶ of an investigation⁷ into the blast is terrorism.

The governor's spokesman, Ivan Skrylnik, told VOA the explosion involves three legal charges.

Skrylnik says a criminal case has been launched involving terrorism, premeditated murder, and illegal production of an explosive device.

Togliatti has a reputation for violence involving organized crime groups that compete for influence in the city. The governor's spokesman declined to comment on whether any such group may have been involved in the blast.

Samara province has not been known for terrorist attacks of the kind that occur in the Caucasus region more than 1,000 kilometers southwest of Togliatti.

But the Interfax News Agency quotes a source close to the investigation as saying authorities do not exclude the possibility that Wahabbi or other Islamic extremists may be involved in the blast. Samara province has a substantial Muslim population.

President Putin has sent a top federal investigator⁸ from Moscow to help conduct the inquiry⁹.

1 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

4 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

9 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。